Milton Keynes International Festival 2010

Presented by The Stables in The Spiegeltent

Steve Knightley and Phil Beer are widely acknowledged as the finest acoustic roots duo in England.

Knightley, who writes most of their inspired material, and Beer, a dazzling multi-instrumentalist, have built up a huge following which has seen them sell out the Royal Albert Hall three times, headline major festivals from Glastonbury to WOMAD and play all over the world, from Europe to America, Australia and India.

Double award-winners at the 2010 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards for Best Duo and Best Original Song – their rich repertoire of songs and musical artistry has them hailed as ‘one of the great English bands’ (by Peter Gabriel, no less). The jury is still out on just what kind of music they play, though we think ‘a genre defying mix of rock, roots, blues, country and traditional, often influenced by the music of other countries’ just about does it justice – oh, and all this played out on an array of instruments from slide guitar to fiddle, mandolin to South American cuatro . . .

With a stand out new studio album under their belt – Arrogance Ignorance and Greed – Steve and Phil will be accompanied in The Spiegeltent by the remarkable double bass player and vocalist Miranda Sykes.

“Steve Knightley is one of England’s greatest singer-songwriters.” Mike Harding, BBC Radio 2

“This is a band performing at its passionate peak. A class act.” The Independent

“Phil Beer can play virtually every stringed instrument know to man.” The Scotsman

Artist websites: www.showofhands.co.uk   and   www.mirandasykes.com