The musical review of the 2025 event by Len Brown:

The 18th Gate To Southwell Festival was definitely the most successful in the its history, attracting over 3000 visitors to the beautiful rural Kirklington Lakes location. After a long hot week of site preparation, the action started last Thursday with Jon Boden & The Remnant Kings headlining the Lake stage. Boden remains a dominant character on the British folk scene and, since leaving the supergroup Bellowhead, continues to take historical songs and make them relevant to 21st Century audiences; ‘Old Brown’s Daughter’, ‘Rose Of Allendale’ and ‘Clock O’Clay’ (based on John Clare’s poem about a ladybird) were standout performances here from his 2024 ‘Parlour Ballads’. Before the Remnant Kings, folk roots audiences were treated to Thorpe & Morrison’s innovative sounds on tracks such as ‘Sea And Sunrise’ and their fine cover of The Pogues’ ‘Rainy Night In Soho’, and The Magpies’ beautiful harmonies on ‘Galileo’ and their instrumental magic on ‘Colin’s Set’ led by award-winning guitarist and banjoist Bella Gaffney and fiddler Holly Brandon.

GTSF continues to be a festival where new talent is embraced and showcased. Warren Ireland is clearly going places fast based on the evidence of his performance here and the impressive recent album ‘The Highs And Lows Of Being Normal’. A self-confessed “loop station artist” and beatboxer, he’s charismatic, funny and a breath of fresh air in the Indie Folk world. Also entertaining on Thursday’s Frontier stage were Nottingham’s Americana headliners Lawrence County, blues guitarist Sticky Bones Jones and Lincoln-based Will Martin. Meanwhile the Folk Stage’s first night kicked off with the Winter Wilson-curated Kip & Dave’s Top Ten, which included Becky Syson’s strong acoustic take on Nirvana, ‘Baker Street’ by Reuben & The Bridge and ‘Knocking On Heaven’s Door’ by the talented young Liverpool folk rock band Thomas Bradley Project. (They would perform several times over the weekend delivering quality self-penned songs such as ‘Remind Me Of’ and the new single ‘All I Ever Wanted’, plus another cover of ‘She Moves Through The Fair’.)

Friday had been on the mind of the Southwell organisers for several weeks. Since former Fairport Convention legend Richard Thompson OBE had to withdraw from one of the festival’s headline slots after damaging several ribs in a fall, there’d been concerned and concerted efforts to find a suitable replacement. Thankfully Eliza Carthy stepped into the breach, bringing her new Restitution Band out of the studio and treating the Southwell audience to an impressive performance of tracks such as ‘Except For You’ and ‘Never Again’ from her future album ‘Frenemies’. Eliza performed at the first GTSF in 2007 with her folk royalty parents the late Norma Waterson and singer-songwriter Martin Carthy. Here she paid particular tribute to Martin, now 84, by celebrating the release of his latest album ‘Transform Me Then Into A Fish’.

Earlier on the Friday, this festival of international artists welcomed back the highly-entertaining Italian washboard and guitar ragtime gospel duo Veronica Sbergia & Max De Bernardi, as well as the celebrated Australian Celtic blues duo of Hat Fitz & Cara;  Hat Fitz’s paean of love to his lost ‘Beer Fridge’ was one of many great songs heard over the long weekend.  Track Dogs were also returning to Southwell.  This four-piece of two Irishmen, one Englishmen and one American were formed in Madrid and take their name from the New York subway system.  With great harmonies and fine combinations of guitar, bass, trumpet, cajon and banjo, they had the crowd singing along to Dog tracks such as ‘Yeah, Right (No Way Jose)’ and ‘Donna Lola’.

On Friday’s Frontier and Folk stages, there were also plenty of strong performances from artists such as Julia Waldron, Riley Marsh, Ella Spencer, Mairi Sutherland and the excellent young London folk band Evolution Of Fishermen. Burr Island delivered a lovely set of harmonic songs inspired by artists such as Lennon & McCartney and Simon & Garfunkel, while Arthur Coates & Kerran Cotterell brought traditional Canadian influences to the folk party. Barnsley’s Common Culture were another highlight with their infectious brand of Indie Folk on tracks including ‘Wash Away The Day’, the Cardiff-based Cornish band Piskey Led surfed the waves between traditional folk genres, while the incredibly danceable and youthful Mr Tea and The Minions served up the perfect festival set to end Frontier proceedings late on Friday night, while a Narthen-led ceilidh closed the Folk Stage. Special mention too for the Boathouse Bar Stage which hosted young traditional duo Niamh Flynn and Charlie Birkett, followed by Southwell’s very own Terrible Parents.

Following Saturday’s traditional morris dancing extravaganza on the streets of Southwell – featuring colourful dance sides from as far afield as Norwich, Otley, Sheffield and the North West - temperatures rose throughout the day, and so did the quality of diverse artists appearing at the festival site. Following excellent sets from the talented traditional-sounding Rosie Hood Band (check out ‘Tyger Fierce’ from their ‘A Seed Of Gold’ album), the Antipodean alt-country-folk of We Mavericks and our favourite sharp-suited blues-master guitarist in winkle-pickers-and-Buddy-Holly-glasses that is Sunjay, the stage was set for Alabama 3 Acoustic. Yes, there’s four of them and they’re from Brixton South London rather than the Deep South, but they channel the spirits of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Hank Williams, Woody Guthrie and John Prine and deliver a hilarious if slightly potty-mouthed set of revivalist blues and gospel songs that were met with religious fervour by the GTSF crowd. Highlights were ‘Hello I’m Johnny Cash’, ‘You Don’t Dance To Techno Any More’ and their famous title theme from The Sopranos TV series ‘Woke Up This Morning’. Memorably, while her three male band members were given the welcome opportunity to relieve themselves, Sister Zoe Devlin Love treated us to a fine acapella version of Hoagy Carmichael’s ‘ Georgia On My Mind’.

