Bill Whaley, Dave Fletcher & John Conolly in Concert

Bill Whaley & Dave Fletcher

John Conolly

John Conolly

John Conolly is a Lincolnshire lad who writes songs which have taken him all over the world – his “Greatest Hit” FIDDLERS’  GREEN  has been recorded by artistes as diverse as The Dubliners, Barbara Dickson and George Hamilton IV.

   He has been commissioned to write songs for radio, TV and the Theatre, and was recently seen in a BBC TV film called “Made in England”, which featured John singing and playing his squeezebox on a fishing boat out in the Humber .

    Although he has just released a CD called “Grumpy Old Men of Old England”, John really loves to write songs which make people laugh, and he always tries to send an audience home cheerful, chuckling, and whistling his catchy tunes !

Bill Whaley & Dave Fletcher

Mostly reeds, mostly choruses, mostly traditional-ish

 Bill and Dave have been singing together as a duo for over twenty-five years, much of that time in their native Lincolnshire . Since finding the A1 and realizing that a passport was not required they have appeared at clubs and festivals from South Shields to Southampton and are in danger of becoming an overnight success.

 Their voices, described by Harvey Andrews, as two of the best in folk music, blend perfectly and the pleasure they get from singing and sharing with an audience is obvious. Their selection of songs encompasses both ancient and modern, accompanied in traditional style mainly by Bill’s English or Duet concertinas.

  They have been involved with Martyn Wyndham-Read’s Songlinks project, appearing in the concerts and on both of the albums.

 Their own fifth album, “acorn to oak”, has  just been RELEASEd (WITH TIME OFF FOR GOOD BEHAVIOUR)

catch them while they’re still alive!

www.whaleyfletcher.co.uk

 ENCOUNTERING BILL AND DAVE IN LIVE PERFORMANCE, YOU COULD IMAGINE NO BETTER ADVERTISEMENT FOR THE CLASSIC FOLK CLUB EXPERIENCE                                                 

                                      DAVE KIDMAN, FOLK ROUNDABOUT

  “(THEY) … REPRESENT ALL THAT IS SO SPECIAL ABOUT FOLK MUSIC”           MARTYN WYNDHAM-READ

“ – NAMES THAT BRING A LIGHT OF JOY TO THE EYES OF OTHER SINGERS AND FOLK CLUB ORGANISERS WHENEVER THEIR NAMES ARE MENTIONED”….

                                          NICK CAFFREY, LIVING TRADITION

  “…….SUCH A WONDERFUL SOUND………..THEY GAVE US A GREAT NIGHT ONE OF THE BEST I HAVE EVER HAD AT THE CLUB”…                            SOUTH SHIELDS FOLK CLUB

 “FEW PEOPLE LOOK MORE COMFORTABLE IN FRONT OF AN AUDIENCE THAN BILL & DAVE. THEIR NATURAL EMPATHY, MUSICAL SAVVY AND A TOTAL ABSENCE OF EGO IS A REFRESHING FLASHBACK TO WHY I WAS DRAWN TO FOLK MUSIC IN THE FIRST INSTANCE

         CLIVE POWNCEBY, BOTHY FOLK CLUB, SOUTHPORT

“…..TWO OF THE BEST VOICES IN FOLK MUSIC…”   

                                                                      HARVEY ANDREWS

 WORDS DO NOT DO THEM  JUSTICE; THEIR SOUND, THEIR PRESENTATION, THEIR OBVIOUS LOVE OF THE SONGS AND THE PURE JOY OF SINGING THEM IS THE VERY BEDROCK OF OUR FOLK TRADITION. THEIR SOFT WRY HUMOUR AND COMPLETE LACK OF EGO, COUPLED WITH OUSTANDING MUSICIANSHIP, MAKES THEM AN ACT NEVER TO BE MISSED. A TRULY MAGNIFICENT EVENING.

                                                      CHICHESTER FOLK SONG CLUB

A TRULY WONDERFUL PAIR WHOSE HARMONIES ARE A JOY, THEIR PLAYING SUPERB, THEIR CHAT BRILLIANT            DO WE LIKE THEM?   YOU BET WE DO AND SO DOES EVERYONE           WHO LISTENS TO THEM.

REDBOURN FOLK CLUB, HERTS