Punch House Band took its name after an old-now-no-longer-there pub by the market-place in Norwich. It was an acoustic folk band, playing original songs and some traditional ones about East Anglia. Formed in 2016, we played together for a decade. The five-piece line-up: acoustic guitar, lead voice, banjo, cajon, double bass, with some doubling and harmonies/ shared vocals. Bit of a new thing for me, playing English (well, any) folk music—I really liked it in this band. (Of course, perhaps the fact is that I am just trying to channel the late Charlie Haden here.)
When I heard some of main songwriter Tim Lane’s own songs and traditional repertoire about Norfolk life I thought I want to play some of that, and then we made a band. That was over a decade ago. And the rest is, as they say, mystery. Find out more and join the socials on our website. Come to a gig—there will be laughs, probably a sing-a-long, and a proper energetic show. Locally sourced tales of blood and bone. Tenses a bit mixed up here, but what the hell. The band ended in 2026.
Here are three songs from our 2019 EP, available also on CD, Songs From the Big Sky.
Below is a film of one of the shows we played the music for in local theatre company Crude Apache‘s summer 2018 touring musical play about life on the old Norfolk Broads, At the Turning of the Tide. The went on to a sold-out season at the Maddermarket Theatre too. We also did the music for the 2022 Crude Apache summer touring show, We Will Stand. and for other Maddermarket productions in 2024 and 2026. The film opens with a couple of numbers by us, acoustic and al fresco, and there are four or five other songs through the play to enjoy too.
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And here is a live video filmed and recorded by Al Pulford in a shoot at Jurnet’s Bar, the hidden medieval undercroft on King Street, Norwich in 2019 (sadly currently closed).