With only 3 months to go before we open the gates, we've still a host of names to announce, and today we can confirm 2 great acts. An old friend in Rory McLeod, and a rising star of American roots music, Jake Blount.
James Blount
Jake Blount (pronounced: blunt) is an award-winning musician and scholar based in Providence, Rhode Island, USA. He's a captivating live performer, talented multi-instrumentalist and powerful, soulful singer. He's playing GTSF as a trio.
“On top of being wildly intelligent and knowledgeable, he's also a killer musician and it's an incredible combo.”
Rhiannon Giddens
He is a rising star of American roots music, and his work shines a light on the major contributions that Black, indigenous and LGBTQ artists have made to American folk traditions.
Jake’s solo debut album Spider Tales and follow-up The New Faith received glowing reviews from Rolling Stone, The Guardian and more, and he was nominated for Artist of the Year at the 2023 International Folk Music Awards. On The New Faith, Jake explores new sounds and tones, incorporating electric guitar and percussion alongside banjo and fiddle. See more here. He's playing on Saturday.
“Blount is a virtuosic multi-instrumentalist... with a hauntingly gorgeous voice and a bottomless, scholarly knowledge of American musical history.”
LA Times
Rory McLeod
Rory McLeod has played Southwell twice before (2010 & 2018) and joins us for Sunday in 2023.
He's a British folk singer-songwriter and his career's included fire eater and circus clown, with performances including storytelling in the tradition of the traveling minstrel or troubadour, and playing a wide range of instruments including guitar, harmonica, trombone and his personally-made stomp box.
"'The charismatic British storytelling troubadour, proved to be very entertaining as he tripped passionately through highly original and distinctive self-penned material. Rory is a confident conversationalist."
Beat Magazine, Melbourne
He's also previous winner of the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards for “Best Live Act”.
"Rory McLeod was another revelation ... He also proved to be a risk-taking performer leaving the Tinely stage during a harmonica piece to walk among the audience, completing the tune without the PA system!" Dirty Linen, Womad Festival, Toronto
See Rory's page here.
There are still some key announcements to make - not least of which are the Sunday evening headline acts which we're getting really excited about now. Watch this space or follow our Facebook feed for all the latest.
Thanks for reading!
See you soon
The GTSF Team