If you are reading this, you are probably aware that a Folk club is being returned to Shrewsbury, after an absence of several decades.
Shrewsbury (and Shropshire in general) has strong Folk roots, with the Shrewsbury (previously Bridgnorth) Folk Festival well attended every year. Despite this and a strong Folk community, there has been no Folk club for a very long time. After playing and going to several other Folk clubs in different areas, I was really struck by how these clubs brought together the local Folk community and was sad that we didn’t have one here in Shrewsbury. So after talking with lots of local Folkies, I decided that we should try and return a club to the town.
There is lots to do but I am really excited to be involved in building a new space for the local Folk community and I know I am by no means the only one. The club will start up in January 2026 and you can expect floor performers, monologues, poetry, local news, guest nights and a whole lot of madness mixed in!
What's The Format, Penguin Matt?
The club is going to be monthly on a Sunday evening and the format I am thinking at the moment is essentially a 3-month cycle:
Month 1
A full floor-performers night (possibly a mix of pre-booked and on-the-night slots). Probably 2 pieces or 10m each, with a possibility for more slots if we have time at the end.
Month 2
Our local artists showcase – Two booked local acts doing 30m each, along with floor singers.
Month 3
Guest Nights – One booked guest doing a full hour or hour and a half, with support by pre-booked floor singers. We could also have a workshop run by the guest in the afternoon.
On all of these nights, we would also have elements that you would recognise from several other Folk clubs, including news of the Folk world and gigs, monologues, poems and lots of other things!
An Online Folk Community
As well as having a physical place, I wanted to create a central online space for the Folk community in both Shropshire-wide and in the neighbouring counties, trying to recreate some of what Shreds and Patches used to provide.
So this website serves a dual purpose of being both the website of Severn Folk Club and that online community space.
You can check to see what session, Folk concerts or events are happening on the What’s On page, look at our register of local Folk artists, see what other Folk clubs are around and read articles written by the community on our blog.
Newsletter
We are also planning to release a free monthly newsletter, with news about what’s happening in the Folk world in and around Shropshire, info about our latest articles and upcoming events. If you would like to receive this newsletter then you can sign-up at the bottom of this page (or any other ones!)
Name and Logo
The name of the club came from the river Severn, which winds around Shrewsbury and connects an incredible amount of towns and counties together, stretching for 220 miles!
The beautiful logo was very kindly designed for us by Shropshire artist Becky Woolley AKA Daffodowndilly. It represents the shape that the river Severn makes when curling around Shrewsbury.
The Venue
Floro Lounge (located on Pride Hill) have very kindly given us the upstairs for our venue. The team are incredibly supportive and community-minded and host many different community events throughout the year, including my social meetup for song and tune writers, Shrewsbury Songwriters.
With a nice big space and food and drink of all types, Floro will be a really lovely, relaxed and community space for our club.
Check them out here
Get Involved
There are so many ways you can volunteer and help out, both at the club and on the website, including…
- Taking photos of the club nights and for promo.
- Marketing the club and website and managing the social media channels.
- Reviewing and adding new events and artists on to the website.
- Part of the set-up and packing away team for club nights.
- Writing articles about something in the Folk world you feel passionately about.
- Filming the performances at the club and creating short videos for use on social media etc.
- Being part of the sound tech team and helping our guests and performers get their sound and story across.
- Helping to create our monthly newsletters!
- Making sure we are all sorted in legal and health and safety issues.
If you think you could help with any of these or something else that isn’t on this list, then drop us a message!
Looking Forward
I am very excited for what we can create here together and I hope you will join me for the journey, whether that’s by helping out at the club, assisting with the admin of this website, performing at our open floor nights or by coming to watch and buying a ticket – however you join in, I hope you will take this new community into your heart and help encourage all Folk music and activities in both Shrewsbury and Shropshire.
