Theatre comes to Ropery Hall

Burning Rope are a band born from the ashes of multi award winning blues rock band Catfish following the sad loss of their frontman and guitarist Matt Long to cancer in October.  The other members of the band wanted to continue to play and write together, so have come together as Burning Rope along with superb Gloucestershire based guitarist Alex Voysey and regular dep for Catfish on drums, the excellent Mitch Weaving.  

Nick Harper is a guitar player’s guitar player. Innovative and original, covering the full spectrum of expression from delicate virtuosity to monstrous raw power. A songwriter of great depth from soul-wrenching love songs to venomous raps and rants, peppered with humour and the wordplay of a poet. 

Nick is a mainstay of the British live circuit, with 30 years of constant touring, whilst appearing worldwide from the Royal Albert Hall to Mount Everest. A veteran of the festival show, including multiple appearances at Glastonbury, Beautiful Days and the Ed Fringe. He has an illustrious pedigree and an eventful story up to now, but shows no signs of letting up on his prolific, eclectic output and gripping, emotional live shows.

2024 saw Nick’s 14th studio album, ‘Earth Day Blue’, reach the top 40 of the official record store chart. It was recorded at Abbey Road Studio 2 [The Beatles room] with legendary producer John Leckie at the helm and Grammy winning mix engineer Tchad Blake applying sonic excellence in the mix. Complete with an ensemble of friends providing backing vocals, taught and conducted by Harper in the moment, it is a record with the electricity of immediacy, coupled with a celebratory, inclusive feel.

Namaste Motherf*ckers is the new show from Cally Beaton (QI, Live at the Apollo) – a quick-witted, unexpected and unapologetic insight into life in midlife. Combining Cally’s comedic and storytelling prowess with extracts from her provocative, stereotype-busting book of the same name, the show has at its heart her own story of radical reinvention – taking her from meetings in boardrooms to treading the boards, thanks to a chance conversation with the late, great Joan Rivers. A funny show about a deadly serious subject, Namaste Motherf*ckers is a celebration of and for the female of the species. Invisible no more. The show includes a Q&A and meet-and-greet with Cally (who knows, Jeff the wonder dog may even be there too).

‘Sprightly wit and considerable storytelling prowess’, 4**** The Scotsman

‘Original and clever’, 4**** The Arts Desk – pick of the Edinburgh Fringe

‘Gripping, perceptive and uplifting’, Chortle

‘Exciting and hilarious talent…she’s got it’, Time Out
16+ Strong language

[Photo credit – Natasha Pszenicki]

The musical partnership between the world-renowned Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser and brilliant Californian cellist Natalie Haas spans the full spectrum between intimate chamber music and ecstatic dance energy. For the last 20 years, they have truly set the standard for fiddle and cello in traditional music – and continue to thrill audiences at festivals and concert tours internationally with their virtuosic playing, a near-telepathic understanding and the joyful spontaneity and sheer physical presence of their music.

A 2011 inductee into the Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame, Fraser has a concert and recording career spanning more than 30 years, with a long list of awards, accolades, radio and television credits, and feature performances on top movie soundtracks. Haas, a graduate of the Juilliard School of Music, is one of the most sought-after cellists in traditional music today and has performed and recorded with a who’s who of the fiddle world. Together, the duo blend a profound understanding of Scottish tradition with cutting-edge string explorations, and, in addition to performing, they both have motivated generations of string players through their teaching at fiddle camps across the globe.

Dan started his career with folk rock band ‘Ocean Colour Scene’ and toured the world, played headline slots at major festivals for over a decade and co-founded the band Merrymouth with Simon Fowler. Merrymouth featured award-winning musicians, John McCusker, Andy Cutting and even a guest appearance from Chas Hodges (Chas and Dave).

Dan also re-formed the legendary Music Hall double act ‘Cosmotheka’ with his father Dave who were huge on the folk scene throughout the 80’s and 90’s until Dan’s uncle, ‘Al’ sadly passed away. Cosmotheka toured the world with Chas and Dave, had several of their own Radio Two programmes and made multiple TV appearances. Dan and father, Dave (one half of the original duo) decided to take the band back out on the road and had great fun headlining Folk Festivals in Bromyard, Whitby, Towersey, Sidmouth, Broadstairs and Upton to name but a few.

Dan now takes his own show on the road, featuring music from all the bands he’s played in, along with the often-hilarious stories he’s amassed along the way – plus material from his forthcoming album.

 “A particular highlight of this year’s festival was the excellent and amusing Dan Sealey” – Beardy Folk Festival

“The highlight of the entire week!” – Broadstairs Folk Week Attendees

“If you ever need a masterclass in songwriting, Dan Sealey is a good place to start. Oozing class on record and live, Dan wraps his reflections on the passing of time in beautiful, lilting musical constructions that work perfectly alongside his silky, easy on the ear vocals.” Glastonbury Emerging Talent Competition

Snake is one of the most in-demand rock soul and jazz sax players in the world, widely known for his solos on tracks such as Lisa Stansfield’s “Change”, M-People’s “Search For A Hero” and “Moving On Up” and Take That “A Million Love Songs”. He has played and recorded with artists ranging from James Brown to Tina Turner to Paul McCartney, The Eurythmics to Amy Winehouse. 

With his catchy sax riffs on Klingande’s ‘Jubel’ and Faul’s ‘Changes’ he helped launch careers for many players in the ‘Sax/DJ’ field.

As a session player to the stars he plays arenas and stadiums, but his greatest love is to play intimate venues as himself. Playing the saxophone family as well as flutes, whistles and the ancient Japanese wind instrument, the Shakuhachi, and vocals, it is his total passion and commitment to sound, to every single note, that draws people in. Ropery Hall is the ‘hometown gig’, a very favourite venue. It’s a couple of years since the Snake Davis Band were here though. Guitar, drums, bass guitar and a sensational boundary-blurring mix including Soul, Northern Soul, Jazz, R+B, Ambient and classy pop.

www.snakedavis.rocks

“A virtuoso saxophonist” DAILY TELEGRAPH

“Snake Davis has one of the most passionate sax styles and simple bluesy approaches a-la-Sanborn heard in these isles for a while”  TIME OUT

“Snake is a joy to work alongside.  His musical skills have no limit, in fact he is as free as a bird”  DAVE STEWART (Eurythmics)

“Snake has been friend and inspiration for many years because of his exceptional talent, dedication and sheer joy of making music. Long may it continue.”  HEATHER SMALL

“He doesn’t mess about” THE GUARDIAN