Magpie Lane
Founded in 1994, Magpie Lane have established a reputation for performing traditional English music and song, mixing powerful vocals with vigorous dance tunes and inventive arrangements on acoustic instruments. The band appear regularly at top national festivals - including Sidmouth, Towersey and Chippenham - and have recorded six CDs on the Beautiful Jo label:

Current line-up:
Ian Giles - vocals, hurdy-gurdy, percussion
Mat Green - fiddle, vocals
Marguerite Hutchinson - vocals, whistle, recorder, flute
Benji Kirkpatrick - vocals, bouzouki, guitar
Sophie Polhill - vocals, cello
Andy Turner - vocals, anglo-concertin

'If there were a pub session in heaven, it would sound like this.'
Sing Out! (USA)

'I sometimes wonder what a foreigner's (even your average Englishman's) idea is of English music. I think if Magpie Lane travelled as ambassadors of our music and song they really couldn't be bettered for a lively interpretation which respects the tradition.'
Rod Harrington, Radio Somerset Sound

'Well performed and programmed and accessible without compromising what made the music special in the first place.'
Nick Beale, fROOTS

'Should a Guatemalan musicologist stop you in the street in the next few days and ask you to define the essence of English Folk Music, save yourself a great deal of breath, keep your mouth firmly closed and just give him this album by Magpie Lane'
Jon Sims, Folk on Tap

Albums on the Beautiful Jo label

	Also The Oxford Ramble Speed the Plough Wassail! Jack-in-the-Green A Taste of Ale
NEW ALBUM JUST OUT Six for Gold