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The Valiant Dance Band is
not taking bookings at the moment, due to the death of John Howson,
banjo player, in June 2022. |

Katie Howson |
Katie Howson
(www.katiehowson.co.uk)
was born in Ilford, Essex and has lived in Suffolk for over forty
years. She is an internationally known melodeon player and teacher who
has recorded extensively as well as a researcher and writer on
traditional music.
In 2000 she founded, with her husband John, ‘The East Anglian
Traditional Music Trust’, which aims to increase awareness of
traditional folk arts in the Eastern counties. In 2010 she was awarded
the gold badge of the ‘English Folk Dance and Song Society’.
Over the years she has played in many local and nationally
known ceilidh bands including: ‘The Suffolk Bell & Horseshoe Band’, ‘Old
Hat Dance Band’ and ‘Katie’s Quartet’. Currently she plays English style
music with ‘PolkaWorks’ and ‘The Valiant Dance Band’ and Irish music
with the ‘Michael Sheehy Band’. |
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Roger Digby |
Roger Digby
was one of the founding members of the London ceilidh band ‘Flowers and
Frolics’ who ran the seminal folk club at the ‘Empress of Russia’ in
Islington. The band were at the forefront of the 1970s revival of
English Country Music and helped shape the sound of the many bands that
followed.
Roger has been playing anglo concertina for over forty
years, and he extends the instrument’s range far beyond its assumed
limitations, stretching it most fully when accompanying the wide
repertoire of internationally known singer Bob Davenport.
In recent years, after a move to the Essex countryside, he
has joined forces with fiddle player Liz Giddings. Currently he
plays English style music with the ‘The Valiant Dance Band’ and Irish
music with the ‘Michael Sheehy Band’. |
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Liz
Giddings |
Liz Giddings
hails from Essex and began playing fiddle as a teenager for the
‘Blackmore Morris Men’ and in local ceilidh bands. She is also a very
talented melodeon player.
In her twenties she met Roger Digby of ‘Flowers and Frolics’
fame who introduced her to archive recordings and English Country Music.
She then began to develop a more traditional style and greater
appreciation of this style of music. They now play as a duo and have
played at festivals all over England and in Ireland, and together they
recorded their highly acclaimed fiddle and concertina CD ‘The Passing
Moment’.
Currently she plays English style music with the nationally
known ‘English String Band’ and ‘The Valiant Dance Band’ and Irish
music with the ‘Michael Sheehy Band’. |
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Rob
Neal |
Rob
Neal was brought up in north Suffolk in Oulton Broad and Bungay and
has been singing and playing traditional English music since the late
sixties. He was in the East London band ‘Tickler’s Jam’ and played folk
clubs and festivals all over the country.
He returned to Suffolk in 1990 and joined ‘Katie’s Quartet’
on cello, helping to develop the band’s distinctive style. He now also
performs humorous music hall songs as well as playing English and Duet
concertinas with ‘Shipshape’, ‘Proper English’ and the ‘Harbour Lights
Trio’.
His bouncy ‘traditional’ cello playing forms the back bone of
both the nationally known ‘English String Band’ and ‘The Valiant Dance
Band’. |
|

John
Howson |
John Howson
was a folk music collector, researcher, writer, musician, broadcaster
and designer. He was born in Liverpool and lived in Suffolk for over forty years
until hisdeath in June 2022, when the Valiant Dance Band ceased taking
bookings.
In 1984 he founded the Veteran recording label which is
internationally recognised as a leading specialist in the traditional
music and song of the British Isles and in 2000 he founded, with his
wife Katie, ‘The East Anglian Traditional Music Trust’. In 2010 he was
awarded the gold badge of the ‘English Folk Dance and Song Society’.
Over the years he has played banjo in many local and
nationally known ceilidh bands including: ‘The Suffolk Bell & Horseshoe
Band’, ‘Old Hat Dance Band’ and ‘Katie’s Quartet’. Currently he plays
English style music with ‘The Valiant Dance Band’ and on guitar, Irish
music with the ‘Michael Sheehy Band’. |
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