MFF2027: The Brothers Gillespie

Part of Manchester Folk Festival 2027 The songs of Northumbrian folk alchemists The Brothers Gillespie (James and Sam Gillespie) are animated by lyrical poetry, fluid finger style guitar, multi-instrumental musicianship and ‘the glorious tones of their blood harmony’ (Sam Lee). Theirs is a music of encounter, of lark song and crow call, ash leaves and hidden ways. It is rooted in the earth and arises most strongly for them when they are out walking in the borderlands with their packs and instruments. Bringing together visionary mythopoetics with a radical spirit, the brothers tread an older path whilst singing with fierce tenderness to the present time in its grief and luminosity. Their live performances are known for a rare intimacy and the spontaneous ways they weave tales around the songs and invite audiences into the heart of the music. In 2026 the brothers are busy touring and recording, preparing for the release of their fourth studio album Kingfisher on 10/10/2026 with UK and international touring planned throughout 2027. Kingfisher is a collection of songs borne of deepening into the kingdom of life and it’s terrain of love, loss, grief and longing. These are songs dreamed into being on the banks of two Northern rivers, the Tweed and Tyne, and are suffused with riverine life, light and image. The album is a song to the old ways, to the quiet wisdoms of the wild, a rallying call to the praise makers. The brothers have travelled far and wide with their music and have played Cambridge, Sidmouth and Moseley Folk Festivals and opened for Lankum and Sam Lee. In Spring 2022 they released ‘The Merciful Road’ (‘pure magic’, Living Tradition), inspired by the grace of life in troubled times and recorded in a cottage by the banks of the river Tweed. Like their previous album ‘The Fell’, it blends rootsy, acoustic elements to create a rich warm sound with a touch of vintage magic. 2024 saw them release the collaborative album ‘Hirondelle’ (featuring string ensemble Trio Mythos and Occitanie vocal group Tant Que Li Siam)