Performer Name: Beggars Buttons

Show Name: Beggars Buttons - folk concert

Show Description

We're a three-piece folk band from Ceredigion, Wales. Our songs and tunes are inspired by politics, our connection to land, to nature and to our local communities. We have played shows in halls, festival stages, pubs, DIY social centres and events across the UK and in 2018 and '19 also toured mainland Europe, playing gigs in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Poland. In 2022 we resumed touring in the UK, playing a number of large events including Kelburn Garden Party and the Landworker’s Alliance Skills Fair. Last year (2023) we spent more of the summer playing gigs than we did at home. This year (2024) we toured the UK in early spring and in Belgium/the Netherlands in summer, as well as hosting several benefit gigs in local venues in Aberystwyth, Machynlleth and Borth. Our Most recent recording is here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6nm9zeDv-w which is three songs from a concert in Machynlleth We have one single on our bandcamp - beggarsbuttons.bandcamp.com Fragments of various shows on our instagram - instagram.com/beggarsbuttons And a couple of older videos on youtube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-8jTlyteYU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPGu49DXDws We have recorded several tracks for a future album over a year ago but haven't finished the mixing and mastering process.

Our show is perfectly accessible to blind/partially sighted people, depending on the venue's own accessibility. Our show is not accessible to deaf people as it is an audio art form.
We do not generally provide our own lighting, but we generally cultivate a gentle and intimate atmosphere in our concerts and don't therefore require any extravagant lighting or equipment. We could bring table lamps if there was a need to soften the venue's atmosphere.
We play acoustic instruments that speak quite adequately for themselves in most smaller venues, and as such do not require specific technical equipment. If the venue is already set-up with a PA, our tech specs are as follows: Tech Specs 3 x vocal mics (all members sing). 1 x mic suitable for trad. Flute (sometimes the flute player plays into the same mic as vocals, this depends on the soundtech’s equipment and preferences). 2 x instrument mic suitable for acoustic guitar, preferably that focuses well on the low-end. 1 x bass drum mic for cajon (this is fairly optional in smaller venues but a preferred option in larger venues or outdoor stages) We also use a foot-tambourine which usually goes without a microphone, do as you see fit. Minimum size of performance area: Fairly small - We are three people, one of whom sits on a box. Get in time - usually we are playing acoustically, maybe half an hour minimum just to settle in to the space - an hour if we need to set up the space in any way, chairs etc. If there is a PA and a sound technician available, 1.5 hours for set up and sound checks. If there is a PA but no sound technician, 2 hours for us to figure out sound checking ourselves.
We can design and print flyers and posters as needed.
Beggar’s Buttons are three close friends that play windswept, mud-spattered folk music with the beauty of an anarchist vision. Having come together on squatted land projects and protest sites, they’ve now put down roots in the hills of Ceredigion, but nomadic inclinations remain reflected in tunes and influences gathered from across the Western European Isles. They play guitar, mandola and wooden flute, augmented by other hand-crafted instruments, creating a sound at once earthy and airy like a slant of sunlight illuminating the dust through the window of a woodland cabin. Their songs speak to the things that matter most; community, companionship, relationship with the land. They will stick with you like the seeds of the Burdock plant that give the band their name. “A thoroughly engaging and enjoyable set at Fire in the Mountain festival. Great playing and arrangements with earthiness and integrity.” - Sid Goldsmith (Sid and Jimmy; Tarren) “When I hosted Beggars Buttons in a house concert in Glasgow back in November of 2019 they came with a troupe of travelling musicians and fellow folkies who were all ready and willing to put their spirits to the strings and share their music with us. Beggars Buttons are a dynamic bunch and shared with us a versatile instrumentation of song from their wooden instruments that bellowed the primal sounds of their cultural ancestors. I hope to experience more cross-culture of Scottish and Welsh folk music and traditions in our local communities, of which I’m sure Beggars Buttons would hold a key place.” - Lee McGilvray, Gathering South Sessions