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)
Vets' ceilidh in Longframlington
What do people think?
Here are a few comments spread over recent
years...
"Dear Colin and all the members of The Castle Band, Thank you so much for making Saturday night such a memorable occasion. We all had a wonderful night and thoroughly enjoyed listening and dancing to your band. The kindness and patience shown by David, the caller, to all on the dance floor was much appreciated as many of the guests had not had the opportunity to dance to a traditional ceilidh band before. They all had a great time and were suitable exhausted at the end of the evening though it didn`t stop them staying up till 5.00am! I have a brilliant picture of dancers during the Dashing White Sergeant which I shall send you. Rosie, David and Daniel, November 2011
"Thank you and everyone in the band for such a fantastic evening on Friday. The band really made my 18th birthday party a truly special evening, and one I will long cherish the memory of. Ceilidh dancing was a great way to break the ice and all of my friends loved it. The band were flawless musically, and the caller David was brilliantly patient, even making those of us who have two left feet feel like we could actually dance! This is definitely the best ceilidh band I've experienced and one I would not hesitate to use again. I can't thank you all enough for a wonderful evening. Matthew, September 2011
"It's been a while since you played at our wedding in the College Valley ... but we just wanted to write to say a huge thank you for your fantastic music which absolutely made our day . It was, without a doubt ,the best folk dance we've been to - and many of our guests said so too You really were a highlight of our wedding and we can't thank you enough." Gemma and Owen, September 2010
"A huge 'thank you' to Colin, David
and the Castle band. After a fantastic wedding and reception the
day was made complete with a ceilidh and music by the Castle Band. Music
was excellent from start to finish and was thoroughly enjoyed by dancers
and spectators alike (we had so many good comments from our guests).
David, the caller, was amazing with his friendliness, humour and
encouragement.
A special thanks to Colin on composing a beautiful piece of music for the
'happy couple'. Something that will bring them lots of pleasure and happy
memories in the future.
It was great to meet such warm, friendly people who added so much to our
special day. Thank you." Christina
and Paul, June 2010
"Thanks to the Castle Band for
playing at our wedding. The band were excellent and David (the caller) was
fantastic and pitched it just right. It was a really nice touch for
Anthony to play a solo on the Northumbrian Smallpipes and everyone made a
point of saying how good the band was. The bride herself was not a
fan of ceilidh dancing before the night but the Castle Band have changed
all that which is praise indeed! Highly recommended.
Sam and Jessica, May 2010
"We would like to thank you and all
the members of the band for helping us to have a really great evening. A
ceilidh is a great way to have a party and to get everyone involved, and
once again the band were superb and helped to make it a very special
celebration.
Please pass on our thanks to all
the band members."
David, March 2010
"Thank you for making our
daughter's wedding reception at Durham Castle so special. You
warmed us all up on what was a freezing cold night. The
ceilidh was out of this world ! I have never been to a ceilidh
where there were so many people on the floor for every dance!!!!!!!!!!!
All our guests raved about you. Quite a few were from the SOUTH and
had never heard of a ceilidh!
Wedding ceilidh in Durham Castle
Just a special thanks to Anthony who piped so beautifully and also led the bride and groom into the
wedding breakfast . Thanks again for a fantastic
night to remember."
Tony and Judy, January 2010
"We just want to thank you all for
playing at our wedding at Doxford. We had a fantastic time and
could not have asked for a better ceilidh band. All of the
guests loved it too, so thank you for making our wedding so much
fun."
Fiona and Andy, August 2009
"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
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.
For some samples (mostly computer-generated sounds from my score-writing
program) click here.
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 :
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.
