Andy Roberts DARnet » Music

Embedding Videos from Facebook

Andy Roberts — Fri, 18 May 2012 06:00:03 +0000

If your video camera operator (thanks to Linda) has turned their apparatus sideways, the resulting portrait styled video works better uploaded to facebook and embedded than it does on youTube.

As discovered over on http://andyroberts.me/havering-folk-club/the-rowan-tree-song-at-haverfolk-for-cloudstreet-guest-night

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Embedding Videos from Facebook

At The Bastille In Paris for Guitar Strings

Andy Roberts — Tue, 08 May 2012 12:00:09 +0000

Seeing pictures of young Socialist Party supporters celebrating their Presidential Election victory in Paris at the Bastille, reminded me of the few occasions I visited the Bastille myself.

Paul Beuscher la librairie musicale de Paris

When I lived in Paris the only time I ever came out of the Metro at Bastille would have been to go to the big music shop, Paul Beuscher. It’s still there today, not covering quite so many shop fronts, and specialising more in pianos than guitars, but still there. The first time I went on the advice of somebody who had told me it was the best place to buy replacement guitar strings, because you could buy singles instead of having to buy a new set every time one broke. Breaking strings was an occupational hazard, we didn’t have portable amplifiers in those days, played purely acoustically, so there was a tendency in noisy corridors or streets to get maximum volume by hitting the strings hard. You know that if you go just a little bit too far a string will break, but every so often you get carried away and it happens. I was asked very recently why I don’t cut off the ends of the strings like most guitar players do when restringing, and it’s for that very reason. If a string breaks near the bridge, which is the most likely place, you can sometimes put the same string back on again, by retrieving the little nipple end that’s fallen inside the hollow guitar body, threading the end of the string through the ring, tying a knot in it and then tightening the string back up to playing tension again. But you can only do that if there is enough leftover string beyond the machine head to pull back through a couple of inches at least. If it works, then that’s great – you can carry on playing the same pitch without having to go away and find a replacement. Of course you could always carry a set of spares around all the time, but that would have required a certain organised resourceful lifestyle which just wasn’t possible in the 1970s! I had more than most, though, which meant that other guitarists often asked me if I could lend them a spare D string or more likely a top E in passing. I couldn’t afford to do that very often at all of course, otherwise it would have just been me all the time having to make the trek to Paul Beuscher’s music shop at Bastille to replenish everybody else’s supplies.

The Mazet Paris

One occasion was a more sever emergency than just a string break. I had a guitar stolen from underneath the pinball machine in the cafe Mazet. Having the means of earning a living suddenly disappear is quite a scary position to be in. As luck would have it, the music shop had a big sale on which included a bin full of broken guitars at next to nothing prices. After rummaging around I was able to find an Epiphone six string guitar that was only damaged by a large split on the side of the body. So it was perfectly playable and the sound quality seemed oddly unaffected by the broken wood too. A snip at 150 French francs, equivalent to about £15 then and maybe about £150 in today’s money. Musical instruments and most other thing were generally more expensive in France than in England, particularly so in Paris. Still are. Mid range guitars are probably quite a bit cheaper now than they were then, you could probably buy a playable guitar brand new and undamaged for the same amount, it wouldn’t be as good as my old Japanese built Epiphone though. A few years later Epiphone moved production of their guitars from Japan to Korea and the build quality suffered. Now they make cheap guitars in China, nothing to do with the original Epiphone. I kept and played that old broken Japanese Epiphone for many years afterwards, until the fixed bridge broke and I didn’t get around to having it fixed, what with the broken side as well. Then somebody persuaded me to sell it to them, which I should never have agreed to. Nearly all the guitars I’ve ever sold, I wish I still had. That’s life.

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At The Bastille In Paris for Guitar Strings

On My Gramaphone Record Player

Andy Roberts — Fri, 04 May 2012 06:59:39 +0000

I finally got around to setting up my gramaphone record player deck again yesterday after having a bit of a clear out during the week, to make some space. I’d mean meaning to do this for goodness knows how many years now, but you know how it is…

The Rutles

On the deck left over from whenever I last used it, and thus used as the test record to see if it the replugging was all working: The Rutles.

Great to hear old favourites like “Cheese And Onions” again. “The Rutles” album sounds just like an affectionate pastiche or a lost Beatles album, using similar sounding orchestration and composition techniques to those found on Sergeant Pepper, Abbey Road and other great Beatles records.

“The album contains some obvious send-ups of Beatles numbers such as “Ouch!” (“Help!”), “Love Life” (“All You Need is Love”), “Piggy in the Middle” (“I Am the Walrus”), “Doubleback Alley” (“Penny Lane”) and “Get Up And Go” (CD reissue only — “Get Back”). However, its real tribute is in its subtly layered blending of elements from many classic Lennon-McCartney tunes.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rutles

After searching for the sleeve in which to put the vinyl record away, I found there was already another copy of the disc inside, which means I had two copies for some reason, and the one I had played was in much worse condition, which may have accounted for the slightly disappointing sound quality coming from the undersized loud speakers I had connected, and the way the record deck amp was connected through a mid range compact HiFi system.

