JOHN GARDEN (french style lute-back hurdy-gurdy, english border bagpipes, irish style wooden flute, hungarian small flute or furulya) leads the band, writes the band's original tunes, leads the dancing, researches the old dance manuals and produces the Earthly Delights' recordings and books. He has extensive experience teaching social dance from the last 5 centuries, performing music from many parts of the world, choreographing folk and ballroom dances, and composing music.

The arts magazine The Muse has headlined him as 'The Dancing Master' (February 2004) and the editor of Freefolk.com kindly wrote (Issue 12, March-April 2002) 'I have heard most of what we, in the British Isles and Ireland, have produced but in John Garden we have met our match. He is up there with the very best and the best and leaves most of the rest yapping at his feet'.

John has an interest in many styles of music and dance. From 1980 to 1986 John danced with Renaissance, Irish, Scottish, Finnish, Australian Colonial and International dance groups in Canberra, learnt dances in many other traditions from visiting dance teachers, and sampled many styles of dancing during various study periods in the former Soviet Union, Europe and Asia.

From mid-1986 to 1987 he learnt Baroque, Irish, English country, American contra, Cajun, Tex-Mex, Vintage and Scandinavian dancing in the US and was honoured to receive a scholarship to the Medicino Dance Camp in California.

Upon his return to Canberra in 1987 he started 'Dancing in the Park' and 'Country Dancing' and co-ordinated these series for 4 and 6 years respectively - during which time he helped form such bands as 'Fancy Footwork', called for 'Dancerye', 'Miller's Reel', 'The Porch Band', organised guest appearances by many talented local, interstate and international artists (including Americans, Finns, Swedes, Norwegians and Slovenes), and organised many specialist dance workshops.

During this time John was a guest at folk festivals in Victoria (Yackandandah), the A.C.T. (the National Folk Festival), N.S.W. (Jamberoo and Sydney) and Queensland (Maleny)- and even danced at the Sydney Opera House. In 1991 he wrote and published A Country Dance Companion- a book which included a substantial history of social dance in the western European tradition and notes on 180 dances and 120 tunes. 

In 1991-92 John was President of the Monaro Folk Music Society and in 1992 he started 'Peasant Wedding', a band which specialised in western European dance music from the 16th to the 20th century and which played for Medieval and French theme Fetes, English country dance nights, multicultural functions, Bohemian balls, American Contradances, Scandinavian and Baltic dance workshops, National Art Gallery evenings, Botanic Garden concerts, spots at National Folk Festivals and Folk Clubs, outdoor fairs and wedding / work / school bush dances.

In 1995 John founded the band 'Earthly Delights'. In 1998-99 he also played at festivals and on radio with the Hungarian band 'Lotsi and Friend', led by fellow Earthly Delights' member Laszlo Lakk. In September 1998 he won a Canberra Critics Circle Music Award for the 32 dances and 90 tunes which he composed for A Book of Earthly Delights and the double CD set A Box of Earthly Delights. He also wrote all the tunes, dances and commentary to the big book and 4 CD set The Lost Dances of Earthly Delights, released in November 2000.

In addition to working with bands, John also works as a solo dance teacher- for example in 1999 in the A.N.U.'s Continuing Education program, the Victorian Folk Dance Weekend at Lorne, Ausdance Professional Development course, and the Illawarra Folk Festival; in 2000 running Brain Gym evening dance courses at the Canberra College Woden campus and various workshops sponsored by Healthpact ACT and in 2001 for the Early Music Weekend at Bundanoon, the A.N.U.'s Young Musician With Talent program and the A.N.U.'s Sports and Recreation 'Dancing through the Ages' courses. In November 2002 John published The Christmas Carol Dance Book, presenting dances he'd written to go with more than 60 carols. Since then he's written another 50 plus dances and 120 plus tunes which he and the band is now leading and performing.

ANDREW PURDAM: accordion, bouzouki, percussion, keyboards, vocals.

