Shrewsbury Folk Festival round-up: Top class acts thrill fans

People from around the world descended on the town's Berwick Road showground over the weekend for the four-day event, which is considered by many to be the best of its kind in the UK.

Main stage performers Steve Knightley, Kate Rusby, Lucy Ward and Sharon Shannon all told the audience how happy they were to be there.

Knightley believes Shrewsbury has the best folk festival of all. He said: "We've been involved from the start and we've watched it grow.

"There's something special in the year at Shrewsbury. And I'm not just talking about the festival from the audiences' viewpoint. As artists, we all love playing at Shrewsbury Folk Festival.

"It's a happy event where people are looked after and respected. There's lots of entertainment on-site and it's always an amazing weekend."

Rusby, who was making a return to the event, chatted to the audience about the town's correct pronunciation and told the crowd how happy she was to be back.

Saturday night star Lucy Ward was equally enamoured and told fans she was thrilled. "I feel like a proper musician now that I'm playing a huge stage like this," she said.

After she'd finished her set, she took to Twitter to thank fans for making her performance so special. She tweeted:

And Irish star Sharon Shannon was just as delighted. She waved to the huge crowd and told them it was a dream to be on such an impressive bill.

Performers Calan also took to social media to say the festival was a real one-off.

Artists weren't the only ones with kind words for the event. Devotees took to Twitter to offer praises.

Shropshire-based Mandy Thorn was one of many effusive social media fans: "So excited to be back at @shrewsburyfolk. Best festival in the best town in the UK."

Festival-goer Lauren MacColl, who is the fiddle player with Salt House Mouse and Rant Fiddles, was impressed with the on-site bars. She tweeted:

Jayne Carpenter, an opera singer from Shrewsbury, said the event was "four days of glorious music, colourful surroundings and lovely people".

The festival still had plenty of action in store for fans today, as it entered its fourth day.

She has one of the most beautiful voices that English folk music has ever known. Kate Rusby, aka the Barnsley Nightingale, has a voice of liquid gold.

A frequent visitor to Shrewsbury, she brought magic to the folk festival's main stage during a dreamlike opening night set.

When Rusby took to the stage, the heavens opened and the angels sang. There was some kind of magic as the first lady of young folkies demonstrated her full vocal range. She floated like a butterfly, long into the night, a spellbinding musician displaying rare and unusual gifts.

She is also an accomplished storyteller and from the moment she took to the stage she had the audience in the palm of her hand.

Rusby engaged in old-hat Shrowsbury/Shroosbury banter with the crowd, enjoying good-natured discussion about the town's pronunciation. There were tall tales too in which she gilded the lily and made the audience laugh in her distinctive Barnsley drawl.

But for all of her entertaining anecdotes, Rusby dazzled for one simple reason – her voice. Accompanied by a starry supporting cast of musicians, she was a harp amid clatter, a Rubens among cartoons.

She imbued songs with a rare and irresistible emotional depth, her expressive vocals wrenching deep emotion from each song in a remarkable and uplifting performance.

A huge variety of acts were lined up to play on its various stages, including Calan, Catrin Finch & Seckou Keita, False Lights, Folk Nations, Folk Slam, Good Vibrations, Granny's Attic, James Brothers, John Jones & the Reluctant Ramblers, Jonathan Byrd & The Sentimentals, La Bottine Souriante, Mary Humphreys & Anahata, Moon Brother, Piva, Ray Cooper, The Wilsons and Whapweasel.

Festival publicity director Jo Cunningham said: "It's been an amazing event and we're looking forward to a great final afternoon. A huge amount of work goes into making Shrewsbury as special as it is. The planning goes on all year round and the work never stops.

"But it's all about giving the artists and the fans a great time during the festival weekend and that's what we've achieved this year. It's been a very special festival with some great musical highlights, some brilliant workshops and fringe events and a wonderful atmosphere on site and in the town."

Local bands were given the chance to get in on the act with Shrewsbury band Two Blank Pages even performing for people queuing for showers.

Mrs Cunningham added: "It was far better than singing to yourself in the shower."

The folk festival featured some of the finest artists from the British Isles and North America.

In addition to Friday night stars Knightley and Rusby, the festival also welcomed Dawes, an American folk-rock quartet from California.

Their vintage folk rock is evocative of great 1970s artists Crosby, Stills and Nash, Joni Mitchell and Neil Young. And they treated fans to a set of classics from their four studio albums, including this year's All Your Favourite Bands.

Their old-school craft and musicianship delighted the Shrewsbury faithful with tight musicianship and intelligent, witty songs. Their set was the perfect way to conclude a thrilling opening night.

