The Avocets
Meet The Avocets – a versatile fiddle, bass, and piano trio that brings a unique blend of Folk, Pop, Classical, and Klezmer music to life for special events. With a rich repertoire at their disposal, they seamlessly adapt their music to match the evolving atmosphere of your event, guiding you from a dignified ceremony to an elegant reception, and into a lively party. Although primarily an instrumental trio, they can also include a caller to lead a Ceilidh, ensuring everyone gets on the dance floor.
Price from £823 + travel
Set List / Repertoire
We have hours of repertoire covering folk, pop, classical and klezmer. Here are a few examples of popular choices. Don't worry if you don't see exactly what you're looking for - we have plenty more repertoire and are happy to keep adding more. You get 3 free guaranteed requests with every booking, and can suggest unlimited general guidelines (such as 'anything by the Beatles', 'Scottish folk', '90s Indie', 'Irish songs') or guarantee 4 or more requests at a small extra charge.
Wedding Ceremony:
Canon in D - Johann Pachelbel
Jesus joy of man's desiring - JS Bach
First time ever I saw your face - Eva Cassidy
All you need is Love - The Beatles
Can't help falling in love - Elvis Presley
Make you feel my love - Bob Dylan
Lewis Bridal Song/Mairi's Wedding - trad.
Sweetest thing - U2
The Rose of Tralee - trad.
Red is the Rose - trad.
Unst bridal march - trad.
Flower of Scotland - trad.
Yedid Nefesh - trad.
Dodi Li - trad.
Erev Shel Shoshanim - trad.
Iris - Goo Goo Dolls
Everlong - foo Fighters
Walk the moon - Shut up and dance
Better together - Jack Johnson
Happy - Pharrell
Love Story - Taylor Swift
It must be love - Madness
One day like this - Elbow
Tale as old as time - Beauty and the Beast
Reception/background music:
Folk:
Fields of Athenry - trad.
Galway girl - trad.
Danny boy - trad.
Whisky in the jar - trad.
Leaving for Liverpool - trad.
Wild Mountain Thyme - trad.
I love a lassie - Harry Lauder
The Bonnie Banks o’ Loch Lomond - trad.
Caledonia - Dougie MacLean
Skye boat song - trad.
Scarborough fair - trad.
Greensleeves - trad.
and hours of jigs, reels, airs, marches, strathspeys, hornpipes, schottisches and polkas - trad.
Klezmer:
Hava Nagila
Dovid, Shipl Es Nokh A Mol
Der Heyser Bulgar
Odessa Bulgar
Sirba
Noah A Glees Vayn Hora
Firn Di Mekhutonim Aheym
Terkisher Yale V'yove Tantz
Sher, Sher, Di Shivger Kunst
Oi Tate
Broyges Tantz
Lebedike Hanga
and many more Bulgars, Hongas, Khosidl, Freylakhs, Terkishers, Nigunim, Shers and Sirbas - trad.
Pop (90's-2020's) music from artists including:
Taylor Swift
Ed Sheeran
Fleet Foxes
Mumford and Sons
Avicii
Vanessa Carlton
Greenday
Foo Fighters
Coldplay
Florence and the Machine
Adele
Tracey Chapman
Seal
Shania Twain
Britney Spears
Spice girls
Sugar Babes
Christina Aguilera
Avril Lavigne
Oasis
Blur
Stone Roses
Stereophonics
Led Zeppelin
System of a Down
Red Hot Chilli Peppers
ACDC
Pop (60's-80's) music from artists including:
ELO
The Beatles
The Kinks
Fairport Convention
Jethro Tull
Fleetwood Mac
Bob Dylan
The Dubliners
U2
Elton John
Elvis Presley
Paul Weller
Eva Cassidy
Joni Mitchell
The Beach Boys
Madness
Eric Clapton
The Smiths
Film/TV/Classical music from shows including:
Bridgerton
Gladiator
Disney
The Godfather
Jurassic Park
Game of Thrones
Lord of the Rings
Ghost Busters
Star Wars
Star Trek
Indiana Jones
Last of the Mohicans
The Lark Ascending
Air on G
O mio babbino caro
Bolero
Flower Duet
Full Biography
Meet The Avocets – a versatile fiddle, bass, and piano trio that brings a unique blend of Folk, Pop, Classical, and Klezmer music to life for special events. With a rich repertoire at their disposal, they seamlessly adapt their music to match the evolving atmosphere of your event, guiding you from a dignified ceremony to an elegant reception, and into a lively party. Although primarily an instrumental trio, they can also include a caller to lead a Ceilidh, ensuring everyone gets on the dance floor.
