CelticFolk concerts, Ferndown
Saturday 14th February 2015

"Valentine's night saw the amazing Skyhook put on a fabulous night of Celtic and Cape Breton style music from these 3 extremely talented musicians. Many of the tunes were written by Cath James and her fiddle playing just enhanced the tunes, captivating the audience. Add in to the mix great vocals and guitar from Eoin Teather and superb accompaniment from Martin Harwood on guitar, bouzouki and fiddle and everyone was left clamouring for more."

Celticfolk concerts, Ferndown, Dorset

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Youlgrave folk club, Derbyshire
Saturday 9th March 2013

"Skyhook enthralled an audience at The Bulls Head Folk Club in Youlgrave last week. Their professionalism and musical expertise was a joy to us all. The togetherness of Cath and Martin's fiddle playing and the 'apparent' ease of their techniques was inspiring and exciting to witness. (I described them as the Torvill and Dean of the fiddle world - which I hope was taken as a compliment). It was wonderful to hear Eoin's sublime voice again and I was reminded how he makes every song sound like it belongs to him. His mastery on guitar and bouzouki goes without saying. Really neck-tingling music which lifted the spirits in this often so sad world. Thank you, thank you, thank you"

Maureen Levers , Youlgrave folk club

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The Bothy folk club, Southport, Merseyside
Sunday 20th May 2012

“Spectacularly good, startlingly fresh, the chemistry between Cath, Eoin and Martin is palpable. The band sparkles, the pulse races. Is anyone playing music with such beauty and invention as Skyhook?”

Clive Pownceby, The Bothy folk club

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The Lamb folk club, Eastbourne, Sussex
Wednesday 4 April 2012

"Just to say thanks again for a great gig on Wednesday. It was easy to tell that our audience loved your music and I hope we will be able to welcome you back at some point in the future."

Nick Westcott, The Lamb at Eastbourne folk club

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Readifolk, Reading, Berkshire
Sunday 12 February 2012

" A superb performance - brilliant musicianship and a lively rapport with the audience"

Una at Readifolk, Reading's Folk Song & Music Club

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The Star, Glasgow
Thursday 21 October 2010

"AH huv tae report that Skyhook wur pretty damn good.
Thir good musicians. Thir singer hus an excellent voice an aw.
They dae a good set o tunes and songs.
They build a rapport wi the audience
Thir no clones oota some music college.
Thir no up thirsels.
Thir no feart tae make a song thir own.
They've got the skill tae make a song thir own.
Took me back tae the days when folk musicians hud tae serve thir time.

Recommended!"


(Fae "Wha's Like Us" website)

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The Barn at Baston, Baston, near Peterborogh
Thursday 24 June 2010

"...Sincere thanks for a really excellent concert. The musicianship just shone through and it was a privilege to host such a quality act. Hope we see you again in the very near future."

Alan & Maggie ...and everybody at The Barn in Baston

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Chesterfield folk club
Friday 13th November 2009

"Chesterfield Folk Club's third "Friday the 13th" concert of 2009 turned out to be a great success despite it being on a miserable day with lots of heavy rain and a delayed door opening due to access problems at Club Chesterfield.
Top of the bill were Skyhook — a Sheffield based group comprising Cath James, Eoin Teather and Martin Harwood playing fiddles, viola, guitar and bouzouki whose repertoire included traditional material from Scotland, Ireland and Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia as well as their own compositions.

Fresh from playing the Grimsby Folk Club this trio of accomplished musicians quickly hooked their audience with their combination of fiddle sets interspersed with vocal arrangements. Their first set started with the 'Ciaran Tourish' followed by 'Farewell to Fiunary' with an excellent vocal from Eoin on guitar. As the first set progressed the audience got more and more enthusiastic and for me the stand out pieces were the "New Year's Day" set and the gentle and sad 'Bonny Light Horseman' from the Napoleonic Wars with Eoin again on vocals.

In their second set the audience were again carried along by Skyhook's varied and exciting repertoire, with many of the 'fiddle set' tunes being composed by Cath, and the sheer musicianship of all three with Martin and Eoin often swapping between the guitar, the bouzouki and in Martin's case the fiddle. With nine pieces in each set I have to mention "The Father's Song" by Ewan McColl and the fiddle set "Eyre on a C String" composed by Cath, which had been grouped with the traditional "Miss Gordon of Gordonstown" and "Archie Menzies", causing whoops among the audience. Skyhook ended their performance with Bill Staines 'Roseville Fair' to loud applause."

John Reedman, Chesterfield Folk Club - Dec 2nd 2009

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Warthog on Wednesdays, The Old Ship Inn, Lowdham
Wednesday 3 December 2008

"The Wednesday music sessions at the Old Ship Inn, Lowdham, are really taking off, with their second event - an appearance by the Sheffield folk band, Skyhook - being a near sellout.
Skyhook are Martin Harwood on fiddle, guitar and bouzouki, Cath James on fiddle and viola, and Eoin Teather on guitar, bouzouki and vocals. They play an exciting mix of the music of Scotland, Ireland and Cape Breton Island, plus some of their own jigs and reels. The sound is genuinely that of the great wild outdoors.

