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Mawkins rebel-rousing folk songs and DIY ethic...

Since their formation in 2002, Mawkin have grown into one of Brit-folk's brightest new guns. A blistering five-piece band, they are on the cutting edge of the contemporary music scene while at the same time bringing in ancient folk music traditions from across the globe. With a host of exciting folk songs and instrumentals, the band modernise traditional folk material and energise audiences with their loud, boisterous, foot stomping live sets.

Debut album, ‘The Fair Essex’ was one of MOJO’s folk albums of the year, praised for its “gypsy jazz stylings, rural sound effects and samples – its beauty is in the detail”. Their following album, ‘The Awkward Recruit’ earned BBC Radio 2 Folk Award nominations for ‘Best Group’ and ‘Best Traditional Track’.

Mawkin worked hard to gain the attention of new fans by supporting a diverse selection of artists, such as Eliza Carthy, Billy Bragg, Show of Hands and Mr Scruff, while a chance meeting with Jim Causley (Devils Interval, Under one Sky) led to the extremely popular collaboration Mawkin:Causley.

In 2015, Mawkin released their self-produced and critically acclaimed album, ‘The Ties That Bind’: "a gutsy re-working of traditional songs that suggests a slimmed-down Bellowhead without the brass. The full-tilt anthems Jolly Well Drunk and Shanghai Brown should make them festival favourites" (The Guardian).

Along with a flurry of festivals and UK tour dates, Mawkin supported Bellowhead on their farewell tour of 2016. The band members have a wealth of other musical experience between them - brothers David and James’s play with Eliza Carthy, Norma Waterson and Jim Moray and acted as stand-in support for members of Bellowhead; Nick Cooke is Kate Rusby and False Lights’ melodeon player; and Lee Richardson, whose former background was in dance music, is an award-winning producer of TV advertising and trailer music.

Enjoy the "Pogue-ish sound" (The Independent) of Mawkin's foot-stomping live set at The Apex on Tuesday 8 November at 7.30pm. Tickets are £12, ring the box office on 01284 758000 or see the website, www.theapex.co.uk for details.