As the Liverpool-bred, Newcastle-based singer-songwriter Kathryn Williams enters the new millennium with the release of her eighth studio album ‘The Quickening’ plenty has changed in the years since she released her first record, 1999’s Dog Leap Stairs, recorded for a large two-figure sum (eighty quid). She’s not only busier than ever, with several wildly varied projects in the pipeline, she seems at ease with a career “Highs have included an unexpected Mercury prize nomination for her self-released second album Little Black Numbers in 2000. She ended up with a major label deal and a national profile for the first time. She was literally thrust into the limelight, She also added backing vocals to John Martyn’s album Glasgow Walker and played solo at the Albert Hall. She was especially touched by her reception at this year’s Big Chill festival. 2008’s acclaimed collaboration with Neill MacColl, son of Ewan, rightly raised her profile again. Defying categorisation, it switched between styles so comfortably it sounded like the work of old hands, rather than a couple who only met when they shared a bill.

Kathryn Williams

Lucy Wainwright Roche grew up in Greenwich Village, New York City. She is the daughter of 2 acclaimed musicians, Loudon Wainwright III and Suzy Roche (The Roches), & sister of Rufus & Martha Wainwright. Her childhood was often spent living out of a suitcase.on the road, with her parents. After singing backup to her brother Rufus , she decided to take the plunge & explore her life long relationship to songwriting. Described by the New York Times as having the best qualities of both her parents and a voice “clear as a bell”,. She is alarmingly straightforward and unadorned.” "Sincere and raw, at times recalling Joni Mitchell and Patty Griffin, Roche's bittersweet voice leaps out; she paints an indelible image..." NPR Lucy W

From Manitoba, Winnipeg Canada, Alana Levandoski has toured widely supporting Dar Williams, Bruce Cockburn, and Tanya Tucker etc. Her new album was recorded with famed Liverpool producer Ken Nelson (Coldplay, Paulo Nutini) Hailed as "the best new artist I've heard come along since Mindy Smith" - Maverick Magazine, and "the 'it girl' of Canadian roots music this year" - CBC, like Lucy this will be Alana’s second visit here.

Britain's reggae maestro Dennis Bovell is producer, composer, re-mixer, bandleader - and the heaviest bassist in town, pumping out the deepest of body-shaking dub grooves. From the days of his seminal band Matumbi and the radical days of punk, Dennis continues to be a massive presence - he's worked with the likes of Marvin Gaye, Fela Kuti, The Slits and Linton Kwesi Johnson - and live, the Dub Band's rock-solid horns and rhythm section never fail to move and groove.

'Dennis Bovell's contributions to reggae are huge - he was one of the original architects of lover's rock, a movement that put British reggae on the world map.' The Independent

Cancelled

We are delighted with this one as It features one of the most exciting new bands from Asheville, North Carolina, Woody Pines
Woody Pines music is rich in character and redolent of place, namely rural, real America. A goodtime earthy southern roots sound with Woody Pines - National Guitar, banjo, harmonica, kazoo. Zack Pozebanchuk - Upright Bass & Nathan Taylor - stripped down drums. “A delightful group with a rock solid sexy old time vaudeville hill-billy groove" – High Country Press
“Woody’s an “old soul and natural performer playing like an all-state champ who took to hopping trains and frequenting speakeasies". The Carolina Express

woodypines

Direct from Canada, the worlds greatest Afro funk band, and a must for all fans of James Brown and all things funky.

Soul Jazz Orc

The amazing Ohio born American singer/songwriter Miss Kim Richey returns to Cluny2 after playing one of JHot Club’s “hottest” shows of 2009. Her music is not easily categorized as she’s had hits on both the country and pop charts. She has also had significant success as a songwriter for others. Ryan Adams “Come Pick Me Up” from “Heartbreaker”, Trisha Yearwood, Chuck Prophet, Radney Foster & Kathy Mattea have all covered her tunes.
She will be touring with a long awaited new album. Her breakout album Rise was hailed as one of the best alt-country albums of the year, & her most recent Chinese Boxes, was praised even higher…“The structure of song and sound, reach a level, few achieve in a lifetime of writing and recording”

Kim Richey
Portland, Oregon based female singer/songwriter Ashleigh Flynn has had recent support tours with Nanci Griffith and Todd Snider, "I haven't been knocked out by a female songwriter like this since I first encountered a young Patty Griffin." High Sierra Review

