This is the website of the Well Dressed Band. We are a community band based in the Peak District and we play for ceilidhs and barn dances in the local area including South Yorkshire. The band also gives an opportunity for aspiring folk musicians to learn to play for dances in a friendly atmosphere.

Back to live Ceilidhs

After more than two years of Covid restrictions, are back to playing live. We have restarted our series of Home Grown Ceilidhs as well as holding a number of other ceilidhs for private events.  The band also visited Hornsey to join with a band formed by a former member, Alison, where we played for a sell-out ceilidh with their band.  We continue to maintain our contacts with the Hexham Village Band and the Chorley Cakes and held another very successful 'Three Band Weekend' in November in the Peak District. 

The band recently played at Hope where they were 'Well Dressed'.

The Band in Lockdown

During the lockdown for Covid19 the band had to find other ways to practise. On Tuesday evenings, when we would normally meet to practise, we had a virtual practice via Zoom. It is not possible to play along on Zoom, because of the inbuilt delay, but we muted our sound and played along at home, either to a lead player or a recording of the band.

Another way of hearing other band members was to create virtual recordings. A master track was created and circulated. Band members then recorded themselves playing along to it. All the recordings were then collated to create the final full band recording. The response from band members was amazing. Not only did we created some great music but it was a valuable learning opportunity for people to listen to themselves playing and learn from it.

We created eleven sets, which were used for two virtual Home Grown Ceilidhs on 20th September and 22nd November 2020, and produced some more for a virtual three band weekend held in February 2021.  The recordings can be found at: Recordings