Bellowhead is an English contemporary

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

band, active from 2004 to 2016, reforming in 2020. The eleven-piece act played traditional dance tunes, folk songs and shanties, with arrangements drawing inspiration from a wide range of musical styles and influences. The band included percussion and a four-piece brass section. Bellowhead's bandmembers played more than 20 instruments among them, whilst all performers provided vocals. The band parted after their final gig at

Oxford Town Hall Oxford Town Hall is a public building on the street called St Aldate's in central Oxford, England. It is both the seat of Oxford City Council and a venue for public meetings, entertainment and other events. It also includes the Museum of Oxfo ...

in May 2016. In 2020, the band reformed for a reunion concert and played reunion tours in 2022 and 2024.

History

Early years and ''Burlesque'': 2004–2007

The idea for the band came to

Spiers and Boden Spiers and Boden are an English folk duo. John Spiers plays melodeon and concertina, while Jon Boden sings and plays fiddle and guitar while stamping the rhythm on a stomp box. Spiers and Boden were founding members of the folk band Bell ...

while the duo were in a traffic jam on tour. The longer they sat in traffic, the more friends they thought to invite to join. This led to the formation of a ten-piece band, with Benji Kirkpatrick, Rachael McShane, Paul Sartin, Pete Flood, Brendan Kelly, Justin Thurgur, Andy Mellon and

Giles Lewin Giles Lewin is a British violinist and bagpiper. Currently a member of The Carnival Band, he was also a founding member of the folk band, Bellowhead. Biography He was born in Essex in 1960 or slightly earlier. At age nine, he sang the female ...

completing the initial line-up. Before they had time to rehearse, the fledgling band were invited to play the first Oxford Folk Festival in April 2004. In 2004, the band independently released a five-track EP, publicised as "English World Music", called ''

E.P.Onymous ''E.P.Onymous'' is the debut EP by Bellowhead. Track listing Personnel * Jon Boden – vocals, fiddle, bagpipes * John Spiers – melodeon, vocals *Benji Kirkpatrick – mandolin, bouzouki, guitar, banjo *Andy Mellon ...

''. In 2006 Gideon Juckes joined the band, primarily playing the tuba, and they released their first full-length album, ''

Burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

'', featuring material from the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

, the American minstrel movement and sea-shanties from Brazil. Towards the end of 2007 they became Artists in Residence at the

Southbank Centre Southbank Centre is an arts centre in London, England. It is adjacent to the separately owned National Theatre and BFI Southbank. It comprises the three main performance spaces – the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, and Purcell R ...

, making their inaugural appearance with a Christmas Revels event.

''Matachin'': 2008–2009

In 2008 Bellowhead released their second album ''Matachin'', and a live performance at

the Proms The BBC Proms is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in central London. Robert Newman founded The Proms in 1895. Since 1927, the ...

followed, which was broadcast live on

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

and

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

Sam Sweeney Sam Sweeney (born 27 February 1989 in Nottingham) is a multi-instrumental English folk musician. Career Sweeney was introduced to folk music as a child via his parents' record collection and taught himself to play traditional pieces by ear. ...

joined the band on fiddles and bagpipes following the departure of

. The following year in August the band were approached about recording music for a 20th anniversary episode of ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

''.

''Hedonism'': 2010–2011

In 2010, Ed Neuhauser replaced Gideon Juckes on helicon and

sousaphone The sousaphone ( ) is a brass musical instrument in the tuba family. Created around 1893 by J.W. Pepper & Son, J. W. Pepper at the direction of American bandleader John Philip Sousa (after whom the instrument was then named), it was design ...

. In October 2010, Bellowhead released their third studio album, ''

Hedonism Hedonism is a family of Philosophy, philosophical views that prioritize pleasure. Psychological hedonism is the theory that all human behavior is Motivation, motivated by the desire to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. As a form of Psycholo ...

