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Melbourne songbird siblings return to Newbury




ACE Space next week welcomes back contemporary folk duo Charm of Finches from Melbourne, Australia, who performed to a sell-out audience at ACE Space in January last year, writes Stephen Ottner.

Charm of Finches at ACE Space last year Pic: Richard Markham
Charm of Finches at ACE Space last year Pic: Richard Markham

Then, they were on a short UK tour that culminated with a concert at the prestigious Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow before moving on to the US to take part in the Folk Alliance International festival.

In February this year they spent a month in rural Novia Scotia recording their fourth studio album Marlinchen in the Snow.

Sisters Mabel and Ivy Windred-Wornes are winners of the Australian Folk Music Awards Best Folk Album (2022), Music Victoria Best Folk Act (2021) and their music has been nominated twice for the prestigious Australian Music Prize.

It is their exquisite sibling vocal harmonies plus their impressive musicianship and impeccable song writing that has garnered much critical acclaim.

As children they listened to a lot of folk music around the house such as Americana and Appalachian mountain music as well as English and Celtic folk tunes.

At the ages of eight and 11, they busked outside of the local vegetable shop and played songs by First Aid Kit.

The duo say: “We write contemporary folk songs inspired by our personal experiences of love, grief and nature.

“We like to describe our music as contemporary chamber folk.”

For this UK tour Charm of Finches are supported by Mia Kelly from Quebec, who writes and performs in both French and English. Mia enthrals listeners with a distinctive blend of folk, rock and blues and is making her mark in the Canadian folk music scene.

She was recently awarded Young Performer of the Year and Emerging Artist of the Year at the 2024 Canadian Folk Music Awards

Highlights from Charm of Finches previous ACE Space gig was broadcast on Kennet Radio as was a programme with Mabel and Ivy talking about music in their life, and their life in music, and playing tracks special to them. Links to that programme can be found at www.kennetradio.com/folk-ace.

Charm of Finches play ACE Space on Friday, June 21.

Tickets, £18, are available from www.WeGotTickets.com or by emailing events@acespace.org.uk or calling 078911 76940.



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