Traditional folk music, dance and customs - Harrogate, North Yorkshire - Chas Marshall's Website

The Village Hop Band and Hop Back Jig

The Village Hop Band

An experienced ceilidh band based around lively traditional English dance music played on melodeon and anglo concertina by Heather Hazell and Chas Marshall. This band has a flexible line-up which includes musicians who play regularly together in various bands and music sessions. In addition to melodeon and concertina, the line-up can include piano, french horn, fiddle, banjo, percussion, guitar, and recorder. This band can be engaged either with, or without, the services of a caller for birthdays, celebrations, weddings, barn dances, fund raising events etc.

Contact Heather Hazell on 01423-527892.

Hear the Village Hop Band with Dave Blight (bodhran), Nigel Swan (piano) and Jan Porter (recorder) at Heatherdene Folk Dance Club, April 2007.

Hear the Village Hop Band with Heather, Chas and Nick Barber (baritone horn) at Heatherdene Folk Dance Club April 2008.

Hear the "One Night Band" - another line-up with Heather, Chas, Paul Hudson (piano) and caller Barbara Bentley. This band was originally formed to play for one night only at a fund raising ceilidh for Clogfest in 2008, but the arrangement worked so well that we have continued to perform in spite the, now, inappropriate name!

Hear the Village Hop Band with Nick Barber and Heather (melodeons), Mary Barber (fiddle) and Chas (anglo concertina) in session at Stean Cottage during March 2010.

Hear the Village Hop Band with Paul Hudson (piano), Mike Johnson (percussion), Carol Johnson and Heather Hazell (melodeons) and Chas Marshall (anglo concertina). A live recording from the Clogfest fund raising ceilidh at Gargrave Village Hall in November 2011.

Hear the Village Hop Band with Paul Hudson (piano), Mike Johnson (trombone), Carol Johnson and Heather Hazell (melodeons) and Chas Marshall (anglo concertina). A live recording from the Church in the Dale ceilidh at Pateley Bridge Memeorial Hall in February 2013.

 

 

Chas, Heather, Mary and Nick at Stean Cottage, April 2009

Band Diary

The year of 2008 was a busy one for band activities and with our various line-ups we provided music for 33 folk dance events. We especially enjoyed playing at our 3 local folk dance clubs - Heatherdene Folk Dance Club in Harrogate, Highside Folk Dance Club in Galphay and Knaresborough Country Dance Club. But there were a couple of highlights which were very special - playing for the Clogfest ceilidh at Cracoe Village Hall with caller Martin Harvey and for the Early Dance Circle at Ashville College, with Diana Campbell calling.

In 2009 we continued to play for our both folk local dance clubs and at many other events which totalled 30 performances for the year. Highlights included playing at Ryburn Three Step Ceilidh at Waring Green Ceilidh with caller Gordon Wood and Nick and Mary Barber. We also accompanied the Northern Lights dancers at the Llangollen Eisteddfod for International Youth Day where the team won first prize.

We played about at about 27 bookings during 2010 - unfortunately a couple were cancelled due to the bad weather. One of the year's memorable gigs was in the Station Hall at York's National Railway Museum with a backdrop of a Battle of Britain class locomotive called the Winston Churchill. Another was in the lovely wood-panelled library at Ripley Castle.

2011 saw the band playing at 30 different events. We especially enjoyed playing with Nick and Mary Barber as guests at the Bradfield Traditional Music Weekend and we were privileged to have the wonderful Sue Coe as our caller on a couple of occasions.

The band played at 27 events during 2012. At the Clogfest Fund Raising ceilidh in November we had 7 peice line-up including the Barber family (Nick, Mary and Sarah) and the Johnsons (Mike and Carol).

Date Band Event
Tue 1 January 2013 Village Hop Band New Year's Day Ceilidh, Addingham
Fri 18 January 2013 Village Hop Band Highside Folk Dance Club. CANCELLED DUE TO WEATHER
Fri 25 January 2013 Village Hop Band Burns' Night at Dacre Banks Village Hall. Tickets £12.50 from Pat Hutchinson 01423 780456.
Sat 2 February 2013 Village Hop Band How Stean Gorge Folk Night. Admission £2 - proceeds to Upper Wharfedale Fell Rescue Team.
Sat 9 February 2013 Village Hop Band Church in the Dale Charity Ceilidh, Pateley Bridge Memorial Hall.
Fri 15 February 2013 Village Hop Band Highside Folk Dance Club.
Fri 1 March 2013 Yorkshire Gold YAMSEN - Mrs Porter's Concert Party
Mon 4 March 2013 Village Hop Band Heatherdene Folk Dance Club, Harrogate.
Sat 9 March 2013 Village Hop Band Wheeleasy Ceilidh at Pannal.
Fri 15 March 2013 Village Hop Band Dishforth Officers' Mess.
Sat 23 March 2013 Village Hop Band Grewelthorpe Village Hall Fund Raising Ceilidh at Masham Town Hall.
Sun 31 March 2013 Village Hop Band Private Party, Wedding Celebration, Rowley Manor, Little Weighton.
Fri 10 May 2013 Yorkshire Gold YAMSEN - Mrs Porter's Concert Party
Sat 11 May 2013 Village Hop Band Private Party, Ripley Town Hall.
Fri 17 May 2013 Yorkshire Gold Highside Folk Dance Club.
Sat 25 May 2013 Village Hop Band Private Birthday Party, Bishop Monkton Village Hall
Fri 31 May 2013 Village Hop Band Highside Folk Dance Club.
Sat 8 June 2013 Village Hop Band Ripon Grammar School.
Sat 15 June 2013 Village Hop Band Private Birthday Party, Stone House Inn
Sat 29 June 2013 Village Hop Band Village Ceilidh, Langthorpe.
Sat 20 July 2013 Village Hop Band Private Party, 25th Wedding Anniversary Celebration, Pateley Bridge Memorial Hall.
Sat 27 July 2013 Village Hop Band

