Deer Shed Festival reveals its full music line-up

Hailing from Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kokoko! is a ground-breaking collective that merges traditional African rhythms with DIY electronic instruments crafted from recycled materials. Their music is a vibrant fusion of pulsating drums, gritty synths, and infectious energy, creating a sonic experience that transcends borders.

The band’s live performances are legendary for their high-energy, genre-defying sound that seamlessly blends electronic, punk, and Afrobeat influences. With their distinctive homemade instruments and infectious stage presence, they promise to deliver a dynamic and unforgettable set that will have festival-goers dancing and celebrating the spirit of innovation.

Also added to the line-up is LYR, the genre-splicing ‘supergroup’ from Poet Laurette, Simon Armitage. The three-piece (Simon Armitage, Patrick Pearson, Richard Walters) come together with focused, blended labour to instrumentalise Armitage’s words and vocal delivery. Opposing the tag of ‘spoken word project’ or similar, the band ruminates instead on what aural breakthroughs could only be possible with a non-singing vocalist, gifted singer-songwriter and alchemistic musician-producer.

LYR are now a firmly established part of the contemporary music scene, with regular radio airplay across the networks, two critically acclaimed albums, Call In The Crash Team and The Ultraviolet Age, and over five million streams to their name. They have appeared at many major festivals over the past three years, such as Green Man, and completed UK tours and sell-out events at venues up and down the UK. The Deer Shed team and very excited to have LYR playing the festival and to be welcoming Armitage back to his home county of Yorkshire.

Joining LYR at Deer Shed is UK singer-songwriter Katherine Priddy. Since emerging with her debut EP Wolf, Priddy has quickly become one of the most exciting names on the British music scene. Her haunting vocals and distinctive finger-picking guitar style have already seen a sellout headline tour and performances at prestigious festivals around the UK and abroad, including Glastonbury where she featured on their BBC 2 coverage.

She has also supported a number of world class artists including Richard Thompson, Loudon Wainwright III, Vashti Bunyan and Guy Garvey – as well featuring on a Double LP of Nick Drake covers released by Chrysalis Records with other artists such as Self Esteem, Aldous Harding and John Grant.

A spokesperspon for Deer Shed said they were “thrilled” to announce that Nana Benz du Togo will be joining the line-up, adding: “All the way from Togo, this feminist quintet creates organic-electronic songs; merging voodoo tradition and soul, aimed for the dance floor. There is a juxtaposition of old and new in this band's performances, traditional vs modern, manufactured vs homemade. The band are a powerful force; politics of every variety are important to them, as well as a desire to get their audiences moving.”

Making a welcome return to Baldersby Park is four-piece London-based/Bahrain-founded Flamingods and joining them is local, Leeds-based Deadletter who’ve just had a sell-out show at the Brudenell Social Club in Leeds.

Also announced are Oneda, Jessica Winter, Chalk, Lizzie No, Frankie Archer, The Itch, Dana Gavanski, Ellur, tinyumbrellas, Morgan Harper Jones, Lily Lyons, Aayushi, Our Man in the Field, Kathryn Williams and Withered Hand, Man/Woman/Chainsaw, Katie Gregson-MacLeod, Group Listening and Niki Stevens.

Following ther recent announcement of comedy headliner The Horne Section, the rest of Deer Shed’s comedy line-up, plus shows, films, science, sports, workshops, wellbeing and literary and spoken word will be revealed soon.

The festival spokesperson added: “An innovator of a family-friendly format that doesn’t forgo exciting and contemporary musical and cultural curation, Deer Shed Festival is an event carefully designed to be a brilliant experience for all ages. A festival for all – families, friends and fans.”

Deer Shed will take place on July 26-29 – tickets are on sale now. Visit: https://deershedfestival.com