Back by popular demand, the Brasenose Fringe kicks off this year on Thursday the 7th of August until Sunday the 10th of August. This years line up is the biggest and best we’ve ever had, along with additional food stalls being run by the Brasenose, so you can expect exceptional food, accompanied by quality music.
We play on the Saturday - but there is great music on the Thursday and Friday too - not forgetting that Virginia Kettle’s Rolling Folk play at The Brasenose on Wednesday -a s part of a fabulous line up with the mighty TradArr!! (that gig is ticketed separately)
Multi-award winning Merry Hell offer joyful, uplifting folk-rock, with a message of hope for troubled times. Native to the North-West of England, the 8-piece musical charabanc emerged from the embers of the much-loved folk-punk band The Tansads, before developing a life and feel all of its own. Their energy and passion is complemented by their love of what they do and desire to share hope and togetherness with as many people as possible. Through 6 well-received albums and hundreds of gigs, they’ve offered voices of hope and beacons of light to anyone valuing both melody and positive humanity. Their live appearances have won many admirers, a recent review referred to ’every performance a celebration’ and they are currently holders of Folking.com’s Best Live Band Award and The Blues and Roots Radio ‘Album of the Year’ Award. The group performs as either a full electric 8-piece or a slimmed down, more acoustic 6-piece but offer all the songs, all the spirit and all the energy. Emergency Lullabies, gained wonderful reviews, significant airplay and a place in the UK Official Folk Chart, with the 2021 single When We Meet Again hitting No.8 in the USA Folk Radio charts – the compilation double CD Let The Music Speak for itself hit the Official Folk Charts Top 10 and an Amazon No.1 Folk CD - all confirming that this is a band on the rise! The band added fiddle player Simon Swarbrick to the line up, nephew of the Fairport Convention legend Dave Swarbrick – completing a circle as Swarb contributed a fiddle part to a track on Merry Hell’s second album. A new album awaits in 2024!
