Nonny Tabbush (fiddle & vocals)
Nonny Tabbush is a folk musician specialising in song and violin. With a performance career that began as one third of The Tabbush Sisters, Nonny has played in numerous bands and works as a professional session musician, most recently as part of the BBC Performing Arts Fund Choreographic Fellowship, working with Hannah Moore.
For the past 12 years she has worked as a workshop leader for Shooting Roots, running youth workshops in song, craft and violin at folk festivals over the summer. She has also taught independently for organisations such as Folk South West and the English Folk Dance and Song Society. Nonny is an experienced choir conductor and currently runs two choirs in Bristol – the Bristol Folk House Choir and Glos.Vox Community Choir. She also works as a music practitioner for Bristol Plays Music, teaching violin and song in both Primary and Secondary schools.
Sarah Moody (cello & vocals)
Sarah has worked for over 18 years as a musician, music director and composer with theatre companies such as Kneehigh, Wildworks and Travelling Light and has written music for BBC Radio. She is co-founder of the award winning Devil’s Violin which extensively tours unique music and storytelling shows with storyteller Daniel Morden and violinist Oliver Wilson-Dickson (Mabon, Alaw) throughout the UK and abroad. Alongside her performance work, Sarah has co-founded Visible Thinking, a company that explores innovative ways to engage communities through story, music and performance. You can find out more at www.sarahmoody.co.uk.
“An excellent score…a haunting sound world…always tenderly humane.” – Judith Mackrell, The Guardian
Alison Rowley (fiddle, viola & vocals)
Alison is a versatile folk musician and caller who plays regularly with several other professional ceilidh bands including the Antler Ceilidh Band, Licence to Ceilidh and Bowreed. As a caller she has also worked with many well-known bands such as the Glorystrokes, Blackbeard’s Tea Party, the Gloworms and Lasair, and she has called for several ceilidh series including Oxfolk, White Horse Ceilidhs and Bristol Ceilidh.
Alison is also a talented solo violinist and regularly performs folk, classical and pop repertoire at weddings and other functions. She teaches violin, piano and ukulele in Bristol and provides traditional music and dance workshops, including maypole dance, to schools across the country. In 2013 Alison was a Creative Artist In Residence at Cecil Sharp House, commissioned to compose an orchestral fantasia of Cotswold Morris tunes from the repertoire of the Beaux of London City, entitled Morris Monday. Alison has a Music degree from the University of Cambridge (graduated 2009). More details of her work can be found at www.alisonrowley.com.
Deb Chalmers (fiddle & viola)
Deb is a violinist and violist specialising in English folk music. Having joined her first ceilidh band at the age of 13, Deb has maintained a passion for playing for dancing. She plays with Folk Dance Remixed, a dance company combining traditional dance with hip hop and street dance styles, and performing at such venues as the Southbank and Latitude Festival. She was also a member of Stepling, a band incorporating percussive step dance with fiddle, guitar and percussion. Deb continues to play with a number of ceilidh bands across the UK.
Deb is also the creator of The Fiddle Project, a series of books with supporting videos that examine fiddle style, and the listening and playing skills needed to sound like a trad fiddle player. It launched in 2023 with ‘English Jigs Book One’ available in both violin and viola editions. The next book in the series will launch in 2025, looking at common patterns and figures used in fiddle tunes with useful ornamentation, bowing patterns, technical tips and short practise drills to make the most of your practise time.
We are delighted that Deb is joining us in 2025!
Matt Norman (fiddle, viola & vocals)
Member 2014-24
Founder member of the band Matt is a dance musician steeped in the traditions of the Westcountry. He has many years of experience in playing for ceilidhs on mandolin, piano and fiddle. His other performing ventures include Crowdy-Kit, A New Vintage, and concert band Gadarene, performing old English tunes with a funky twist. Please visit www.mattnorman.org for more information.