The Young'uns, by way of contrast, are rooted in the earthy and traditional folk songs of Teeside. The trio – David Eagle, Michael Hughes and Sean Cooney – were named Best Group at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards this spring. Their masterclass in harmony and humour won them many new fans.

They mercilessly mocked each other, poking fun and winning laughs much to the delight of the crowd.

The band are no strangers to Shrewsbury Folk Festival – indeed, they rank their best ever gig as being a performance there some years ago.

On that occasion, they'd planned to play the record with accompaniment from a keyboard. Their plans, however, were scuppered when the instrument blew up.

It proved to be a blessing in disguise as they told the story to the crowd, making them laugh. And this year's set was equally hilarious, musically-engaging and memorable. Not bad for a bunch of fellas who have only just turned 30.

Out on one of the fringe stages, The Boundless Brothers were playing a mix of original songs and George Ezra covers. The folk-pop act drew on influences as diverse as The Beatles and Newton Faulkner and created a party atmosphere.

Back on the main stage, Irish accordionist Sharon Shannon has been on the circuit for as long as The Young'uns have been alive. She started her career 30 years ago as a teenager and has established herself as one of the most important Irish musicians of the age. Her repertoire spans Irish folk, reggae, Cajun music and the roots sounds of Portugal and French Canada. On Saturday night her joyous playing dazzled the crowd and brought down the curtain on a stunning first afternoon of music.

Derbyshire-based BBC Radio 2 Folk Award winner Lucy Ward had enjoyed a productive afternoon on the folk festival's second stage on Saturday. Later that evening, she played one of the best sets of her life as she opened the main stage concerts. Ward is a gothic and dramatic folkie whose songs of protest pluck at the heartstrings. Ward has a breath-taking presence and unpretentious outlook. Her strong delivery and forthright performance helped her to win over the crowd.

There were more great performances to follow, as The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain and The Oysterband played out the remainder of Saturday night. The Orchestra have been on the road for 30 years. With appearances at the Sydney Opera House, New York's Carnegie Hall, London's Royal Albert Hall and Glastonbury, they are no strangers to the big stage. They worked with Shrewsbury crowd with aplomb as they ran through a set of popular classics

The nine-strong Oysterband brought down the curtain at the end of a delightful day.

Excellent harmonies and fine fiddle work underpinned a classy set with buckets of energy and grit. Singer John Jones was on sublime form, as was violinist and singer Ian Telfer.

With a set of greatest hits and classics, the band played long into the night.

There was no let up in the quality on Sunday as performers across the generations provided a demonstration of their skills.

Patrsy Reid and Gordie MacKeeman with his Rhythm Boys were the first two acts on stage. Reid is better known as the brilliant fiddle player with the exceptional Breabach. She's performed alongside Kylie Minogue and at the London 2012 Olympics – and brought gold medal style to Shrewsbury.

MacKeeman, meanwhile, served up old-time roots music and jaw-dropping stagecraft. The well-dressed and extremely animated band gave a demonstration of Celtic music at its best. MacKeeman's ensemble blended bluegrass, western swing and Scottish country dance in their virtuoso set.

Jonathan Byrd and The Sentimentals brought North Carolina to Shropshire. Hailing from the land of longleaf pine and jack oaks, Byrd brought his Doc Watson-esque music to wild applause.

The audience's funny bones were hopelessly at the mercy of the New Rope String Band when the main stage opened yesterday evening. Pete Challoner, Tim Dalling and Jock Tyldesley have learned how to splice elements of circus, vaudeville, clowning, slapstick, contortionism and tomfoolery with acoustic music, in precision-honed performances. They consider themselves to have been infected by genius – and the audience didn't disagree.

Ross Ainslie and Jarlath Henderson brought youthful energy to the stage with songs from their Airfix album. The BBC Young Musician Award winner, Henderson, and his partner in music, Ainslie, put on a spellbinding show.

The Spooky Men's Chorale added a new dimension to the festival. The Australian male singers cover topics as diverse as power tools and Abba and their eclectic set was a winner.

Richard Thompson ended yesterday's proceedings, showing the audience why he's one of the greatest British musicians of all time. The guitarist has recorded with REM, Elvis Costello, Sandy Deny, David Byrne, Mark Black, Christy Moore, Bonny Raitt and Del McCoury during an extraordinary career. His choice as Sunday headliner was inspired.

With concerts running until 6pm today, there were plenty more treats in store.

Mrs Cunningham added: "There have been no problems and no dramas, just an amazing weekend of high quality music and dance."

Folk fans on site and online couldn't have agreed more.