Alex Vann – mandolin, bowed psaltery, bouzouki, zither
, banjo, dulcimer
Pete Judge – trumpet, cornet, dulcitone
, harmonium, lyre, glockenspiel, tenor horn
Paul Bradley – acoustic guitar, miniature harp

A multi-instrumental acoustic trio based in Bristol, UK, featuring members of Spiro, Get The Blessing and Scottish Dance Theatre. As intricate as a team of watchmakers, as spare as a mountain stream, the music encompasses both a cinematic sweep and an intimate delicacy, in which “the aroma of muddy leaves and old nettles is almost tangible” (The Observer)

Their eponymous debut album was chosen by Cerys Matthews as one of her Top Five Modern Folk Albums; second album Holts And Hovers was fRoots Editor’s Choice Album of 2013, one of The Observer’s “Hidden Gems Of 2013”, and one of Acoustic Guitarist magazine’s 20 Essential Folk Albums.

The band’s third album, Palimpsest, was recorded at Real World Studios in Wiltshire, produced by Adrian Utley, and released on January 15th 2016, with artwork specially designed by Dorset’s Little Toller press, and accompanied by a UK-wide, Arts Council supported, album launch tour. Palimpsest was chosen by The Telegraph as one of the ‘Best Folk Music Albums Of 2016″, by fRoots as one of its 5-star Playlist Albums, and by The Guardian for its Folk World Music Playlist. A vinyl edition of Palimpsest was released on Plane Groovy Records in early 2017.

On October 3rd 2016, the band released a live recording made in The Old Barn on Kelston Roundhill in Somerset, the inaugural release for new independent label Kelston Records, and described as “a fantastic release” on BBC Radio 3’s Record Review.

Music from Three Cane Whale’s first and second albums forms the soundtrack to the independent feature film “Brown Willy” (a Malabar Film Unit / o-region co-production), named after and filmed on Cornwall’s highest peak. The film was released in April 2016, and the soundtrack is available now from Three Cane Whale’s Bandcamp site.

The band has recently collaborated with thirteen filmmakers and visual artists, the fruits of which were premiered at Bristol’s St George’s concert hall as part of the 2017 Filmic Festival. A tour of this music-and-visuals project took place over Spring and Summer of 2018.

In winter 2019, Three Cane Whale releases its brand-new mini-album “303”, inspired by and recorded in a series of linked locations in South Somerset.

‘Wonderful’ fRoots

‘Impressively original’ The Guardian

‘Mesmerising’ Q

‘A magical journey’ Songlines

‘Simply beautiful’ R2

‘their delicate acoustic constructions combine ancient folk and contemporary classical ideas to weave an entirely original new musical tradition‘ (Bristol 24/7)