Kerfuffle

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Kerfuffle
From left to right: Sam, Hannah, Chris, Tom
Origin	East Midlands/South Yorkshire, UK
Years active	2001–Present
Genres	Folk
Labels	RootBeat Records
Members	Hannah James Sam Sweeney Chris Thornton-Smith Tom Sweeney
Website(s)	www.kerfuffleonline.co.uk

Kerfuffle are a four-piece folk band originally formed in 2001 around the East Midlands and South Yorkshire regions of the UK, comprising Hannah James (accordion, piano, vocals, step dancing), Sam Sweeney (fiddle, percussion), Chris Thornton-Smith (guitars) and Tom Sweeney (bass guitar).

1 History
2 Discography
3 Notes
4 External Links

[edit] History

Kerfuffle formed initially as a three-piece after Sam and Tom Sweeney met Hannah James. James was competing in a traditional music competition, the In The Tradition Award, held at the Derby Assembly Rooms. Sam had previously won this, and was attending the 2001 competition in this capacity. After playing together in the foyer, the trio decided to form a band. After going on to win the under-18 category of the 2002 Wiltshire Folk Association Young Folk Award [1], another competition that Sam had previously won as a soloist, the band sought a fourth member and Hannah introduced the band to guitarist Chris Thornton-Smith. Having won the WFA competition, the band was given a showcase performance at the 2002 Trowbridge Village Pump Festival. After a number of appearances at folk clubs, Kerfuffle recorded their first album in the spring of 2003. Produced by multi-instrumentalist Steafan Hannigan and recorded at his Oisín Studios[2], Not to Scale was released on the newly founded RootBeat Records on 14th June 2003, to coincide with the band's appearance at the first Festival of the Peak, a festival held at Carsington Water in Derbyshire. The summer of 2003 Kerfuffle appear at a number of other UK folk/traditional festivals, including Sidmouth Festival and a return to Trowbridge Village Pump Festival.

For 2004's K2, the band decided to utilise the sound engineering skills of guitarist Chris Thornton-Smith, and the album was recorded by Chris. The album was released in time for the band's summer festival appearances, which included Cleckheaton Festival, Priddy Folk Fayre, Stainsby Festival, Saltburn Festival, Whitby Folk Week, Towersey Festival, Bromyard Festival and a slot at Show of Hands' summer concert in the Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens.

Summer 2005 saw the band appear at Cleethorpes Folk Festival, Middlewich Folk & Boat Festival, Priddy Folk Festival and Saddleworth Folk Festival. 2005 also saw the beginning of a diversification of the band's performances; venues included theatres and arts centres as well as folk clubs, most notably including a performance as the post-show entertainment at the Linbury Theatre, a studio theatre attached to the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.