Welcome to the Dorking Folk Club website and our programme page.
Membership can now be renewed for 2025 on the door when you attend.
We continue to have some restrictions in place following the Covid pandemic. Currently:
- People should not attend the club if they have any symptoms (no matter how mild) of any acute illness that could be Covid. These include symptoms associated with the common cold, flu, raised temperature and / or digestive upsets.
We will post updates here so please check the website regularly.
Please note that admission to the Club is by card payment only and that this is also the preferred method of payment at the bar.
For all evenings, doors open at 8pm and the entertainment commences at 8:30pm.
We cannot admit dogs or other pets to the Folk Club. Guide and assistance dogs are permitted and we would be grateful for advance warning of these.
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Many thanks to all those who came to and supported my bike ride for Cancer Research. We reached the wonderful total of £1195. Which means the total money raised thus far on the bike ride is just over £2000. If you weren’t able to be there on the night you can still respond to the appeal by going to - https://bit.ly/cancer45 All the best - Mick |
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19 March 2025 Singers’ Night Entrance £3 Our singers’ nights are open to anyone wishing to perform one or two acoustic items for the enjoyment of all. Each floor spot should take no more than 10 minutes. Our regular singers' nights are often well attended. Although the MC tries to accommodate all performers, this cannot be guaranteed on busy nights. If you are keen to perform, please arrive in good time and let the door person know. |
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26 March 2025 Si Barron Entrance £10 A welcome return to Dorking Folk Club. Last time he played at the club he impressed us with his vocals and his excellent guitar playing. Si’s approach to Folk Music - “As a self-taught guitarist I try to keep the accompaniment out of the way of the words and melody, it’s the songs that matter I am a folk fanatic - this is exciting, moving and relevant music, hallowed by time. I celebrate that and hope I demonstrate my love for this powerful music every time I sing”. Well, Amen to that Si, we are really looking forward to hearing you again. |
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02 April 2025 Singers’ Night Entrance £3 Our singers’ nights are open to anyone wishing to perform one or two acoustic items for the enjoyment of all. Each floor spot should take no more than 10 minutes. Our regular singers' nights are often well attended. Although the MC tries to accommodate all performers, this cannot be guaranteed on busy nights. If you are keen to perform, please arrive in good time and let the door person know. |
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09 April 2025 John Clachan and Friends Entrance £10 No stranger to the club. For tonight’s session, John is joined by other familiar musicians who play regularly at Dorking Folk Club. John took up song writing in 2017 and quickly built up a collection of his own songs to add to his wide repertoire of material. Accompanying himself on the keyboard or Irish 'flat back' bouzouki, in his own unique style, he has the ability to draw an audience into his own musical world. This will be a great gig to end our guest line-up before the Easter break. |
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16 April 2025 Singers’ Night Entrance £3 Our singers’ nights are open to anyone wishing to perform one or two acoustic items for the enjoyment of all. Each floor spot should take no more than 10 minutes. Our regular singers' nights are often well attended. Although the MC tries to accommodate all performers, this cannot be guaranteed on busy nights. If you are keen to perform, please arrive in good time and let the door person know. |
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Break for Easter – returning on 30th April. |
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30 April 2025 Lee Collinson Entrance £12 There is no doubt that Lee Collinson is one of Britain's finest acoustic guitarists and singers. Lee's immense versatility is demonstrated in the range of music he plays - from traditional and contemporary folk to bottleneck interpretations of modern rock and blues. As one of your members wrote of him - “Incredible instrumentalist singing songs and chatting with infectious humour.” |
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07 May 2025 Singers’ Night Entrance £3 Our singers’ nights are open to anyone wishing to perform one or two acoustic items for the enjoyment of all. Each floor spot should take no more than 10 minutes. Our regular singers' nights are often well attended. Although the MC tries to accommodate all performers, this cannot be guaranteed on busy nights. If you are keen to perform, please arrive in good time and let the door person know. |
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14 May 2025 Jonny Dyer & Viki Swan Entrance £12 Vicki Swan & Jonny effortlessly blend traditional material with contemporary sounds. Their performances showcase new interpretations of old songs alongside original self-penned tunes and new contemporary songs that are entirely at home in the tradition. You will be entranced by the haunting nyckelharpa, amazed at the cow horn and meet some of the bagpipes that didn’t come from Scotland. How could you possibly stay away? |
