Sound of the Shire – Riverside Stage @ Cornbury Festival

Cornbury Music Festival Friday July 10 – Sunday July 12 2015

The Sound of the Shire… on The Riverside Stage

Oxfordshire blues band King B make a nostalgic return to the Cornbury Music Festival this year. Twelve years ago this popular local group were picked to open the very first Cornbury Music Festival. Now they’re back to headline the Riverside Stage on Saturday.

After a triumphant Summer 2014 supporting The Libertines at their sold-out Hyde Park comeback gig, The Jacques – Paul Weller’s favourite new band – headline Friday night; and Oxford’s vintage troublemakers The Original Rabbit Foot Spasm Band close the festival on Sunday. Also returning for the third time is Cornbury Music Festival fan, Loyd Grossman and his band The New Forbidden. ‘It’s hard not to like Cornbury, says Loyd: ‘An eclectic and exciting line up, a beautiful setting and terrific catering make it one of the UK’s most stimulating and enjoyable festivals.’

The Riverside Stage opens on Friday with Oxford legend Larry Reddington – a familiar face to musicians throughout the county as the man behind one of the world’s smallest music shops, The Music Box on Oxford’s Cowley Road. Not only has Larry sold instruments to some of the country’s top musicians, he’s played with them too. In a lifetime of music he’s supported The Beatles, The Kinks, Gene Pitney, Dusty Springfield and The Rolling Stones. Joining Larry on the Friday will be last year’s Campfire Sessions winner Dance À La Plage.

Other highlights include big, bold ska band Hope and Glory, Turkabilly/hiphop mash-up artists the Brickwork Lizards, summertime feelgood band Alphabet Backwards, and master of subtle English pop, Sam Taylor, making his first Cornbury Music Festival appearance with his new band. Newcomers not to be missed on the Riverside Stage include top Oxford band Zurich – the threesome with a big sound who rocked the Riverside Festival in 2014, alt-country band Dreaming Spires and Les Clochards, the up-tempo English folk group with a French flavour.

Each year Cornbury Music Festival works with local schools to celebrate and nurture young music talent, rewarding the winner of the Chipping Norton Battle of the Bands with a place on The Riverside Stage. This year’s winner is five-piece funk band Fourth Time Lucky. Don’t miss their festival debut, opening the Riverside Stage on Saturday.
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