Ashleigh Flynn

From Boston USA - bar band, the country rockers Sarah Borges and The Broken Singles bring their wild roots roadhouse show to Newcastle for a second time. They really are a great live act
With Borges tough vocals, cutting right across the guitars like a knife, she spends a good bit of time moving about the stage and climbing things, which is one reason why she wears cowboy boots! & Also their real hot musician’s too. Sarah Borges' own songs hold their very own mixed with covers from Smokey Robinson to NRBQ to Lemonheads. They were nominated for newcomer of the year @ AMAs in Nashville Oct 10. “Everyone knows Sarah Borges can flat out bring the sassy rock, and she has all the good parts of Sheryl Crow's sound without the LA pop suckdom” - Paste Sarah Borges

Stephanie Lambring is a great new songstress outta Nashville who has been widely acclaimed....Stephanie Lambring

It doesn’t really get much better than this in acoustic roots music – two of the folk world’s most highly regarded musicians playing on the same bill.
Michael Chapman is without doubt one of our finest and most emotive guitarists and this, coupled with the instantly recognizable voice and his refusal to take the easy, comfortable path, has made him one of the most respected musicians around."

Michael Chapman
A true legend of the British folk scene, Bridget St John has one of those voices, distinctively deep and somewhat melancholic, that once heard is never forgotten. "To be without a hitch" was one of the first two singles released by Dandelion Records, John Peel's label; “Ask Me No Questions” -- was the label's first LP. During this time she played with dozens of top musicians and became close friends with Nick Drake, John Martyn, and a host of others. By the mid 70’s she had become disillusioned with the music industry and left, settling quietly in New York City. She resisted all offers to perform until a couple of years ago when she played at Bush Hall in London.
Chapman's expansive guitar work creates a filmic soundtrack of the American South-west that's as compelling as anything Ry Cooder might muster" Q
"His beautiful folk-blues guitar gives the whole affair a wonderful, faded-at-the-edges feel. As for the voice, think of JJ Cale gargling gravel with a wry undercurrent to leaven the pain." MOJO

bridget st john

New York Quartet The Duke & The King who were seen on Later in November, made No1 on Americana Uk's album of the year chart & were probably my favourite JHot show of 2009 make a eagerly awaited return. Here's their biog

The Duke & The King are a soul-folk-glam ensemble from the sticks of New York founded, produced, and created by Simone Felice and Robert Bird Burke, featuring the sensational Simi Stone and Reverend Loveday, and like any traveling theatre troupe there's bound to be a growing cast of bewitching characters. Named for the traveling Shakespeare hustlers in 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn', these curious band of rebels/rabble have found an unexpected home together, a floating raft adrift on a river of chance, an itinerant church of harmony and sin where its okay to french kiss your cousin and all strays are welcome to come out of the cold and sing along to these songs of love, loss, pathos, and hope. In just a short time since the release of their debut album The Duke & The King have garnered a barrage of international acclaim, earning comparisons to some of pop history's most hallowed acts, from Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young to Smokey Robinson, Fleetwood Mac, Sly & the Family Stone, and Simon & Garfunkel.

There will be two support's on tour wth them

Bill Kirchen is widely known in USA for the trademark big twang guitar riffs that powered the band “Commander Cody”. Their Hot Rod Lincoln” tune, hit the billboard top 10 in 1972. Since the mid 90’s Bill has recorded eight critically acclaimed albums of his own,that have made him one of the musical elder statesmen of today’s Americana music.
He has appeared on record and stage with a who’s who of musical talents Nick Lowe, Doug Sahm, Ralph Stanley, Gene Vincent, Elvis Costello, Emmylou Harris, and fellow six-string hero Link Wray. At the recent Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco, Bill played telecaster guitar with Elvis Costello, who named his band for the event the Hammer of the Honky-Tonk Gods after Bill’s last release. This Grammy nominate singer- guitarist featured as headline at our Americana Fest 2007 @ The Sage & it’s his third J’Hot Club appearance.

Bill Kirchen

Formed in New York over a decade ago, the Hot Club of Cowtown recently headlined our Sage Americana Festival outdoor stage. From a deceptively simple recipe – fiddle, guitar, string bass and three voices – they concoct a deliciously sophisticated sound, stirring up Western swing, gypsy-jazz & bluegrass. The band opened for Bob Dylan in 2004, leading to Elana James (fiddle/vocals) being the selected as the first female to be included in Dylan’s touring band in over 30 years.

