The Monster Ceilidh Band, are a five-piece ‘Electro Folk’ outfit from Newcastle. They are no strangers to experimentation, and continue to demonstrate a great talent for producing innovative yet accessible music. They push the boundaries of contemporary folk in all the right directions, never retreating into a pastiche of either drum ‘n’ bass or folk. Their synergy respects both genres, and this results in a sound that is both credible and actually really good fun !?
They are clearly club influenced, yet light enough to still be enjoyable for those who are not natural followers of dance music. Their sound can only be described as “The cool sibling of traditional folk, the one with the band t-shirt and heavy eyeliner!”
This energetic ‘Electro-Folk’ show features the award winning talents of accordionist Amy Thatcher and Teesside violinist Grace Smith. Their powerful and uncompromising style has brought them to the attention of many of the major UK and European Festival, wanting to bring their modern and non-patronising approach to traditional ceilidh music.
D’n’B producer, The Touch, works with electronic experimentalist and Bassist, David de la Haye, to augment the compositions of Amy and Grace, with the help of Octave Mandolin player, Kieran Szifris. The result is a crucible for smelting riffs, massive chord progressions, intense electronics, folk tunes and a wide variety of styles from simply some of the UK’s finest folk musicians.
Summer 2019 saw the band performing at a crop of festivals, including; Bearded Theory, Kendal Calling, Camp Bestival and Boomtown Fair before the pandemic stopped everyone in their tracks. Since then ‘The Monsters’ have spent their ‘Lockdown’ working remotely on new material and are excited to finally be back together in the studio, completing their fourth album, with plans for a UK Tour to in Spring & Summer 2022 to promote it.
In the meantime The ‘Monsters’ have a new Live album ‘Monster Ceilidh Band: Live Sessions’ which will be released this Summer to coincide with their appearance at Purbeck Valley Folk Festival on Sunday 22nd August and they are also working on a new (yet to be named) studio album which is due for release in Spring 2022.
So watch this space …..
They have a few live gigs following the live album release, so catch them if you can ….
Monster Ceilidh Band forthcoming shows:
Sun 22nd August – Purbeck Valley Folk Festival, Dorset
https://www.purbeckvalleyfolkfestival.co.uk/
5th September – Off The Tracks festival, Derbyshire
https://www.offthetracks.co.uk/
24th September – The Slaughtered Lamb, Clerkenwell, London
https://theslaughteredlambpub.com/
25th September – The John Peel Centre, Stowmarket, Suffolk
https://www.johnpeelcentre.com/
28 & 29th January 2022 Burns Night Celebrations, Spanish City, Whitley Bay, Tyneside
17th June 2022 Otley Courthouse, Otley, West Yorkshire
https://otleycourthouse.org.uk/
18th June 2022 The Globe at Hay, Hay on Wye, Herefordshire
For more information please visit: http://monsterceilidhband.co.uk
Or you can take a peak at any of their social media platforms:
@MonsterCB
https://www.facebook.com/monster.ceilidh.band/
@monster.ceilidh.band
https://www.instagram.com/monsterceilidhband/
