Hi there XXX!
OK, it’s the springtime edition of FiddleBop News, so here are some spring flowers to cheer you up. All from where me and Jo live, in mid Wales. Aren’t we lucky?
And about being cheered up: if you are like me (and like lots of other people that I know), you aren't enjoying reading the recent world news. Not in great depth, anyway. So instead of just skimming over the headlines until you get to something innocuous — which is what I do — why not lighten your day by playing FiddleBop's “Spot the Difference”?
OK, I admit that it is not the first time that I’ve asked you to play “Spot the Difference” by comparing this FiddleBop newsletter and the previous one. (If you still have the previous one, that is. If you deleted it months ago, then just talk amongst yourselves.) So, compare away! Can you see what has changed?
A clue: there are three things that are different.
Answers in the next few paragraphs, below these pictures of spring flowers and other spring-themed activities.
1. First, the easy one. Yes, this newsletter is a slightly different colour from all the previous newsletters, including the December 2025 one. This one is purplish rather than pinkish.
But, computers being computers, what you see depends on how you are viewing this newsletter. If it looks plain white on your screen, well... then just move on to the next question please 
.
If you got that, congratulations! But not very exciting, I know.
Now how about the next difference? It is a lot more exciting.
2. Did you look closely at the FiddleBop banner at the top of this email? Have a look again, now. Do you see a new face on the right?
OK, so what is he doing? Is that a cello that he is playing! It is. Yaaaaay! So now FiddleBop has two bowed instruments and two plucked instruments in the band. And wow, does it sound good!
So a huge and rousing welcome to our new FiddleBopper: cellist and singer Ian Jones! Ian's sonorous addition to our instrumentation makes a huge difference to our sound: “You ain’t heard nuffink like it, folks!” So we can’t wait to for the opportunity to give your ears a treat, when we next see you at a FiddleBop gig. Where we will certainly show off our new-found sonority. We think that the new line-up sounds wonderful!
There’s more about Ian here. We feel privileged to have someone in the band whose musical roots span generations. Ian’s grandpa played drums and sang in dance bands, and his father was a double bass player working in jazz clubs and dance bands in the 1960s and 70s. Ian himself trained as a classical guitarist, then worked for EMI in London, where he mastered and remastered hundreds of albums, from spoken word and theatrical recordings to pop and classical. Ian and his partner Jo moved to mid Wales around eight years ago — roughly the same time that myself and Jo moved to Wales — and they now run The Owls Bed and Breakfast in Builth Wells. We are very lucky to have Ian in FiddleBop.
Ready to spot the next difference?
3. Look even more closely at that banner folks, the one at the top of this email. It says “Jazz-Folk. Hot Club to jigs’n’reels. And beyond”.
What? What is this “jazz-folk”? Does it mean that you won’t be playing Gypsy jazz any more?
No, not exactly. I mean yes. OK, I'll explain...
The idea of describing ourselves as “jazz-folk” grew out of our background in playing Hot Club Gypsy swing for the last 20 years. Before that, Jo and I had played folk music of all kinds.
The more we learned about Gypsy jazz, the more it bacame obvious that it is just one form, amongst many, of folk-influenced jazz. (Louis Armstrong took it even further: he once said “All music is folk music; leastways I ain't never heard no horse sing a song”).
The Quintette du Hot Club de France ‐ Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli's band, who kicked the whole Gypsy jazz thing off back in the late 1930s — created their amazing music from a huge variety of different musical sources. And we mean huge. Traditional Gypsy melodies, their own compositions, current and past pop tunes, even some J S Bach. Anything and everything, really. And we also began to realise that Django in particular had brought a whole lot of his own Gypsy culture into his way of playing.
Eventually, we asked ourselves "Why not do something similar?"
So... FiddleBop's current repertoire is just as wide-ranging as those early Hot Club sets. Everything from Manouche Gypsy swing classics to designed-for-dancing jigs'n'reels, by way of jazz-influenced renditions of traditional folk songs, Gypsy rhumba, and jazz drawn from all of the genre's century-long history. And we also bring to the mix our own experience in singing and playing folk music, from the UK and elsewhere.
There's more about jazz-folk here, if you're interested.
But, you may well ask, how do we tie all this together? Easy. Via our love of all this wonderful music, with its zing, passion, and joie de vivre! Music which can be sweet, chilled, even mysterious at times. And music which can also be hot unto cooking.