Steve Tilston

Next up, after hearing Steve Tilston play one of his oldest songs “Normandy Days” in Maggie Boyle’s kitchen I was looking for his first “An Acoustic Confusion” album but instead out came “Songs From The Dress Rehearsal” his 3rd album, from 1977. Despite not having heard the songs for a decade or more, most sounded welcomingly familiar and beautifully recorded. After the worn out Rutles LP, this one sounded much much better with Steve Tilston’s voice in his mid 20s I think, mature and confident, always a technically impressive guitar player, here with very sympathetic arrangements. Now the advantage of analogue sound over compressed digital could be heard loud and clear with gorgeous acoustic bass, harmonica, voice and guitar separation. The single fold album cover has one slight problem though – the sleeve notes are printed over a black and white photograph and this makes some of them unreadable! This part is clear though:

“All the songs were recorded as played with only the minimum of overdubbing and I think a very good live sound is the result, totally approaching a performance and not at all like the vivisections that I’ve found myself taking part in before – in fact the session was so relaxed you can almost hear me smiling on some of the songs”

http://www.stevetilston.com/discography/songs-from-the-dress-rehearsal

Keith Tippett Group

I’ve just booked to see Keith Tippett Octet at @vortexjazz on Wednesday. A great UK #jazz musician.

— Patrick Hadfield (@patrickhadfield) April 23, 2012

I was chatting to Patrick Hadfield at the London Bloggers last week, who had a ticket to see Keith Tippett, still gigging apparently, which put me in mind of the great album I own called “Dedicated to you but you weren’t listening”. I decided at the time this would be the first record to go on my new set up, but it ended up 3rd but but no means last.

Wow. This album intrigues, thrills, delights and builds up into some really big sounds. Modern Jazz from 1971 with several members from early Soft Machine ( Robert Wyatt, Elton Dean, Roy Babbington) incarnations performing, well rehearsed, improvised and enthusiastically performed. This was all surprisingly familiar too, it’s funny how music memory survives so well.

http://www.mindyourownmusic.co.uk/keith-tippett-biography.htm

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On My Gramaphone Record Player

Time capsule for Jan 2011 Songwriters Circle

Andy Roberts — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 10:30:15 +0000

Some illustrations used during the January 2011 Songwriters Circle Challenge. The next Cohort is due to start on Monday February 6th 2012 if you’d like to join usand kick start your songwriting in just 30 days

Haverfolk Newsletter Andy Roberts feature evening

Andy Roberts — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 12:09:09 +0000

HaverFolk News

26^th January, 2012

Hi all,

Newsletter time once again with a report of last nights’s Andy Roberts feature evening from John the Fox.

Havering report 25 January:

A splendid turnout for our guest artist Andy Roberts (Haverfolk’s Andy not the Liverpool Scene one) meant the number of floor spots was restricted (the guv’nor Simon Oliver led by example and stood down, despite having practised something special for the evening).

Proceedings were opened by our Hillbillies Pep and Terry playing a quick bluegrass piece then leading all-comers in the songs You Ain’t Going Nowhere and Worried Man Blues.

MC for the night Smolovik formally opened proceedings with Down By the Riverside then called on Foxen who performed Freewheeling Days, their tribute to the late Suze Rotollo, Bob Dylan’s girlfriend who is pictured on the front of his Freewheeling album.

Our own Thief of Dadgad, Graham Harrison, marked Burns Night by singing Archie Fisher’s Lindsay.

Concertina and guitar duo Bernie and Maureen Pilgrim gave us Grandfather’s Tune and Uncle Bernard then violin maestro Richie Barratt made a welcome return, accompanying Micky Brown on a song we think was called Can’t Wait Till the Weekend Comes.

Newcomer Di Russell accompanied herself on mandolin for a Mumford and Sons song, Awake My Soul and Ray Spillman, recovering well after his recent stay in hospital sang Norwegian Wood.

Poetess Carol read us a brief ode written during a workshop she went to on hands and Peter Walters sang Gypsy Rover.

Then it was time for the main event. Andy has a growing reputation as a songwriter and treated us to an hour and three-quarters (with a break) of mostly his own compositions. [ full setlist ] Old favourites such as London Bridge (which Haverites insist on calling the Cormorants) and Winter In Andalucia jostled with newer compositions such as Never Was to Be (an online collaboration with lyricist Daryl P Hall) and Clean Living Woman Blues (lyrics by Andy’s partner Linda Hartley).

As it was Burns Night he gave us two of his Scotland-inspired numbers The Last Nail and The Rowan Tree (not to be confused with the Scottish ballad written by Lady Nairne).

We also got a version of his epic, Gernika, inspired by a visit to the Basque city on the anniversary of its bombing by the Luftwaffe.

He finished off with his song Cajun Music Cajun Food and invited Pep on banjo and Richie Barratt and John Foxen on fiddles to join him.

He was called back for a well deserved encore and aptly provided The Last Subway Home, reminding us it was time to take the last train.

A fine end to a fine evening. – John Eason

Local Round-Up:

This Sunday, 29^th January the FaB Club has a “Club in the Pub” session featuring Al Neville & Friends. www.fabclubgrays.com

There is a singaround at Waltham Abbey Folk Club on Monday, 30^th January; all welcome. www.walthamabbeyfolkclub.com

This coming Tuesday, 31^st January sees a guest night at Romford Folk Club with C’est la Vie; the compere & commere are Mick & Nora. www.romfordfolkclub.com

Also on Tuesday, 31^st January the Hoy at Anchor Folk Club has a guest evening featuring Tony McManus. I quote direct from their website: ”Tony McManus is the Jeff Beck of the acoustic guitar”; ”His guitar playing is faultless…atmospheric and evocative…consistently appealing” just two of the many glowing reviews attributed to this guitar virtuoso. In the course of his relatively short career Tony has established a reputation as the best Celtic guitarist in the world…the man whose fellow guitarists would aspire to and are in awe of!” www.ridgeweb.co.uk

On Thursday, 2^nd February, Loughton Folk Club has guest Josienne Clarke; again I quote direct from the website: “Josienne Clarke is now one of the leading lights in the current folk revival movement. Her music is borne from sincere and succinct songwriting, distilled through traditional folk, executed with skill and dexterity. Come and see!” http://www.loughtonfolkclub.btck.co.uk/ also www.josienneclarke.co.uk

Back to Haverfolk:

Our next open session is on Wednesday 1^st February when all are welcome to claim a floor spot. The first 15 to give their names to the night’s MC are guaranteed at least two songs. After that, it depends on how many we have, but we’ll try to fit you in for two if we possibly can.

