Oysterband

Oysterband (or The Oyster Band, as it used to be) are one of the few outfits still burning with the fire of punk, but managing to combine it with the ideals and knowledge of English folk music - a balancing act they've made into a fine art over the years. And they have deep roots in the U.K. folk scene, emerging from both the Whitstable Oyster Co. Ceilidh Band, which formed in 1975, and Fiddler's Dram, a group put together in 1973 by Dave Arbus, whose fiddle work had graced releases by East of Eden and The Who.

Fiddler's Dram’s moment of fame arrived in 1979 with the British hit single “Day Trip to Bangor” - released after they'd split up.

The band's alter ego was the roots-oriented Oyster Ceilidh Band. With Fiddler's Dram no longer extant, the members put their energies in the newly renamed Oyster Band in 1981, playing gigs around England and self-releasing albums on their own Pukka label.

Over 45 years, Oysterband has released more than 20 albums, including two - Freedom & Rain (1990) and Ragged Kingdom (2011) - with renowned singer June Tabor. They are five-time winners of BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards; they had two albums in fRoots’ top 5 Best of the best albums 1986 to 2015; and Ragged Kingdom was Mojo’s Folk Album of the Year.

In 2024 they announced a Long Long Goodbye tour to mark the end of their time as a touring band:https://alonglonggoodbye.live

Tremendous, joyous, remarkable - Rolling Stone

Rare urgency and valour … delivered with blistering gusto - Mojo

An exceptional band - The Guardian

Raises the spirit and tears at the soul - Folk Radio UK

A righteous, melodic riot of textured, rooted music … a real peoples’ band - Spiral Earth

Everything that is good about folk-rock with plenty of attitude - folking.com

Their storytelling and their urgent passion … is especially relevant - Penny Black Music

Rolling, tumbling, full force folk outfit - KLOF mag