Richard York is one of the founder members of Sleeping Moggy. He plays more instruments than the rest of us combined: piano accordion, melodeon, concertina, recorders and pipes of different sorts, hurdy gurdy and various other historical instruments! Outside of the band, Richard (among other things) runs the Feast of Fools storytelling club in Northampton and is an occasional musician for the Brackley Morris Men
Liz York, Richard’s wife and another founder member of the band, is an accomplished harpist and has played for many a wedding and other special events. She also plays other instruments, notably the English Concertina which she plays both in barn dances and when she is a musician for the Brackley Morris Men
Bob Martin, the third founder member of the band, plays mainly guitar, bouzouki and tenor banjo, although he occasionally picks up the melodeon for a “massed squeezebox” tune! His ability to pick up tunes by ear straight away when he hears them means that he has contributed quite a few tunes to our traditional music repertoire over the years. Outside of the band, Bob also plays and sings in Northampton folk clubs
John Weaver is our regular caller for ceilidhs and barn dances. He has many years of experience guiding people through dances of all kinds, including 17th Century Playford dances. He is also a melodeon player, and joins the band for some of our tunes. Outside of Sleeping Moggy, John can often be seen dressed in his smock and straw hat as the “Fool” of the Brackley Morris Men. He is an accomplished dancer and teaches the Morris to new members of the side
We also have guest musicians – people who have played with the band over the years and still join us from time to time!