That’s it for this week – a rather shorter-than-usual newsletter, but not so much happening this time. Make it a date- Wednesday at eight!

Cheers – Peter Walters

HaverFolk, The Function Suite, The White Horse, 118 High Road, Chadwell Heath, Romford, RM6 6NU

www.haveringfolkclub.bravehost.com

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Haverfolk Newsletter Andy Roberts feature evening

The Bonzo Dog Band on Do Not Adjust Your Set

Andy Roberts — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 14:59:47 +0000

YouTube allows the rediscovery of highlights from very distant memory, in this case the seminal TV series ‘Do Not Adjust Your Set” featuring the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band.

Here they are performing “Hunting Tigers Out In Indiah”:

“I really did see them in black and white!”

Somebody called ‘Dormouse’ in the alt.fan.bonzo-dog newsgroup put me onto these videos, but with YouTube it takes no time at all to browse around and find more rare gems. The live concert in Belgium, extracts from films, interviews, alternative performances and outakes – they are all there.

Incidentally, alt.fan.bonzo-dog was the first online group I ever founded, in February/March 1998 the the process of which I learned a lot. Here is the original charter:

Date: Thu, 26 Mar 1998 20:46:11 -0000
Organization: ESBI
Lines: 54
Sender: richard.bryant@ukonline.co.uk
Approved: richard.bryant@ukonline.co.uk
Message-ID:
NNTP-Posting-Host: p81-as2.dubexs.tinet.ie
Summary: Newgroup message
X-Newsreader: Anawave Gravity v2.00
Xref: news.isc.org control.newgroup:17319

For your newsgroups file:
alt.fan.bonzo-dog The Bonzo Dog (Doo Dah) Band: Neil Innes, Viv
Stanshall etc

DISCUSSED IN alt.config:
proposal for alt.fan.bonzo-dog posted by andyrobts@aol.com on
19th March 1998. reply from Sysop 20th Mar. Justification posted,
various contributions demonstrated strong international interest
and traffic in newsgroups. Name finalised without -band.Richard
Bryant suggested posting a Charter, charter posted No further
 objections.

JUSTIFICATION:

A dejanews search on bonzo+dog indicated 2100 matches. There is a
mailing list with 65 subscribers which is intended strictly for low
 volume informative posts. It is envisaged that this would continue
 and the ng will attract wider ranging discussion, probably medium
 volume traffic.

References to the Bonzo's regularly crop up in alt.fan.capt-beefheart,
alt.fan.frank-zappa, alt.comedy.british, alt.fan.monty-python
newsgroups. Also in rec.music.beatles, rec.music.dementia,
rec.music.rock-pop-r+b.1960s.

CHARTER:

A forum for fans of the ‘The Bonzo Dog Band’ previously known as

‘The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band.

Topics might include the recorded output of the Bonzo’s, TV shows and
videos and the careers of former band members. No commercial
advertising allowed unless for goods or services related to the
subject of the group. Private individuals may advertise their Website
or business in their signature files . Binary postings are forbidden.
All Binary files should be posted onto the relevant group with a pointer
to them in this group Format: Text files only, HTML , graphics and
sound files should be placed on the Web with a pointer to them in
this group

Moderation:

The newsgroup will not be moderated. We are an anarcho-syndicalist
collective with a rotating chair.

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The Bonzo Dog Band on Do Not Adjust Your Set

Google+ For Musicians

Andy Roberts — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 11:23:39 +0000

The suggested possible circles are an interesting starting point. When people start to “add” you on G+, they are just names, and you can’t see their circles, so how will you know which circle of yours to put them into?

Keeping the circles well organised like that sounds like a lot of work, but ultimately might just be worth it.

Andy Roberts, Songwriters Circle

You would be hard pressed to NOT have heard of Google+, the newest social networking and sharing tool from Google which after one month of existence boasts around 18 million users. Artists are already bombarded with a plethora of tools to help them connect with their fans, but Google+ truly adds some unique features which have great potential for integration into a musician’s marketing arsenal.

Overview:

Google+ consists of a content stream, photos, sparks, hangouts, and chat. While these features are nothing groundbreaking, the feature pulling all of the others together is Circles. Circles allow you to put contacts into different, self-defined groups, which control what content you see and share. Since there are a number of good articles explaining the basics of the platform, let’s get into how each feature may be utilized by an artist.

Note: Currently only personal accounts exist and Google has suggested that businesses (artists) postpone creating accounts until special business accounts currently under development are made available.

Circles:

Circles is where the magic of Google+ takes place. You can create as many Circles as you want, and add people by simply dragging their info into a Circle. Once your Circles are created, you can share content to select Circles as well as view content streams from specific circles. Artists should start by importing their mailing list addresses into Google+, posting their info on their existing marketing channels (facebook, twitter), and inviting those not yet using the service to join.

Now that you have your contacts, it is time to organize your Circles. It should be noted that your Circles are private, so others cannot view or be offended by your orginizational decisions. Some possible Circles include:

Industry Representatives: You probably only want to share updates concerning your latest releases, videos, and press content with industry folk who may be following you as they are less concerned about the burrito you just consumed.

Fans: This is where you can share the content your fan base enjoys reading. Let them know about your whereabouts, experiences, touring or recording progress, post photos and music etc…

Breakdown the Fan Circle into smaller circles to have more defined targeting. For example, create Circles for different areas of the country and international fans to ensure you aren’t over promoting shows to fans thousands of miles away. If your fan base includes young teens, young adults, and older adults, consider categorizing these contacts as well. Each group prefers to be spoken to in different tone and filled in on different activities. Sometimes even male and female Circles make sense.

