The Falconers

Based in Bromyard, Herefordshire, The Falconers was formed in 1975, initially to play for the fortnightly folk dance club that still meets in the town, but quickly playing to a wider audience, especially after appearances at the Sidmouth and other Folk Festivals, where an ability to 'have a go' at anything in the broad folk-dance repertoire made them much in demand.

The band for very many years has been a duo, with Roger Wilkins on accordion, and Maggie Percy on flute and whistle. Roger and Maggie have played together virtually from the inception of the band in 1975, and are the regular line-up for outside bookings. Apart from dances, they regularly play at various festivals and also occasional weekend dance events over a wide area (including the club’s popular Halsway Manor visits). Having other family commitments, they do not play every week, but that also probably explains why they still enjoy playing so much after so many years.

Whilst they have never pretended to be the most technically proficient musicians in the world, no-one tries harder to give dancers the "lift" which is so important. Whether that succeeds or not is for the dancers to judge!

The band is happy to play anything in the broad Anglo-American repertoire, including Playford, Contra, Patter, Singing Square, English Traditional, Welsh and, on an occasional basis, Scottish.

Roger continues to provide the resident music for the Falconers Folk Dance Club, until recently often accompanied by the late Ian Wrenn on fiddle for part of the evening. He loved dancing too — we do now – it is an essential pre-requisite for a good dance musician. Roger's son David has occasionally also joined on piano. Former flautist Anna Beddows retired some time ago, three offspring rightly taking precedence, but remains a close friend.

The band made three LP records in the 1980s, including CDM7 for the EFDSS.

The Falconers's website