Lancaster Music Festival: Final shows as New York beckons

Lancaster indie folk trio The Woodsmen will play their last shows as a full band at the music festival.
The WoodsmenThe Woodsmen
The Woodsmen

Lead singer Dara Woods and guitarist Ste Findlay, both 30, will be heading off to New York to “play some gigs and do a bit of writing” before Ste moves to Australia.

Dara said he fell in love with Lancaster when he came to visit, and has been overwhelmed by the support the band has received.

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He said: “Ste and I are heading off to New York for a couple of months to play some gigs and do a bit of writing before he goes to Aus.

“There’s 200 Irish pubs to get through so we’re taking a couple of guitars and a mandolin and we’ll be staying in hostels and travelling around a bit, living on the music for a few months.”

Dara, a tree surgeon by day, and Ste, are both originally from County Wicklow, Ireland.

“I moved here to go to university at Myerscough College around six years ago. Ste attended UCLan in Preston, just by chance, two years ago and we formed the band from there.

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“I’d been playing as a duo with bassist Rob Armitage, who was also at Myerscough.

“We then met drummer Andrew Slater, and started writing together. Our first gig was in the John O’ Gaunt around two years ago.”

Dara will be returning to Lancaster in January to pick up where he left off music wise.

He added: I’ve loved my time here so far. It’s a great music scene and all the musicians are on the same wavelength. A big thank you to everyone who has supported us over the last few years.”

The Woodsmen play The John O’ Gaunt on Friday night and Sunday afternoon, and The Penny Bank on Saturday from 1pm.