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The band was originally formed in 1989 as a project to produce electric folk music with a Sussex feel. A few local gigs and festivals soon showed the potential and after a few personnel adjustments, the long running line up including Mark, Bonnie, Chris, Steve & Dave was finalised. They famously met at the 6 Bells at Chiddingly and joined up with a party from the Folk Camps Holidays organisation – more by accident than design! |
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In 1991 the band recorded their 1st album ‘The night the snow came down’ and this received wide critical acclaim and secured many festival dates and gigs. Interviews and recorded live sessions followed on radio Sussex and in 1992 the band started their long association with Crawley Folk festival up to the current year 2006 (15 consecutive years). |
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Although still a semi-professional band, Touchstone became more and more popular as both a Ceilidh band and performing group and were one of the most heavily booked band in the south east for may years. The Wivelsfield Ceilidhs were an annual event, highly supported along with several charity bike ride events where the band played in several Sussex pubs as part of a 25 mile bike ride – great fun. |
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1995 saw the release of the CD ‘One the rum’ which sold through all the major record stores in the south east, and many festival performances and supports to bands like Show of Hands, Fairport Convention and The Oyster Band. Touchstone had now carved a niche for writing traditional songs based on Sussex historical events and gained further popularity both at gigs and on record. |
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1995 also saw Bonnie & Mark winning the prestigious ‘Best new artist’ award at the National Folk Festival in Loughborough run by Brewhouse Records. At the time the band and as a duo became their most busiest. Always best live Touchstone gigs are lively and entertaining. |
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In 1997 Chris and Lynn moved away from Sussex to Milton Keynes and this affected the opportunity to play live. However in 1999 Touchstone performed at a sell out gig at the Hawth Theatre in Crawley to celebrate their 10th anniversary. Soon after this they were down to 5 members as flautist Lynn departed the band to concentrate on new projects. |
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The constant cord for the band has been their incredible un-broken run at Crawley Folk Festival of 15 years, and 2006 saw them headlining on the main stage (unfortunately clashing with the England v Portugal World Cup match). |
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Touchstone and Bonnie & Mark together have played at Winchester, Broadstairs, Ely, St. Neots, Hobbs Farm, Gosport, Chippenham, The National Folk Festival, Togfest, Cecil Sharpe House and Crawley Folk Festivals plus numerous other smaller events. |
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In 2000 the band released ‘Wine Barrel Jigtarrel’ and re-recorded many of the tracks originally only available on the 1991 cassette album ‘Snow’ plus a good selection of Ceilidh band tracks. The final 4 tracks are live from Bonnie & Marks support to Show of Hands in 1998 with Touchstone members. |
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After a period of inactivity Touchstone performed an acoustic set to a large and enthusiastic audience at the 2005 Crawley Folk Festival and were inspired to work on the latest album ‘Sea of providence’ which was released in July 2006. |
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In 2008 the band will be taking a more acoustic stance and will major on their ever popular Sussex songs. They have been successful in replacing Chris Jewell (relocated to Devon in 2007) with the excellent Fiddle player Harriet Wilder from Hastings. Harriet played with the band at the Mid-Sussex festival ‘The big Culture Show’ in June 2007 and made a big impact. |
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