Country Music at Oxfordshire’s 2018 Towersey Festival
With the recent fantastic weather I have at last started to look forward to music festival season and in particular my local one, Towersey , which is very conveniently held just a 15 minute drive for me at Thame Showground, Oxfordshire. Dating back to 1965 and taking place over the August Bank Holiday weekend (Fri 24th-Mon 27th this year) I can speak from experience when I say that this is one of the most efficiently run and enjoyable festivals I have been to in past years, big enough to offer music to cater for most tastes and a good variety of stalls and activities for all ages, but not too big to be overwhelming.
Country music (in its various guises!) is well represented this year, and in particular female country artists which of course make all of us here at Belles and Gals very happy!
Headlining and closing the festival on Bank Holiday Monday are The Shires, who obviously need no introduction here! They have just begun their most extensive UK tour to date to promote their fantastic new album “Accidentally On Purpose” (our review here http://www.bellesandgals.com/2018/04/24/the-shires-accidentally-on-purpose-in-the-round-review/) and this appearance will be a great chance to catch the duo in a slightly more relaxed setting where there’s bound to be a party atmosphere! I for one can’t wait to have a dance to “Guilty”, the perfect Summer anthem!
Also playing on the main stage (Venue 65) are Wildwood Kin, an all girl trio from the same family hailing from Devon who have garnered quite a following lately. High profile appearances include playing sets at both Glastonbury and Radio 2 Live in Hyde Park last Summer, and earlier this year they were selected to play live on the Old Grey Whistle Test’s 30th Anniversary Show. Currently in Nashville writing and playing a few gigs (their debut album “ Turning Tides” is out now) these multi-instrumentalists are definitely on my list to check out at Towersey on the Friday, their harmonies in particular are definitely something that are a big draw for me! https://www.wildwoodkin.com
New names to me, Bella Gaffney and Polly Bolton (both artists in their own right) teamed up last Autumn and will be appearing together at this festival on both the Saturdays and Sunday on the more intimate Big Club stage. They are described on their website as a “guitar and mandolin led Celtic bluegrass fusion duo” which sounds super intriguing! More information about there two can be found here https://www.bellaandpolly.com
Of course this just scratches the surface of the artists lined up to play this year, check out the festival’s website below for further news and ticket links …………and please keep your fingers crossed for some sunshine!
http://www.towerseyfestival.com
Article written by Lesley Hastings (twitter.com/lesleyhastings)
