We’re excited about the music headliners we have booked for this year’s festival. And, while music headliners aren’t the be all and end all of a Greenbelt Festival, we thought we’d tell you a bit more about each of them and why we’ve booked them.
Friday: Kitty, Daisy & Lewis
Kick-starting our festival weekend are the amazing Kitty, Daisy & Lewis (plus their mum and dad, of course). This wonderful Kentish Town-based family act have been on the road since way back when siblings Kitty, Daisy and Lewis were just teenagers. Over the years, they have gigged their way around Europe – and the world – winning loving audiences everywhere they play. Playing an eclectic mix-up of dirty R’n’B and blues, pop, haunting jungle drums, ska and gospel fever, Kitty, Daisy and Lewis have an unswerving and ambitious commitment to their art form – completely rooted in the 1950s songsmithery and technology they so joyfully embrace. This is knowing. This is brilliant. This is Kitty, Daisy and Lewis.
For the band’s website, click here www.kittydaisyandlewis.com
And for a window into the band and their story, watch this extract from this BBC3 music doc
Saturday: The Hot 8 Brass Band
All the way from the home of the marching brass jazz band, New Orleans, The Hot 8 Brass Band are the real deal. Born and raised in the city’s tough neighbourhoods, the band first formed as teenagers, losing four of their original members to gun-related street violence along the way. And then came Hurricane Katrina. Blighting their community and destroying their homes, the hurricane resulted in the band being dispersed to all corners of the United States. After years of separation and despair, they started to re-connect and make their way back to the city of their youth, re-forming Hot 8 and slowly going back out on the road again. Connecting the festival with the lived experience of black Americans for whom the Black Lives Matter call is so vital right now, the band also bring us their amazing and soulful fusion of classical big band artistry – complete with inimitable covers of classic songs like The Specials’ Ghost Town This is ‘feel-good’ music with a devastatingly powerful backstory. This is triumph through adversity. This is The Hot 8 Brass Band.
For the band’s website, click here: www.hot8brassband.com and to get a deeper insight into the band’s story and artistry, watch this short film.
Sunday: Nahko and Medicine for the People
An Oregon-native born a mix of Puerto Rican, Native American, and Filipino bloodlines, Nahko Bear considers himself a citizen in service to the planet. He is a disciple of Michael Franti – who has graced Greenbelt’s stages twice in the past – and Nakho’s shows are every bit as uplifting and heart-on-sleeve.
Disillusioned by the world around him and inspired by the great American tradition of travelling troubador singer-songwriters like Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan, Nahko left home as a teenager in search of adventure and self-discovery. Armed with stories, a guitar, and a fierce set of ideals, he set out to bridge cultural gaps and bring people and planet together.
He began writing a musical journal of his journey toward personal, spiritual, and social healing, and, in doing so, Medicine for the People was born. Describing his music as a mix of hip‐hop and folk-rock with a world message, we can’t wait to welcome Nakho and Medicine for the People to Greenbelt. His live shows are mesmeric and infectious.
For the band’s website, click here. and to watch the video to Black as Night, click here.
Monday: Hope & Social’s A Band Anyone Can Join
What more can we say? We’ve already blogged about why we’re excited that the boys in blue are back at Greenbelt this year – this time with their community-minded A Band Anyone Can Join. The perfect way to bring our Monday bill to a close, this is a headliner where you, our festivalgoers, become the main attraction! Keep your eyes out for announcements about how you can sign up to be part of the Band Anyone Can Join.
To watch a short film of how A Band Anyone Can Join works, click here
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Pictured above: The Hot 8 Brass Band