The South west of England is a glorious part of the world, I had a great stag weekend down there a while back and can even remember most of it. It is also home to some well hidden gems of live wedding bands and acts for hire :
Affinity Function Band (arty shot above)is a highly recommended six piece function band with a diverse set list that combines both female and male vocals with outstanding musicians to produce possibly the best sounding, top quality live music. Their music is cherry picked from retro classics to present day hits like Bryan Adams, Eurythmics, James Brown, Blues Brothers, Jackie Wilson, Madness, Average White Band, Rolling Stones to Amy Winehouse, Pixie Lott, Duffy, Adele and Cee-Lo Green. This broad repertoire of floor fillers stretches over several decades and is suitable for all ages and occasions. Affinity Function Band is completely self contained, providing full stage lighting and high quality sound system operated by their engineer.
Samantha de la Haye performs at weddings, private parties and corporate events across the South. She is also a regular performer for some of London’s top hotels including the newly opened Savoy. In September 2011, Ray Davies (The Kinks) asked Samantha to sing/narrate a children’s play that was commissioned by Grazdale Arts for The Great British Festival. Over August Samantha rehearsed and worked closely with Ray until the performance at The South Bank on September 4th 2011. Ray Davies also personally selected Samantha to support the Guillemots for the Royal Festival Hall Meltdown Festival on Saturday 18th June 2011 and she has also appeared as a special guest alongside Eddi Reader and Robyn Hitchcock for the Kast Off Kinks performance at the Purcell Room, London.
Jon Pickard (right) is one of the finest Classical Guitarists in the UK and is renowned for his extremely professional service. Highly trained and experienced he has been a professional player for over 25 years, playing concerts and background music in every imaginable setting, in the UK and across Europe, from small intimate gatherings to large concert hall events. He can play gentle and refined Classical Music, or Spanish Flamenco & South American, and even has a wide range of instrumental versions of pop songs. Where the occasion desires it he will play with percussion backing tracks to give a more lively and energetic sound. Jon can also play a set of Jazz piano standards.
Marie-France Riboulet, experienced, professional harpist for all occasions plays live harp music for weddings and other events. Originally from East Sussex, but now based in Bristol, Marie-France has been playing her harp for over 39 years. She has studied at the conservatoire of Besancon and has played in the finest venues in the South West of England. Her vast repertoire includes popular music from 20th and 21st century with some jazz and latin, light and romantic classical, traditional Welsh, Scottish and Irish pieces and music from shows and musicals.
