BOURNEFEST 2025 !!!!!
Bournefest has welcomed some of the best in Blues, Rock & Roots to the stage since 2019.
We are excited to be back in Sittingbourne for another exciting lineup of National & International Acts that you won't want to miss
Earlybird Tickets Now Available
Performing at BOURNEFEST 2025 :
Ally Venable
Critically acclaimed Texas based blues rock guitarist and vocalist Ally Venable will release her
highly anticipated new studio album Money & Power via Ruf Records on Friday 18 April 2025.
Rules are there to be broken. Expectations are there to be defied. Glass ceilings are there to be
shattered. Having spent the past decade carving out her own unique space in the male-dominated
world of blues-rock, Ally Venable’s combative sixth album, Money & Power, demands more of
both – for herself, for women around the world, and for anyone else who thought they weren’t
worthy of a seat at the table.
“Money & Power is such a strong statement, especially for women,” says the award-winning Texas
gunslinger of her Nashville-recorded new release, on which Ally’s crack-squad band is joined by A-
list guests Shemekia Copeland and Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram.
“All the songs on this album showcase the theme of what it truly means to be a force to be
reckoned with. I want this record to wake people up,” continues Ally.
Money and power make the world go round. But in the right hands, music can be every bit as
potent. Right now, on the heels of 2023’s acclaimed Real Gone – an album that hit #1 on the
Billboard Blues Charts and was still in contention a year later – Ally is rated amongst the best
young singer-songwriters in American roots, saluted by Total Guitar magazine in its poll of Top 100
Blues Guitarists.
“With her heels,
sequins and Les Paul growling on a leash, she’s one of Ruf’s most head-turning young artists,”
wrote Classic Rock, “and while the instrumental prowess can be taken as read, Real Gone
marks a growing maturity in the Texan’s songcraft.”
In February 2024, with the dust still settling from Real Gone, the Money & Power sessions saw
Ally and producer/drummer Tom Hambridge push through the doors of Nashville’s famous
Soundstage Studios. And while the studio band was strictly A-list, as always, Ally’s new
songs are the real stars. That attitude is palpable on opener “Brown Liquor,” Ally’s battlecry
decorated by a stinging guest guitar solo from the Mississippi hotshot Christone ‘Kingfish’
Ingram.
“Maybe Someday” is a blissful moment of redemptive soul, carried along by horns and barbed
lyrics aimed at an old flame. Next up is the white-hot title track, with Ally’s guitar set to scorch
and a seething message.
“Money & Power shouts to the masses,” she explains, “that women are not to be doubted in
their ability to thrive in the world.”
Vital right to the end, Money & Power plays out with “Stepping Stone’s” earthy roar of
empowerment, the shuddering, spooky, tremolo-soaked groove of “Feel That Sting, ” and the
dustblown rocker “Unbreakable,” where Ally goes toe-to-toe with New York powerhouse
Shemekia Copeland.
“That song spreads a message of women that have been oppressed,” she says, “to rise to the
occasion and break above it all.”
Money & Power is a modern roots record that plays by its own rules and marches to the beat
of its own drum. The same could be said for Ally herself. “I’m thrilled to release this album,” she
says. “For me, it’s a sonic embodiment of a woman’s unstoppable ambition, and really
showcases my musicality on all fronts. I’m looking forward to seeing where this one will take
me.”
Hippies & Cowboys
Hippies And Cowboys are a rock ’n soul band, originating in Nashville TN. Bringing back a taste of southern rock, blues, and soul, it’s a sound that has defied the test of time. Inspiration comes from the likes of Sam and Dave, The Blues Brothers, Booker T & The MG’s, Otis Redding, and Marvin Gaye, to Aerosmith, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Eagles, The Beatles, Tom Petty, The Rolling Stones and CCR.
Early tracks were recorded in the iconic studios of Muscle Shoals, Alabama: Fame, East Avalon, and Noise Block. This music was captured on the album Live At Fox & Locke, and released on vinyl in October 2023.
The band huddled up at Purple House studio in Lieper’s Fork TN, later that same year. From those sessions sprang their first studio release, an EP of six songs called Fork In The Road, delivered to the world on vinyl, CD, & digital late 2024.
The Hippies & Cowboys are:
Aaron Sparling: lead vocals, rhythm guitar
Scott Metko: drums
Victor Arruda: lead guitar
Kevin Riley Corbo: bass guitar
Connor Lafollotte: keys
Big Wolf Band
Formed in Birmingham in 2014, by acclaimed guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Jonathan Earp and bass player Mick Jeynes, explosive, dynamic, raw, emotional, and hardworking are just some of the words used to describe the Big Wolf Band. With Tim Jones on drums, Justin Johnson on guitar and Robin Fox on keys they form one formidable blues rock machine. Big Wolf Band are on the rise making the Top 5 of the best blues bands in the UK via the UK Blues Awards in 2023 and 2024, receiving multiple nominations in various categories. Big Wolf Band have cemented there place as one of the best live bands on the scene.
Big Wolf Band have garnered airplay from Paul Jones on his Radio 2 show, Planet Rock, HRH radio, FM radio across Europe, Australia and the USA and a wide range of international podcasts and internet radio stations. They have also had some amazing reviews of their albums across the globe. Big Wolf Band started their biggest headline tour in 2024 extensively touring the UK and Europe. "Rebel's Journey" the third Big Wolf Band studio album was released worldwide on 19th April 2024 to much acclaim with multiple reviews to back this up and the album itself reached Number 1 in the Amazon Best Selling Blues Chart, Amazon Hot New Releases and most recently Number 1 in the IBBA chart for May 2024. Several tracks being added to Joe Bonamassa’s Spotify Playlist “Cutting Edge Blues” and “Ultimate Blues Rock.” They are still touring extensively across the UK.
UK Blues Band of the Year Finalist 2024
UK Blues Band of the Year Finalist 2023
UK Blues Challenge Finalist 2022
Multiple Award Nominees in 2023 and 2024 UK Blues Federation Blues Awards
The Della Grants
The Della Grants are an English band whose self-penned songs seamlessly bridge the gaps between Blues, Rock, and Americana. Since their inception in 2014 The DGs have made a name for themselves among industry professionals and fellow musicians alike; for their song writing ability and on-stage performances.