John Kirkpatrick
John Kirkpatrick began playing melodeon with Hammersmith Morris Men in the early 1960’s, and has been unable to shake off the push-pull habit ever since. Additionally armed with the B/C/C# Button Accordion and Anglo Concertina, churning out tunes and accompanying himself and others singing, he has carved out a glittering career on the English Folk Scene and beyond, playing solo, in duos, trios, and groups of every kind. His music can be heard on literally hundreds of recordings, including many under his own name, amongst which are several purely instrumental items showcasing a breathtaking virtuosity.
Katie Howson
Katie Howson has been playing the melodeon since jumping off a bus to buy one in a junk shop over 40 years ago. She started off with morris music whilst at university, but soon became involved with an older generation of traditional musicians in Suffolk and Norfolk and for many years specialised in the one-row, the iconic instrument of that region. She has also been playing the music of Sliabh Luachra in southwest Ireland for many years. Katie plays in the dance band PolkaWorks, who take a party with them wherever they go, and previously led the Valiant Dance Band (renowned for their unusual tune repertoire) the Old Hat Dance Band, the Old Hat Concert Party and Katie’s Quartet. She founded and directed the East Anglian Traditional Music Trust until 2017, creating and organising all sorts of events including the long-running workshop series, Melodeons and More. She also researches and writes about the social history of traditional music.
Naragonia (Pascale Rubens and Toon van Mierlo)
This internationally renowned husband and wife duo from Belgium are both multi-instrumentalists with a specialism in playing the melodeon. They have recorded many fine albums, mainly of their own compositions, and their impact on the European folk scene cannot be underestimated. While performing together, they will be tutoring workshops separately at Melodeons in Wensleydale.
Pascale began playing classical violin at the age of nine but fell in love with the melodeon when she was eighteen. She formed Musaraigne with cellist Hannes Pouseele in 1999 and became the melodeon player with Griff in 2002, before forming Naragonia with Toon in 2003. In 2020 she formed a new duo, Systrar, with her sister Véronique. Pascale teaches melodeon at the Schoten and Genk music acadamies and is in demand worldwide as a workshop instructor.
Toon studied the oboe as a child and later added French and Irish bagpipes, clarinet, saxophone and melodeon to his instrumental range. He has played with a wide range of bands since 2003 and today plays with Naragonia, the Naragonia Quartet and Hot Griselda. He teaches bagpipes at the Genk Music Academy and teaches workshops on melodeon and other instruments throughout the world.
John Spiers
Known for his playing with Bellowhead, Spiers & Boden and more recently his work with Peter Knight and Gigspanner Big Band, John is now one of the busiest and most in-demand melodeon players on the folk circuit. Having cut his teeth playing around his native Oxfordshire for Morris-dance, ceilidhs and barn dances in the late 1990s, he then transitioned into a professional musician via stints as melodeon salesman/repair-man and busker in the early 2000s. John’s love of English traditional dance music is at the centre of his playing with a distinctive stompy rhythm at the heart of it. Melodeon-geekery has never left him and came to the fore during lockdown when he led the online Isolation Pub Sessions from his shed followed by the Advent Calendar of Squeezeboxes on YouTube.