Dala will be joining such legendary artists as Simon and Garfunkel, Aretha Franklin, Van Morrison and Pearl Jam at this year's New Orleans Jazz Fest. Amanda and Sheila will be performing at the festival on April 29th. Click here for all the details.

NPR have posted Dala's Mountain Stage set online. You can listen to it by clicking here:

"Levi Blues" has been nominated for AC Mainstream single of the year!  The winners will be announced on March 12, 2010. Click here for all the details!

The band have now been confirmed for the Beverley Festival on Sat 19th June followed by Glastonbury on Sat 26th June. It is likely that more dates wil be added in and around this period. For a full list of all Gandalf's tour dates please see our Tour Dates section   

Hear the Mandolinquents on BBC Radio 2's Friday Night Is Music Night  
Friday, 26 February 2010 -- Time 19:30 - 21:15

The world's longest-running live music programme featuring the BBC Concert Orchestra.

Alice Peacock & Hugh Haller are thrilled to let you know that Joseph Hayes Haller was born on the night of Tuesday, Jan 26, 2010 at Vanderbilt Hospital, Nashville Tennessee. 

Joey weighed in at 10 lbs. 5 oz. Alice, Hugh and Baby Joey are doing fine and wish to express their thanks to all their friends and fans for their love, support and warm-hearted messages.

      Chamucos, 51 Bethnal Green Road, Shoreditch, London, E1 6LA

Singer songwriter and Ivor Novello winner Catherine Howe has enjoyed a comeback in recent times due to the release of her 2006 critically acclaimed album Princelet Street. The release of Princelet Street proved that Catherine Howe had not lost any of her songwriting skills via a glorious album of thirteen original songs produced and arrange by Kevin Healy.    

Catherine's return to music in 2006, after a twenty five year absence, resulted in the Chicago based Numero label releasing the very collectable and much sought after             "What A Beautiful Day" originally issued by Reflection Records in 1971.

What A Beautiful Place was produced and scored by songwriter and jazz pianist               Bobby Scott 1937–1990 (multi instrumentalist singer, producer and writer of such greats  as Taste of Honey & He Ain't Heavy). Bobby played piano on the album which has now become one of the legendary recordings to be made at Trident Studios in London.             Prior to Numero's reissue, the original vinyl copies of Catherine's and Bobby's classic work were selling for up to £1,500 between collectors.

Some time ago Catherine teamed up with with guitar-supremo Vo Fletcher, who has played with Nigel Kennedy and  Fairport Convention amongst others.  

Eighteen months on: with their album 'English Tale' finished, and EP 'Going Home' set for release in early March 2010, we thought we'd throw a party and get Catherine and Vo to play tracks from the album and of course their new EP, which also includes an extraordinary cover of Fleet Foxes’ 2009 classic, ‘White Winter Hymnal’.

We also decided it would be a great idea to get the wonderfully hip Circulus - described by NME as '...Britain's leading nine-piece medieval prog/folk/space/rock ensemble' - to play as well. We also thought we would make it free...and on a Friday night too.

Playing vinyl on the night will be Acid Jazz founder and Paul Weller’s tour deejay, Eddie Piller, along with John Coleman and Richard Searle.

March 15, 2010 brings the new album Chocolate Paper Suites and a tour of the UK. Krista is about to undertake dates in the U.S. A., UK, Holland and Beyond!

We are really pleased to see Krista back with us for promotion. Our company were without her for a while through no fault of either party. Often outside influences are beyond your control in the music business - but hey, we ride above them. We were thrilled to introduce her music to the UK now we continue where we left off. I cannot recommend the work of this lady highly enough; she is a real talent. See Tour Dates

Po'Girl are returning to Europe during May and June 2010 for selected shows at venues and festivals. The band will be touring with special guest JT Nero of Chicago supergroup JT and the Clouds. 

Po'Girl have become one of the most successful bands ever to emerge from Canada, weaving a blend of musical influences, sweetness, grit & soul. These urban minstrels, now performing as a permanent 4 piece band, pen harmony drenched melodies you'll find yourself humming, wowing audiences across the globe with their powerful, passionate and spirited live shows. Having emerged from the same wave of energy that thrust their sister Canadian groups The Be Good Tanyas and The Wailin' Jennys into the international spotlight Po'Girl have invented a new territory that is all their own and have critically outgrown comparisons with other bands. This is stunning, revolutionary roots music for the 21st century.

