Keith Baxter (barn dance caller, trombone, mandolin, banjo and percussion);
Richard Baxter (melodeon, lead vocals, saxophone and mouth organ);
Nigel Blackaby (bass guitar/double bass and vocals);
Paul Collier (drums and vocals);
Melanie Derbyshire (recorder, percussion, vocals and barn dance caller);
Tony Littman (guitar and vocals);
"Prof" Paul McDowell (accordion, piano and vocals);
Charlie Skelton (fiddle)
Hello, we're the Famous Potatoes. We play what we call "SOIL MUSIC", because it's earthy - made up of western swing, bluegrass, country, gospel, folk, cajun and who knows what all else!
We've been going for nearly 28 years and we play for barn dances and gigs. Of our 1500-odd events about 1000 have been dances.
We appear in the multi-volume Directory of Popular Music (check your local library) and get a brief mention in the Penguin Encyclopaedia of Popular Music.
Appearances range from the Lord Mayor's Show to busking amongst dustbins! We have played at many big venues including the 100 Club in Oxford Street, London; Colston Hall, Bristol; and St George's Hall, Bradford. We have appeared at the Greenbelt Festival 14 times, and other festival appearances include repeat bookings at all the following: the Kent Country Music Festival, the Trowbridge Village Pump Folk Festival, Broadstairs Folk Week, the Skjærgårdsgospel (Seaside Gospel Festival) in Norway, and of course our very own Leigh Folk Festival, which takes place over the last weekend of June each year and at which we have been regular performers since it started.
We do lots of weddings and other private functions, and in the last few years we've appeared at many venues specially licenced for weddings such as The Lawn, Hawkwell, Essex; Vaulty Manor, Heybridge, Essex; Cressing Temple Barns, near Witham, Essex; Preston Priory Barn, near Lavenham, Suffolk; Lains Barn, near Wantage, Oxfordshire; and Lodge Park, near Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.
We have appeared five times on national TV (the Generation Game in 1999; The Big Breakfast in 1993; the Lord Mayor's Show in 1987; Songs of Praise in 1985; and an Anglia documentary about the Greenbelt Festival in the mid-1980s).
One of our recordings, "Famous Potatoes", was used as a feature on several occasions by Simon Mayo on his BBC Radio 1 breakfast show. Andy Kershaw has described us as one of Britain's best barn dance bands, has played our songs several times on his BBC Radio 1, Radio 3 and World Service shows, and we appeared in a session on his Radio 3 show (performing Johnson Boys, Newton Grove / George Washington, Cherokee Shuffle / Paddy Won't You Drink Some Cider, Hold That Critter Down and Log Cabin Home In The Sky) in 2006.
We have performed in Scotland, Wales, the Republic of Ireland, the Netherlands and Norway. However, we are equally at home playing for shows and barn dances close to our base of Leigh-on-Sea, Essex (England), which make up most of our bookings.
Wonderful set at Leigh yesterday. I had a good ole dance. I have to warn others though that dancing in Birkenstocks is a bad idea. I have a blister the size of an egg on my left foot. Too much stripping the willow. Hope to see you all soon. Oh and Keith, sorry I disappeared when I said I'd help at the end. Edie wanted food and a drink and it all got a bit frantic! Ax
Hello Potatoes! I feel that someday, somehow, we should do a show together. Possibly at a food festival of some sort. What do you think? Big Joe- Home Grown Tomatoes
It really made me smile to find your page. I remember seeing you perform back in the early eighties. Including gigs at the hermit in brentwood, one of the xmas gigs in the foyer at the palace and one in London where you supported the "skif skats" I think.
Very glad to see you are still performing !!!
Hohodza band plays festivals and performs school workshops. We perform to a very high standard. Interested in booking us? Check us out and Send us a message!
