New life for old tunes
After years of playing together on the Oxford session scene and in the folk clubs, The Oakstone Trio came together in 2022 for a gig at Oxford Folk Weekend.
Louis Thurman (melodeons, vocals), Mitch Keely (guitar, vocals), and Joshua Newman (fiddle, viola, vocals) combine a nuanced, improvisatory approach to tunes with energy and warmth, allowing seldom-heard melodies to escape old manuscripts and giving well-loved session tunes the space to find new directions. They pair new compositions with old tunes and solo ballads with harmony chorus songs.
They’ve worked with the Bodleian Library to deliver performances and workshops attached to their Playford exhibition The Dancing Master, and in other projects they have played sold-out gigs at festivals in Oxford, Kent, and at the Green Note in London; Worthy Earth festival 2022 & 23, Beautiful Days Festival in 2021 & 22; and supported Nancy Kerr and James Fagan.
The Dancing Master
In collaboration with Matthew Coatsworth (Boldwood) and the Bodleian Libraries supported by Torch, The Oakstone Trio rummaged through Playford to pull out some overlooked tunes and kick them into shape. They presented their findings (and a few well loved classics too) in concert at the Weston library in December 2023, and showed participants how they might get those tunes off the page and back into the sessions at a players Workshop.
