The Riverside stage at Cornbury Music Festival

The Sound of the Shire is back…

This year’s Riverside stage at the Cornbury Music Festival will, once again, feature the very best acts that Oxfordshire has to offer. After their show-stopping conga-causing debut last year, tonic-suited, flat-topped ska bandThe Inflatables are back by popular demand. And giving them a run for their money on the spontaneous dance-inducing front will be Oxford’s hot Cuban-style dance band Ran Kan Kan.

Famous foodie and former punk Loyd Grossman’s band The New Forbidden also returns to the Riverside stage this year with a sound inspired by the golden age of transatlantic New Wave tinged with a modern angst-ridden edge.

Other unmissable bands include the indie-pop Black Hats, The Brickwork Lizards, loved for their unique Turkabilly/hiphop mash up style (think jazz meets rap with a middle eastern flavour) and the curiously named seven-piece jazz combo The Original Rabbit Foot Spasm Band.

For those who like their music soft and melodic, acts to look out for include Ben Montague, who opened on Amy McDonald’s recent tour and secured the album of the week slot on Radio 2 in February, and the feelgood, Americana acoustic country band, The Knights of Mentis.

To get the party started, Riverside hands over the stage on Friday 5 July to popular London music venue The Bedford who are bringing some of their favourite acts to the Shire from their Balham homestead, including Blair Dunlop who recently won the BBC Radio 2 Horizon award at the folk awards and got a number 1 album on iTunes. Other acts include Ellie Rose, Fierce County, Leddra Chapman, Kit Rice, Lizzie Deane, and Ilona.