Other artists: Much like yourself, other artists are learning from experiences, trying out new marketing ideas, using new services etc…Follow what others are doing and share what you know with others in your position.

Following: Much like Twitter, you can follow others without being Circled back. This is good for keeping up with informative figures who may not call for reciprocal sharing.

Knowing which content your various Circles enjoy receiving will help ensure that only the most suitable posts make it to their stream.

Sparks:

Sparks are similar to your RSS feed or Google Alerts. Simply add some interests and topics you’d like to follow and check it ever so often to stay up to date.

Hangouts:

This is another great feature for artists. Hangouts are hosted group video/audio/text chats. If you’ve used Ustream, it’s a little similar but even more interactive considering you can see and hear the other members in the Hangout. It is really a great way to allow your fans to get to know you as well as for you to get more acquainted with your fans. Host special Hangouts for your different Circles and maybe play an acoustic set, have an open question and answer session, or just let your fans connect with one another.

Daria Musk performs in a Hangout.

The features are there, but the success of Google+’s ability to provide artists with the ultimate marketing tool will largely depend on how many users ultimately adopt the platform. Overall, Google+ will provide artists a way to more meaningfully connect with their audience.

Please share your thoughts and ideas concerning Google+ for artists as this is unexplored territory that begs for creative implementation. If you aren’t yet a part of the club, post your email and I or another kind soul will send you an invite.

Scott Horton helps recording artists achieve the ‘sound in their head’ by providing his technical and creative sonic input through his online mixing service Virtual Mix Engineer.

via musicthinktank.com

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Google+ For Musicians

Steve Tilston: The Reckoning – review

Andy Roberts — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 10:46:27 +0000

A Four Star review from the Guardian for Steve Tilston‘s album ‘The Reckoning‘

This article titled “Steve Tilston: The Reckoning – review” was written by Robin Denselow, for The Guardian on Thursday 21st July 2011 21.31 UTC

In the Pennine hills in Yorkshire there lives a singer-songwriter and guitarist who has never achieved the public attention he deserves, but has always been praised by fellow musicians. Steve Tilston writes thoughtful, highly personal songs and is one of the finest instrumentalists on the folk scene, with a style that echoes the elaborate, rhythmic “folk baroque” guitar work of Bert Jansch and Davy Graham. He writes about anything that takes his interest, and the songs here range from unashamedly lyrical pieces about the countryside to others concerned with memory, nuclear waste, or a cheering story from the Spanish civil war, given a flamenco edge. There’s even a thoughtful meditation on the existence of God, Doubting Thomas, given a slinky, bluesy backing, and an update of the traditional Nottamun Town, now treated as a contemporary political nightmare. There’s occasional backing from accordion, harmonica and even a string section, but the album is dominated by Tilston’s exquisite guitar work, and features two spirited solo instrumental tracks, including a suitably virtuosic tribute to Graham.

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010

Published via the Guardian News Feed plugin for WordPress.

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Steve Tilston: The Reckoning – review

Upload your music onto Spotify

Andy Roberts — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 05:59:41 +0000

Dear Artists,

First of all; we are really glad to hear that you are interested
in getting your music onto Spotify.

We appreciate your patience since you signed up to the Spotify
Artist and Label list. The reason why we haven’t gotten back to
you earlier is that we haven´t been ready to launch our own
uploading-platform. Our time and energy has gone into uploading
thousands of tracks every day from our existing partners which
is a continuous process. However, getting independent artists
music onto Spotify is important to us so we’re working on various
solutions to assist artists.

The current solutions we offer indie artists offer are CDBaby, Ditto Music and Record Union. They are artist- aggregators, who we’ve recently made an agreement with, and we highly recommend to you as a method to get your music onto Spotify. With them you can create a standard agreement and upload your music onto
Spotify as well as deliver your music to other great services such as 7digital and Amazon.
So if you want to join Spotify as soon as possible we strongly recommend you to go one of the following sites:

We’re really looking forward to having your music on Spotify soon!

Regards,

The music team at Spotify

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Upload your music onto Spotify

Andy Roberts Music Podcast #44

Andy Roberts — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 07:08:02 +0000

It’s Podcast 44 – Romford Folk Club part 2

June 12, 2011 at 5:27 PM

Andy Roberts Podcast 44

Episode 44 of the Andy Roberts Podcast continues the soundtrack from the Romford Folk Club guest night of April 12th with six more self written songs performed live.

Here’s the download and play link etc:
Download podcast 44

Subscribe to the podcast RSS or get it from iTunes

Download MP3 to save – 38 Mb in size, playtime 26 minutes 20 seconds :- 44 Andy Roberts Podcast Episode 44.mp3

Andy Roberts Podcast #44 Shownotes

Show Notes for Podcast 44

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Andy Roberts Music Podcast #44

Wicked Messenger: Bob Dylan and the 1960s

Andy Roberts — Tue, 24 May 2011 09:37:26 +0000

It’s Bob Dylan’s 70th birthday today.

Wicked Messenger: Bob Dylan and the 1960s | MikeMarqusee.com
http://www.mikemarqusee.com/?p=153

Mike Marqusee restores the forgotten moral and political contexts of Dylan’s supernova years. In doing so, he rescues one of the most urgent poetic voices in American history from the condescension of his own later cynicism.

