Graze Festival 2018 is set to take place this Sunday (26th August) in Twyford, Hampshire and the emphasis is very much on home-grown talent. Headliners From The Jam and Neville Staple will be joined by a host of acts that demonstrate the wide variety of styles that characterise great emerging music from the Winchester and Southampton areas.
Topping the bill on the Acoustic Stage will be This Is The Kit, a fast rising folk-roots band featuring, from Winchester, songwriter Kate Stables and bassist Rozi Leyden. With a new album produced by John Parish (PJ Harvey) and high profile tours with The National, this is a band whose time has come.
Also on the Acoustic Stage will be Rob Heron And The Tea Pad Orchestra. Hailing from the North East, they specialise in western swing, country blues and ragtime. Another rootsy outfit at Graze is Curse Of Lono, country roots-rockers from London.
Flying the flag for the Southampton area are Lucas and King, Lucy Kitchen and The Bobonboboffs, while Twyford and Gosport are represented by cover outfit The Clives (featuring Joe Jackson’s drummer Dave Houghton). Fresh from an all-conquering tour of Germany comes Winchester’s very own electro-pop hero Knights.
Adding to the mix are Southampton Ukelele Jam. There will also be an array of food stalls and demonstrations and a major offering of Theatre and Kids’ attractions and entertainments.
It all adds up to a stunningly eclectic bill for this community festival in Twyford, which is run entirely by volunteers in aid of local good causes. This year’s Focus Charity is The Joe Glover Trust, which is a small local children’s cancer charity that exists to help families in crisis following their child’s diagnosis.
As well as the huge emotional impact, the diagnosis has massive financial consequences on parents as often one or both parents may need to give up work or take unpaid leave to care for their sick child. To assist with this, The Joe Glover Trust supports families when their child is on treatment by awarding financial hardship grants.
The families they work with are receiving their treatment at the Regional Paediatric Oncology Centre at Southampton General Hospital, together with shared care at their local hospitals such as Queen Alexandra Hospital in Cosham or Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester.