The other evening a friend introduced me to a young Brighton-based band, Too Many Strings through their CD – Highly Strung. Their list of instruments bears testimony to the accuracy of their name, there are a hell of a lot of strings in their line up. However, combine their heritage and influences, and you find a fusion of English, Turkish, Greek and Middle Eastern traditional music that works - and works well.

Their songs prove the benefit in mixing different styles within the folk genre. Cultural boundaries are only immovable if you think that way and these guys clearly do not. They also prove that musical ‘tradition’ can come from a wide range of cultures. And when fused carefully those traditions of sound and song concoct a powerful combination. Their vocals cut a clean traditional English edge around which they weave a web of Eastern rhythms that raise their performance to another level. A fine blend of traditions - and a heady blend it is too.

Too Many Strings is Dogan Mehmet (fiddle, melodian, guitar, bouzouki, bass guitar and vocals), Matt Quinn (mandolin, mandocello, fiddle, guitar, bass guitar and vocals) and Tom Redman (cello, guitar, bass guitar, percussion and vocals).

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