Steeleye Span

20.30 - 21.55

Steeleye Span has been one of the most influential names in British roots music. Pioneers of folk-rock, Steeleye Span changed the face of folk music forever, taking it out of small clubs and into the world of gold discs and international tours. Members have come and gone over the years, but Steeleye has always remained at the forefront of the genre they helped to define, and, 49 years later the band has become an institution in British music.

Steeleye Span formed in 1969, with the vision of playing folk music in a contemporary, electric band format. Taking their name from the song Horkstow Grange, their debut album Hark! The Village Wait is a pioneering album that set out the blueprint for folk-rock.

Our Festival in 2014 saw Steeleye Span emerging on another new exciting chapter. With the departure of fiddle player and long standing member Peter Knight we saw the arrival of Jessie May Smart to take his place. Jessie is a young, vibrant talent who trained with Richard Ireland at Trinity College of Music before going onto The University of Nottingham and who’s CV includes working on The X Factor and with Katie Melua.

With their fiftieth anniversary fast approaching and a work rate to put many younger artists to shame, the band’s eighth album in twelve years, "Dodgy Bastards" saw them return to the folk tales and characters that have always been at the heart of the Steeleye sound with a record that saw the folk rock pioneers continue to drawing stories of murder, religion, incest, skulls, honour killings and tormented spirits to once more create an inspired and dark take on the music of the British Isles. Along with Maddie Prior, Liam Genockey, Julian Littman, Jesse May Smart, Andrew"Spud" Sinclair, they have moved to a new seven piece line up, with Roger Carey joining on bass and Benji Kirkpatrick - whose father John enjoyed two successful stints in the band and played on many of their classic albums - adding bouzouki, acoustic guitar and vocals.

With the future of this famous band in such capable hands, we will see them breathe life into a selection of famous songs, revisit hidden gems from their long career and perform tracks from the new album.

When you come to a Steeleye Span show you can expect to hear many of the familiar classics next to gems both old and new, all delivered with a burning passion and unrivalled experience.

Steeleye Span announce new compilation album The Green Man Collection, with new original songs (featuring Status Quo's Francis Rossi)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1sZ283jbh0

1 Green Man 2023

2 Hard Times of Old England (feat. Francis Rossi)

3 Hey Nonny Violence

4 Ship Building

5 Jack Hall

6 New York Girls

7 Old Matron (feat. Ian Anderson)

8 Dodgy Bastards

9 The Gardner

10 Cruel Brother

11 Harvest

12 January Man

13 Green Man from around the 1980s

14 Edward (Live)

15 Sir James The Rose (Live)

The Green Man Collection brings together tracks from their recent albums with new versions of three Steeleye classics (including a reworking of ‘Hard Times’ featuring Status Quo’s Francis Rossi) and a cover of Elvis Costello’s ‘Shipbuilding’.

The title track is of special interest to Steeleye fans, a song by Bob Johnson - who was a member of the band throughout the early years and responsible for many of their classic ballads from that era. Previously lost for 40 years, the song addressed the issue of climate change long before it became such a widespread topic.

The Green Man Collection will be available to purchase online from Friday 1st December,

but available to buy in advance on the road at the tour dates.

Website: https://steeleyespan.org.uk/