Rochdale country music stars thrilled after winning slot on festival stage

Between The Vines: Mark Stelfox, Rebecca Whitehead, Kev Whitehead and Craig Fletcher

Local country band Between The Vines are celebrating after getting a slot on the main stage at this summer’s Rochdale Feel Good Festival.

The Rochdale based band won first prize in this year’s ‘Feel Good – Battle of the Bands’ competition and will take to the stage during the afternoon on Saturday 10 August supporting acts including The Coral and The Hoosiers.

The country rock four-piece were the judges' favourite. They were impressed by the band's style, vocals, song writing, stage presence and musical sound.

Rob Kerford, one of the judges and owner of Sonic PR which promotes of some of Europe’s biggest musicians said Between The Vines were the unanimous first choice from an impressive batch of finalists.

Rob said: “All six finalists received a great response online but Between The Vines were the judges favourite as well as getting good support in the public vote.  We really liked their sound, style and think they will be a great fit on the main stage this summer.”

The band, which was formed in 2014 comprises Mark Stelfox on lead guitar, Rebecca Whitehead - who sings and plays acoustic guitar, Kev Whitehead on drums and Craig Fletcher on bass guitar.

Rebecca said they were thrilled when they received the phone call confirming the result: “We’ve always wanted to play the Feel Good Festival main stage and this is a dream come true, especially as so many of our local friends and fans will be there.” 

The band were short-listed through a Facebook vote before their videos were assessed by the judges - music specialist Rob Kerford; owner of Sonic PR, DJ and new music champion Dave Sweetmore; Jonathan Higgins - head of events and programming at Link4Life; Claire Costigan - manager at Link4Life and Andy Jenkins - general manager at The Flying Horse.

Between The Vines will be joined by headliner The Coral, pop/rock band The Hoosiers, rock ‘n’ roll band Alias Kid, northern soul maestros The Northern Soultrain, new singer/songwriter Ione, Caribbean pop act The Curious Incident, singer/songwriter Megan Dixon Hood plus children’s favourite Mr Bloom and his band.

Rochdale Feel Good Festival returns on Saturday 10 August with entertainment, family entertainment, food and culture. There will be live music across indoor venues, a main stage sponsored by The Flying Horse Hotel, a Family Zone as well as quality food and drink. 

The festival is funded by the council together with sponsorship from local businesses, including digital media partner O2 Rochdale, The Flying Horse Hotel, Hopwood Hall College, Premier Kia, The Royal Toby Hotel, Recycle for Greater Manchester and Metrolink.