WOMAD Charlton Park’s line-up has had its third and final major artist update, and it’s a good one.
Among the multicultural list of talented artists we find fellow Brit Richard Thompson, one of the Rolling Stone’s top 20 Guitarists of all time. Thompson’s awards include a lifetime achievement award from the BBC and an Ivor Novello award, but nothing speaks for his song-writing talents more than his back catalogue of over 40 albums. Previous years of WOMAD have seen such guitar legends as Robert Plant take over the festival and I’m sure that Richard Thompson’s performance will be just as electric.
The UK is being represented big-time by this year’s fantastic line-up with Richard Thompson being joined by acts such as Liverpool-born Kathryn Williams, a Newcastle-based singer-songwriter who has just released her tenth album, Crown Electric. This year’s festival also sees a number of exciting collaborations including UK’s Stars Align which sees a unique performance from Mercury award-winning Dave Okumu and Shingai Shoniwa (from The Noisettes) who will be joined by a 40-strong choir for what is sure to be an incredible show.
India will also be represented at the Wiltshire-based festival by Amjad Ali Khan who started his musical career at the age of six and will be joined on stage by his two talented sons, Ayaan and Amaan Ali Khan. Aficionados of the Indian classical music scene will be excited to welcome this legendary WOMAD regular back onto the green fields of the festival.
Other acts to look forward to this year will be Hot 8 Brass Band from the United States, Britain’s jungle reggae legend Congo Natty and French guitar-pop group Francois and the Atlas Mountains, among many others.
Check out the full line-up and find info about purchasing your tickets on the festival’s official website.
