The Ship Band ; Fraud Ceilidh band

Subject: RE: The Ship Band ; Fraud Ceilidh band
From: GUEST,Dan
Date: 25 Oct 11 - 03:14 PM

It's run like a franchise. When you book them they subcontract musicians local to you to go out and do the gig as "The Ship Band". There are several bands that work this way (see also http://www.licencetoceilidh.co.uk/), mostly aimed at weddings etc where the pay is high, but the audience is undiscerning enough to not notice that they have a scratch band. And of course, the band can be in several different places at once earning the agency more money on any given weekend. It's a clever system for someone to rake it in while sending others out to do the work.

I think 'fraud' is a bit strong, but maybe you're right to be indignant that the band you get might not contain any of the same members to "The Ship Band" that has played elsewhere.

Subject: RE: The Ship Band ; Fraud Ceilidh band
From: GUEST
Date: 25 Oct 11 - 03:09 PM

Well yes. We all hope to play places, and get more google hits. They do list themselves as INSERT-PLACE-NAME-HERE ceilidh band on each page. Haha

Subject: RE: The Ship Band ; Fraud Ceilidh band
From: GUEST,tony def
Date: 25 Oct 11 - 02:50 PM

Ha! I wonder if they do all the regional accents!

Subject: RE: The Ship Band ; Fraud Ceilidh band
From: katlaughing
Date: 25 Oct 11 - 02:48 PM

They do look rather overly-ambitious, but to be fair it says they "have played" in certain places and "hope" to soon play in the other places listed not "from" all of those places.

Good luck finding a good band!

Subject: RE: The Ship Band ; Fraud Ceilidh band
From: SINSULL
Date: 25 Oct 11 - 02:19 PM

They can't spell either. "Testamonials"??????

Subject: The Ship Band ; Fraud Ceilidh band
From: GUEST,L Singer
Date: 25 Oct 11 - 02:08 PM

As a regular folk festival goer I am well connected to many wonderful singers. However I did not know where to start when my wife and I were planning to hire a ceilidh band for a party. Well I decided to begin with Google. I was soon bombarded with information for dozens of ceilidh bands across the country all with flashy websites. I was searching for bands in Oxfordshire and came across this page http://www.shipband.co.uk/oxfordshire/   " online home of Oxfordshire Ceilidh Band, the Ship Band" Well this seemed a promising start, until as I continued my search looking further afield, I found this http://www.shipband.co.uk/warwickshire/ "Welcome to the online home of Warwickshire Ceilidh Band, the Ship Band"    and this http://www.shipband.co.uk/wiltshire/ Well now I was intrigued and it didn't take long to find thht they claim to be from the following places:
Bath
Bristol
London
Exeter
Gloucester
Plymouth
Swindon
Bournemouth
Brighton
Guildford
Kent
Milton Keynes
Oxford
Portsmouth
Reading
Southampton
Cambridge
Essex
Ipswich
Luton
Norwich
Birmingham
Coventry
Stoke-on-Trent
Derby
Leicester
Nottingham
Lancs
Liverpool
Manchester
Bradford
Hull
Leeds
Sheffield
York
Middlesbrough
Newcastle
Sunderland
Cardiff
Swansea
Edinburgh
Glasgow
Bedfordshire
Berkshire
Bromley
Buckinghamshire
Cheshire
Chester
Cornwall
Cumbria
Derbyshire
Doncaster
Dorset
Gloucestershire
Grimsby
Hampshire
Harrogate
Hereford
Hertfordshire
Huddersfield
Kendal
Lancashire
Leicestershire
Lincoln
Lincolnshire
Litchfield
Maidstone
North Yorkshire
Northumberland
Oxfordshire
Pembrookshire
Peterborough
Rugby
Shropshire
Somerset
Suffolk
Surrey
Sussex
Taunton
Teeside
The Wirral
Torquay
Totnes
Tunbridge Wells
Warwickshire
West Yorkshire
Wiltshire
Wirral
Worcester
Yorkshire

http://www.shipband.co.uk/about.htm


I was shocked to find that within the folky genre there are people that are trying to hoodwink clients to make a fast buck. Has anyone else had experince of this? Can anyone please recommend a reputable Oxfordshire ceilidh band? Thankyou. L