(via Instapaper)

Andy Roberts

http://distributedresearch.net/blog

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Wicked Messenger: Bob Dylan and the 1960s

ELEVEN ITEMS OF FOLK MUSIC NEWS FROM LEWES FOR MAY

Andy Roberts — Tue, 03 May 2011 19:51:49 +0000

ELEVEN ITEMS OF FOLK MUSIC NEWS FROM LEWES FOR MAY

1] LEWES FOLK FESTIVAL 6th – 9th OCTOBER 2011
Since last month, a number of top names have been added to the
mouth-watering line-up for this year’s Lewes Folk Festival Those
appearing include:-
SID KIPPER * THE BLACK UMFOLOSI 5 from Zimbabwe * CHRIS WOOD * THE
GECKOES with caller WILL HALL * SHIRLEY COLLINS * THE COPPER FAMILY *
THE LONG HILL RAMBLERS * THE TWAGGER BAND * ANDY TURNER

There will be workshops led by the following people:-
SHIRLEY COLLINS – song
BEN PALEY – fiddle, DAN STEWART – banjo,
KERRY FLETCHER & ROSIE DAVIS – Gypsy Step Dance
SUSSEX HARMONY – West Gallery Singing
SPARE PARTS – Sussex tunes & part-playing for any instrument
As well as a multimedia presentation on the life of the great Sussex
traditional singer, JOHNNY DOUGHTY,
Once again there will be many dance teams displaying on four sites in
the Cliffe area of the town on Saturday as well as singarounds, tune
sessions.
The programme as it is finalised will appear on the website at
http://www.lewesfolkfest.org/ and tickets will be on sale from June
1st.
***********
2] FOLK AT THE ROYAL OAK
Station Street, Lewes
Enquiries: – (01273) 478124 or 881316
Email tinvic@globalnet.co.uk.

We have a very strong programme to take us up to the end of the season in July:-

May 5th * £7.00 * MARRY WATERSON & OLIVER KNIGHT
A new generation of England’s leading folk music family! They are Lal
Waterson’s children; Marry an outstanding singer and Olly a great
multi-instrumentalist.

May 12th * £7.00 * TIM LAYCOCK
A return visit for this multi-talented performer – an excellent singer
and great musician. Tim has a wonderful way of involving his listeners
in his varied performances.

May 19th * £6.00 * STUART REED
One of the cornerstones of the folk scene in Sussex, Stuart’s voice
was at the centre of our most popular group, The Taverners.

May 26th * free admission * OPEN NIGHT

June 2nd * £7.00 * THOMAS McCARTHY & SIMON BOYLE
Thomas McCarthy is a man steeped in the tradition of Irish songs,
intoxicated by the music and passionate in his sensitivity towards
them. Joined tonight by a fine uilleann piper

June 9th * £6.00 * DENISE & STUART SAVAGE present “WHAT A HAPPY YOUNG MAN”
A multimedia presentation on the life and songs of Henry Hills of
Lodsworth – with Denise & Stuart singing many of the songs.

June 16th * £8.00 * JAMES FAGAN & NANCY KERR
One of the most established and respected duos on the folk scene,
Nancy Kerr and James Fagan are winners of the 2011 BBC Radio 2 Folk
Award for Best Duo

June 23rd * £7.00 * LIZ & YVONNE KANE & EDEL FOX
Highly exciting and vibrant music from sister fiddle players from
Connemara and their concertina playing friend from County Clare. Three
of the most highly regarded amongst the rising generation of Irish
musicians.

June 30th * £6.00 * BING LYLE
Accordion, flute and guitar player, Bing also has one of the finest
singing voices whether he is singing traditional songs or his own
compositions.

July 7th * £8.00 * RORY McLEOD
A one man soulband, poet and storyteller, singing his own unique
upbeat dance stories. A modern travelling troubadour using tap shoes,
acappella, harmonica, guitar, trombone, spoons, finger cymbals,
bandorea, djembe and various percussion instruments!

July 14th * Free Admission * OPEN NIGHT

July 21st * £7.00 * THE NEW SLIDE
An excellent young band including two exceptional local musicians,
Matt Quinn and Tom Redman. English tunes and songs.

July 28th * £10.00 * THE SAVOY FAMILY BAND
A great coup for us as we have the opportunity to book the world’s
leading Cajun band from Eunice, Louisiana. Advance tickets from May
5th.
Our Future Guests will include:-

* Cathal McConnell & Duncan Wood (September 15th)
* Debby McClatchy (September 22nd)
* Black Umfolosi 5 (September 29th) – Opening night of Lewes Folk Festival
* Alice Gerrard & Beverley Smith (October 13th)
* Lady Maisrey [Hazel Askew, Rowan Rheingans and Hannah James] (October 27th)
* Zoox [Linda Game, Jo May & Becky Menday] (November 10th)
* Elsie’s Band [Dave Watts, John Hills, Iris Bihop & Tony Deane]
(November 17th)

Our websites are at
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~tinvic/
and
http://www.myspace.com/royaloakfolklewes

Those of you who arrange listings are politely requested to include
all of the above.
***********
3] THE SAVOY FAMILY BAND FROM EUNICE, LOUISIANA – JULY 28th
A real coup for the Royal Oak as we are able to present one of the
world’s top Cajun music bands consisting of Marc & Ann Savoy and their
songs Joel and Wilson. We rarely do advance tickets for our events but
this will be needed in the case of the Savoys because of the
anticipated size of the turn out. Tickets (£10) are now on sale –
please phone 01273 478124 or email folk@brighton.co.uk in the first
case.
***********
4] FOLK AT THE ROYAL OAK ON “MYSPACE”
Our MYSPACE profile enables us to provide sample tracks of coming
guests as well as show photos and biographies of coming guests. It is
at http://www.myspace.com/royaloakfolklewes

