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Some of the then musicians of England's Glory Ladies Morris were first asked to play as a scratch band for events in 1992 and 1993, and started to play regularly for barn dances and ceilidhs in 1994.
Today we are one of the busiest bands on the local scene, recently celebrating our 180th appearance (the audience did sing 'Happy Birthday' - but not for us!), playing all over Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Wiltshire, and Herefordshire, and sometimes venturing further afield.
Most of our bookings are weddings, parties, and other private functions, but we sometimes perform at dances that are open to the public. One of these recently which was highly successful - at Walton Hill Farm, Coombe Hill for local charity Cloud 9. Well over 200 people attended and had a really good evening. raising a massive £2041.05 in the process - they took over £1000 on the bar alone! (Thirsty work, country dancing!)
We have also appeared at the 'Folk on the Water' festival at Saul, where we did an afternoon set in the 'Drum & Monkey' tent to great applause. Other festivals we have played have included Swanage,, Scarborough, Helsinki Arctic Ale, Wotton-under-Edge Arts Festival, and even Hawkesbury Upton (not the best known of folk festivals, but we were top of the billing!- and supported by Ann Summers!)
 Our current line up pictured above consists of leader Dickie Major on electric fiddle, Anita Carpenter on fiddle and recorders, Mike Gardner on melodeon, concertina, and harmonica, Astrid Cripps on piano accordian, Roger Hemming on tenor banjo and ukulele, and band secretary Peter Cripps on bass and tenor guitar.
The music we play is mostly English - polkas, hornpipes, a few reels and waltzes, but we can play some Irish and Scottish tunes when the need arises. We mainly work with callers 'Gyrating' Gerald Tween, a member of Lassington Oak MM (and now 'By Royal Appointment'),  Karen Burridge, a longstanding member of England's Glory  and Fiona Jarvis another member England's Glory.  All our regular callers are very experienced and skilled at matching the dances they select to the ability of the audience. They are also very good at explaining each dance beforehand, so providing people know their left from their right, everything will go well! You can see and hear a short video clip of us at Lower Moor near Pershore, with members of the local Rotary Club. We also have a few DVDs and CDs available of recent dances, which will give a good idea of what we are like.
We have full public liability insurance (to £5M!), and our PA equipment is 'PAT' tested regularly. We also always have a CD player or similar, so we can provide music during any interval.(although we do tend to keep on playing, as we do know so many tunes!) We are also happy to share an evening with a disco as long as the country dancing comes first! - we have found by experience that this works best. We are happy to advise you without obligation on how to put an evening together for maximum enjoyment.
The dances which were most popular (well we played them most often!)in 2007 were, in order of popularity:
Circassian Circle
I want to be near you
Bridge of Athlone
Lucky 7
Clopton Bridge
Cumberland Square 8
Ninepins
Bodmin Riding
Holmfirth Square
Winster Gallop
Hello Circle
Virginia Reel, and
Oxo Reel
We played a total of 42 different dances during the year.
The most popular tunes in 2007 were, in order of popularity:
Jenny Lind's Favourite Polka
Brighton Camp
Rose Tree
Bobby Shafto
Quebec
Seven Stars
Rattle the Cash
Gloucester(shire) Hornpipe
Upton Stick (Two Maids)
Oyster Girl
Dingle's Regatta
We played 37 different tunes, at 15 Ceilidhs during 2006.
We are listed in the Gig-Guide.Co.UK
- Wedding
Bands Directory
Mr Red's List
Folking.com
Webfeet
and Glosfolk
and on Myspace
To Book us, or to enquire about availability, e-mail us on enquiries at matchlessband.org
Or telephone on 01452 780401.
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