Starring Merry Hell's leading lady, Virginia Kettle, Rolling Folk is a new project with some of her marvellous musical mates. Eclectic folk music, all at once brash and ethereal, raw and refined. Virginia Kettle - singer/songwriter, guitarist. Clare 'Fluff' Smith - fiddle, vocals Chris Lee - bass, mandolin Mark Woolley - whistles, percussion John Kettle - guitars As a prolific writer of songs, Rolling Folk gives Virginia the chance to share a variety of songs not included in the Merry Hell repertoire. It is not a replacement for the band, but an additional outlet for her creativity and energy. Offering the same level of songwriting excellence as Merry Hell, but a different, more intimate feel, as well as some additional musical explorations, the Rolling Folk project surrounds Virginia with a fabulous and interesting selection of players, particularly multi, multi-instrumentalist Chris Lee, (Full House, Time Bandits, Family Mahone, Galleon Blast, Rad Co., etc, etc etc) and percussionist, whistle player and flautist, Mark Wooley (Ade Edmondson’s Bad Shepherds, Full House, session master and more) – as well as husband John, all giving breadth and depth to her musical and lyrical visions. VIRGINIA KETTLE Born in Manchester, raised in Chester and shaped by a lifetime of music and adventure, Virginia had long been a solo-singer songwriter under her maiden name of Virginia Barret, releasing 2 albums, The Quiet Bridge and Sense Of Human, before joining husband John and his two brothers as they formed the folk-rock leviathan that Merry Hell has become. At the very heart of Merry Hell, her songs and energies have helped drive the band ever upwards, giving a significant outlet to her creativity, providing anthems such as Bury Me Naked which had 20,000 fans swaying in a Cropredy field, as well as irresistible dancing tunes and slices of wry humour as seen in ‘VIOLET’, her solo tour-de-force during the band set, where she often forgoes the need for amplification and wanders freely among the audience. She has been described by Folk North West magazine as ‘The best thing to happen in British Folk for years’ and who are we to argue?