It started out with a trip to ‘Hanks Guitar Shop’ in Denmark St, London to buy strings and there it was, in the back room with all the posh guitars - you can’t just try without asking, a second hand dark green Gibson L4A guitar. Half an hour later it was bought and on its way back to the office making it quite an expensive lunch hour.

It made its debut busking in French Row, St Albans, played through a battery amp and soon became a favourite instrument because of its easy action and the sweet sound you get from a Gibson that sets it apart from typical dreadnaught style flat top guitars. I understand that this model has been discontinued by Gibson, which makes it all the more special for me. Hence the title of my new album "My Green Guitar."

The album was conceived after noting comments received while busking about how nice it was hearing just instrumentals played simply on solo guitar, things like Cavatina and The Entertainer as well as my own tunes like Chasing Cuckoos. 

See New Releases + Tour Dates + Artist Roster

   Pic. Eric Bogle & Joe Giltrap

Following their recent concert at the Newcastle Irish Centre, Eric Bogle and Joe Giltrap pose for one last picture. Eric has recently announced his retirement from international touring. According to Eric his current tour of the UK and Ireland will be his last...."My decision to retire from international touring is irrevocable, final, and ......probably."

Joe says -- “My earliest memory of an Eric Bogle song was hearing Liam Clancy singing ‘Now I’m Easy’ or ‘The Cocky Farmer’ as it is also known. I actually recorded this song myself in 1979. It was on a long deleted EP called ‘Joe Giltrap & Zozimus’. I also recorded ‘The Band Played Waltzing Matilda’ with Irish Mist in 1982. It was on our ‘Second Time Round’ album, now also long deleted. 

Eric played The Weavers for me in 1997. It was a fantastic ‘Sold Out’ gig and I sat watching from a prime spot on the pretext of being vital to the sound when in fact I should have been working on the door. 
 
However, I am sure if Eric remembers it then it is for a different reason. It was a horrible wet London night, pouring rain, and some kids had thrown bricks onto the dressing room roof that day causing it to leak and it got progressively worse as the night went on. I remember Eric saying that it was good of me to arrange shower facilities before, during and after the gig. 

I always include an Eric Bogle song in my set and get requests all the time for ‘The Cocky Farmer’ and ‘The Green Fields of France’. Songwriters are my heroes and Eric Bogle is a genius.  It was a real honour to be asked to do a set on his show at the Tyneside Irish Centre.

You can read more about Eric's intentions by visiting his blog at http://www.ericbogle.net

Joe Giltrap http://www.joegiltrap.com/

Joe Giltrap & Irish Mist http://www.joegiltrap.com/irishmist.html

Chris Flegg recently popped into the studios of BBC Cambridge to play live and have a chat with Sue Marchant. Sue’s show is broadcast each weekday evening from the studios of BBC Cambridge and reaches an audience across the BBC Eastern Region taking in BBC Cambridge, BBC Northampton, BBC Three Counties, BBC Norfolk & BBC Suffolk 

Chris is based in St Albans and performs all over the region so many of his loyal following tuned in to hear Sue chatting with Chris accompanied by some excellent guitar playing. To find out more about Sue's show, click on, The Sue Marchant Show 

                                                                                      http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/livemusicevents/#detail   

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to stop criminalising live music with the Licensing Act, and to support amendments backed by the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, and the music industry, which would exempt most small-scale performances in schools, hospitals, restaurants and licensed premises. More details Submitted by Phil Little of Live Music Forum – Deadline to sign up by: 27 July 2010 –  

Will the British Government ever stop trying to destroy the arts and in particular the music business.

Last month's gigs were all enjoyable, and the trip to Belfast was very educational. I've not been there since the 70s, and there's been a huge change; Belfast's a very lively city, and although the peace is fragile, it is there.

Other than that, there's been a lot of administrating. Steve Keirl, my Australian agent has had most of the work to do on the Australian visa; it's frustrating to have to go through so much work when we all have much better things to be getting on with. I'm now stapling large numbers of books together ready to ship out there. I've also been spending time, since Christmas, trying to get some home help for my mother, who's reached the age where she needs it but doesn't necessarily want it.

We've more or less completed the line-up for Tegeingl on August 20-22 and it looks very interesting; have a look at www.tegeingl.com if you fancy a weekend in North East Wales.

If there's time, I'd like to write a few things for the literary competitions in the National Eisteddfod; I've done some things for the learners' competitions, but it's time I moved on, and the entries need to be in by the time I fly out to Australia; but more important things have been getting in the way lately. Les 

See Tour Dates to see what i'm up to.