One of Brit-folk’s brightest new bands to play The Apex

Since their formation in 2002, Mawkin have grown into one of Brit-folk’s brightest new guns and they are due at the Apex, in Bury St Edmunds, next month.

A five-piece band, they are on the cutting edge of the contemporary music scene while at the same time bringing in ancient folk music traditions from across the globe. With a host of exciting folk songs and instrumentals, the band modernise traditional folk material and energise audiences with their loud, boisterous, foot stomping live sets.

Debut album, ‘The Fair Essex’ was one of MOJO’s folk albums of the year, praised for its “gypsy jazz stylings, rural sound effects and samples – its beauty is in the detail”. Their following album, ‘The Awkward Recruit’ earned BBC Radio 2 Folk Award nominations for ‘Best Group’ and ‘Best Traditional Track’.

In 2015, Mawkin released their self-produced album, ‘The Ties That Bind’: “a re-working of traditional songs that suggests a slimmed-down Bellowhead without the brass.

Along with a flurry of festivals and UK tour dates, Mawkin supported Bellowhead on their farewell tour of 2016.

The band members have a wealth of other musical experience between them – brothers David and James’s play with Eliza Carthy, Norma Waterson and Jim Moray and acted as stand-in support for members of Bellowhead; Nick Cooke is Kate Rusby and False Lights’ melodeon player; and Lee Richardson, whose former background was in dance music, is an award-winning producer of TV advertising and trailer music.

They are at the Apex on Tuesday, November 8, at 7.30pm. Tickets are £12, ring the box office on 01284 758000 or see the website, www.theapex.co.uk for details.