There are more music festivals taking place across the UK than you can shake a stick at and at the same time as traditional music venues are struggling to keep themselves afloat it seems that music festivals are going from strength to strength. It’s easy to see why: they are generally reasonably priced, they offer a variety of different acts and are often family friendly, so something for everyone. They also appeal to folk who like the whole adventure of camping and don’t mind trudging off to a far-flung shower block with a raging hangover or (let’s face it, given the ripe aromas that often waft across your sensitive nostrils) who dispense with the whole washing thing altogether. Adverts for the Found Festival popped up on Instagram earlier in the year and as a new festival it looked like it could be interesting, which turned out to be the case.

The festival, located in Claydon in Buckinghamshire, billed itself as offering Americana, Folk, Country, Blues, World and Roots music. Although Found is a new festival it seems to have replaced or evolved from the Towersey festival held on the same site in previous years, which had a strong focus on Folk music. That focus has been carried over to some extent to the new festival. Folk music isn’t at the top of my personal list of musical preferences but the quality, and variety, of the performers over the three days was extremely high and, as is often the case with watching any live music, the level of musicianship and the power of the musical performances overcame any initial preconceptions about the type of music on offer.

In fact, I would go as far as saying that in terms of enjoyable and diverting music this was one of the best festival experiences I’ve enjoyed. It helped that Found is super chilled. The organisers intended it be restricted to a couple of thousand people and this helped create a peaceful atmosphere. The site is in a lovely setting, in the middle of the countryside, close to water, which separates the festivities from the nearby National Trust house, Claydon, which overlooks the site and adds to the visual charm (and whose grounds could be visited across a bridge).

There were a stack of tents offering all sorts of craft opportunities, which unlike other festivals I’ve been to that offer a few token craft activities, were all actively being engaged in over the weekend by people who seemed very happy to be taking part. In addition, there were many tents offering entertainment for children or mindfulness activities for adults, plus events like silent discos or group music activities, which were all well attended. As you walked past the array of food outlets there were multiple things going on everywhere you looked (like circus training or, late in the evening, fire juggling), which all contributed the very pleasant vibe. It also helped that the weather was sunny and warm over the three days.

The music took place at either end of long stretch of, thankfully flat, grassland next to the waterway. The main Found stage was in an open sided tent at one end of the site and a smaller stage, the Overheard stage, also in a tent, was at the other end.The Overheard stage mainly hosted the singer songwriter acts and the comedians. Close to this was a large, long tent, the Dance House, with a wooden floor to facilitate the many dancing activities that took place over the weekend.

The first day on the main stage offered some interesting variety. First up was Devon songwriter, Alex Hart. She has a very pleasant voice and her songs fit firmly in the classic Americana mould. She played a number of her songs from her very listenable most recent album 'Visions', including the title track and ‘Fix This’, Blackbird’ and ‘Strangers and Lovers’. Accompanied by an electric guitarist and a double bass player she, naturally enough, wasn’t able to recreate the smooth textures of her recorded material, but it was a nice gentle introduction.

She was followed by The True Strays, the vehicle for Bristol song writers Joe James and James Cameron, who’s normal four-piece line up was augmented by the talented Demi Marriner on backing vocals, who also appeared later in the same capacity with Elles Bailey. Their songs have a rootsy feel but they combine a number of different influences like Blues and Indie Rock to create their own distinct sound that varies from song to song. Numbers like ‘Campesina’ and ‘Salt Dog (Howling For You)’ have instantly memorable choruses. Guitarist James Cameron provided plenty of onstage movement as he dragged a variety of tones from his gorgeous orange semi-acoustic and a national steel guitar. They were one of the reasons I was first attracted to the festival and they didn’t disappoint.

Another attraction was the fabulous Elles Bailey and her equally fine band, which on this occasion were complemented by keyboard player extraordinaire, Stevie Watts. I had bumped into Elles earlier as she explored the site and she cut a slightly forlorn figure as she explained in a croaky voice that she had been ill with tonsilitis. Trooper that she is, when the stage lights came on she delivered her usual charismatic performance. She has a delightful honey huskiness to her voice in any case so her illness only added another level of attractive throatiness. She has some great songs in her repertoire, which she included in her set, like ‘Hell or High Water’, ‘1972’, ‘Leave The Light On’, ‘Riding Out The Storm’ and set closer, the infectiously upbeat ‘Sunshine City’.

Preceding her on the main stage were The Longest Johns singing sea shanties. They weren’t my cup of tea but I had to admire their enthusiasm and energetic stage presence, and they probably received the most rapturous response of any act at the festival. Scottish trio Talisk headlined. Comprising fiddle, concertina and guitar the male trio turned what on record are pleasant instrumental ditties into a fiery, high-energy performance heavy on the stomp box (amped up to the full) and stage lighting that would have been more suited to an Electro Pop group from the Eighties.

My one gripe about the festival, from a photographic perspective, was the awful lighting on the main stage, where red dominated throughout and the smoke machine was on overtime. More importantly though, the sound on all three stages was superb.The other significant performance of the day took place in the Dance House tent where Rob Heron & The Tea Pad Orchestra eventually coaxed some folk into shaking some moves on the large dance floor. They were a lot of fun with a skiffle meets swinging lounge band vibe and plenty of memorable, witty numbers like ‘Une Bouteille de Beaujolais’, ‘Pull The Other One, Rob’, ‘Three Button Suit’ and ‘The Horse, The Hero and I’; all delivered deadpan by the Stetson wearing band leader. Very enjoyable stuff.

Review and Photos: Simon Green