Hackney Folk Club
Chats Palace
Thursday 21st May 2026
7pm - 11pm,
£15/£13/£12 members

Joseph Decosimo (NC, USA)
Joseph Decosimo is a multi-instrumentalist (fiddle, banjo, droney things), singer, and leading interpreter of traditional music from Southern Appalachia, where he grew up and learned from the region’s last master musicians. Based in Durham, NC, Decosimo is a powerful champion of traditional music—a responsive artist who makes his genre accessible and a magnet who draws musicians from his city’s rich traditional, experimental, and indie scenes into his orbit to make music that NPR All Song Considered praises for “pushing the sonic boundaries of old-time music ... gorgeous.” Dear Life Records and Free Dirt Records have released his records. He performs with Cleek Schrey and Luke Richardson in Beehive Cathedral. He has played on recordings by Hiss Golden Messenger, Wye Oak, and Jake Xerxes Fussell. A PhD, National Old-time Banjo Champion, and blue ribbon winning fiddler, Decosimo has toured the US, Canada, and UK with the prize-winning Old-time band the Bucking Mules

 “pushing the sonic boundaries of old-time music ... gorgeous” NPR Music All Songs Considered

“an exceptional album” NPR Music

“...warm, fuzzy, fabulous” ★★★★ MOJO

“Decosimo wraps the plain-spoken melodies of pre-industrial America in layers of drone, giving them a spiritual resonance and mystery.” Aquarium Drunkard

“There's no irony, no gloss – just an intuitive feel for time, tone and tune.” ★★★★ Songlines (Top of the World)

“Come for the pastoral vibes and timeless hooks, and stick around for the Americana masterclass.” Bandcamp Daily (Essential Releases, Best of Country)

“an energetic, enchanting, and often joyful set that feels both timeless and otherworldly” KLOF (Best Albums of 2025)

TIMINGS
Doors 7pm
Old Time Session: 7pm
Floorspots: 8pm
Joseph Decosimo: 9pm
Session in the Bar: 10-11pm