All are expert musicians. Martin, previously with Caravanserai, has played across Europe and America, and Cath is a former finalist in the BBC Radio 2 Young Tradition Awards. She is a renowned teacher of the folk fiddle and also a violinmaker.

They gave their audience two hours of pure joy, with fiddles racing, sighing and slashing through an array of traditional tunes and their own compositions, with great style and precision. There was also some of the finest songs in the folk tradition, including Arthur McBride and the Recruiting Sergeant and Ewan McColl's The Father's Song, a lullaby on the subject of corporate greed.

The gig was carried off with disarming wit and humour, and bodes well for the future of Warthog Promotions, the non-profit making organisation behind the event."

The Newark Advertiser - Dec 12th 2008

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Wimborne Folk Festival
Saturday 9 June 2007

"Skyhook delivered a stunning set for us in the Saturday evening main concert. All three members are consummate performers and their playing and singing won them many new fans and I would travel some distance to see them again. Watch out for the name; this quality band are going places. Wonderful music."

Linda Wild - Artistic Director, Wimborne Folk Festival

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The Rock at Maltby
Friday 13 April 2007

Top calibre musicianship, wonderful fiddle harmonies, unparalleled vocals. The quality of their performances is evident every time you see them yet you can still see that there is an awful lot more to come. Their music is played with grace, emotion and a quality of musicianship that is a rare commodity, they are subtle, accomplished and extremely entertaining.

Rob Shaw - Rockingham Arms folk club organiser

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The Rockingham Arms, Wentworth
Friday 21 April 2006

A great night at the Rock. A large, responsive audience, enjoying two new acts on their way up - and based in South Yorkshire, to boot. First up was singer-guitarist Jon Chapman from Doncaster, with Ben Trott (guitar) and Kim from Norway on cello. Some strong original songs and thoughtful arrangements; they're worth checking out (but find yourselves a name, guys!)

Skyhook are Eoin Teather (guitar, bouzouki and vocals), Cath James (fiddle and viola) and Martin Harwood (fiddle and guitar). All may be familiar to South Yorkshire folk fans in other guises, but this is a new band and has the freshness of three fine musicians who are enjoying working together.

In essence, Skyhook's music comprises about two-thirds tunes, highlighting some superb interplay between the fiddles, backed by Eoin's guitar or bouzouki, and one-third Eoin's vocals. It's a combination that works well and the large audience gave them rapt attention during both sets.

There's a good representation of Cape Breton tunes from the likes of Jerry Holland, Brenda Stubbert's and Paul Cranford, and plenty of traditional and contemporary Scottish tunes too. They are interspersed with several of Cath's own tunes (I counted at least eight). Several of these had stories attached, including a tune as a wedding present and a close encounter with a moose. I particularly liked the lyrical and unusual Then And Now.

The songs are varied too. There's always a balance to be struck between including the familiar and the less well-known, and Eoin got it about right for me. Ewan McColl's Father's Song and James Taylor's Frozen Man especially, came across as Eoin's very personal versions. Green Grass Grows Bonny (a song that lends itself beautifully to fiddle accompaniment) and Malcolm McLeod's Fiunary were other highlights. Nothing wrong with their Arthur McBride either; just that, for me, Paul Brady's version is perfection you can't improve on!

A lively set of Cape Breton tunes finished their second set, but the crowd cried for more, and were treated to Roseville Fair (punchiest song of the night) and then some reels and strathspeys, and a final set of tunes incorporating an unexpected epilogue reference.

Skyhook aren't your typical stomping "tunes" band; they're much subtler than that, and although firmly in the folk tradition their sound is quite original. I think it's the interplay between three excellent musicians who have really worked at the arrangements and thought about how the whole thing fits together rather than lots of showcasing as individuals. It helps too when, in Cath James, you have an original tunesmith in the band. I particularly like the way the fiddles interact. You don't get a more knowledgeable, attentive audience than the Rock's, but that's also a challenge for a largely unknown band following some exalted footsteps onto that Wentworth stage. Skyhook certainly met that challenge. I think we'll hear a lot more of this band; they don't have any "product" on CD as yet but I think it'll bear repeated listening when they do. As a festival-goer for thirty years, I think audiences these days appreciate-nay, expect-quality musicianship more than they used to; so while Skyhook might not draw the beerier end of the market away from the bar, I think they'll go down a treat with many festival audiences in the future.

Nigel West

(article from Stirrings Magazine Jun-Aug 2006.)

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Sheffield Folk Festival
Sunday 30 October 2005

...a new act featuring the twin fiddles of Martin Harwood and Cath James together with Eoin Teather, whose guitar accompaniment is propulsive and exciting and whose voice can melt heart strings at seventy paces. Their set was an absolute delight; music that lifts the spirit...

Trevor Thomas



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