What kind of music do you play?

We play a wide variety of tunes for dancing, both original and taken from traditional sources. We also have a repertoire of tunes to play between dances.

Please note that we are not a traditional Scottish or Irish band, and we don't sing the Wild Rover!

You can hear some of our music on the home page.

Where do you travel to?

We are based in Kent & East Sussex but have worked across the South-East/West including Bristol, Oxford, Cambridge, Essex, Surrey, Hampshire.

For public events we have been known to travel even further afield including Scotland, Wales and even France and Germany.

What are your fees?

Our fee depends on how many musicians we bring, and how far we have to travel.

We will give you the best band we can for your budget. Obviously, having more in the band generally costs more. The best thing is for you to decide on a budget and then we can discuss what we can offer you.

What's the line-up?

The actual instrument line-up depends on availability. Our core band consists of three musicians (accordion / piano, electric guitar / mandolin, pipes / whistle / sax) plus a caller. With four musicians we usually add percussion or fiddle.

We will let you know exactly which instruments we can provide before you sign a contract.

What do we get for the fee?

The fee includes a full sound system (PA) and travel expenses. You can use our PA during the time we are with you to play background music, make speeches or even sing a song!

We will be available to you for three hours. This usually comprises two sets with a half hour break in between and we are happy to be flexible on the timings.

We have Public Liability Insurance and our equipment has PAT (Portable Appliance Testing) certification.

How long does it take you to set up?

We like to get into the venue around one hour before we start, in order to set up the PA and do a sound check. Once set up, the sound check can be relatively brief and so the overall set up can be relatively inobtrusive.

It takes about 30 minutes to break down the equipment afterwards.

Can we play music during the break?

You can plug your own phone, laptop or other similar music player into the PA for incidental music or for your first dance at a wedding.

Can you play for our wedding?

We are very used to playing for weddings. Most of the comments on our testimonials page are from satisfied wedding clients. Our callers will be able to help you and your guests have a great time. If you are hiring a wedding planner, we would be happy to talk with and walk through a suggested timetable.

What about the first dance?

There are lots of options for the first dance, so there's always one to suit you whether you are a fantastic hoofer or someone with two left feet. These are the most popular options:

• Bride and Groom dance to their favourite song

• Bride and Groom dance a waltz

• Bride and Groom are 'head couple' in the first called dance with everyone else.

A lot of our guests haven't done this before. Can you help?

Our callers are very experienced at leading both seasoned dancers and those who have never done it before. They have a selection of easy dances and everyone is guided through what to do.

I really can't dance at all!

The dances we use are designed for inexperienced dancers. They involve simple moves e.g. join hands in a circle, walk 8 steps to the left, walk 8 steps to the right. The more adventurous will skip instead of walking. It's OK to make mistakes! It's supposed to be FUN!!

All dances are led by our caller. This means that everyone 'walks through' the steps and moves before actually dancing it. The caller won't start the dance until everyone is looking pretty confident in what they have to do.

And if any of your guests don't want to dance, that's OK too.

I think I saw your information on another site under a different name?

It's possible! Some agents prefer us to have a name unique to them, so we also go out as "The Red Hot Ceilidh Band", "The Apex Ceilidh Band" and "The Kent Ceilidh Band".