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RSVP Ceilidh band

Meet R.S.V.P the Ceilidh Band

Introducing RSVP - Click on the small images to meet each band member.

Alex started playing the violin aged 7, is classically trained and played in local youth Chamber/Symphony orchestras. Alex has had her current violin for over 20 years. It's believed to have been made in Markneukirchen, Saxony - a town famous for making instruments for over 300 years and is thought to be just under 250 years old. Alex has joined Steve and Sarah, forming a new band, Skylarking

Originally, Paddy played guitar and sang on the folk club circuit and played melodeon with English dance bands. He became captivated by the music of Central France in the early eighties and brought this interest to R.S.V.P. Paddy's main instrument is the hurdy-gurdy. He has two with him when on stage, one in D by Christopher Eaton and the other in G/C by Bernard Kerbeouf. Paddy plays melodeons in D/G by Bertrand Gaillard and the other in G/C by Jean Princival. Paddy now plays regularly with Bof!, a Colchester based band.

Steve - along with Paddy - was a founder member of R.S.V.P. He was the band’s caller, with a repertoire of dances suitable for all ages and all levels of expertise.
His main instrument is the melodeon, he currently plays a 3-row, 18-bass melodeon made by Bernard Loffet.
Steve also plays an Epiphone SG in cittern tuning and a conventionally tuned Fender Strat. He also uses Acid Music software to create the percussion backing tracks: a sound that is regularly heard in discos and clubs, but rarely backing hurdy-gurdy and bagpipes. Along with Sarah and Alex, he has now launched a new band, Skylarking.

Sarah is a classically trained oboist who plays the wind instruments in the band. During a visit to the annual music festival at St Chartier, Central France, she bought a beautiful set of French bag-pipes and so began playing the Musette with the band. She has recently extended the instrument collection and now also has a Gaita (Spanish bagpipe) and a saxophone as well. Sarah now plays alongside Steve and Alex in their new band Skylarking.

Phil has been singing and playing guitar in the English folk scene since he was a teenager but he had to learn the bass when he joined RSVP. He also enjoys French traditional music and dance, which he teaches at monthly sessions in Bury St Edmunds. Phil now plays with the Colchester band Bof!

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