Cellar Upstairs folk club
Traditional music and song
in central London
Monday evenings at 8pm
Venue:
The club meets in the Alpaca,
84-86 Essex Road, N1 8LU (020 3417 7224). Nearest underground: Angel; nearest railway station: Essex Road; various buses
Access: The club is in an upstairs room.
Entrance: Pay on the door (cash only), no need to book. Members: £8, non-members: £10, except on nights marked *, when it will be £9 and £11 respectively.
Membership: £4 for the year (from September)
Access: The club is in an upstairs room.
Entrance: Pay on the door (cash only), no need to book. Members: £8, non-members: £10, except on nights marked *, when it will be £9 and £11 respectively.
Membership: £4 for the year (from September)
Information:
E-mail cellarupstairs@aol.com or phone the organiser on 020 7281 7700
Resident performers:
Peta Webb & Ken Hall, Amanda MacLean, Frankie Cleeve, Dave East & Doreen Leighter, Alison Frosdick
Floor-performers are always welcome.
Programme from October
to December 2025
20 Oct: Tim Laycock
& Alastair Braidwood
present To Yollow Autumn Turn'd: Tim and Alastair perform a programme of words and music based on autumn and its traditions, pertaining to Dorset and surrounding areas. This includes close-harmony unaccompanied singing, toe-tapping traditional folk tunes and stories and poems from Dorset’s own Thomas Hardy and William Barnes.
27 Oct: Daisybell
are a folk trio singing and playing original and traditional material with a strong emphasis on harmonies and fun. Katherine Fear, Anya Fay and Charlie Adams perform original songs, traditional arrangements and occasional quirky covers, all arranged for three voices and myriad instruments. All three have also been part of Katherine’s much talked-about folk musical, The Undoing of Polly Button, which has been performed at a number of theatres as well as at Sidmouth, Warwick and Lichfield folk festivals.
3 Nov: Si Barron
is a folk singer and songwriter based in Devon. He has a deep relationship with English traditional music and a gift for turning time-honoured melodies into foot-tapping anthems. With his rich voice and intense, driving guitar sound, which can switch from fast and boisterous to measured and moving, Si communicates an infectious love of English music through his exciting renditions of the tradition; he was formerly half of the duo Barron Brady.
10 Nov: Bal de Bourdon
is a London-based band performing music from France, the Channel Islands and Cornwall, with a penchant for songs rich in melody, harmony and drama. Their repertoire includes traditional music from Brittany and other French regions, and some rare and little-known songs from Cornwall and the Channel Islands, all sung in the original languages but with engaging new arrangements and rich vocal harmonies.
17 Nov: Robb Johnson
is widely recognised as one of the UK’s finest songwriters – “An English original” (Robin Denselow, Guardian), “a national treasure” (Mike Harding), “one of this country’s most important songwriters (no argument!)” (fROOTS). He enjoys playing pubs, clubs, the occasional festival, art centres, benefits and picket lines. Before Brexit he toured regularly in Europe, and he has also visited the USA a couple of times.
24 Nov: Pete Cooper
(GUEST CHANGE): At the forefront of the British folk scene for more than 40 years, Pete plays, teaches, composes, records and writes about fiddle music of many styles and is the director of the London Fiddle School. He is also a fine singer. He performs with Shirley Collins, as a member of Rattle on the Stovepipe and with Richard Bolton, and is the best-selling author of The Complete Irish Fiddle Player
(Mel Bay Publications) as well as five acclaimed tune collections for Schott Music.
1 Dec:
Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne: Also known for his work with energetic folk trio Granny’s Attic, Cohen is a singer and instrumentalist with a love of English music. He plays melodeons and anglo concertina and is a powerful singer with a string of awards and nominations. His rich voice soars through a range of historical ballads, industrial songs and shanties, with a particular penchant for material from the West Midlands, where he’s lived for much of his life. Expect traditional English folk songs and tunes along with a few original numbers.
then closed until 5 January
2026
5 Jan: James Findlay
comes from a family of folk singers, and his enthusiasm lies firmly within the English tradition. He is particularly passionate about songs from his home counties, Dorset, Somerset and Devon. He has an extensive repertoire and love for song, and this really shows in his knowledge and understanding of the material. Since winning the BBC Young Folk Award when he was 20, he’s been nominated for a number of awards, made several albums and worked as an actor and singer. On first hearing him, Jon Boden said, “Bloody hell, what a voice!” and “He’s warmly charismatic with that sparkle of personality that draws a crowd along with him.”
12 Jan: Sarah Matthews & Doug Eunson are an excellent younger duo from Derbyshire, who draw on some of the finest English folk song repertoire and sing in glorious harmony. They also play English and European dance music in beautiful, flowing instrumental tune sets, on melodeon, hurdy-gurdy, fiddle and viola.
