Report from At The Barrier: HERE
Uzbekistan, May 2-7 2024. The dynamic folk-improv duo The Ciderhouse rebellion is currently representing Great Britain at the prestigious Boysun Bahori Festival in Uzbekistan. The festival, a celebration of folklore, culture and art, has welcomed the duo with open arms, marking their journey with red carpets, a fanfare and an overwhelming outpouring of hospitality. On day two of the festival the duo was awarded the ‘most skilled performers of folk instruments’ award of Boysun Bahori festival 2024.
Their unexpected journey to the festival began with a chance encounter with Fariborz Kiani, an Iranian percussionist, at a gig at Greennote in London. What started as a casual conversation about music has now led them to the mountains of Uzbekistan, where they find themselves surrounded by the sights and sounds of a vibrant cultural extravaganza.
Adam Summerhayes (fiddle) reflects: “after a little talk about playing in a 17/8 rhythm we laughed that we should play together sometime. I got a laconic text a few months ago asking if we would like to join him to play at a festival in Uzbekistan. We agreed, who wouldn’t? “
“We are now in the mountains, at the Boysun Bahori festival, having been welcomed to the country down a red carpet and a corridor of women in national costumes and men with drums and huge trumpets. We’ve been escorted everywhere by police escort and have minders, are starting to collapse under the amount of hospitality heaped on us (it’s only day one), and have had our photos taken many, many times with many, many people, as we look with some bewilderment into their camera, wondering how we became celebrities. This festival seems to be enormously important to the Uzbek government, and it turns out that we have, in some mysterious way, been selected to represent Great Britain in a competition with entries from countries from all over the place: Azerbaijani, Tajikistan, Belgium, Italy, Russia, Belarus, Japan, Afghanistan, Romania … we genuinely do not know how or why this has happened, but we have been told that we were given a ‘perfect score’., whatever that means. We haven’t played in 17/8 yet, because Murray gives me a very hard stare every time I mention it.”
Despite their initial bewilderment at being chosen to represent Great Britain in a competition featuring artists from around the world, The Ciderhouse Rebellion has already made a significant impact with their electrifying performances. Their first show earned them a ‘perfect score,’ a testament to their exceptional talent and the universal appeal of their music.