Currently on our MYSPACE we have the following tracks by coming guests:-
Marry Waterson & Oliver Knight – “Father Us” – (May 5th)
Tim Laycock – “Old Daddy Fox” – (May 12th)
Stuart Reed – “Rolling Home” – (May 19th)
Stuart & Denise Savage – “Our Captain Cried” – (June 9th)
Nancy Kerr & James Fagan – “The Banks of the Condamine” – (June 16th)
Edel Fox [with The Kane Sisters] – “Jigs” – (June 23rd)
Liz & Yvonne Kane [with Edel Fox] – “13 Reels” – (June 23rd)
Bing Lyle – “Painting The Town” – (June 30th)
The Savoy Family Band – “Valse De Chagrin” – (July 28th)
Cathal McConnell & Duncan Wood – “Highland March/Earl of Errol/Bleaton
Gardens” – (September 15th)

(After each gig the tracks will drop off to be replaced with another
by an upcoming guest.)
There is also two photo montage videos of some of the best nights at
the Royal Oak. One covering the club evenings during 2007 and the
other between 2002 and 2006.
***********
5] SUSSEX FOLK GUIDE WEBSITE – UPDATED
For all the listings of folk music, song club, dances, festivals in
and around Sussex, have a look at http://whatson.brighton.co.uk/folk
This site all always kept updated with the latest events and there are
over 100 events currently listed covering all the dates up until the
end of May.
***********
6] THE FOLK DIARY
Most of the listings on the Sussex Folk Guide website are taken from
the paper magazine, THE FOLK DIARY. Issue no 248 covers the months of
April and May. They are packed with adverts for various folk
festivals, folk music record companies, specialist shops, instrument
makers and other services as well as details of all the folk song and
dance events in our area. To obtain copies of this free magazine as it
is published, please send SAE’s to Vic Smith at the address below.
It is also the address to send album review copies to. Potential
advertisers are also asked to contact Vic for a statement of our
advertising rates. The delivery of issue 249 covering June and July
has just passed.
Please contact
JIM MARSHALL 01273 559750 jimars@globalnet.co.uk
Or
VIC SMITH 01273 478124 tinvic@globalnet.co.uk
**********
7] THE FOLK DIARY ON LINE
THE FOLK DIARY is available on-line at
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~tinvic/fd.htm You will need Adobe ACROBAT
READER to read the pages. The size of each page is given by each page
link and the content of each page is indicated. The following issue is now
on-line and are listed here with the contents:-
ISSUE No. 248 April – May 2011
Page 1 Blackwood’s Blue Coconut Club (Thurs), North Brighton Sing &
Chat (Suns), London Old Timey & Bluegrass week, “What A Happy Young
Man” Lodsworth.
Page 2 Spyboy Presentations, Cara Dillon at East Grinstead, Crawley
Folk & Beer Festival.
Page 3 Lewes Saturday Folk Club, Folk at the Royal Oak, Lewes (Thurs).
Page 4 Piggie’s Open Mic Uckfield (Tues). Folk Diary advertising rates
& Copy Dates, Amberley Folk Club (Tues), Meltdown Ceilidhs Haywards
Heath (Sats), Barber & Taylor at The Open House Brighton.
Page 5 Acoustic Festival of Britain
Page 6 Gilmore/Roberts at the Stag Sevenoaks, Bryan Creer’s 60th
birthday party, Sandra Goddard’s party, Edge of Chaos Orchestra gigs,
Hat Music Films, Fee Calls Ceilidhs, the second Lewes Folk Festival,
Lewes Favourites Tune practice sessions.
Page 7 Hobgoblin Music, Fareham & Gosport Easter Festival, Rattlebag
singarounds Hastings (Thurs), Wickham Festival.
Page 8 Electric Voices presentations, CD Reviews.
Page 9 Willows Folk Club Arundel (Weds), CD reviews.
Page 10 Tenterden Folk Festival, CD Reviews.
Page 11 Seaford Folk Club (Fris), Acoustic Sussex presentations.
Page 12 The Unreel’s Barn Dance Henfield, Barry Murphy’s banjos,
Horsham Folk Club (Suns), Croydon Folk Club (Mons), Beacon Tunbridge
Wells folk club (Mons).
Page 13 Eastbourne Folk Club (Weds), So Last Century String Band,
Brighton Acoustic session (Mons), Chichester Pickers (Thurs), Folk &
Blues at the Roebuck Ringmer (Suns), Grassroots gigs, Folk at the
Coast, Bognor (Fris), Brighton Singers’ Club (Weds).
Page 14 Cigar Box Guitars, The Rude Mechanicals Shoreham (Weds), Six
Bells Chiddingly (Tues), Vince’s violins, Elsie’s (Sats), Eastbourne
Story Tellers, White Horse Bodle Street Green (Mons), Mid-Sussex
Chorus & Harmony Ashurst (Weds), Button Accordeon for sale, Tonbridge
Folk Club (Mons).
Page 15 St. George’s Day Folk at the Orchards. Haywards Heath.
Page 16 Towersey Village festival.
**********
8] VIDEO PAGE ON THE FOLK AT THE ROYAL OAK WEBSITE
The Folk at the Royal Oak website now has a page devoted to YouTube
and Facebook videos. It is at
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~tinvic/videos.htm The page is
divided into two sections, the first showing videos of guest artists
who will be appearing at the Royal Oak, and the second section showing
videos of some performances on past nights at the Royal Oak. The
videos currently being shown on that page are as follows:-
SECTION 1
VIDEOS: VIDEOS OF COMING GUESTS
MARRY WATERSON & OLIVER KNIGHT on May 5th
THOMAS McCARTHY on June 2nd
NANCY KERR & JAMES FAGAN on June 16th
THE KANE SISTERS & EDEL FOX on June 23rd
RORY McLEOD on July 7th
THE NEW SLIDE on July 21st
THE SAVOY FAMILY BAND on July 28th
CATHAL McCONNELL & DUNCAN WOOD on September 15th
BLACK UMFOLOSI 5 (from ZIMBABWE) on October 6th
ALICE GERRARD [with Beverly Smith] on October 13th
BEVERLY SMITH [with Alice Gerrard] on October 13th
LADY MAISERY on October 27th
ZOOX on November 10th

