About the band

Cobblers Child are a group of four friends who started playing together between the pandemic lockdowns as a way to hang onto their sanity in those uncertain times. The combination of melodeon, guitar, whistles and northumbrian pipes gave them a wide musical palette to accompany Martin and Emma's vocals. They soon discovered that other people enjoyed their music and infectious attitude to performance!

Their music is a mix of traditional and new compositions. Martin loves digging through dusty boxes to find old material which resonates with the world today. He breathes new life into archive finds with beautiful tunes and arrangements. Many of his songs feature stories of the inland waterways gathered on their travels around the country living on a narrowboat. Paul writes cracking tunes which build into the band's toe tapping tune sets.

The band

Paul Baker is a Melodeon devotee and collector who started his folk music journey whilst at the University in Sheffield. There he formed the ceilidh band Hekety with friends including Richard and Jess Arrowsmith (Melrose Quartet). As a guitarist in those days, he developed a keen sense of rhythm which transferred when he moved to the Melodeon. He brings his musical influences to the music of Cobblers Child, which is rooted in his love of dance from many different traditions.

Martin Vogwell (Guitar/Mandola/Vocals) has been a touring musician for over twenty-five years, ten of which have been spent with Folklaw performing in the UK, Germany & the Netherlands. He has also released four solo albums which have been well received. He fronts the band Bewelian and arranges their intricate music. He also appears with his wife Emma in The Vogwells duo. Martin's writing is inspired by archive material and the stories of the canals.

Emma Vogwell (Whistle/Vocals) has been a touring musician for many years, bringing vocals and playing Saxophone & Whistle to many bands, folk or otherwise. With Martin in The Vogwells duo they have been active in the Gloucestershire folk scene collaborating with the late collector Gwilym Davies and Steve Rowley in releasing the GlosTrad project (https://glostrad.com) whilst performing at folk clubs from Edinburgh to Cornwall.

Polly Stirzaker (Northumbrian Small Pipes/Whistle) has a long history with traditional music and instruments, busking with the highland pipes on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh in her younger years. She has played Fiddle, Melodeon, and Whistle with various busy ceilidh bands and hosts regular "slow sessions" for developing players. To Cobblers Child, Polly brings the unique sound of the Northumbrian Pipes which she learned at an evening class whilst working in Newcastle.

Paul and Polly dance and play for the Cotswold Morris side Lassington Oak from Highnam near Gloucester (www.facebook.com/LassingtonOakMM/) and perform at many of the local folk traditions including Wassailing, Harvest Home and May Day.