"The best band we've had this year... I defy anyone who loves and appreciates great talent and good musicianship to find fault with them..."

Founded in 2005, the four piece Northsyde began life as Funkydory. Their debut album "Still" was released in 2006 to fine reviews, and the band toured consistently for the next two years supporting it, and growing a dedicated fanbase. With a grooving combination of Rock, funk and a serious nod to the blues - their follow up album "Mercy's Medicine" was released independently in 2009, again to strong acclaim.

The band is fronted by vocalist Lorna Fothergill, who is also the main lyricist and songwriter. With a dynamic and powerful vocal style, she has been described as "Robert Plant meets Aretha, with a hint of Janis". Playing guitar for the band is her husband, Jules Fothergill. The Fothergills first met as band members of the erstwhile UK blues scene mainstay, Roadhouse, but soon decided to branch out on their own. Jules called on old friends Ian Mauricio and Hayden Doyle to join on Bass and Drums respectively, as they had played together in several London based bands and forged a strong relationship already. Ian's unusual style (he's left handed, and strings the bass upside-down) and Hayden's forceful grooves combine to give the band a sound quite unlike any of their contemporaries on the modern Blues and Rock circuit.

With each member of the band having unique and diverse influences, their style is eclectic, but identifiable. A heady mix of soulful Blues, shaking Funk, and Zep-style riffing, it has been best described as what you'd get from "Stanley Clarke strapped to the front of a Intercity 125 with Janis Joplin driving." - while not fitting into an easily defined pigeon-hole, sampling their music live is usually the best introduction.

Through a consistent approach to gigging around the country, Northsyde have grown into a well oiled music machine, capable of entertaining even the most discerning audiences, whether headlining UK Music festivals to playing smaller support slots: from Guilfest to Maryport Blues Festival, London's Ealing Festival and Cambridge Rock Festival, Supporting Joe Bonamassa to playing many festivals in Europe.