SECTION 2
VIDEOS TAKEN DURING CLUB EVENINGS AT THE ROYAL OAK
Currently 48 videos of appearances at the Royal Oak including Chris
Foster. Jez Lowe, Bartram Brookes & Weatherall, Martyn Wyndham-Read &
Iris Bishop, Mike Gulston, Tim Van Eyken, Carthy Waterson & Parkinson,
Davis Locker & Winquist, Black Umfolosi 5, John Kirkpatrick, The Long
Hill Ramblers, Mandy Murray, Linda Game, Maggie Boyle, The Twagger
Band, Marilyn Bennett, Terry Masterson, Dana & Susan Robinson, Pete
Cooper & Richard Bolton, Gavin Atkin, Ian Chisholm & Derrick Hughes,
Roger Brasier. Bayou Seco.
*********
9] LEWES WORKSHOPS AT THE ELEPHANT & CASTLE
The workshops last a full Saturday or Sunday and the tutor performs at the
club in the evening.
Forthcoming workshops in 2011 –

04 June Martyn Wyndham-Read & Iris Bishop Singing & accompaniment
11 June John Kirkpatrick John K’s tunes (any instrument)
16 July Brian Peters Melodeon
17 July Brian Peters Ballad forum
15 Oct Tom & Barbara Brown West Country songs
29 Oct Jody Kruskal Concertina
03 Dec Paul & Liz Davenport Ballads

The Lewes Saturday Folk Club has a new domain name –
http://www.lewessaturdayfolkclub.org/. This will work in parallel with
the old name http://www.lewesarmsfolkclub.org/ for the time being but
they hope to phase it out so please change your bookmarks.
********
10] REGULAR SESSIONS IN THE LEWES/BRIGHTON AREA
Bryan Creer has taken on the task of detailing these, and they are posted at
http://www.lewessaturdayfolkclub.org/LAFC/Sessions.php
Have a look and if there are any you think that Bryan has missed – contact
him on Bryancreer@aol.com
********
11] THE TRIBAL EARTH GATHERING August 18th -21st
We have been asked to mention a small very friendly festival in the
Hastings area. The event is a smaller four day outdoor event,
providing music (mainly world/folk) and workshops etc raising funds
for a charity providing housing and education for street children in
Nepal and all profit goes to the charity every year. There are full
details of a very varied and attractive programme at
www.tribalearth.co.uk
>
…And if you are ever looking for a good barn dance band, look no
further than THE SUSSEX PISTOLS – though you should get in quickly –
available dates for 2011 are being snapped up quickly. Contact Tina on
01273 478124 or email her at tinasmith226@yahoo.co.uk to
book the band. The band’s website is at
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~tinvic/pistols.htm and they have a
MYSPACE profile as well at http://www.myspace.com/thesussexpistols
__________________________________________

VIC & TINA SMITH
26 Ferrers Road
LEWES
East Sussex
BN7 1PZ
England

Tel & Fax:- 01273 478124
Email:-
tinvic@globalnet.co.uk
folk@brighton.co.uk

ROYAL OAK WEBSITES:-
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~tinvic
http://www.myspace.com/royaloakfolklewes

SUSSEX FOLK GUIDE WEBSITE:-
http://whatson.brighton.co.uk/folk

LEWES FOLK FESTIVAL WEBSITE:-
http://lewesfolkfest.org/

SUSSEX PISTOLS BARN DANCE BAND WEBSITE:-
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~tinvic/pistols.htm

COMPOUND SOUNDS WEBSITE

http://www.myspace.com/jalisherrifokonteh
____________via posterous

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ELEVEN ITEMS OF FOLK MUSIC NEWS FROM LEWES FOR MAY

Dave Peabody and Brendan Power plus Karen Grace band this friday

Andy Roberts — Tue, 03 May 2011 09:07:58 +0000

Dear Forest Roots Folk

NEWSFLASH

not only will Dave Peabody and Brendan Power www.brendan-power.com be
playing this friday but we also have the Karen Grace Band
www.karen-grace.com. including Nick Allen, local cello teacher. This
is a 6 piece band who are finalists in the ‘Battle of the Bands’
competition plus local performers and surprise guest. So looking
forward to seeing you all on friday at Forest Roots, the Lord
Rookwood, 314, Cann Hall Rd, London, E113NW. Starts 8.30, free entry
with a voluntary whip round

see you then
stay forever young

Jenny and Caroline

via posterous

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Dave Peabody and Brendan Power plus Karen Grace band this friday

Folk music legend Loudon Wainwright on his musical family

Andy Roberts — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 11:08:32 +0000

Loudon Wainwright was on the breakfast show. He’s just flown in for his UK tour. I’m going to see him again at the Royal Festival Hall before I go to Paris.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-13185323

Andy Roberts

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Folk music legend Loudon Wainwright on his musical family

Yusuf Islam on ‘My People’

Andy Roberts — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 16:49:41 +0000

Yusuf Islam talks about the production and crowd sourcing of his new song ‘My People’ inspired by the revolution in Egypt and the Arab world.

Yusuf used facebook to gather peoples voices and mixed them into the production.

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Yusuf Islam on ‘My People’

The Songwriters Circle

Andy Roberts — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 18:05:47 +0000

redirect to page

http://distributedresearch.net/blog/andyrobertsmusic/songwriters-circle

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The Songwriters Circle

Blog Action Day 2010 – #BAD2010

Andy Roberts — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 11:21:16 +0000

The topic for Blog Action Day 2010 is water, and I’m just going to link out to some other entries from here, this time.

