Every Thursday night in the Saddler’s Bar at the Cross Keys Hotel there is a traditional Scottish tune session that runs from 8.30 pm through to 11 pm. There is usually a wide range of acoustic instruments being played there, including Scottish Border and Shuttle smallpipes, hammered dulcimer, flute, mandolin, fiddle and guitar, and you will hear or can join in with a wide selection of jigs, reels, marches, hornpipes and airs from the Celtic tradition. Traditional songs, often unaccompanied, complete the mix.
Every Friday night a purely acoustic cabaret-style meet is in the Oak Room at the Cross Keys Hotel, which fronts onto the town square. It is held in a comfortable lounge, with food and drink available from the bar next door, and runs from 8.00 pm (doors open 7.45) to 10.00 pm. This is a really relaxing place to hear a diversity of musical genres from local and visiting musicians and singers. With its good acoustics and attentive audience it is a great venue for performers.
From 10pm, the music starts in the nearby Cobbles Inn with members setting up amplification in time for those leaving the Cross Keys to join us if they wish. On quiet nights we can be purely acoustic, and the PA is set up to let instrumentalists and singers be heard to be best advantage.
In summer we often have an outdoor session around 6pm, outside Rutherford’s micro pub next to the Cross Keys. Look out for impromptu lunchtime and evening music in the square especially at weekends in summer! Participation is welcomed. During our festival, there are many gatherings indoors and out with the town welcoming music.
NEWS: we now have the club’s second CD – after a 12 year interval between Vol 1 in 2008 and Vol 2 in 2020! – available. If you perform at the club in one of our sessions, ask for a complimentary copy. See: http://www.kelsofolk.co.uk/wordpress/?p=793
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Our purpose: Kelso Folk & Live Music Club promotes music making in traditional and contemporary fashion, both in a cabaret-style setting and in the more informal environment of a Scottish pub session and open mic. All are welcome and the many regulars involved try to make visitors feel a part of the circle. As well as weekly meetings we hold a well-attended folk festival in September. More details here, or on its dedicated website www.kelsofolkfest.org