ColmG
(Newcastle)
Tuesday 25 Aug 2026, 7:35pm
FIDDLE PLAYER WANTED — TRANSATLANTIC FOLK BAND | NORTH EAST
We’re a North East-based transatlantic folk band who, despite only forming in late January this year, have built real momentum on the local scene. We’ve already played some wonderful venues, developed a growing local following and built a busy diary of gigs, festivals and events.
We’re particularly excited to be at the beginning of our festival journey. Having already played the acoustic stage at Dinky Dub, we’re looking forward to appearances at Coast Fest, Musicport, Dubs & Dales, Dunbar Music Festival and Amblefest. We’re also delighted to already have bookings in the diary for Hexham Bluegrass Festival and Mighty Dub Fest next year.
We’re now looking for a great fiddle player to join us as a permanent member and become part of the band as we move into the next stage.
Musically, we sit somewhere between Americana, country, bluegrass, Irish folk and contemporary folk/roots music, with strong songwriting and vocal harmony at the heart of what we do.
Between us we bring experienced musicianship, strong lead vocals, close multi-part harmonies and a real enthusiasm for arranging songs rather than simply playing them straight. We’ve already built a large and dynamic repertoire, broad enough to tailor what we do to the room: from familiar, upbeat covers for pubs and commercial events to a much more eclectic mix of originals, traditional material and carefully chosen covers for alternative venues, folk clubs and festivals.
We take the music seriously, but not ourselves. We’re a friendly, committed bunch with good chemistry on and off stage, and we’re looking for someone who wants to become part of that rather than simply turn up as a hired player.
Ideally, you’ll be:
* A confident and expressive fiddle player
* Comfortable with Americana, country and bluegrass
* Able to turn your hand to Irish traditional/folk material
* Interested in developing arrangements and finding parts that serve the song
* Comfortable playing by ear and adapting across styles
* Able to improvise - not essential, but definitely a big plus
* Reliable, easy-going and happy with a reasonably busy gigging schedule
* Excited about recording, festivals and touring as the band develops
We rehearse most weeks in North Shields, so someone fairly local would be ideal. We’re not ruling out the right person from a little further afield, but being able to rehearse regularly and become properly involved in the band is important to us.
With plans to record and release our first EP before the year is out, we’re really looking forward to what comes next. We want to keep building our live reputation, develop our original material, reach a wider festival audience and ultimately take the music further afield.
We’re not necessarily looking for the flashiest player in the room. Taste, feel, musical instinct and fitting in with the personalities of the band matter just as much as technical ability. What we’d really love to find is the right person to bring that extra fiddle spark, texture and lift to the sound we’re already building.
If this sounds like your sort of thing, drop us a message with a little about yourself, where you’re based and, ideally, a clip of you playing. We’d be very happy to meet up for a play and see how it feels.
Also: we’re interested in hearing from double bass players who might be a good fit for the same musical world. That search isn’t quite as urgent, but we’d love to start making connections.