'', which had been recorded in

Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a music recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, London, Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of ...

. The album was produced by

John Leckie John William Leckie (born 23 October 1949) is an English record producer and recording engineer. His production credits include Magazine's ''Real Life'' (1978); XTC's '' White Music'' (1978); Dukes of Stratosphear's '' 25 O'Clock'' and the F ...

. In honour of the new album, the band developed a new

ale Ale is a style of beer, brewed using a warm fermentation method. In medieval England, the term referred to a drink brewed without hops. As with most beers, ale typically has a bittering agent to balance the malt and act as a preservative. Ale ...

also named "Hedonism", with several band members being involved in the brewing process. Broadcast from April 2011, ''

The Archers ''The Archers'' is a British radio soap opera currently broadcast on BBC Radio 4, the corporation's main spoken-word Radio broadcasting, channel. Broadcast since 1951, it was famously billed as "an everyday story of country folk" and is now pr ...

'' spin-off ''

Ambridge Extra ''Ambridge Extra'' is an extension of the long-running radio drama ''The Archers''. It began broadcasting sporadically on the digital radio station BBC Radio 4 Extra from 5 April 2011. The programme ran for five series, before it was "rested". O ...

'' featured a revised version of Archers theme tune "

Barwick Green "Barwick Green" is the theme music to the long-running BBC Radio 4 soap opera ''The Archers''. A " maypole dance" from the suite ''My Native Heath'' written in 1924 by the Yorkshire composer Arthur Wood, it is named after Barwick-in-Elmet in Yo ...

", arranged and performed by Bellowhead. In May 2011, at the 02 Academy in Bournemouth, the band recorded a DVD, '' Hedonism Live'', which was released in late November.

''Broadside'': 2012–2013

The band recorded a new album, '' Broadside'', in March 2012 at

Rockfield Studios Rockfield Studios is a residential recording studio located in the Wye Valley just outside the village of Rockfield, Monmouthshire, Wales. It was founded in 1963 by brothers Kingsley and Charles Ward. Recording studios Rockfield is a two-stu ...

with

which was released mid-October 2012. The album went straight to number 16 in the UK official album charts and number 1 in the UK independent album charts. In early 2012 the band undertook a European tour and in November 2012 toured the UK. In early 2013 the band toured the UK, the Netherlands and Belgium. In October 2013 they recorded a jingle for the

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...

folk music show ''The Folk Show with Mark Radcliffe''. During 2013 they recorded a double A-sided single, ''Christmas Bells / Jingle Bells'' which was released on 1 December in digital-only format.

Tenth anniversary, ''Revival'', separation and reunion: 2014–present

In 2014 the band acknowledged ten years performing together with two 'Bel10whead' performances in April: Bridgewater Hall and the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

. A new studio album, '' Revival'', followed, released on 30 June 2014 by

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in Jamaica by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in 1959, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another ...

. Bellowhead headlined the concert in July 2015 for the opening of the refurbished

Cardigan Castle Cardigan Castle () is a castle overlooking the River Teifi in Cardigan, Ceredigion, Wales. It is a Grade I listed building. The castle dates from the late 11th-century, though was rebuilt in 1244. Castle Green House was built inside the castl ...

. The band announced their intention to split following a decision by Jon Boden to step down as frontman. Bellowhead played their final gig at Oxford Town Hall, also the venue for their first concert twelve years earlier, on 1 May 2016. The band announced a one-off reunion concert to be streamed on the 5th December 2020, for the 10th anniversary of ''

''. They followed this with a nationwide tour in November 2022 for the 10th anniversary of ''Broadside''. Prior to the tour beginning, band member Paul Sartin died suddenly of a heart attack on 14 September 2022 at the age of 51. However, the tour was continued despite his death, and at multiple shows the band performed Faustus song "Brisk Lad" in memory of Sartin. Bellowhead provided an upbeat version of the folksong "Just as the Tide Was Flowing" as the opening theme for the BBC/Britbox "

Police procedural The police procedural, police show, or police crime drama is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasises the investigative procedure of police officers, police detectives, or law enforcement agency, law enforcement agencies ...