Hot Club Cowtown

One of my favorite acts of the last 2 SXSW’s in Austin TX, Langhorne Slim comes over direct from Brooklyn NY to make his Jumpin Hot Club debut, after touring the States with Drive By Truckers …. AND He will easily get the place Hot & jumping with his spirited country folk punk-soul music. With a wild drummer & cool Upright Bassist & also a Banjo maverick in tow, his falsetto vocals & ramshackle acoustic songs tinged with soulful blues will brighten up any Sunday evening in May. “A hell-bent hootenanny” Paste

Langhorne Slim
A two-piece (Gordon Graham and Ben Townsend), Lucky Jim draw on all the obvious references Bob Dylan, Gram Parsons etc & do a neat line in bruised acoustic melancholia mixed nicely with Gordon's prairie-dog growl

Lucky Jim

The perennial visit from J”Hot Club favorite the San Francisco Guitarist, songwriter & rocker Chuck Prophet with his wife, keyboardist Stephanie Finch, and his hometown group The Mission Express. Chuck began his career 2 decades ago with the cult band Green on Red. Since then He’s recorded 10 solo albums & also had collaborations with Alejandro Escovedo, Warren Zevon, Jonathan Richman and Lucinda Williams. Chuck’s Tom Petty drawl, Stones swagger and wry sense of humor with the driving guitars, and even some “shoobie-doo-wop” b’vocals (2010 resolution: “Start smoking again and stop working out) represent the very best in what’s loosely termed American roots rock music.

Chuck Prophet

More to follow

American guitarist/singer-songwriter Neal Casal, played quite a few splendid shows for us a few years back, both solo ( I shall never forget the awesome gig with Kenny Roby@ Live T ) & with his band Hazy Malaze. He’s thankfully returned promoting his 10th studio album ,after 4 years on the road as guitarist in Ryan Adams and the Cardinals

Neal Casal

Texas troubadour Ray Wylie Hubbard mixes country, folk, and blues elements in a repertoire of gritty original songs that include some of the richest literary references and compelling melodies to be found in contemporary acoustic music. Raised in the Oak Cliff neighborhood of Dallas, Ray Wylie was making music from an early age, but ironically enough found initial success with the tongue-in-cheek "Up Against the Wall, Redneck Mothers," made famous by Jerry Jeff Walker. Nonetheless, the singer-songwriter has forged a reputation since then as a crafter of rootsy, intelligent tunes. Live and on recent acclaimed albums like Snake Farm and his new A. Enlightenment B. Endarkenment, Ray reveals a compelling juxtaposition of deep blues and primal grooves with spiritually aware lyrics, as well as a deep inner well of humility and keen humor.

Ray Wylie Hubbard

Sunday 30th May ( 1pm - 10.00pm ) BALLAST FIELD - 3rd Stage

JT Nero & Friends - jtnero

JT Nero is the alter-ego of one Jeremy Lindsay the swivel hipped frontman of the internationally beloved Chicago-based soul marauders, JT and the Clouds. "A superb crooner and an equally powerful soul singer, Lindsay can belt out a lyric or etch it with the delicacy of Venetian glass, whilst evoking Curtis Mayfield one moment and Sly Stone the next." (allmusic)

- John Smith john smith

Praised and encouraged by the legendary John Martyn and taken on tour by folk colossus Davy Graham, John Smith is an ordinary young man with extraordinary abilities – a gift for sharp songwriting and a prodigious guitar-player too.

Dawn Landes - dawn landes

Dawn Landes is from New York via Louisville, Kentucky. In addition to being an audio engineer, and performing as part of Hem, she moonlights as a solo artist. Playing folksy country blue grassy music with an assured manner, Landes is a beguiling mix of Cat Power, Suzanne Vega, Dolly P and Natalie Merchant.

- James Hunter & The Jokers james hunter

“An overnight success that’s taken 20 years...” That’s how James Hunter describes the outpouring of praise and acceptance for his 2006 album, “People Gonna Talk”. Issued on Rounder Records, the Grammy-nominated album was the soul singer/songwriter/guitarist’s first Stateside release after two decades of performing and recording in his native Britain.
James and his skin-tight retro R&B-Soul troupe then performed everywhere from hole-in-the-wall clubs in Austin to the Hollywood Bowl; The mellifluous R&B music, with its affectionate echoes of Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson, became an airplay staple on some of the nation’s most influential radio stations. The Los Angeles Times praised James Hunter’s “extraordinary soul voice”; Their over here recording a new album before they go back to tour USA in June; so don’t miss this rare opportunity to see this amazing Band.

Po Girl -Po Girl

Featuring the gorgeous vocals and multi-instrumental talents of Allison Russell and Awna Teixeira, Po'Girl have become one of the most successful bands ever to emerge from Canada, weaving a blend of musical influences, sweetness, grit & soul. – their are echoes of speakeasy jazz, the western lament, the accordion-strapped ghosts of European folk - but it’s all delivered with a soulful clarity and depth.

