Hello, and welcome to the website of the Willows Folk Club!
The Willows has been around since 1972, and meets every Wednesday at 8:00pm (doors open 7:30pm) in the excellent function room of Arundel Football Club, Mill Road, Arundel in West Sussex. The club is committed to offering the finest quality folk music at the best value prices, and also prides itself on its welcoming atmosphere - we are always pleased to welcome friends both new and old.
The Willows offers some of the finest guests from the world of traditional and contemporary folk music, and we are also very proud of the club's fantastic fortnightly
Come All Ye - Open Stage Nights, featuring some of the best singers and musicians in the area performing folk music in its broadest sense.
We have a really exciting programme coming up over the next few months - check out our What's On page for more details! For more information about the club and its history, check out our About Us page, and for directions on how to get to us, check out our Where To Find Us page. Don't forget too that you can sample audio clips of our guests, and videos taken in the club, courtesy of our MySpace and YouTube pages, and of course you can keep up with the latest Willows news here on our front page!
Hope to welcome you to the club very soon!
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"One of the best gigs of 2005 was The Willows Folk Club. The Willows has the vitality and atmosphere that first drew me to the folk clubs of the 1960s. It's the kind of place where people are happy to join in and sing along; and yet, when the music dictates it, you can hear a pin drop. It's at the top of my list of favourites."
---Julie Felix, September 2005
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NEXT CLUB NIGHT
COME ALL YE - OPEN STAGE NIGHT Wednesday 1st July £2.00 8:00pm : Doors open 7:30pm
As well as Bram's awe-inspiring performance, we also enjoyed some great floorspots, one of whom was our old friend Mike Nicholson, one of the finest folk voices in Sussex:
(Don't forget that there are a number of other videos to enjoy on the Willows' YouTube channel - log on to www.youtube.com/willowsfolkclub to check them out!)
The Willows enjoyed a terrific Come All Ye - Open Stage Night last night! Amongst the many highlights (too many to list in full) were regulars Reg Daniel and Geoff Weston teaming up to play "Me & Bobby McGee", a visit from local skiffle king Will Warman and skiffle queen Judith Greenfield, some superb instrumentals from our good friend Keith Charnely, a great set from regular Willows supporter David Bott, and also a special visit from two new friends on holiday from overseas, Sam and his wife Saskia, who each treated us to a song. Both Sam and Saskia told us how much their visit to the Willows had meant to them, and said that it was something they would remember for years to come.
We also enjoyed some fantastic performances from more Willows friends and regulars, including (in no particular order) Ray Hedges, Davis & Griffiths, Lorna, Bryon Winslade, Mike Paine, Peter Carver, Mike Hubbard, Little Jo (aided by Chris on guitar and mandolin), and the lovely Jasmin (also accompanied by Chris on the mandolin!). The closing jam for the evening was the classic "Down By The Riverside" which boasted some great impromptu harmonies and was a great end to a fun evening!
As always, our thanks to everyone, both performer and audience member, for coming along and helping to make these Open Stage Night evenings so special - see below for some pictures from this great night!
(We also sold some more Faustus tickets too, but at this early stage still have quite a few left - please get in touch if you'd like to come and see one of the UK's best folk trios!)
On Wednesday 26th August, the Willows is proud to be welcoming exciting trio FAUSTUS, who will be appearing as part of this year's Arundel Festival! Due to the potentially high demand for this gig, the Willows is selling advance tickets for Faustus' performance, which are on sale NOW! We've already sold approximately 15% of all tickets available, but there's still plenty left at the moment - grab them whilst you can!
Faustus are one of the hottest names in folk music today, and feature a fusion of three of the folk scene's finest talents, namely Benji Kirkpatrick (son of John and an acclaimed solo artist in his own right), Saul Rose (most noted for his work with Waterson:Carthy, and Paul Sartin (who last played for us as one half of Belshazzar's Feast, and is also highly acclaimed for his work with Bellowhead). Don't miss your chance to see them!
The response for ERIC BOGLE & JOHN MUNRO's gig at the Willows on Wednesday 29th July has been overwhelming, to the point where the tickets have now completely SOLD OUT! The last ticket actually sold on 22nd May, but this is the first opportunity we've had to post this to our website. We apologise for any disappointment caused.
For those of you who've bought Bogle tickets, can we say a huge "Thank You!" both for your support of the club and for your support of this legendary singer-songwriter - his appearance at the Willows promises to be a great night!
As some of you doubtless know, over the past couple of months we've been expanding the Willows' YouTube channel to include a number of exciting videos of our guests and floorsingers! We hope to continue to use the club's YouTube channel to showcase some of the amazing acoustic talent that there is locally, as well as give an overview of the diverse and high-quality guests we run (and to this end hope shortly to invest in some better-quality equipment for capturing these videos).
In the meantime, here is one of our most recent videos, featuring local duo Davis & Griffiths performing an instrumental medley that I think some of you might recognise...
On Wednesday 26th August, the Willows is proud to be welcoming exciting trio FAUSTUS, who will be appearing as part of this year's Arundel Festival! Due to the potentially high demand for this gig, the Willows is selling advance tickets for Faustus' performance, which are on sale NOW! We've already sold approximately 15% of all tickets available, but there's still plenty left at the moment - grab them whilst you can!
The response for ERIC BOGLE & JOHN MUNRO's gig at the Willows on Wednesday 29th July has been overwhelming, to the point where the tickets have now completely SOLD OUT! The last ticket actually sold on 22nd May, but this is the first opportunity we've had to post this to our website. We apologise for any disappointment caused.