" series '' Beyond Paradise'', a spinoff from ''

Death in Paradise ''Death in Paradise'' is a crime drama, crime television series created by Robert Thorogood, starring Ben Miller (Series 1–3), Kris Marshall (Series 3–6), Ardal O'Hanlon (Series 6–9), Ralf Little (Series 9–13) and Don Gilet (2024 Speci ...

'' that premiered in 2023. They also appeared, and performed in, the Beyond Paradise 2023 Christmas Special. In November 2024 the band toured again to celebrate 20 years since the band formed.

Band members

Jon Boden Jon Boden (born 17 March 1977) is a singer, composer and musician, best known as lead singer and main arranger of Bellowhead. His first instrument is the fiddle and he is a proponent of "English traditional fiddle style" and also of "fiddle si ...

– lead vocals,

fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, thoug ...

, shaky egg, thunder tube,

kazoo The kazoo is a musical instrument that adds a ''buzzing'' timbral quality to a player's voice when the player vocalizes into it. It is a type of '' mirliton'' (itself a membranophone), one of a class of instruments that modify the player's v ...

tin whistle The tin whistle, also known as the penny whistle, is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. It is a type of fipple flute, a class of instrument which also includes the recorder and Native American flute. A tin whistle player is called a whistl ...

John Spiers John Spiers (born 1975) is an English diatonic button accordion, melodeon, concertina and bandoneon player. Early life Spiers was born in Birmingham but moved to Abingdon-on-Thames, Abingdon at an early age. His father is a Morris dancer. He ...

– melodeons, Anglo concertina,

Claviola The Claviola is a musical instrument that was designed in the 1960s by Hohner technician and designer Ernst Zacharias (inventor of the Pianet and Clavinet). The instrument was produced for a few months in the late 1990s before being discontinued ...

, vocals,

* Benji Kirkpatrick –

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

bouzouki The bouzouki (, also ; ; alt. pl. ''bouzoukia'', , from Greek , from Turkish ) is a musical instrument popular in West Asia (Syria, Iraq), Europe and Balkans (Greece, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Turkey). It is a member of the long-necked lute fam ...

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

, tenor banjo, vocals,

*Rachael McShane –

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

, fiddle,

, vocals * Paul Sartin (2004-2022) – fiddle,

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double-reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common type of oboe, the soprano oboe pitched in C, ...

slide whistle A slide whistle (variously known as a swanee or swannee whistle, lotus flute, piston flute, or jazz flute) is a wind instrument consisting of a fipple like a recorder's and a tube with a piston in it. Thus it has an air reed like some woodwi ...

, vocals *

(2004–2008) – fiddle,

bagpipes Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, N ...

– fiddle, English bagpipes, kazoo, vocals, whistle *Pete Flood – percussion (including frying pan,

glockenspiel The glockenspiel ( ; or , : bells and : play) or bells is a percussion instrument consisting of pitched aluminum or steel bars arranged in a Musical keyboard, keyboard layout. This makes the glockenspiel a type of metallophone, similar to the v ...

, knives and forks, clockwork toys,

megaphone A megaphone, speaking trumpet, bullhorn, blowhorn, or loudhailer is usually a portable or hand-held, cone-shaped horn (acoustic), acoustic horn used to amplifier, amplify a person's voice or other sounds and direct it in a given direction. ...

scratching, stomp box,

coal scuttle A coal scuttle, sometimes spelled ''coalscuttle'' and also called a ''hod'', "coal bucket", or "coal pail", is a bucket-like Packaging, container for holding a small, intermediate supply of coal convenient to an indoor coal-fired stove or heater ...

