horseplay
musicians
Paul Martin (bagpipes, whistle, mandolin)Paul has been playing bagpipes of various sorts since 1982, when he started learning with the local pipe band. He soon became involved in the traditional music played around the sessions in Durham, and over the years has played pipes, whistles and mandolin with musicians and bands from many different musical backgrounds. His style has come to reflect influences from the many musicians he has met on his travels throughout Britain, Europe and Australia. With Horseplay Paul has returned to his north-eastern roots. |
Trish Winter (wooden flute, whistle)Trish is from Durham and has played the flute since she was eleven. She was a professional dancer until her retirement from the stage ten years ago when she realised that musicians, unlike dancers, can eat anything they like. Inspired by traditional flute players from Ireland, Scotland, Canada and Brittany her main focus now is on playing her own regional repertoire. |
Nikki Williamson (fiddle)Formerly East Yorkshire Ladies Line Dancing Champion and holder of a National bronze medal for Accuracy Skydiving, Nikki is now studying for a degree in Folk and Traditional Music at Newcastle University. The latest member of Horseplay, she has a restless and infectious energy that sees her playing in a variety of bands and sessions from the Humber to the Tweed. |
Simon Keegan-Phipps (accordion, concertina, banjo)Simon hails from the county of Shropshire and has an exhaustive supply of English polkas and rants used to accompany his local morris team the Iron Men and Severn Gilders. An ethnomusicologist by trade, he graduated with a masters thesis on ‘Folk Music and the Pub Session in Durham’ and is now studying for his PhD. Simon has enveigled himself into the band to further his studies |
Ged Lawson (guitar)Ged’s unique driving approach to accompanying the pipes stems from over-exposure to northumbrian music from an early age. A familiar figure of the Durham session scene he works regularly with other traditional musicians and dancers in the north-east including the infamous Dusk Til Dawn celidh band. |