19 Jan: Liz Simcock is one of the country’s finest female singer-songwriters. Her beautifully crafted songs – often autobiographical and highly personal – are immediately accessible to audiences and injected with poetry, emotion and splashes of humour. She counts Richard Thompson, Clive Gregson, Boo Hewerdine and Joni Mitchell among her songwriting influences.
26 Jan: Annie Winter & Paul Downes: Paul is a fine guitarist who has been in several bands, groups and duos, and made three solo albums. Annie, from Sussex, loves traditional songs, and sings them beautifully.
2 Feb: Scott Gardiner is one of Scotland’s great traditional singers, and has been performing at concerts and festivals across the country since his schooldays. Brought up on a farm in historic Forfarshire, he is best known for singing the bothy ballads and songs of north-east Scotland, but he also has a wide range of serious and comic material, including songs from elsewhere, some of them more modern. Career highlights include representing Scotland at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in the USA; winning the Bothy Ballad World Championship in Elgin; and three nominations for Scots Singer of the Year at the BBC ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards.
9 Feb: David Campbell: Son of Ian Campbell, grandson of singers Dave and Betty Campbell, David Campbell is the only member of Birmingham´s most celebrated singing family still active in traditional music. He is known primarily as an unaccompanied singer, but also accompanies himself on banjo or ukulele. He has avoided the family repertory, as it tends to be Scottish, and he isn't. Instead, he sings whatever he fancies, his sources ranging from Joseph Taylor and Harry Cox to Bert Lloyd and Steve Tilston; from Alfred Reed and Cliff Carlisle to E.Y.Harburg and Steve Earle.
16 Feb: Belinda Kempster and Fran Foote are a mother and daughter from Essex, sharing songs and singing together. Belinda began singing traditional songs in the ’60s and has always preferred English country songs. Fran grew up immersed in the local folk scene, learning songs from her parents from a very early age. Their family has a history of farming and working on the land, and these songs come from the work and recreation of that way of life. Belinda’s “Uncle” Ernie Austin, an agricultural engineer, was recorded by Topic and appeared on the album Flash Company in 1974.
23 Feb: Peter & Barbara Snape have a well-deserved reputation for researching varied and interesting songs and performing them with commitment, passion and enjoyment. Their songs, mainly from the north-west of England with melodeon accompaniment, are infectious. You’ll be immersed in the stories behind the songs from this deservedly popular duo, who are entertaining and convivial company.
2 March: Rattle on the Stovepipe is probably Britain’s best old-time band playing old American songs and tunes, but Dave Arthur, Pete Cooper and Dan Stewart also perform British songs and tunes, on banjo, guitar, melodeon and mandolin, with harmonies. Shirley Collins says, “This engaging trio inspires in me the same devotion that old Virginia musicians like Wade Ward and Uncle Charlie Higgins do. There is that same sweetness, ease, subtlety and good humour, every song and tune so well understood, so deftly played and so perfectly paced.”
9 March: Rumpled Muslin are Scottish singer Amanda MacLean, known for her haunting ballads and wry Glaswegian humour; Alison Frosdick, traditional a-capella singer and previous member of the folk duo Alison & Jack; and Wendy Lanchin, whose background includes not just folk but theatre, jazz and blues. Together they sing a wide-ranging repertoire of trad and more contemporary pieces in close harmony.
16 March: Rosie Stewart is a renowned and popular singer from County Fermanagh with a great repertoire of serious and funny songs. She has won various awards, including TV station TG4’s singer of the year, and has sung all over Europe, in Canada and the US, and for two presidents of Ireland. When younger, she and her siblings performed as the McKeaney Sisters, inspired by Irish traditional lyrics they’d learnt from their father.
23 March: Bird in the Belly are a Brighton-based folk group consisting of folk-duo Hickory Signals (Laura Ward and Adam Ronchetti), alt-folk singer-songwriter Ben Webb (Jinnwoo, Green Ribbons), and multi-instrumentalist and producer Tom Pryor. Together they have collected little-known and forgotten lyrics, poems and stories from around the UK, and set them to “hypnotically original compositions” (fRoots). Their sound is raw and bare-boned with “distinctively contemporary and earthy vocalising” (R2 Magazine) – and harks back to the 1960s folk revival sound. Their debut album, The Crowing, was met with critical acclaim across the board from fRoots, R2, Songlines, Louder Than War, Northern Sky and Folk Radio UK, and the Sunday Express gave it 5/5 and called it the folk album of the year.
