Tarren at Seaford Sessions

Seaford Sessions has been struggling to find a single word that comes close to describing the kinds of music we book for our Little Theatre gigs, one that isn’t ‘folk’, that descriptor being inclined to suggest an earnest beardie with hand cupped to ear.
And it seems that Tarren, at the Little Theatre on Saturday 20 September at 7.30pm, are only too familiar with this quandary. Theirs, they explain on their website is ‘new folk’ where ‘the new and the old are melded expertly… with [a] ‘trademark sound that is progressing the folk genre.’
So no cupped ears, but instead a sound that is captivating audiences up and down the country – Seaford being venue two on a 14-gig nationwide tour.
The trio’s intricate arrangements of original and traditional material reflect the character of the artists and take the listener to emotional heights. As they put it: ‘Tarren is leading folk music to a new place, while keeping the pulse of traditional dance at its heart.’
Tarren is made up of Bristol-based artists Sid Goldsmith (Jimmy Aldridge & Sid Goldsmith, Awake Arise), Alex Garden (The Drystones, Harriet Riley & Alex Garden) and Danny Pedler (Pedler // Russell). They combine cittern and concertina, fiddle and accordion to create their music, which they call New-Folk.
So there we have it: Seaford Sessions’ promotes New-Folk, the genres of which include Folk, Roots and Americana.
Tarren’s debut album Revel was released in 2022 to high acclaim and was compared with the work of Faustus and Lau’s legendary debut album Lightweights and Gentlemen. Tarren’s second studio album Outside Time was released in September last year and presents a developed sound. It gained high praise from across the folk scene including this from FRUK: ‘Just the kind of band we need on the Folk circuit today. Brilliant.’
Seaford Sessions has two more gigs for 2025, The Charlotte Carrivick Band on Saturday 25 October and The Mountain Firework Company on Saturday 20 December. Tickets sell fast so ensure yours by going to ticketsource or via seafordsessions.org, or buy at the Tourist Information Centre in Church Street, Seaford.
The Little Theatre is a seated venue and the bar opens at 6.30pm before each gig.