Specialising in Irish and Scottish folk, Klezmer, and Classical music, The Avocets are also adept at creating custom arrangements of your favorite tunes upon request. As conservatoire-trained musicians with backgrounds in jazz, folk, classical, and composition, they bring a highly refined skill set to their performances. Their expertise allows them to deliver authentic traditional music as well as sophisticated instrumental renditions of pop classics. Their passion for arranging, composing, and improvising ensures that your special requests will be uniquely memorable. They love hearing about the songs that are meaningful to you and your guests, and they add their own distinctive flair to each piece. No request is too unusual for them – their eclectic tastes and love for challenges make every performance special.
Based in the West Midlands, The Avocets travel across England and Wales and are available for international engagements. As freelance musicians, they regularly perform at festivals, weddings, and parties. Their impressive resume includes performances at renowned events such as the 2023 Commonwealth Games opening ceremony, Glastonbury, WOMAD, and the Cheltenham Jazz Festival.
Lineup
Default lineup: 3 members
3 piece band: Violin, Bass, Keyboard. Additional callers for Ceilidhs can be arranged.
Performance Times
Booking Options
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Prices
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Price from £823 + travel from West Midlands
Based on 3 members performing 2 x 45 Minutes
- West Midlands From £823
- East Midlands From £870
- South West From £870
- South East From £886
- Wales From £894
- North West From £898
- East of England From £899
- North East From £1,017
Most Alive Network artists travel UK wide and internationally. Get a guide price instantly by clicking the 'get quote' button and entering your event date and location. Make an enquiry and we will liase directly with The Avocets to confirm price, availability, and the provide you with a confirmed quote.
3 Customer Reviews
| Performance quality: | 5 stars |
| Sound quality: | 5 stars |
| Behaviour: | 5 stars |
| Communication: | 5 stars |
| Audience engagement: | 5 stars |
| Value for money: | 5 stars |
Blown away by the mix of traditional and modern music - absolutely loved it!
Christy S booked The Avocets for their Wedding • April 2024
“Thank you so much for playing at our wedding - our guests kept telling us how amazing you were! We were blown away by how beautifully you played in our ceremony, then really ramped up the energy for the reception, you even got my dad singing along! It was so nice to hear some of our traditional tunes mixed in amongst the more modern hits, meant everyone had something to listen to. Thank you!”
Amazing musicians - could tell they really cared about trad music.
Rachel A booked The Avocets for their Wedding • December 2023
“We're so happy we found you! We were looking for a band who could play a mix of music for the young guests and our friends, but also some traditional Scottish tunes (my partner's from Inverness). You don't hear that played much around here, but you did an amazing job playing a mix of traditional Highland tunes, upbeat folk and our modern pop/indie requests. It really felt like you connected with all the generations of our guests.”
Played with real joy and skill - really brought our party to life!
Henda C booked The Avocets for their event • October 2023
“Thank you so much for playing at our party - you were such a wonderful addition to my partner's 60th birthday. We loved the breadth of music you played, and especially loved your klezmer rendition of 'Whole Lotta Love' as he entered - Led Zeppelin are his favourite band and it was an amazing surprise for him, really original! Thanks also for being so easy to deal with whilst organising. There was so much for me to get done on my own (it was a secret party) and you made the booking process so easy.”
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Registered offices: Ground Floor Suite, Silk Mill Studios, Princess Street, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, ST5 1DD, United Kingdom
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