Peter & Barbara Snape/Jeff Warner

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Peter and Barbara Snape are a very popular duo from the North West of England with a repertoire that is distinctly ‘northern’ in nature and liberally sprinkled with the ‘feel-good’ factor. Barbara’s versatile singing voice is full of character with both the sensitivity to move you with tales of hardships or sentimental love songs and the robustness to belt out invigorating, earthy numbers with such confidence that you will feel compelled to join in. Peter’s well-crafted accompaniments on the melodeon give life to the songs and the occasional dance tune will certainly set your feet tapping. The Snape’s have a great love of traditional British folk music and have built a well-deserved reputation both for researching varied and interesting songs from the time when cotton and coal were king in the North West and for championing the work of folk song collectors such as Anne Geddes Gilchrist OBE and Fred Hamer. These songs are woven throughout their performance and are delivered with a commitment, passion, enjoyment and knowledge that brings the tradition to life in an engaging and appealing manner.

Jeff Warner is among the nation’s foremost performer/interpreters of traditional music. His songs from the lumber camps, fishing villages and mountain tops of America connect 21st century audiences with the everyday lives–and artistry–of 19th century Americans. “Providing more than just rich entertainment, Jeff will leave you with a deeper appreciation of the land you live in” (Caffé Lena, Saratoga, NY). His songs, rich in local history and a sense of place, bring us the latest news from the distant past. Jeff grew up listening to the songs and stories of his father Frank Warner and the traditional singers his parents met during their folksong collecting trips through rural America. He accompanied his parents on their later field trips and is the editor of his mother’s book, Traditional American Folk Songs: From the Anne and Frank Warner Collection.
He is producer of the two-CD set, Her Bright Smile Haunts Me Still, the Warners’ recordings of rural singers, many of them born in Victorian times. “The scion of one of the nation’s most eminent families of folksong collectors, he represents a tradition that is fundamentally unbroken since preindustrial times” (Stuart Frank, Senior Curator, New Bedford Whaling Museum).
Jeff has performed widely, from large festivals in the UK, to clubs, festivals and schools across America. He plays concertina, banjo, guitar and several “pocket” instruments, including bones and spoons. And “he inhabits a song in a way which few singers can do” (Royal Oak Folk Club, Lewes, UK).