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History of the Ranters
The Larkrise Ranters is a ceilidh band based in Oxford, UK playing a broad range of British traditional tunes as well as some from, Europe, the USA and Israel. The band works with callers who specialise in English country dancing and is noted for its lively and energetic style.
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The Ranters' origins lie in a scratch band that came together in 1997 for a fund-raising barn dance at Larkrise First School, Oxford - hence the name. Pete and Ed were involved in that first gig, though neither had any previous experience of playing for ceilidhs. Ed, a recent convert to folk music after joining the morris side Cry Havoc, was able to sight-read the tunes, while Pete, who had just rediscoverd folk music after a period of playing rock, 'busked' his way through them. |
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Julie Rigal |
Ed Pritchard |
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By the time the next Larkrise school dance came round Pete was knee deep in the school's PTA, and both he and Ed were keen to take the ceilidh thing further. So the search began for a line-up that could play on a more regular basis. Steve, who is the principle musician with north-west clog side Masons Apron , had been playing this sort of stuff (with the likes of the Long Hand Band and Jack's Maggot) for longer than he would probably care to admit, but seemed willing to throw in his lot with a couple of rookies. The 1998 line-up was completed by Helen Bell , a young and gifted viola player (yes, such people do exist!) that Ed knew from Cry Havoc. |
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Pete Standing |
Steve Griffiths |
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This line-up was kept busy over the following 18 months until Helen left to study music at York university. She was replaced by Suzanne Dominian, who also had connections with Larkrise school and played with the Oxford Fiddle Group.
By this time, the band was picking up work not just in Oxfordshire but also further afield in London, Cambridgeshire, Warwickshire, Berkshire and Kent. However, by late 2002, Suzanne's other committments meant she had to leave. Julie, a music teacher by profession, was hungry to experiment with folk music and when a friend of hers introduced her to Cry Havoc, Ed noticed her prowess with the fiddle and invited her to join the band.
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Callers
Some of the band's callers are:
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Samples
Here are some samples of the tunes in the repertoire (please be patient if you don't have broadband)
| Jenny Lind / Three Around Three | mp3 |
| The Evenlode ¶ / Stinchcombe Hill ¶ | mp3 |
| Toss the Salad † / Rigged Ship | mp3 |
| Welsh Polkas | mp3 |
| Nigun Atik / Tsadik Katamar - Israeli circle dances | mp3 |
all titles traditional except ¶ © Steve Griffiths, † © Ed Pritchard
Should you need a free player for mp3 files, here is a link for Winamp
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Enquiries (plus questions you might like to ask)
If you would like to enquire about the band, contact:
Ed on 01865 727821, Pete on 07770 378151 or click here! - or alternatively, if you don't like the look of us, why not try Webfeet : Dancing on the Web , an index of traditional dance in the British Isles?
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Just a very few useful links
Many thanks to the providers of the following information
A Barn Dance Repertoire Thomas Green's useful advice from a caller's perpesctive.
Barn Dance & English Ceilidh Bands Yet another set of (useful) FAQs - Arcadia Music Agency.
Swing Your Partners Derek Kingscote has advice on running a dance.
Webfeet : Dancing on the Web Martin Kiff's marvellous web site about traditional dancing in the UK.
The English Ceilidh ring An open-top bus tour of English ceilidh on the web.
The English Folk Dance and Song Society
If you would like a link added or deleted, please go to the enquiries section.
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Testimonials
From: Richard Lyall, Oxford, UK
Peter ...
Just a quick note to say how much we enjoyed the music and dancing on
Saturday evening - we have had a stream of very positive comments about the
whole evening, but especially how much fun the ceilidh was. There was a
great atmosphere and I'm glad you enjoyed it as much as we did!
Regards,
Richard.
FROM: Monica Pritchard, Farnborough, Hampshire, UK
To Pete, Steve and Ed
Just wanted to drop you a quick line to say thanks for coming to Liverpool to
play at dad's 70th. It was the first time I'd heard the 'Larkrise Ranters'
play and I (and everyone else) thought you were brilliant! Special thanks to
Pete and Steve who did an awful lot of travelling in one day just to be at
the party. It was very much appreciated! Looking forward to swinging my
partner to your music again, hopefully in the not too distant future.
Monica
DEAR Ed and all the Ranters!
First we must apologise for the tardy thank you - we hadn't realised how busy
we'd be after we got married too!
Thank you for playing such a big part in helping to make our wedding day so
special. So many people have said to us how much they enjoyed the ceilidh as
well as the singing from Spire beforehand. We thought it was just great and
a real highlight of the day. Thank you too for starting before we'd finished
the speeches - we were a bit stressed about finishing late but it helped a lot
to know that the rest of our evening guests were in good hands! We hope you
were able to enjoy it too and found us a good crowd to lead.
So thank you! If ever we (or any friends of ours) have another ceilidh to
organise in Oxford we'll know who to call.
Best wishes
Alise & Matt
From: Richard Taylor, Eynsham, Oxfordshire, UK
Peter
Just a quick note to say how much we (and everyone else we've spoken to)
enjoyed the ceilidh at our wedding. The music was fantastic, and the caller
(Ian Giles) superb at getting everyone involved. I kept meaning to come over
and speak to you, but always got intercepted on my way to the stage, so I'm
sorry I didn't get to meet you face to face.
We've got a lot of friends getting married over the next 18 months, so if any
of them are thinking of having a ceilidh we will certainly give the Larkrise
Ranters the strongest recommendation.
Thanks again.
Richard
From: Richard Bodle
We are writing to thank the Larkrise Ranters for playing at our wedding
reception in July. We, and all our guests, had a great time and enjoyed
dancing and listening to the band. Thanks for making the day so special.
Richard Bodle
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