Saturday’s headliners were typically eclectic for GTSF. First came young Katherine Priddy with her haunting, melancholic voice, gentle guitarwork and rising reputation based on two fine albums (‘The Eternal Rocks Beneath’ and ‘The Pendulum Swing’), collaborations with poet laureate Simon Armitage and her cover of Nick Drake’s rare ‘I Think They’re Leaving Me Behind’. Here, with George Boomsma also on guitar and vocals, she earns the total quiet respect of an attentive audience on tracks such as ‘Indigo’ and a new powerful protest folk song called, possibly, ‘They Burned Women Not Witches’. Next stop she’ll be touring with Suzanne Vega. Then closing the Saturday show on the Lake Stage were the Senegalese kora star Seckou Keita And His Homeland Band. Songs such as ‘Home Sweet Home’, ‘Chaque Jour’ and ‘Bienvenue’ from last year’s ‘Homeland’ album got the audience dancing joyfully to West African drums and guitars while also celebrating Seckou’s incredible talent on his multi-stringed exotic instrument.

Across other stages on Saturday, the festival welcomed back Gren Bartley who played at the very first Gate To Southwell in 2007; BBC Folk Award-winning Sam Kelly who previously played with the Lost Boys but here showcased his new trio and wild-eyed Mike West formerly of Truckstop Honeymoon brought tall tales, two of his children and typically strange stories from Louisiana to Southwell. Also impressively bringing back the blues to Southwell’s Saturday were Charlie Austen (who previously sang with Nine Below Zero) and local stalwarts Rhydian Wyn & The Blue Fire, while Texan wizard Ruben Moreno produced a fine set of bluesy cajun/zydeco creations. Add to this rich mix of ingredients quality artists such as the music genre-busting Simon Mayor’s Mandolinquents, the “UK’s premier roots and blues act” The Cadillac Kings, top fingerpicking guitarist and Midlands songwriter Sam Carter, the formidable female strength of She Shanties and the seasoned folk sounds of The Hunch from their ‘Released’ album…and you get a real sense of the infinite variety of musical styles on parade at Gate To Southwell Festival.

The rain fell hard on Sunday morning, but spirits were far from dampened on the beautiful rural Nottinghamshire site.  The Frontier Stage started early with a singing workshop from Lincoln’s harmonious Rye Sisters and would later be graced by Aussie folk-pop singer-songwriter Lucy Gallant, country bluegrass act The Burner Band and honky tonk from The Bapchilds, before the rains stopped play prematurely and the action switched to the Folk Stage where there’d been a well-attended morning ceilidh run by Lincoln’s Banter (who later put in a well-received performance on the Lake Stage) and an impressive set by new traditional trio Culverake.  Later in the day an all-star folk cast, curated by Lincoln regulars Winter Wilson, presented a diverse and entertaining finale featuring Sam Kelly and young GTSF favourites Helian from Leeds.

But if festival goers needed to dance then the Lake Stage on Sunday afternoon proved to be the perfect place.  First came the New York Brass Band (from Yorkshire of course) who definitely put the oomph into oompah with a wide variety of conga-inspiring cover versions that included Stevie Wonder’s ‘Isn’t She Lovely’ and Daft Punk’s ‘Get Lucky’ from their brilliantly-titled album ‘Hardcore Horn’. 

They were followed by the magnificent Catalans El Pony Pisador, naturally named after The Prancing Pony Inn at Bree in the Spanish translation of Tolkien’s The Lord Of The Rings.  For many of us, one conga in an afternoon is usually one too many but these five men from Barcelona soon had the majority of the Southwell crowd dancing madly in the aisles to their Balkan polyrhythms, open-throated yodelling and Celtic-meets-Mediterranean musical magic.  They’re youthful, funny, self-deprecating, brilliant on their instruments and put on a great stage show.  They reminded GTSF regulars of previous highly-entertaining performances from the likes of Mallorca’s Boc.  Catch El Pony Pisador when you can.

Last but not least came those piratical punks Skinny Lister, who seem to harness pop with traditional folk before driving it hard in the direction of The Pogues or Dexys Midnight Runners.  With their new ‘Songs From The Yonder’ album building on the success of ‘Forge & Flagon’, their raucous upbeat set inspired a swirling moshpit finale to Gate To Southwell 2025.  Highlights were tracks such as ‘Mantra’ and ‘Unto The Breach’ before the inebriated Dad of band members Lorna and Max Thomas took the vocal chores to deliver his self-penned song ‘William Harker’.  “Six pints in” apparently, George is becoming a cult figure in the world of Shanty Punk while Skinny Lister continue to develop into one of the best live acts on the UK festival circuit.

Looking ahead to 2026, it’ll be 60 years since England last won the World Cup.  At the final whistle back in July 66, Jack Charlton said to his brother Bobby “what will we do now?”  To which Bobby replied, “we’ll have to do it all again”.  They never did but GTSF will be back first week in July 2026.  They think it’s all over…until then.