Broadcast Partner
Club Tent, 21:00-22:00
Steven Adams is "a national musical treasure" (The Guardian) who fronted country pranksters The Broken Family Band throughout the 2000s. Described by Time Out as "Cambridge's most famous recipients of relentless critical acclaim", Adams called time on the band at the height of their success.
He's been ploughing his own furrow ever since, releasing a string of albums that have ranged from DIY indie rock, modern folk and - more recently as Steven Adams & The French Drops - experiments in krautrock and politically-charged widescreen pop. Originally from South Wales, he now lives in East London, where his last album, Keep It Light, was recorded in early 2020. Adams is now working on "something a bit noisier and weirder than anything I've done before".
Adams has recorded and performed with folk stalwarts John Smith, Martin Green (Lau), Emily Barker and Inge Thomson as well as Justin Young from The Vaccines, Canada's Dan Mangan and The Hold Steady's Craig Finn. During lockdowns he performed a series of online acoustic shows, revisiting his country and folk roots.
Adams says "I'm so excited to return to the Cambridge Folk Festival. I used to work at the festival, moving some cardboard boxes around, managing the wristband exchange, and my old band ended up playing a few times, including twice on the main stage. The Club Tent was always my absolute favourite place to catch new music and connect with an audience so it's an honour to be invited back... after sixteen years away!"