OK, so what about future FiddleBop gigs? At the end of this newsletter there is a list (up-to-date at the time of writing) of all our forthcoming gigs, and an always-up-to-date list on our website.
But I can't resist mentioning a couple of future gigs here.
Friday 3 April 2026! Get that in your diaries, folks. Because it is a red-letter day for FiddleBop. Our first gig with Ian the cello!
This is at LOST, which stands for Live at the Old Street Tavern. And it is at (duh!) the Old Street Tavern in Ludlow (4 Old Street, Ludlow, Shropshire SY8 1NP), in a cosy upstairs room.
"Artists of all sorts get L. O. S. T. upstairs at least once a month, where the intimate, cosy venue sees a wide range of excellent entertainment - music of all genres, stories read by candlelight, and lots of other weird and wonderful happenings. Entry is free, but capacity is limited to 35 and it fills up fast, so get in there quickly."
FiddleBop last played at LOST a couple of years ago, and we are hugely looking forward to returning, this time in full sonorous (I like that word) complete-with-cello mode.
The other FiddleBop gig that I'd like to mention now is another return visit for us. On Saturday 27 June 2026, between 12 and 2.30 pm, FiddleBop play at Upton Jazz Festival (Upton-upon-Severn, Worcs WR8 0JD).
The festival "brings a rich, high-quality array of jazz to Upton-upon-Severn" and runs from 26-28 June. This is its 39th year (I think). And by some measures, it is the UK's largest jazz festival.
We don't yet now which venue we'll be playing at, but one thing we do know: this will be a highlight of FiddleBop's year!
Upton Jazz Festival 2026 tickets are available here.
So finally, here is that currently-correct list of FiddleBop's future gigs. We're adding more gigs all the time, so look here since this list is always up to date. We'd love to see you at a FiddleBop gig sometime!
All the best!
From Dave, Jo, Graeme, and Ian... the FiddleBoppers
PS Did you enjoy this newsletter? We hope so. If you wish to continue to receive FiddleBop newsletters like this one, then your wish is our command.
But if you don't, then click here to unsubscribe, or send an unsubscribe-request email to info@fiddlebop.org. If you don’t do either of these things then we’ll assume that you are happy to receive future FiddleBop newsletters.
This list of gigs is correct at the time of writing, but the list on our website is always up to date.
| The gig! | When/where is FiddleBop playing? | Venue, occasion, whatever... | Contact details |
"We encourage you to contribute at least £5 per head to the L.O.S.T. bucket, the whole contents of which go to the band" |
Fri |
Live at the Old Street Tavern (LOST) Beers, Wines, Spirits, Chat, Music |
Old Street Tavern |
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From 7.30 pm |
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The Market Theatre |
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Admission TBA |
Fri |
"Former Towyn Assembly Rooms... now a multi-use space" |
Magic Lantern Cinema |
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12 - 2.30 pm Saturday 27 June 2026 (venue TBA) |
Upton Jazz Festival 2026 |
Upton Jazz Festival |
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Free entry! |
From 5 pm |
The Six Bells, Bishop's Castle "A family friendly pub and cafe... at the heart of Bishop’s Castle" |
The Six Bells |
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Free entry! |
4.20 - 5.00 pm |
Caerleon Festival "Big Free Weekend" 2026 "From morning ’til night over a whole weekend there will be music and entertainment on both banks of the river... It will be be the climax of the 24th Caerleon Summer Festival!" |
The Marquee at the Bell Inn |
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Free entry! |
Afternoon (time TBC) |
Venue - Bar - Kitchen |
The Foundry |
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Also from Box Office at Penny-Farthing gift shop, 5 The Square, Much Wenlock (cash only, no fees). |
From 7.30 pm |
The Edge Arts Centre "The Edge Arts Centre is proof that creativity flourishes in the countryside — one unforgettable performance at a time." |
The Edge Arts Centre |
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Admission TBA |
Time TBA Fri |
"A former Victorian chapel, the Dragon Theatre Barmouth is a charity set up for the social welfare of the people of Barmouth and its surrounding areas" |
The Dragon Theatre |
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Admission TBA |
Time TBA |
The Foundry |
The Foundry |
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Tickets TBA |
From 7 pm |
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Bill’s Kitchen |
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info@fiddlebop.org
01982 560726
07968 950870
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@FiddleBop
@fiddlebop
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