12 Jan: Sarah Matthews & Doug Eunson are an excellent younger duo from Derbyshire, who draw on some of the finest English folk song repertoire and sing in glorious harmony. They also play English and European dance music in beautiful, flowing instrumental tune sets, on melodeon, hurdy-gurdy, fiddle and viola.
19 Jan: Liz Simcock is one of the country’s finest female singer-songwriters. Her beautifully crafted songs – often autobiographical and highly personal – are immediately accessible to audiences and injected with poetry, emotion and splashes of humour. She counts Richard Thompson, Clive Gregson, Boo Hewerdine and Joni Mitchell among her songwriting influences.
26 Jan: Annie Winter & Paul Downes: Paul is a fine guitarist who has been in several bands, groups and duos, and made three solo albums. Annie, from Sussex, loves traditional songs, and sings them beautifully.
2 Feb: Scott Gardiner is one of Scotland’s great traditional singers, and has been performing at concerts and festivals across the country since his schooldays. Brought up on a farm in historic Forfarshire, he is best known for singing the bothy ballads and songs of north-east Scotland, but he also has a wide range of serious and comic material, including songs from elsewhere, some of them more modern. Career highlights include representing Scotland at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in the USA; winning the Bothy Ballad World Championship in Elgin; and three nominations for Scots Singer of the Year at the BBC ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards.
9 Feb: David Campbell: Son of Ian Campbell, grandson of singers Dave and Betty Campbell, David Campbell is the only member of Birmingham´s most celebrated singing family still active in traditional music. He is known primarily as an unaccompanied singer, but also accompanies himself on banjo or ukulele. He has avoided the family repertory, as it tends to be Scottish, and he isn't. Instead, he sings whatever he fancies, his sources ranging from Joseph Taylor and Harry Cox to Bert Lloyd and Steve Tilston; from Alfred Reed and Cliff Carlisle to E.Y.Harburg and Steve Earle.
16 Feb: Belinda Kempster and Fran Foote are a mother and daughter from Essex, sharing songs and singing together. Belinda began singing traditional songs in the ’60s and has always preferred English country songs. Fran grew up immersed in the local folk scene, learning songs from her parents from a very early age. Their family has a history of farming and working on the land, and these songs come from the work and recreation of that way of life. Belinda’s “Uncle” Ernie Austin, an agricultural engineer, was recorded by Topic and appeared on the album Flash Company in 1974.
23 Feb: Peter & Barbara Snape have a well-deserved reputation for researching varied and interesting songs and performing them with commitment, passion and enjoyment. Their songs, mainly from the north-west of England with melodeon accompaniment, are infectious. You’ll be immersed in the stories behind the songs from this deservedly popular duo, who are entertaining and convivial company.
2 March: Rattle on the Stovepipe is probably Britain’s best old-time band playing old American songs and tunes, but Dave Arthur, Pete Cooper and Dan Stewart also perform British songs and tunes, on banjo, guitar, melodeon and mandolin, with harmonies. Shirley Collins says, “This engaging trio inspires in me the same devotion that old Virginia musicians like Wade Ward and Uncle Charlie Higgins do. There is that same sweetness, ease, subtlety and good humour, every song and tune so well understood, so deftly played and so perfectly paced.”
9 March: Rumpled Muslin are Scottish singer Amanda MacLean, known for her haunting ballads and wry Glaswegian humour; Alison Frosdick, traditional a-capella singer and previous member of the folk duo Alison & Jack; and Wendy Lanchin, whose background includes not just folk but theatre, jazz and blues. Together they sing a wide-ranging repertoire of trad and more contemporary pieces in close harmony.
16 March: Rosie Stewart is a renowned and popular singer from County Fermanagh with a great repertoire of serious and funny songs. She has won various awards, including TV station TG4’s singer of the year, and has sung all over Europe, in Canada and the US, and for two presidents of Ireland. When younger, she and her siblings performed as the McKeaney Sisters, inspired by Irish traditional lyrics they’d learnt from their father.
23 March: Bird in the Belly are a Brighton-based folk group consisting of folk-duo Hickory Signals (Laura Ward and Adam Ronchetti), alt-folk singer-songwriter Ben Webb (Jinnwoo, Green Ribbons), and multi-instrumentalist and producer Tom Pryor. Together they have collected little-known and forgotten lyrics, poems and stories from around the UK, and set them to “hypnotically original compositions” (fRoots). Their sound is raw and bare-boned with “distinctively contemporary and earthy vocalising” (R2 Magazine) – and harks back to the 1960s folk revival sound. Their debut album, The Crowing, was met with critical acclaim across the board from fRoots, R2, Songlines, Louder Than War, Northern Sky and Folk Radio UK, and the Sunday Express gave it 5/5 and called it the folk album of the year.
30 March & 6 April: closed for Easter
