Show of Hands, Afro Celt Sound System, Ranagri and Trouble Notes supergroup Dream in Colours to make their Wickham Festival debut

Celebrated songwriter Steve Knightley (Show of Hands) brings his evocative lyrics and melodies to the forefront of the band.

Johnny Kalsi (Afro Celt Sound System), renowned for his expertise with the dhol and tablas, adds a strong and infectious world music pulse.

Bennet Cerven (The Trouble Notes), a virtuoso violinist, provides an exciting dimension to the group's sound.

And lastly, but by no means least, Eliza Marshall (Ranagri), an accomplished flautist, rounds out the ensemble with her extraordinary melodies.

The quartet were pulled together by Knightley as he wound up the act he’s most associated with, folk giants Show of Hands – they played their final gig in May. On Saturday, August 2, Dream in Colours make their Wickham Festival debut.

Eliza gave us the lowdown on how the new band came together.

“It's quite exciting to have lots of different projects, and lots of different things to be part of. What's great about the team that has been brought together by Steve is that we've all got busy musical lives and there's no element of those (other bands) that aren't going to be happening or that we're moving into something else. It's a very supportive life jigsaw, to be involved in all of them.”

Indeed her ‘main’ project – celtic-folk band Ranagri are also playing at Wickham the day before Dream in Colours.

"I really think of Steve as quite an awesome facilitator if I look at what he's done over the years, and his collaborations and the different people he's worked with. I’d known of him for a long time, and Ranagri have played at lots of similar festivals, our paths have crossed,

"I knew that Steve was working with Johnny, and I do a lot of stuff with various different percussionists from Senegal and India, so I thought, ‘oh, that could be an interesting thing...’ I play loads of Indian flutes, Johnny lives down the road from where the boat is,” she has a houseboat with her partner and Ranagri frontman Donal Rogers in Brentford, “so in passing, I just said to Steve: ‘Iif you're ever up in London doing anything with Johnny, you know, give me a tinkle, I'm around, and I love doing things’.

“Then he did – he got in touch a few months later and said: ‘I've just met this amazing violinist, and we'd like to put something together. Your name is on the list, would you be up for it?’

"And here we are, it's kind of crazy, really, but it's what I love about music. I love working with different people.”

While they’re working on an album, they have yet to release anything, so on the live circuit is your only chance for now to experience the band.

With a handful of festival dates already under their belts, Eliza says: “The only way I can describe the live show is an insane energy. Bennet is an amazing performer, he's just a ball of energy and that's really brilliant to play with, and obviously then that connects with Johnny, who's also got this tremendous energy, and then Steve is just this pillar of experience, with this songwriting knowledge that he's got.

“The years that I've built up what I do with Ranagri and various other things that I play in, and people that I've worked with, it's nice to feel like I can bring my personality and my musical influences.

“We all have our other bands that are very important to us, we bring those flavours a little bit within our styles.”

The set they’re playing is a clean slate – all-original, all-new material.

"We got together in September last year, and at first it was: ‘Right, what are we going to do? and what soundscapes do we like?’

"Then we spent a week together in January and actually started crafting things and working things out, and it was more: ‘Could we do this?’ Steve would bring a song, of course he's the lyricist, so he brought lots of lyrics and ideas, and then Bennet would pull it apart, and then Johnny would go, well what about this? There’s bits of electronics in there as well, which maybe Steve hadn't used before with things like Show of Hands, but it really works. I think it really works because it brings everybody's influences in.”

The folk sphere is famous for its frequent collaborations – much more so than in the rock or pop world.

"Utmost respect to Steve (for bringing us together), but he's got an endless energy in himself as well for collaborating and working with different people.Bringing three people together who had never worked together – I'd seen Bennet doing his thing, but I'd never met him, and the same with Johnny.

"I find it really liberating in the folk world. I think it's what music is about, in a way, that passing of different ideas, connecting with different people, bringing different cultural things together. I think that's such a magical thing that the folk world has to offer, and I think more and more people are doing that because we're having to adapt to what the music industry is doing.

"There are loads of opportunities, so I think you have to always look for the opportunities, and things like collaborating and cross-pollinating is a really good opportunity.

"“What can I learn from Steve, and what do I learn in my band, and what do I bring, what colours do we all bring to each other's musical lives, I love that.”

"You have to be really organised, so the projects don't get in the way of one another, but actually, isn't it brilliant?

And Eliza is certain that Dream in Colours will not be a one-off.

“It's not that one thing starts and another thing stops, these will all go alongside one another, but there'll definitely be more.”

Adult weekend tickets for Wickham Festival, which is from August 1-4 are £220.

Also playing across the four days are Suzi Quatro, Seth Lakeman, Levellers, Tony Christie, Curtis Stigers and many more.

Go to wickhamfestival.co.uk.