, party blowers, broomsticks,

ratchet Ratchet may refer to: Devices * Ratchet (device), a mechanical device that allows movement in only one direction * Ratchet effect in sociology and economics * Ratchet, metonymic name for a socket wrench incorporating a ratcheting device * Ratc ...

, Casio VL-tone, shakers and tambourine), vocals *Gideon Juckes (2006–2010) –

, helicon,

tuba The tuba (; ) is the largest and lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece (brass), mouthpiece. It first appeared in th ...

*Ed Neuhauser –

, helicon,

, vocals *Brendan Kelly –

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

bass clarinet The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common Soprano clarinet, soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B (meaning it is a transposing instrument on which a written C sounds as B), but it plays no ...

, vocals * Justin Thurgur –

trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

, vocals * Nick Etwell (2020 - ''Reassembled'') - trumpet *Andy Mellon –

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

, vocals *Sally Hawkins (touring 2022, 2024) – fiddle, oboe, vocals *Jim Bulger (touring 2022, 2024) – trumpet

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

*''Bellowhead Live: The Farewell Tour'' (2016) *''Reassembled'' (2021)

Singles

New York Girls "New York Girls", also known as "Can't You Dance the Polka," is a traditional sea shanty. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 486. It was collected by W. B. Whall in the 1860s. It was printed in 1910 in "Ships, Sea Songs and Shanties". An earli ...

" (2010) *"Cold Blows the Wind" (2010) *" 10,000 Miles Away" (2012) *"Roll the Woodpile Down" (2013) *"Betsy Baker" (2013) *"Christmas Bells / Jingle Bells" (2013) *"Gosport Nancy" (2014) *"Let Her Run / I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight" (2014) *" Roll Alabama" (2015)

Extended plays

*''

'' (2004)

DVDs

*'' Live at Shepherds Bush Empire'' (2009) *'' Hedonism Live'' (November, 2011) *''Bellowhead Live: The Farewell Tour'' (2016)

Other works

*'' Umbrellowhead'' (2009) *''Pandemonium – The Essential Bellowhead'' (2015)

Awards and nominations

At BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards

The

BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards The BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards celebrate outstanding achievement during the previous year within the field of folk music, with the aim of raising the profile of folk and acoustic music. The awards have been given annually since 2000 by British rad ...

are an annual awards ceremony for folk artists that year. During their 12 years together, Bellowhead won eight of these awards, including Best Live Act on five occasions. , - , rowspan="1" style="text-align:center;", 2014 , rowspan="1", Bellowhead , Best Group , , - , rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;", 2013 , rowspan="1", Bellowhead , Best Group , , - , rowspan="1", Broadside , Best Album , , - , rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;", 2012 , rowspan="2", Bellowhead , Best Group , , - , Best Live Act , , - , rowspan="5" style="text-align:center;", 2011 , - , rowspan="2", Bellowhead , Best Group , , - , Best Live Act , , - , Hedonism , Best Album , , - , New York Girls , Best Traditional Track , , - , rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;", 2010 , rowspan="2" , Bellowhead , Best Group , , - , Best Live Act , , - , rowspan="4" style="text-align:center;", 2009 , - , rowspan="2", Bellowhead , Best Group , , - , Best Live Act , , - , Fakenham Fair , Best Traditional Track , , - , rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;", 2008 , rowspan="2", Bellowhead , Best Group , , - , Best Live Act , , - , rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;", 2007 , rowspan="2" , Bellowhead , Best Group , , - , Best Live Act , , - , rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;", 2006 , rowspan="2" , Bellowhead , Best Group , , - , Best Live Act , , - , rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;", 2005 , rowspan="2" , Bellowhead , Best Group , , - , Best Live Act ,

References

External links

*
Bellowhead Interview - Folk Radio UK
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bellowhead English folk musical groups Progressive folk groups Musical groups established in 2004 Musical groups disestablished in 2016 2004 establishments in England 2016 disestablishments in England Westpark Music artists