Devon ceilidh wedding band, Amber Fire

Amber Fire Ceilidh Band

The barn dance band with a little extra.

The musicians that make up Amber Fire Ceilidh Band have been plying their trade throughout Devon for over twenty years and played at hundreds of weddings, parties, festivals and celebrations of every kind. We know that each one is different and special to you, and it's that variety that keeps it special for us too.

We play English, Scottish & Irish traditional folk music with a dash of Ukrainian thrown in to spice things up occasionally.

There's no party that has been able to resist our infectious joyous music . . . .

Small band, big sound

How do we do it? Great musicians and a great PA system enable us to do more with less. Accordion bass lines, subtle guitar rhythms, and the percussion dancers generate all support brilliant tunes

<div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="2">Leslie Basil Thompson. Accordion. 

With roots in Ukraine he was weaned on the folk music of Russia in his early years. But first professional band was with Billy Ocean way back in the days of soul bands on Hammond Organ. Later,  turned back to folk music and the accordion, getting involved in the vibrant folk scene around Brighton in the 70s. When he moved to Devon in the 80s found himself in demand for English Country dance bands in the area. Formed the Seven Stars Ceilidh Band in the 1990's and started 3dB a ceilidh band with the novel twist of incorporating a touch of East European music alongside the standard ceilidh repertoire.

Chris Jewell, Caller, Fiddle , Melodeon.</font></div>
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<div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="2">Chris lives and breathes folk music and dance and has done so ever since he can remember, as his parents did the same.  He knows a great range of dances conveying them effortlessly and with humour.  What's more, he can simultaneously play terrific melodeon or fiddle. He has been a regular leader in Folk Camps for the last twenty years and played with Touchstone before recently moving to the South West where he teaches fiddle,melodeon and guitar.</font></div>
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<div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="2">Simon Hopkins, Guitar, vocals

<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Times; font-weight: normal; "><font face="Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" color="ffffff"><b><div>Mike Cosgrave, guitar. 

Mike was a founder member of Celtic/World music crossover band Sin é with whom he has performed at the Lincoln Centre (New York), QEH (London) as well as major festivals such as Celtic Connections, Sidmouth & Rudolstadt in Germany. The band may not be a household name, but musicians in the know quickly recognised Mikes impressive agility on a range of instruments and he was frequently touring in Europe with the late Jackie Leven, and is currently playing with Jackie Oates.  We are indeed lucky to have Mike play with us.</div></b></font></span></font><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Times; font-weight: normal; "></p></div><div style="font-size: x-small; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">
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Testimonials

Date: 9 May 2012 17:28:14 BDT

To: bunelik@gmail.com

Good afternoon Les,

Just wanted to drop you a line and say a huge thankyou for playing our wedding on Friday gone. Everybody had an amazing time and all guests were commenting that it was really good fun and they loved getting swept away in the fun and the music. Even some of the oldies commented that they would normally have disappeared off earlier and left the youngs one too it, but got carried away and stayed to the end. We have passed your details on to the managers at Tunnels as they commented the next morning about how much fun and how relaxed the whole thing was. Thank you once again for adding another element to a brilliant day and evening.

Loved it.

James and Jo

Dear Les and Band
We just wanted to say how thankful we are that you made such an effort to get to Bickleigh Castle for our wedding on the 18^th December 2010. The weather was atrocious and driving conditions difficult. We hope you all got home safely.
We thought you were fabulous and our guests never stopped talking about how much fun they had. I know they took some persuading to get on the floor but once there they thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
Having you there made such a difference, your personalities shone through and the banter was such fun.
We would strongly recommend you for any function!
Best wishes
Anne & Nick

Hi Les, just to say a huge thank you to you and the boys for such a great evening at our Barn Dance recently. You were really instrumental (sorry) in making the evening such a success. Everyone had a great time and altogether we raised over a grand for our school funds, which was fantastic. Thanks again, we'll look forward to the next one!

Best wishes from Jill Brock and everyone at Stoke Fleming Primary School

Hi Les, We're back from our honeymoon and I just wanted to say "thanks" for providing the excellent music for our wedding reception. Everyone enjoyed it very much. I'm sorry I didn't say goodbye on the day, but I got caught up with arranging taxis.

Steve

Hi Leslie,

Dan and I would like to say a big thank you to you and the rest of your band for playing at our wedding on 19th May. We had such a great time and all of our guests commented on how fantastic you guys were. We were a bit apprehensive about having a Ceilidh because you never know if people will get up and dance but even those people who had sworn never to dance again were up on the dance floor!! The music was fantastic and we were really grateful for your patience during the many moments of confusion! We will definitely be recommending you to friends and family and hope we have the opportunity to hire you again in the future.

Many thanks again,

Natalie and Daniel

To Les and the band,
thank you so much for the amazing job you did for our wedding reception. We had a brilliant time, as did everyone else. We have had so many compliments about choosing you - we wanted to pass these on.
Joe & Kate

Hi Les

just a quick email to thank you so much for a very enjoyable barn dance on Saturday. Everyone enjoyed themselves, particularly the children. Thank you for making our 40th birthday a memorable occasion.

Kind regards

Jill & Andrew

Hello there,
My name is Tom, I have the good fortune to be getting married on the 16th of august at Clovelly . You played at my friends wedding last year and everyone had a great time, I wonder if youd be available to play at mine this year?

Hello Les
Thank-you for the best night!
With such a mixture of ages this truly is a night that will go down in the history books, everyone getting up and having a dance. I haven't laughed so much in years. Chris is a great caller, please pass on my thanks to him and the rest of the group.
Thanks again Les.
Kind regards
Sharn

What a beautiful sound! Judi Spiers, Radio Devon

hi there,
i just wanted to say thank you very much for playing at our wedding on 14th june at huntsham court, i know the room was a bit on the squashed side, but we all really really enjoyed it, it was fantastic,
sarah

Thank you all so much for a wonderful ceilidh evening. Everyone really enjoyed themselves and thought you were a fantastic band. I wish I'd had time to just sit and listen!
Fully intend to do it again sometime and wil be in touch. In the meantime, thanks once again and have a great summer.

Best wishes
Vicky

Dear Les

We are now back from honeymoon so I wanted to drop you an email to thank you so much for playing at our wedding! We had such a fantastic day and the ceilidh just made it! Everybody thoroughly enjoyed it and I was so pleased to see lots of people on the dance floor! I danced to all the ones that I requested so I was very happy! I even managed to do an arcadian strip the willow holding my dress in one hand!

email me