Brian McNeill
Multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, musical and Scottish historian, novelist and raconteur, Brian McNeill is a real stalwart of the Cambridge Folk Festival. He not only holds the record for the most credited appearances, he has also appeared alongside more musicians and singers than any other festival artist.
The two facts aren't entirely unconnected, Brian McNeill normally performs his own set on the Friday night and plays host to the, rightly, famous Session on the Saturday afternoon. An event that seems to condense the entire festival into a few short hours and provides a chance to catch up with what you've missed and flavours of what you've yet to see.
The Session is also famous for two other things, the mix and match approach means that you'll see combination of musicians here that you'll never see anywhere else and it's a great place to get an inkling as to what the next generation of musicians are up to, as there are a good many artists that have made their festival debut as part of the session.
That's not to say you shouldn't take the chance to see his solo set, a real master class in getting a set together and great banter to boot.
Photocredit: Neil King