FOLKEAST has a growing reputation for its ‘firsts’ and this year folk musician and writer Jon Wilks will bring an exclusive event to the festival’s new Sotterley Estate home – a magical celebration of a London music venue that became known as one of the most influential rooms in British music history.
Jon will curate the ‘Second Cousins’ stage, celebrating the 60th anniversary of the iconic Les Cousins folk and blues club, a ‘spawning ground’ for musical talent, which opened in the basement of a restaurant at 49 Greek Street, Soho, back in 1965.
At Les Cousins musicians of the era met and learnt from each other –legendary names such as Al Stewart, Davey Graham, Bert Jansch, John Renbourn, Nick Drake, Sandy Denny, John Martyn, Cat Stevens, Alexis Korner, The Strawbs, Roy Harper and Paul Simon.
The unlikely musical hotspot which bustled beneath the restaurant owned by Cypriot husband-and-wife Loukas and Margaret Matheou will enjoy a milestone reincarnation at FolkEast on Saturday, August 16.
With the involvement of Diana Matheou—who, along with her late husband, Andy, ran the club during its heyday—the stage will feature an exhibition of memorabilia and photography, alongside talks and performances. The line-up will include artists who originally played at the club, as well as younger musicians who embody its exploratory ethos.
Jon is currently writing a book on the history of Les Cousins and is looking forward to bringing its story to life at FolkEast. He says: “FolkEast is a festival perfectly positioned at the crossroads of traditional folk music and the singer-songwriter tradition that the club helped shape. With its shared spirit of creativity and community it is the ideal home for this celebration.”
Diana Matheou, who will make a special guest appearance, agrees: “What a great opportunity FolkEast is providing this summer in celebrating the legacy of this radiant place and time. The recent sunny weather seems fitting for the 60th anniversary year – it was as if the sun settled on that time in 1965. We were young, life was full of possibilities and Les Cousins felt like the centre of the universe. So much wonderful music, creativity and connections sparked and grew from that small Soho basement. And in the years since the influence of the club hasn’t diminished – it continues to inspire new musicians.”
Artists performing in this special event will include USA-based Bridget St John, one of the leading lights of the British folk scene of the late Sixties and early Seventies, her deep, melancholic voice and poetic songwriting marking her out as a singular talent. The Surrey-born singer songwriter is perhaps best known for the three albums she recorded between 1969 and 1972 for John Peel’s Dandelion record label. Peel referred to her as ‘The best lady singer songwriter in the country’.
Also described as ‘one of the most visionary acts on the British folk scene’ St John appeared at many leading folk venues in the UK, along with other folk and pop luminaries of the time such as Nick Drake and David Bowie. In 1976 she emigrated to Greenwich Village and virtually disappeared from public view – this will be a rare chance to see her back in the UK.
Other performers will be:
Steve Tilston, one of the UK’s most celebrated songwriters and a performer at Les Cousins in the early 1970s. Tilston’s debut album An Acoustic Confusion (1971) became a cult classic and he stands out for his thoughtful lyrics, elegant arrangements and quietly dazzling guitar playing.
Ian A.Anderson, singer songwriter, founder of The Village Thing record label and editor of the much-missed fRoots magazine.
A one-time regular and MC at Les Cousins he was first inspired by ancient folk blues records, was caught up in the late 1960s blues boom, mentored by Alexis Korner and supported by radio DJs including John Peel. Today he describes his intriguing music as veteran old time trad English death folk blues, psych-folk and world.
John Altman will be joining the Second Cousins celebrations throughout the day, bringing with him a remarkable legacy that began at Les Cousins. As a young saxophonist he cut his teeth on that stage, collaborating with Nick Drake during the formative period of Drake’s album ‘Bryter Layter’ and performing alongside John Martyn in that golden era of exploration. He went on to forge a career across jazz, film and popular music, working with the likes of Bob Marley and Eric Clapton.
Among the new voices embracing the ethos of Les Cousins will be Yorkshire’s progressive folk singer-songwriter /guitarist Katie Spencer.
Her intricate, expressive guitar playing draws from the golden age of the steel-string acoustic, shaped by artists who regularly graced the Les Cousins stage—most notably Michael Chapman, whose influence runs deep in her work. Echoes of Joni Mitchell and James Taylor also ripple through her sound, lending warmth, depth and timeless resonance to her forward-looking folk.
Glasgow-born guitarist and songwriter Sam Grassie has developed a distinctive voice at the intersection of traditional folk and world blues, with a style rooted in the legacy of Bert Jansch. A founding member of the psychedelic folk group Avocet—named in tribute to Jansch’s 1979 instrumental album—Sam’s playing blends introspective subtlety with virtuosic flair. Now based in London, he is a key member of the acclaimed Broadside Hacks collective, and has recently toured with *Les Caravans*, a Cousins-inspired cavalcade of contemporary folk artists.
Cerys Hafana is a Welsh triple harpist and composer who mangles, mutates and transforms traditional music. Drawing on archival material, folk songs, psalms, found sounds and electronic processing—alongside her own compositions—she creates work that is both ancient and strikingly new. From her home in Machynlleth, mid Wales, where rivers and roads meet on the way to the sea, she crafts soundscapes that shimmer with strangeness and beauty. Her fearless experimentation places her firmly within the psych-folk lineage that Les Cousins came to represent—boundary-breaking, and deeply rooted.
Yorkshire’s Henry Parker and Cardiff’s David Ian Roberts met in 2019 while touring their respective folk-influenced solo albums and quickly discovered a shared musical language rooted in the acoustic innovations of Nick Drake, John Martyn and early Genesis. Their duo project evokes the “Bert & John” tradition at the heart of the Cousins story –two steel-string guitars in intuitive conversation. Their 2023 album *Chasing Light*, composed and recorded over three weekend sessions in the Yorkshire Dales village of Malham, is a set of original instrumentals that blur the lines between traditional folk, psychedelia and progressive music. The result is intimate, expansive and evocative -music shaped by landscape, light and the quiet power of collaboration.
Says Wilks: “The special anniversary line-up brings together artists who stood on the Cousins stage alongside new voices who embody its fearless spirit. Together they will form a living tribute to a venue that became the beating heart of the British folk underground.”