2026

Saturday 17th January
Oxford NAGS
ruffCeilidhs
Cardiff

Sunday 25th January
Mat Green and Andy Turner
Readifolk
Watlington House, Reading RG1 4RA

Saturday 28th February
Acoustic Cabaret
St Joseph's Community Club, 42 School Lane, Brinscall, Lancashire PR6 8QP 

Thursday 16th April
Mat Green and Andy Turner
Abingdon
Royal British Legion Club, 25 Spring Rd, Abingdon OX14 1AH
Performance from 8pm; informal session from 10pm
No entry fee - hat collection

Saturday 2nd May
Magpie Lane
Wychwood Folk & Acoustic Club
Tiddy Hall, Shipton Road, Ascott-under-Wychwood, Oxfordshire OX7 6AG
Tickets from wegottickets.com/event/669470

Sunday 19th July
Magpie Lane
Kings Lynn Festival
King’s Lynn Methodist Church, 20 County Court Road, King's Lynn, Norfolk PE30 5EJ

Friday 14th August
Magpie Lane
White Horse Folk Festival
Grove, Oxfordshire

Saturday 22nd - Friday 28th August
Mat Green and Andy Turner
Whitby Folk Week

Thursday 19th November
Mat Green and Andy Turner
Islington Folk Club
The Brewhouse & Kitchen, 2a Corsica Street, London N5 1JJ

Wednesday 2nd December
Trad Night
Cecil Sharp House, 2 Regent's Park Road, London NW1 7AY

Saturday 5th December
Magpie Lane Christmas concert in Oxford
Wesley Memorial Methodist Church, New Inn Hall Street, Oxford OX1 2DH
Concert start time: 2.30 pm (tbc)

Sunday 6th December
Magpie Lane
Thurnby & Bushby Acoustic Club
Rose and Crown, 45 Main Street, Thurnby, Leicestershire LE7 9JP

Wednesday 9th December
Magpie Lane
Hambledon Folk Club
The Pavilion (next to the Village Hall and the Vine Inn), West Street, Hambledon, Hampshire PO7 4RW

Andy Turner fell in love with traditional music in the late seventies, and has been performing it ever since. He is a fine singer of traditional songs, and a leading exponent of the anglo-concertina.

The quality of Andy's singing was recognised back in 1984, when he won the first ever Sidmouth Singer competition, judged by Shirley & Dolly Collins.

Andy's concertina playing was included on the 2005 CD set 'Anglo International', alongside top names such as John Kirkpatrick and Noel Hill. And he was one of the musicians featured in Gary Coover's book 'Anglo Concertina in the Harmonic Style' (2013).

In the early 1980's, having originally discovered the joy of folk dancing at local Oyster Ceilidh Band dances, Andy became an occasional member of the (drummerless) Oyster Band - mainly playing for dances, but also joining the band for concert dates in the UK and Japan.

Oyster Band, Tsukuba, Japan, 1985

At the same time Andy forged a musical partnership with fiddler and guitarist Chris Wood, with appearances at festivals including Sidmouth, Fylde and the National at Sutton Bonington.

Chris Wood & Andy Turner, Fylde Folk Festival, 1986

Andy and Chris stopped performing as a duo when Andy moved from Kent to Oxfordshire, but they continued to form one half of the dance band Polkabilly. Performances at Whitby, Bracknell and the major dance clubs won Polkabilly respect both from dancers and fellow musicians.

Andy is currently a member of various English Ceilidh bands:

Geckoes
described by Folk Roots as "brand leaders" in the 1990s, and veterans of many festivals and dance club bookings - Towersey, Sidmouth, Chippenham and Oxfolk, to name but a few.

Geckoes, Oxfolk, 2020

"one of the more deceptive English Ceilidh bands, not loud and no drums but playing with a style that can leave you considerably exhausted after a handful of dances. They have a nice touch and play the tunes with a good lift tempting you to dance quite a bit more energetically than planned."
Martin Kiff, Webfeet

Chameleons
a smaller, more flexible off-shoot of Geckoes.

Oxford NAGS
"stonking English tunes for stonking English dances" - featuring members of PolkaWorks and The Bismarcks.

Oxford NAGS

New Modal Army
a new band with members of Magpie Lane and the Old Swan Band.

 

Andy does not only play for dancing, however. He was a founder member of Oxford-based concert band Magpie Lane, who celebrated 30 years together in 2023. Originally formed as a studio band to record an album of songs and tunes from Oxfordshire, further recording work (10 critically-acclaimed albums to date) has gone hand-in-hand with live performance. The band has performed at festivals including Sidmouth, Towersey, Fylde and Chippenham, and for the past 30 years have played hugely successful seasonal concerts at the Holywell Music Rooms in Oxford.

Magpie Lane, Holywell Music Room, Oxford, 2018

"quite the best offering of English traditional songs and dance tunes that has come this way in many a day... a well chosen and balanced programme, full of change of pace and variety"
Vic Smith, Sussex Folk Diary

"We have had some superb feedback from audience members. The fact that each member is not only a fine singer but also an instrumentalist in many ways makes the band quite unique. We have been scratching our heads trying to think of another English act which is able to offer the same standard of performance!"
Alan & Maggie, The Barn in Baston

"the anglo concertina playing throughout is fabulous - an object-lesson both in song accompaniment, and in leading dance tunes."
Barry Callaghan, English Dance & Song - review of Magpie Lane CD 'Six for Gold'

"represents the very best in the English country dance and song tradition… an accomplished and joyous album that’s the finest in its genre in many a moon."
Sing Out - review of Magpie Lane CD 'Six for Gold'

"Some perfect playing and the voices are just as good as good can be"
John Sims, Folk on Tap - review of Magpie Lane CD 'The Oxford Ramble'

Andy also performs at festivals and folk clubs as a duo with Magpie Lane fiddler Mat Green.

Mat Green & Andy Turner, Leafield, 2014

Andy's solo performances concentrate on English songs and tunes from traditional sources, but also include self-penned dance tunes, and the occasional item by writers such as Billy Bragg, Bing Lyle, and even George Formby!

From 2011 to 2016 Andy posted a song (and sometimes more than one song) every week to his A Folk Song A Week blog. This is still updated with new songs on an occasional basis. He also posts dance tunes and other instrumental pieces to his Squeezed Out blog.

Andy was a founder member of West Gallery choir the Christminster Singers, directed by Dave Townsend, and has sung as a guest on three CDs by the Mellstock Band. In 2015, he took Tony Engle's place in a reformation of Oak (with Peta Webb, and Rod & Danny Stradling) for 'Ten thousand times adieu' - a celebration of the centenary of Bob Copper's birth.

Since 2022, Andy has been the musician for Headington Quarry Morris Dancers, attempting to live up to the high standards set for so many years by John Graham and, before that, by the legendary Bill Kimber.