Old Swan Band

Old Swan Band

Old Swan Band is an English folk group from Cheltenham. The name comes from music sessions held in the Old Swan pub in the town. The band forms in the early 1970s from the nucleus of Oak, after that pioneering folk group disbands.

Old Swan Band becomes one of the key groups in the English Country Music Revival. It focuses mainly on tunes from the English tradition and influences a generation of folk performers. The band plays barn dances and festivals through the 1970s and 1980s, and it continues to perform under the shorter name Old Swan.

Line-up

Members include John Adams, Neil Gledhill, Flos Headford and Heather Horsley. At one point the group also includes Jo Freya on saxophones and traditional whistles, Fi Fraser and Paul Burgess on fiddle, Martin Brinsford on percussion and mouth organ, and Neil Gledhill on bass sax with John Adams on trombone.