Continuing our look at some of the artists at this years London Folk Festival we turn our attention to the headliners Faustus, who are a UK traditional folk trio. They will be shortly releasing a new album 'Death and Other Animals in October', which we are looking forward to listening to. The album was recorded at Halsway Manor, and features songs from the centre’s extensive collection. Faustus are also currently artists in residence at Halsway. Our LCM #TrackOfTheDay is a live version of 'Blow The Windy Morning' taken from their second album 'Broken Down Gentleman'.

Their all-male membership brings together multi-instrumentalist musicians active across many other leading bands in the UK folk scene: Benji Kirkpatrick (Seth Lakeman Band, Bellowhead), Saul Rose (Waterson–Carthy, Whapweasel) and Paul Sartin (Bellowhead, Belshazzar’s Feast). They have been described as “bloke-folk” and aiming to “rescue contemporary folk from the curse of feyness” (The Independent). In 2007 they received a 75th anniversary award from the English Folk Dance and Song Society, and they were nominated as best group at the 2009 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.

Faustus evolved out of an earlier four-piece band, Dr Faustus, featuring Sartin and Kirkpatrick alongside melodeon player and singer Tim van Eyken and concertina player Robert Harbron. Sartin and Kirkpatrick had been playing together for a number of years, and were looking to expand their work with others to explore traditional English music. Sartin met van Eyken and Harbron while performing the Mick Ryan opera A Day’s Work at Salisbury Playhouse. The band’s name came from the traditional tune Dr Fauster’s Tumblers rather than the Christopher Marlowe play of the same name.

The early years of the band were spent playing for the charities Superact and Live Music Now, putting live music into schools, prisons, hospitals and other venues.In 2002–03 the band recorded their first album 'The First Cut' on Fellside recordings and toured it through UK folk clubs and venues.

Their second album 'Broken Down Gentlemen', was released on Navigator Records in spring 2013. The band have undertaken twice-yearly tours, and performed at folk festivals all over the UK and Europe.