Private Party, Wedding Celebration, Burnsall.

Sat 21 September 2013 Village Hop Band Private Party, Wakefield
Sat 5 October 2013 Village Hop Band Private Party, Wedding Celebration, Hampsthwaite.
Sat 23 November 2013 Village Hop Band Private Party, Wedding Celebration.

The Village Hop Band at the Wheel Easy Ceilidh, 31 January 2009. Nick, Mary, Chas and Heather. "Many thanks again for doing a great job to make the Ceilidh such a success" - Malcolm and Gia.

"If you weren't at the session on Tuesday you missed a stonker, Chas, Heather, plus Nick and Mary Barber were really blowing up a storm; enthusiastically encouraged by a set of drunken conference-attendees who rolled up later in the evening. What a powerful sound they made, the conference people couldn't help but dance, and dance they did." - Ray Black, 23 July 2010.

"We would like to say a very big thank you to you and the band for helping to make Saturday night such a great evening. Marcus and I both thoroughly enjoyed it and the girls had a fantastic time. They were totally exhausted by the end of the evening but they would have danced all night given half the chance and have told us it was the best party they have ever ever been to – great praise indeed I can assure you. We have had several calls and text messages from people to say what a brilliant evening it was and how much people had enjoyed themselves and people have come up to me in the playground at school today to say the same. We also had comments from the Sutton Village Hall committee members who were staffing the bar for us that the evening seemed to have a been a great success and it was so nice to see everyone enjoying themselves." - Rachel Copping, 11 October 2010.

"We had a wonderful party and really enjoyed the music and the dancing." - Sarah Shaw, 17 October 2010.

"Many thanks to you and the band for a splendid night on Saturday. It really was a super night that Rita and everybody that attended really did enjoy. You really did get everything right and it was much appreciated." - Stuart Raggett 16 November 2010

"A big thank you to you all for another great evening. I have been in Pateley this afternoon and received many appreciative remarks about the Ceilidh. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed it and are saying they will come to the next one!! I think it has definitely become an annual affair." - Constance Hutchin 21 February 2012

Fund raising ceilidh for Clogfest at St John's Church Hall, Bilton. November 2012

Nick, Mary, Chas, Heather, Carol and Mike

Amid the dark wood panelling in Ripley Castle Library, October 2010.
Nick, Mary, Heather, Barabara and Chas.
"So many people commented on the music and dancing and how super you were - the caller was great - and a good time was had by all!" Elizabeth and Alastair

 

Hop Back Jig


An experienced four piece ceilidh band playing mainly English Country Dance music for birthdays, celebrations, weddings, barn dances, fund raising events etc. Listen to the band playing the Tip Top Polka and the Tip Top Hornpipe.

Reasonable rates! Contact Heather Hazell on 01423-527892 or Harry Scurfield on 01943-465436.

Hop Back Jig at Galphay Village Hall - 15 March 2003

Harry ("Gumbo") Scurfield - Caller, Tuba and Anglo Concertina

Gabi Scurfield - Fiddle
Harry and Gabi also play in the Otley based Cajun influenced band "Bayou Gumbo".

Heather Hazell - Melodeon.
Heather has previously played in two other Harrogate ceilidh bands - Fred Pigeon's Polka Band and Laycock's Overdrive.

Chas Marshall - Anglo Concertina, Tenor Banjo
and Bass Drum.
(photo courtesy Nick Barber)

And again - Harry ("Gumbo") Scurfield - Caller, Tuba and Anglo Concertina

The band's name is a play on words inspired by both morris dancing and brewing! A hop back step can be found in morris dancing and the name jig refers to a show dance for one, or sometimes two, morris dancers. In brewing a hop back is a device in which hot wort is run through a bed of whole hops. This imparts hop aroma to the beer and also acts as a filter clarifying the wort.

Put the hop back in your step with Rooster's Beers!
Put the hop back on your palate with Rooster's Beers!