Sadly, we have had to cancel this event due to the outbreak of Covid-19. However, we have rebooked the John Ward Trio to play at the club in January 2022.

Sadly, we have had to cancel this event due to the outbreak of Covid-19. However, we have rebooked Ian Bruce to play at the club in May 2022.

Sadly, we have had to cancel this event due to the outbreak of Covid-19. However, we have rebooked the Gerry Colvin Band to play at the club in April 2022.

Sadly, we have had to cancel this event due to the outbreak of Covid-19. However, we have rebooked Tom Kitching to play at the club in June 2022.

Bill (Belinda) Jones (voice, accordion, piano) is an award-winning English folk singer and songwriter, renowned for her clear, beautiful voice and memorable, catchy songs. Bill returned to the folk scene last year fifteen years after taking a short break, with the release of her new album, Wonderful Fairytale. Bill is returning to Ely Folk Club, 17 years after her last performance here, singing songs from the album and a few old favourites. Based in Sunderland but with roots in Staffordshire and India, Bill grew up playing jigs and reels in her dad's ceilidh band, while singing pop and rock around the house. Her 2000 debut Turn to Me swiftly won Bill a BBC Radio 2 Folk Award, and as Bill's reputation grew, Panchpuran (2001) and Two Year Winter (2003) followed. Through Bill's heavy touring schedule across the UK, USA and Japan, and as a third of the American/Irish/British Faire Winds trio (with Anne Hills and Aoife Clancy) Bill built a reputation as a singer with an unforgettable voice and an entertaining stage presence.Blurb about Bill Jones.

Contemporary folk/acoustic duo Gilmore & Roberts combine award-winning songwriting with astounding musicianship and their trademark harmonies to create a powerful wall of sound. Nominated three times at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, Katriona Gilmore (fiddle, mandolin) and Jamie Roberts (guitar) met while studying at Leeds College of Music and released their debut album in 2008. Since then, the duo have toured Canada and mainland Europe, played some of the UK’s biggest acoustic festivals, toured with folk rock legends Fairport Convention and won countless accolades for their genre-spanning work. Gilmore & Roberts released their fifth studio album, A Problem Of Our Kind, in October 2018.

Steve Tilston is one of our most celebrated songsmiths, widely recognised within the world of folk and contemporary music; the words, arrangements and subtle, quite superb guitar playing could be no one else. Born in Liverpool and raised in the Midlands, Steve made his recording debut in 1971 with the classic An Acoustic Confusion and has been turning out quality albums ever since. The writer of the classic songs The Slipjigs and Reels, Here’s to Tom Paine, The Naked Highwayman and the award-winning The Reckoning, he is also a published author. Steve’s first novel All for Poor Jack is an historical tale set in Bristol and the New World, full of colourful characters.

The John Ward Trio brings together John, Lynne Ward and Les Woodley, whose powerful three-part harmonies blend to give a rich life to John's songs and to the traditional repertoire. Accompanied by guitar, double bass, mandolin, harmonica, whistles and bodhran, and with the familiar, relaxed banter, stories and humour that John has become known for, the Trio delights folk club and festival audiences around the country. John is an East Anglian boy and, when the occasion demands, the Trio love to specialise in John’s East Coast heritage songs and traditional music of the land and the sea.

Folk-pop legend Gerry Colvin must be one of the most endearing and energetic musicians on the planet, just as much at home playing small clubs as he is supporting Status Quo on their Aquostic Live Tour. This multi-talented singer-songwriter performs all his own material, combining catchy melodies with thoughtful lyrics on love, society, angst and Johnny Cash! His be-suited on stage performance combines Frank Sinatra, Lee Evans, and the aforementioned Man in Black. Genius? Madcap? Maverick? Yes, all of these things … and a lot, lot more. A stellar musical CV includes co-writing with Alison Moyet, being a John Peel favourite with his 80s band Terry and Gerry (recently reformed), winning best band (with his band ColvinQuarmby) at Fairport's Cropredy Festival as well as the Hancock Award for best live folk act. A Glastonbury stalwart, he has played several times and also acted as compere on more than one occasion. Gerry will be playing songs from his ninth album 'Back and Forth' as well as favourites from his extensive back catalogue – just expect a great night's entertainment from this extraordinary performer.

It's been 45 years since Glasgow-born Ian emerged from the shy shell of a teenager to get into the hearts of singing fans throughout the folk scene. He played many clubs and festivals between 1980 and 2006. Then he stepped back a bit to become General Manager and part owner of a Michelin Starred restaurant. Since 2016 he's been successfully seeping back into the deserved limelight it seems, and has matured beautifully. In January 2020 he became 64. And yes, Paul McCartney ... we still need him, we're still happy to feed him (compliments). He's the writer of 'Too Far from She', 'Child on the Green, 'Ghost of the Chair', 'Blue Denim Days', etc. All songs covered by many. He's regaled us with memorable versions of many Robert Burns songs. People love what Ian does with Robert Burns' stuff on Linn Records' 'Complete Works of Robert Burns'. Within the British folk scene, many will consider his versions of Graeme Miles' 'My Eldorado' and Julie Gold's 'From a Distance' definitive. He was one of the leads in the Trad Award Winning 'Far, Far from Ypres' and has recently recorded with such luminaries as Barbara Dickson, Jez Lowe, Bob Fox, Jim Mageean, Arthur Johnstone, Artie Trezise, The Sangsters, Sheena Wellington, Alan and Carol Prior, Aleksander Mezek, and Ian and Moe Walker for an eagerly awaited duets CD. He's a loved man. Yes Paul, 'We'd still send him Valentines'!

For 18 months, Tom Kitching busked the length of England, getting to know his own country better. From Carlisle to Cornwall, London to Bolton, and all places between. He found an England quite impossible to neatly define, richly varied, always surprising, full of character and characters, all faithfully recorded in his popular blog. Now turned into a book and an album, this show will include material from both, a trip around England in words and music. 'Tom Kitching is one of the best English fiddlers ever – he plays with fire and gusto, energy, intelligence and feel – takes English folk music by the scruff of the neck and sends it off laughing and dancing and having a good time.' – Mike Harding