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21 May 2025 Singers’ Night Entrance £3 Our singers’ nights are open to anyone wishing to perform one or two acoustic items for the enjoyment of all. Each floor spot should take no more than 10 minutes. Our regular singers' nights are often well attended. Although the MC tries to accommodate all performers, this cannot be guaranteed on busy nights. If you are keen to perform, please arrive in good time and let the door person know. |
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28 May 2025 Bob Fox Entrance £12 Bob Fox is an English folk guitarist and singer, specialising in traditional and contemporary songs of the north-east of England and in particular, the coal mining communities thereof. He is noted for his collaborations with Tom McConville and Stu Luckley, and for solo performances since 1982. Anthony Ashbolt describes Fox as "possessing one of the best folk-singing voices in England and he evokes the world of the miners and, in general, the songs of the northeast, with power and clarity”. Not to be missed. |
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04 June 2025 Singers’ Night Entrance £3 Our singers’ nights are open to anyone wishing to perform one or two acoustic items for the enjoyment of all. Each floor spot should take no more than 10 minutes. Our regular singers' nights are often well attended. Although the MC tries to accommodate all performers, this cannot be guaranteed on busy nights. If you are keen to perform, please arrive in good time and let the door person know. |
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11 June 2025 Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne Entrance £12 Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne is described in “The Living Tradition” as ‘a captivating, bold and striking musician’. It is no exaggeration to claim that he is at the forefront of his generation of English folk musicians, as both a powerful and commanding singer and a masterful player of the Anglo concertina and melodeon. Traditional ballads, songs and tunes form the basis of Cohen’s material, but with a smattering of baroque, renaissance, ragtime, and music hall thrown in for good measure. Fantastic! |
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18 June 2025 Singers’ Night Entrance £3 Our singers’ nights are open to anyone wishing to perform one or two acoustic items for the enjoyment of all. Each floor spot should take no more than 10 minutes. Our regular singers' nights are often well attended. Although the MC tries to accommodate all performers, this cannot be guaranteed on busy nights. If you are keen to perform, please arrive in good time and let the door person know. |
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25 June 2025 Dougie Mackenzie and Brian Millar Entrance £12 Dougie Mackenzie sang mostly Gaelic songs in his youth but was introduced to folk music at the famed Inverness Folk Song Club. He is drawn to Scots ballad language and the stories it carries to us from the past. Brian Miller is one of the most esteemed singers and guitarists on the Scottish traditional music. In January 2024 Brian was inducted in to The Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame, this honour was well deserved. Mackenzie and Millar are a formidable duo. We are in for a great evening as we welcome them back to the club. |
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02 July 2025 Singers’ Night Entrance £3 Our singers’ nights are open to anyone wishing to perform one or two acoustic items for the enjoyment of all. Each floor spot should take no more than 10 minutes. Our regular singers' nights are often well attended. Although the MC tries to accommodate all performers, this cannot be guaranteed on busy nights. If you are keen to perform, please arrive in good time and let the door person know. |
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09 July 2025 Peet Jackson Entrance £12 Peet Jackson is of Irish/Ukrainian heritage, the son of a renowned classical guitarist. Peet found his own musical direction lay in becoming folk musician who became skilled as a multi-instrumentalist and singer. His first performance was given at the age of 10, from this early beginning he went from strength to strength. I saw him last year as part of the acclaimed musical tribute to the Dubliners “Seven Drunken Nights”. Peet has a passion for authentic, exciting and powerful performance. You will not be disappointed. |
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16 July 2025 Singers’ Night Entrance £3 Our singers’ nights are open to anyone wishing to perform one or two acoustic items for the enjoyment of all. Each floor spot should take no more than 10 minutes. Our regular singers' nights are often well attended. Although the MC tries to accommodate all performers, this cannot be guaranteed on busy nights. If you are keen to perform, please arrive in good time and let the door person know. |
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23 July 2025 Local Showcase The opportunity for some of our regular musicians to perform extended sets. Those who want to participate are chosen by our famous randomiser. |
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30 July 2025 Singers’ Night Entrance £3 Our singers’ nights are open to anyone wishing to perform one or two acoustic items for the enjoyment of all. Each floor spot should take no more than 10 minutes. Our regular singers' nights are often well attended. Although the MC tries to accommodate all performers, this cannot be guaranteed on busy nights. If you are keen to perform, please arrive in good time and let the door person know. |
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Summer break – returning on 10th September. |
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