Alex Garden (fiddle) and Archie Churchill-Moss (diatonic button accordion) began playing together in 2016 when they discovered a mutual passion for the traditional dance music of northern Europe. Their arrangements incorporate tunes from a wide variety of ancient folk traditions as well as modern compositions written by themselves and other contemporary musicians.
Originally from near Glastonbury in Somerset, Alex and Archie now live in Bristol and enjoy contributing to its vibrant music scene. The union of accordion and fiddle is a timeless classic which they combine with a uniquely modern approach – one moment playing toe-tapping traditional polkas and then the next swiftly improvising around a chart-topping pop melody. They combine this ancestral instrument pairing with their knowledge of modern contemporary art forms to create a unique response to the modern day music scene, creating new music which is heavily rooted in folk music.
Widely regarded as one of the best players of English traditional folk, Archie has worked as a session musician for some of the UK’s top folk acts (Cara Dillon, Eliza Carthy, Blair Dunlop), as well as performing with the ‘Moore, Moss, Rutter’ trio which received the coveted BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award in 2011. The past two years have seen Archie tour extensively across Western Europe and perform at top music festivals including headline slots at Colours of Ostrava (Czech Republic), Tonder Festival (Denmark) and Cambridge Folk Festival (UK). With a contemporary approach to composition and arrangement, Archie has developed a style of playing that draws as much influence from the tradition as it does modern popular music. He is currently performing with Tom Moore & Archie Moss, Sam Kelly & the Lost Boys and False Lights.
Alex Garden is a fiddle player, guitarist, composer and producer with a unique approach to instrumental music as a result of 10 years experience performing folk, classical and improvised music around the UK. Alongside regularly performing with The Drystones, Sheelanagig, Harriet Riley & Alex Garden, Tarren, Ellie Gowers and Rachael Dadd Alex is a recording artist who produces a broad variety of collaborative work from experimental electronic music to string arrangements. Alex studied music at University of Southampton, graduated in 2017 and moved to Bristol shortly after, where they have immersed themself in the city’s thriving music scene. Their longest running project The Drystones has been nominated for the BBC Young Folk Award and received an Arts Council England project grant in 2021 for a new tour in partnership with EFDSS, English Folk Expo and Halsway Manor – with a mission to involve more younger audiences in UK Folk music.
