IN BRIEF...

  • Real Northumbrian barn dance band

  • Great local musicians

  • Lively traditional fiddle and accordion sound

  • Good rhythm section

  • Tremendous caller

  • Offer all the standard ceilidh dances that people know and love - Dashing White Sergeant, Strip The Willow,  Circassian Circle, Swedish Masquerade,  Veleta Waltz, St Bernard's Waltz, etc., etc. and plenty of other interesting dances - all picked to suit the company.

 

The Castle Band is a lively Northumbrian barn dance band which plays for barn dances, ceilidhs, festivals, weddings and private functions.

The band specialises in the very rhythmical jigs, reels and hornpipes and the tuneful slow airs and waltzes which feature in the traditional music of Northumberland and the Borders.   The band’s repertoire also includes many newly written additions to the Northumbrian tradition.

The basis of the band’s great sound is the traditional blend of fiddle and accordion, supported by a rhythm section which, depending on availability or your requirements, can include second accordion and drums, with piano and bass from the left hand side of Colin Bradford’s MIDI accordion.

For those who don’t know the dances, our own caller, David Normanton, will explain all the steps and encourage the cautious to join in.

  • Click here or the photograph below for more information about the band members.

 

Left to right above
Nathan Armstrong (2nd box), Anthony Robb (Fiddle and smallpipes), Ian Murray (Drums), Heather Robb (Fiddle), Colin Bradford (Accordion)

Seated centrally
 David Normanton (Caller)

 
  

What do people think?

"I think everyone had a great time - I certainly did!  Thanks very much for playing so well and I appreciated David's relaxed style.  He pitched it just right.   Please would you pass on my thanks to the rest of the band? "
    Alice, January 2008

"Just wanted to say a huge thank you to you and the band for Zosia’s wedding. Everybody had a fantastic time and thought the band were great. It couldn’t have been better. "
    Mike, December 2007

"Thank you so much for the wonderful ceilidh at our recent wedding at the Vermont Hotel .   We all had a fantastic time and it was the highlight of the day.   Thank you also to Anthony for his beautiful pipe-playing during the ceremony.  It added a lovely aspect to the wedding. 
We have had lots of requests from guests for your contact details so I expect we will meet at future functions.!"
    Helen and Richard, November 2006

"Thanks for asking me to play last night.   The best ceilidh I've ever played at!   I think they all had a fantastic time.   Cheers"
     Shona Mooney , October 2006 (Shona was our guest fiddler for the evening and is the winner of the 2006 BBC Radio Scotland "Young Traditional Musician of the Year" award)

"Just a note to thank you  and the Castle Band so much for the ceilidh at the Sun Hotel, Warkworth... The feedback we've had has been great and we all had a fantastic time.   Thanks again"
     Michael and Jackie, February 2006

"Thank you so much to The Castle Band for the fantastic ceilidh you provided at our wedding at Chillingham Castle on January 7th, 2006.   You were superb and the fact that even my 71-year-old German father joined in and had a whale of a time says it all.   I couldn't believe my eyes!"
    Nicole and David, January 2006

"I just wanted to leave a little message to thank you very much, Colin, for the gig on Saturday night, at the wedding do...   We were really impressed with the band and with David.   We thought it was really well judged...  David did a really good job as caller...the music sounded lovely.  We really appreciated the obvious professionalism.  So thanks again to you for that.   We wouldn’t hesitate to try to get you again..."
     Martin, December 2005

"... I would like to thank you all again for helping us make last Friday such a successful evening ...   Everyone we have spoken to agreed with us that the band was excellent."
     Irene, October 2005

"Please convey my thanks to all the members of the Castle Band for the superb contribution all made to [our daughter's]  wedding on May 28th.   We had a wonderful day helped by the barn dancing.   Thank you"
     Vivien, May 2005

"Thank you so much for your wonderful contribution to the success of our party.   You were fantastic!   We all enjoyed ourselves enormously.   The playing, the calling, the choice of dances, the pace and the MC-ing, were all excellent.   You pitched it just right and many of our guests commented on the quality.   Many thanks again."
     Kay and Tony, May 2005

"Just a quick note of thanks to you all for being so fantastic at our wedding on the 24th.   You set the evening off on exactly the right note, the band was superb and David did an exemplary job in ensuring a bunch of novices didn't trample each other to death."
     Ian and Janine, July 2004
 
  

What do you sound like?

You can download some samples of the band as *.mp3 or *.wav files.    Right-click on each item and "Save Target As..." to your hard-drive and then play the downloaded file.  

If you left-click (to play the file immediately) then, unless you have Broadband, you are likely to get very bitty playback until it has all downloaded.

 BAND - Various snippets for a flavour of a live ceilidh

TRIO - Rant - Ian August’s Allotment (©Colin Bradford)

TRIO - Jane Northumberland’s Fancy (©Colin Bradford)
 
  
A new tune for the occasion? One of the extras we can provide is a new wedding waltz specially written for the occasion and named after the bride (e.g. "Julia", or "Elizabeth Jane").   We would play the new tune at the wedding ceilidh (perhaps, but not necessarily, when the bride and groom are dancing) and present you with a framed version as a memento.   I prefer one or two months' notice  for this.
Wedding venue We play for many weddings in Northumberland and have plenty of experience of the better venues.   If you are still looking for a venue for your wedding or other big event, you could consider some of the following :

 
Northumbrian Smallpipes We can also provide a Northumbrian smallpiper to pipe in the guests or the bride at your wedding ceremony

For more information contact
Colin Bradford
Tel:        01 665 - 606 788
Mob:      07 710 - 305 407
Email:    to minimise spam we have had to remove email addresses from the website.   If you want to email the band, replace "AT" in the following with the @ symbol - colin.bradfordATnorthumbrian.info.