- King Creosote King Creosote

In 1995 -Fife based Kenny Anderson, then lead singer/songwriter for two scottish bands launched his own label “fence” with his own solo project King Creosote.15 years later he has released over forty albums, with his latest, Flick the Vs gaining rave reviews. NME said- if anyone could make songs about cross-dressing, kilts, playing cards and nosy neighbours sound cool & quite sublime, it’s the big KC”

The Unthanks -The Unthanks

Not many bands can count amongst their fans, Radiohead, Elvis Costello and Ewan McGregor but The Unthanks occupy a unique place in music. Local Northumbria sisters Rachel and Becky Unthank are unsentimental young storytellers outside of time, forging links between folk worlds old, new and other. Staunch traditionalism and sonic adventure ought to be polar opposites, yet they are easy bedfellows in the gentle hands of The Unthanks; Formerly known as Rachel Unthank & The Winterset, their second album The Bairns (2007) was Mercury Music Prize nominated and in The Best Albums of the Decade (worldwide, all genres) in Uncut and The Guardian. New album Here's The Tender Coming uses a kaleidoscope of unlikely instruments and features in almost every UK poll for Albums of the Year.
"Absolutely exquisite" Paul Morley (Britain's leading music journalist)

Spillers Stage
Paolo Nutini, Calvin Harris,Tinchy Stryder, The Futureheads,Frankie and the Heartstrings, Twenty Twenty, Natalie Findla, Let's Buy Happiness

Baltic Stage
Fake Blood, Benga, Rusko, Scratch Perverts, Beardyman, Filthy Dukes, Doorly, Jaymo & Andy George, Eskimo Twins,People Get Real

Mon 31st May (1pm - 10.00pm ) BALLAST Field - 3rd Stage

Ben Howard -Ben Howard

Ben Howard is a young singer/songwriter from Totnes, South Devon. He is characterized by his odd way of guitar playing. His style is akin to Newton Faulkner & he has toured Europe with Australian songster Xavier Rudd & shared stage with Brett Dennen.

- Danny & The Champions Of World

Danny-Champions

Formerly the front man of classy Americana outfit Grand Drive, Danny George Wilson has turned to Ronald Dahl’s classic children’s story to name his latest group. This alt-country pop collective go by the name “Danny & The Champions Of The World” & their wondrous music’s a dusty, wistful sepia-toned postcard from an imagined past. They seem to slot right in between peak Kerouac, Pat Garrett-era Bob Dylan and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young"

Slow Club -slow club

The Slow Club are the Sheffield based young boy/girl duo. He strums guitar and sings and she plays drums and all sorts of weird instruments, but instead of the usual White Stripes vibe, the effect is rockabilly and somewhat folksy & thankfully their songs are fairly jolly affairs without any teenage angst in sight .

- Smoove & Terrell Smoove & Turrell

After a phenomenal 2009, regularly appearing in session/playlists of Craig Charles, BBC 6 Funk & Soul show, BBC Radio 4 & BBC Radio 2’s Janice Long show & performing at Glastonbury & all over Europe, local 7 piece retro dance band certainly deserve their place here at Evolution Fest 2010
The leader singer John was also picked to be the vocalist for the fantasy Funk band put together by 6 Music to celebrate 75 years of Maida Vale.

Lissie - Lissie

California based young songbird Lissie Maurus has the voice, the songs and the image — freckle-faced barefoot prairie girl transported to an LA canyon in 1972, cooing like an angel and strumming an acoustic guitar — to be huge success. Her first release, Why You Runnin’, pitches her midway between the ethereal spookiness of Jesca Hoop or Neko Case and the commercially copper-bottomed country-rock lilt of Sheryl Crow and solo Stevie Nicks.

- Baskery Baskery

Baskery are Swedish sisters Greta (banjo, tambourine, kick, snare & harmonica, vocals) Stella (Double bass, vocals) and Sunniva Bondesson (guitar, vocals). They describe their music as “high voltage” and use their own expressions like “killbilly”, “banjo punk” and “mud-country”.They’re a great live act & certainly not bound to any genre!

Donovan -Donovan

The legendary folk-rock-pop troubadour Donovan headlines our 2-day stage. His career began in 1965 with the gentle Catch The Wind and Colours and his version of Buffy Sainte Marie’s protest anthem Universal Soldier, before transforming the pop music landscape with a series of enigmatic and wondrous pop masterpieces that continue to be played on radio and television.
 From 1966 through 1969, Donovan scored a string of eleven Top 40 hits in a row, including Mellow Yellow, Sunshine Superman, Hurdy Gurdy, Jennifer Juniper, Epistle To Dippy, There Is A Mountain, Wear Your Love Like Heaven, and Atlantis.  This is Donovan’s final visit to the UK.

Spillers Stage
Enter Shikari, The Horrors, De La Soul, Ellie Goulding, Dananananakroyd, Everything Everything, Egyptian Hip Hop, Minnaars, Cosmo Jarvis, Polarsets

Baltic Stage
Delphic, Hadouken, Example,Frankmusik, I Blame Coco, Ou Est Le Swimming Pool, Lonelady, Mirrors,Retriever