Towersey Festival revealed today the 2016 lineup. The 52nd Towersey Festival will take place August 26-29, 2016 in Thame, Oxfordshire (UK). The program features headliners Billy Bragg, The Wonder Stuff, Kate Rusby and Midge Ure. Other artists include the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, Tom Robinson Band, Edward II, 9Bach, The Young’uns, Nizlopi and Nell Bryden, plus long-term Towersey favorites Roy Bailey, Rusty Shackle and Nancy Kerr and James Fagan.
Outstanding acoustic roots singer-songwriter Kate Rusby, from Yorkshire’s, was recipient of the prestigious British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors’ Gold Badge Award in 2014. Throughout her career she has collaborated with artists as diverse as Ronan Keating, Paul Weller, Richard Thompson, Blur’s Graham Coxon and Radiohead’s Philip Selway.
Influenced by Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan and the Do It Yourself punk scene, Billy Bragg is one of the UK’s most esteemed songwriters, capable of writing both biting social commentary and tender love songs. Bragg last topped the Towersey bill in 2011.
The Wonder Stuff will perform at Towersey Festival as part of their 30th anniversary celebrations. The band from the West Midlands scored a run of big-selling Top 40 hits in the early 1990s including “The Size Of A Cow”, “Circlesquare” and the number one “Dizzy”. Fronted by Miles Hunt, ‘The Stuffies’ continue to release high-spirited new music.
As a solo artist and band member, Midge Ure has contributed to an astounding number of hits. His career spans teen sensations Silk, Irish rockers Thin Lizzy, Sex Pistol’s spin-off The Rich Kids, new romantics Visage, and electronic pioneers Ultravox. He also co-wrote and produced Band Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” Ure’s most recent album, Breathe Again, saw the musician revisit his Celtic roots, while the accompanying tour featured such ‘greatest hits’ as “If I Was”, “Vienna”, “No Regrets”, “Dancing With Tears In My Eyes” and “Fade To Grey”.
BBC Radio 2 Folk Music Awards 2015 winners are also part of the festival line-up, including The Young’uns (Best Group), Welsh act 9Bach (Best Album for Tincian), Josienne Clarke and Ben Walker (Best Duo), and Nancy Kerr ( Best Singer).
“We’ve got a great mix of acts this year performing across six stages including at least four chart-toppers in Billy Bragg, The Wonder Stuff, Midge Ure and Nizlopi,” said Towersey Festival Director Joe Heap. “There’s also some of the biggest names in acoustic and roots music, from the exceptional Kate Rusby to crowd-pleasing Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain.”
Tickets to the festival are on sale now with Adult Day tickets from £40, Youth £28, Child £18 and under 5s free. Full festival tickets are £115-£57 (Tier 2). Camping available from £10. For further information and to book tickets, see: www.towerseyfestival.com
Author: World Music Central News Room
World music news from the editors at World Music Central
