Kerfuffle were a four-piece English
folk
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band, originally formed in 2001 around the
East Midlands and
South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and metropolitan county, metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of City of Doncaster, Doncaster and City of Sh ...
regions of the
UK, initially comprising
Hannah James (accordion, piano, vocals,
step dancing
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),
Sam Sweeney
Sam Sweeney (born 27 February 1989 in Nottingham) is a multi-instrumental English folk musician.
Career
Sweeney was introduced to folk music as a child via his parents' record collection and taught himself to play traditional pieces by ear. ...
(fiddle, percussion), Chris Thornton-Smith (guitar) and Tom Sweeney (bass guitar). Thornton-Smith was replaced by Jamie Roberts in 2007. Kerfuffle disbanded in August 2010.
History
Kerfuffle formed initially as a three-piece after Sam and Tom Sweeney met Hannah James. James was competing in a traditional music competition, the In The Tradition Award, held at the
Derby
Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...
Assembly Rooms. Sam had previously won this, and was attending the 2001 competition in this capacity. After playing together in the foyer, the trio decided to form a band. After going on to win the under-18 category of the 2002
Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...
Folk Association Young Folk Award, another competition that Sam had previously won as a soloist, the band sought a fourth member and Hannah introduced the band to guitarist Chris Thornton-Smith. Having won the WFA competition, the band was given a showcase performance at the 2002
Trowbridge Village Pump Festival
The Village Pump Festival is a folk music festival that takes place near Trowbridge, England. It has its roots years ago in a barn at the Lamb Inn, Trowbridge, and later moved a few miles outside the town to Stowford Manor Farm at Farleigh H ...
.
After a number of appearances at folk clubs, Kerfuffle recorded their first album in the spring of 2003. Produced by multi-instrumentalist Steafan Hannigan and recorded at his OisÃn Studios, ''
Not to Scale'' was released on the newly founded RootBeat Records on 14 June 2003, to coincide with the band's appearance at the first Festival of the Peak, a festival held at
Carsington Water
Carsington Water is a reservoir operated by Severn Trent Water located between Wirksworth and Kniveton in Derbyshire, England. The reservoir takes water from the River Derwent at Ambergate during winter months, pumping up to the reservoir by l ...
in Derbyshire. In the summer of 2003, Kerfuffle appeared at a number of other UK folk/traditional festivals, including
Sidmouth Festival
There has been a folk festival in the coastal town of Sidmouth in South West England in the first week of August every year since 1955, attracting tens of thousands of visitors to over 700 diverse events.
Sidmouth Folk Festival offers a wide ...
and a return to
Trowbridge Village Pump Festival
The Village Pump Festival is a folk music festival that takes place near Trowbridge, England. It has its roots years ago in a barn at the Lamb Inn, Trowbridge, and later moved a few miles outside the town to Stowford Manor Farm at Farleigh H ...
.
For 2004's ''
K2'', the band decided to utilise the sound engineering skills of guitarist Chris Thornton-Smith, and the album was recorded by Chris. The album was released in time for the band's summer festival appearances, which included Cleckheaton Festival, Priddy Folk Fayre, Stainsby Festival, Saltburn Festival, Whitby Folk Week, Towersey Festival, Bromyard Festival and a slot at the
Show of Hands
Show of Hands is an English acoustic roots/ folk duo formed in 1986 by singer-songwriter Steve Knightley (guitars, mandolin, mandocello, cuatro) and composer and multi-instrumentalist Phil Beer (vocals, guitars, violin, viola, mandolin, mando ...
summer concert in the
Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens. In December 2004, the band were finalists in the 2005
BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award
The BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award is an annual competition for young folk musicians in the United Kingdom. It was first awarded in 1988 as the Young Tradition Award, taking its present name in 1998. Recent winners of the award include Brighde ...
.
Summer 2005 saw the band appear at Cleethorpes Folk Festival, Middlewich Folk & Boat Festival, Priddy Folk Festival, and Saddleworth Folk Festival. Also in 2005, the band's performances began to diversify into venues such as theatres and arts centres, as well as folk clubs, most notably including a performance as the post-show entertainment at the Linbury Theatre, a studio theatre attached to the
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Ope ...
, Covent Garden. The same year, Kerfuffle recorded a live session for
BBC Radio 3's
Late Junction
''Late Junction'' is a music programme broadcast weekly on Friday nights by BBC Radio 3. Billed as "Experimental music for adventurous listeners.", the programme has a wide musical scope. It is not uncommon to hear medieval ballads juxtaposed wi ...
.
In early 2006, the band released
Links. Appearances that summer at Bromyard Folk Festival, Brampton Live, Festival at the Edge and other events followed. A track from
Links was included on the compilation
Folk Rising released in July 2007.
In late 2007, having had a successful summer including appearances at
Fairport's Cropredy Convention
Fairport's Cropredy Convention (formerly Cropredy Festival) is an annual festival of folk and rock music, headed by British folk-rock band Fairport Convention and held on the edge of the village of Cropredy in Oxfordshire, England. The fest ...
, Derby Traditional Music and Arts Festival and
Shrewsbury Folk Festival
Shrewsbury Folk Festival is an annual festival of folk and world music and traditional dance held in the town of Shrewsbury in Shropshire, England.
It takes place over four days on and around the UK Late Summer bank holiday weekend (usually th ...
, the band announced they would start work on their fourth album, their first featuring new guitarist Jamie Roberts (of folk duo Gilmore & Roberts), who had replaced Chris Thornton-Smith earlier that year. The album, entitled ''
To The Ground'', was released in 2008.
2007 also saw Sweeney join 11-piece folk band
Bellowhead, having already played some gigs as a deputy for
Giles Lewin.
In April 2010, Kerfuffle announced that after nine years Kerfuffle, in the current line-up, would come to an end. That summer included "farewell" visits to festivals including Sidmouth and Priddy. Their final performance was at Shrewsbury Folk Festival in August 2010.
In December 2010, Sam Sweeney, James and Roberts toured performing material from ''
Lighten The Dark: A Midwinter Album''. Tom Sweeney was replaced by special guest Rob Harbron.
They were supported by Hannah James' band Lady Maisery, and the set included clog dancing.
In winter 2012, Kerfuffle reformed for a short UK Christmas-focussed tour, including once again Lighten the Dark material, and several clog-dancing episodes by Hannah.
Discography
*''
Not to Scale'' (2003)
*''
K2'' (2004)
*''
Links'' (2006)
*''
To The Ground'' (2008)
*''
Lighten The Dark: A Midwinter Album'' (2009)
References
External links
Myspace profile
{{Authority control
English folk musical groups
Musical groups established in 2001
Musical groups disestablished in 2010
2010 disestablishments in England
2001 establishments in England