Band announcement (25 September 2023)
From Spring 2025 to Autumn 2026 Blowzabella is available in Britain and Europe for festivals, dances, concerts and workshops - with a new hurdy-gurdy player and a repertoire of new and recent material - and for the first time, a selection of their popular tunes from across the 45 year history of the band. Many people play these older tunes – but rarely Blowzabella! - and the band are already delving into their rich back catalogue for classics to revisit with some fresh ideas.
To make this even better, the band are delighted to announce that French hurdy-gurdy player Benoit Michaud has joined Blowzabella. Benoit is an amazing player and brings his own style and ideas to the band’s unique sound.
Blowzabella was founded in 1978 and at the end of 2025-2026 the band will pause and think about what happens next. The band will go on, but no one is getting any younger while the challenges for culture, music and the environment get more complicated. For example, the band may tour less while continuing to compose, record and teach. Therefore, if you want to book Blowzabella, it is strongly advised that 2025-26 is the best time to do so.
We will also be playing some gigs in 2024. More news coming soon.
If you are interested please contact Paul James. pauljames.be@gmail.com
More about 2025-26 – what’s on offer. Available for:
- Festivals: Concert 60-90 minutes. Bal/dance 2-3 hours.
- Theatres, arts centres and other music venues: Bal/dance 3 hours. Concert 2 X 60 minutes.
- Workshops: the band is well known for the quality and range of dance, music and song workshops for people of all ages and abilities.
Welcome to the website of the band BLOWZABELLA where you can listen free to our music, buy albums, downloads and tune books direct from the band, get the latest news about gigs and explore our history.
NEW ALBUM 'TILHAM' IS OUT NOW.
LATEST INFORMATION ABOUT CONCERTS, DANCES & WORKSHOPS
Blowzabella is Andy Cutting – diatonic button accordion; Jo Freya – vocals, saxophone, clarinet; Paul James – vocals, bagpipes, saxophones; Benoit Michaud – hurdy-gurdy; David Shepherd – violin; Barn Stradling – bass guitar; Jon Swayne – bagpipes, saxophone.
Blowzabella is a genuinely unique band that makes an inimitable, driving, drone-based wall-of-sound - played with a fabulous sense of melody, rhythmic expertise and sheer feeling. They compose their own music which is influenced by English and European traditional folk music and song. Many of their tunes are “standards” in the modern British/European folk repertoire and are played by people all over the world. Bands across Europe and beyond who experiment with folk music often cite Blowzabella as a major influence. Much loved and respected, there is no one else quite like them.
Photo: Lieve Boussauw. Dranouter centrum, Belgium, 28 November 2022