Andrew is a multi-instrumental musician based in Canberra. Over the last twelve years, he has performed with dancers Paige Gordon, Aida Amirkhanian and Elizabeth Cameron; Peasant's Wedding and Earthly Delights; John Shortis and Moya Simpson and their a c'appella group Can Belto; Cecilia Kemezcis; Paul Kœrbin; Helen Way; Latif Bolat; Helen Rivero; Padma Menon's Kailash Dance Company; Can Belto in Neil Cameron's "The Dreamkeeper", with Kavisha Mazzella; The Universal Lake, at Weereewa Festival Lake George; The Glugs of Gosh with John Derum at the 2004 National Folk Festival; dancer Niki Shepherd; the Nexus Project, playing tango; Macedonian music band Jamm'n; music and dance troupe Zintamana; singer Ruth Martin and a c'appella quartet Faux Pas Harmonie.

IAN BLAKE: (soprano saxophone, clarinets, recorders, bass)

LASZLO LAKK (transylvanian viola or bracsa, hungarian zither or citera, and guitar), migrated to Australia in 1981 and soon thereafter began touring the country playing Hungarian folk music with Rezeda. From 1985 he was a member of the Dance-Theatre group Kenguro with whom he twice toured France, Germany and Hungary (in 1987 and in 1989). In 1987 he travelled to Turkey, Greece and Transylvania collecting numerous folksongs from village musicians and singers. In 1992 he was a member of Nakisa (multicultural music) on its Queensland tour. He has played classical guitar with the Sydney Guitar and Mandolin Orchestra, and mandolin with the NSW Guitar-Mandolin orchestra. During that time he made various radio and TV recordings (ABC-FM, ABC Radio National, 2MBS FM, JJJ and SBS-TV) and played on a number of CDs. Lotsi has lived in Canberra since 1994 and played with Earthly Delights since 1997. He did most of the tune chording for the bands Lost Dances recordings. Since 1998 he has also performed in his Hungarian band 'Lotsi and Friends' and the Tango band 'Tango Duente'. He is also a professional photographer and holds an Honours degree in fine arts from the Australian National University.

JONATHON JONES (west african djembe, latin american congas, middle eastern darabuka, celtic bodhran, and snare drum) has taught, played and recorded all around the world. Festivals have included the World Percussion Festival (one of the organisers) at Expo 88 in Brisbane, the Biennial Fringe Festival in Brisbane (with different Jazz bands), the Warana Jazz Festival with Black Cat Circle in 1993, 1994 & 1995, the Top End Festival 1995, the National Folk Festival in Canberra 1995 & 1996, the Port Fairy Folk Festival in 1997 and eight different Maleny Folk Festivals. Tours have included Scotland with the Queensland Irish Pipe Band (one of the top in the world) in 1978, 81 & 85, Ireland with same band in 1985, N.Z. with same band in 1989-90, Australia with an Elvis Presley Show 1993, and in support bands for Bo Diddle, Red Gum and Goanna, New Caledonia in December 1997 with Zingaro, and the U.S., Canada and Europe with the Eric Bogle band in 1998 and 2000. He has also worked as a performer in Papua New Guinea in 1985 and taught percussion summer school with the A.C.T. Young Music Society in 1997-8 and 1998-99. Recordings (of a folk nature) have included ones with Spot the Dog in 1995, Drop of Scotch 1996, Meg McDonald 1996, Eric Bogle 1996-98, Errol Fin 1999 and Cassidy's Ceilidh 2001. He has also played with jazz band 'Straight Ahead', latin band 'Tico Tico' and rock band 'Annie and the Armadillos'. He directed the percussion for the 2001 productions 'Candid Canberra' and 'Yodel Lady'. He has played with Earthly Delights from early 1996.

GILLIAN PRATTEN (cello) started her musical studies on the piano, but went on to study and become an accomplished player of the cello- graduating with honours from the Canberra School of Music. She has played with the Canberra Symphony and Chamber Orchestras, the Canberra Youth Orchestra, the Australian National University Choral Society, the Canberra Bach Ensemble, the Wesley Baroque Players, the Canberra Symphony, the Australian Youth Orchestra and the Australian Youth Orchestra Camerata. In master classes she has performed in trios with such notable artists as Judith Glyde (US), Michael Gurt (US) and Madeline Mitchell (UK). Her wonderfully strong creative style has been greatly valued by the band Earthly Delights since she joined in early 1999.