In 2009 I wrote blog-action-day-when-the-waters-rise

In 2007, the first blog action day, I explained that individual-action-is-not-enough

So this year I entered another song, Mondura Dam which according to the composer, myself, is bang on topic. It’s over on the Andy Roberts Podcast blog: Mondura Dam – as long as we have water and a piece about how to make cider using much less water to make cider than beer

This has been a post for blog action day 2010 tagged #BAD10

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Blog Action Day 2010 – #BAD2010

Podcast Live

Andy Roberts — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 09:23:13 +0000

Following on from the Podcast idea a few weeks back I promised to post again telling you how to subscribe in iTunes or get the podcast automatically delivered to the podcast player of your choice. We’ve had four podcast prototypes broadcast and published already and the show is ready to go live on Tuesday July 6th, at 7.00pm UK time so this is quite short notice for anybody who didn’t manage to keep up over at ustream

subscribe in iTunes

RSVP on Facebook at facebook.com/event.php?eid=131126593587441

The website hosting the podcasts is over at andyroberts.me and there’s a post about the official opening night which says:

After 4 weeks of prototyping, the music podcast goes LIVE in July and we’re celebrating with an official opening night on Tuesday July 6th. So come along to the ustream page promptly for 7.00pm UK time to get your requests in, hang out with other podcast listeners and be part of my opening night recorded for posterity here at http://andyroberts.me/

Podcast Launch

Building the Opening Night

It would be nice to have a bit of a crowd along for the opening night just to get the regular weekly podcasting off to a good start so I’ve created a facebook Event for this particular show which you can invite people to. I’ll also be making a post over on my long established blog site at DARnet Andy Roberts and one or two other places if I can think of them.

The podcast opening night will also be part of the Cafe Noodle July Ustream Festival, a great music community organised by Matt Stevens Loop.

I think it should be possible to embed the ustream show here on this site – so that’s something I’ll be having a go at too.

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Podcast Live

Podcast

Andy Roberts — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 15:34:35 +0000

Podcast

Podcast Idea

OK, I woke up on Wednesday morning with an idea in my head that just seemed to be a natural way forward for the music side of things. A podcast.

It’s not a big stretch really, but for some reason hadn’t occurred to me before. I’ve been doing a weekly live music broadcast on Ustream.tv since July 2009, nearly a year ago, and sometimes a few people login and say hello, others just lurk, and it’s very much a live, ephemeral event. Some of the songs I perform I also record using the ustream system, and they can end up on youTube, and some of them I don’t. It depends how I feel at the time. By keeping the time and day of week the same – always on a Tuesday at 7.00pm UK time – I thought it might encourage a small group of regulars to build up, and there are indeed some people who do drop in on a semi regular kind of basis. But if I don’t bother to send out a tweet and a facebook status update, or set up an event, then it can seem kind of like pushing a boulder up the side of the mountain. It can fall back again so there’s nobody there except myself and Linda and a couple of anonymous attenders who may or may not be paying attention. But then again, people have also mentioned to me face to face that they were there listening on an occasion, but not logged on, so it’s not really anonymous, that’s just how it can seem subjectively, which is not really something to be at all worried about. And That’s all OK as far as it goes, because the Tuesday night shows allow me to rehearse a few songs that I might end up performing in front of a live audience at the Havering Folk Club the next day, and help to build up the collection of videos to the Andy Roberts Music youTube account, which can get thousands of views sometimes.

Andy Roberts Music on USTREAM

But it seems I may have been missing a trick. It struck me that for all sorts of reasons there can be a few people who might have wanted to turn up on any particular Tuesday evening but can’t make it that week, or forget, or go out, fall asleep, desperately need to watch the stupid box or cook dinner etc. I toyed with the idea of moving to a different time of day. Maybe a Sunday afternoon or something like that. But Tuesday evenings are convenient for me as it happens. So maybe a couple more people could tune in if they could do so at their own convenience, asynchronously, using the simple podcast technology that’s been around on the internet for several years now. There could be a choice between downloading audio only, as in conventional iPod mp3 player, or a video podcast. I’ll learn to pipe more than just live webcam video into that at some point.

So nothing much is going to change with the Tuesday evening live broadcast music shows, except for this: Instead of setting Ustream to record individual songs as and when, every week the whole show will be recorded, 20 minutes half an hour or whatever, and made available as a podcast which can be subscribed to in iTunes, downloaded, accessed from this blog or via RSS etc. The thing that podcasts do best. So you can listen or watch when you like.

Andy Roberts Podcast

So I’ve decided to start off with a plan, and this is the plan: The new Andy Roberts Podcast will go live in July 2010, with a prototype starting next Tuesday and ongoing during June, so I can learn what needs to be done and how it all works out. The best way to find out how to subscribe for now, is going to be to subscribe to the RSS for this blog. There’ll be another post just before July telling you how to subscribe in iTunes or get the podcast automatically delivered to the podcast player of your choice. Once we’re underway in July, the whole podcast idea in the context of the Andy Roberts music project will then be subject to some good old plan /do / review reflective practice with no doubt, a series of iterative cycles which really start with the prototyping in June.

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Podcast

Gordon Brown Never a Frown

Andy Roberts — Wed, 05 May 2010 08:13:04 +0000

Gordon Brown

Never a Frown

It being the day before a general election, there are only a few hours left to sing this one I suppose.

Or is there?

Some people believe the last few hours day and night can make all the difference

Hence lunch is for wimps, and sleep is for losers.

Crazies.

Recorded 4th May 2010 in London as part of Andy Roberts music broadcast every Tuesday evening at 7.00pm on Ustream.tv

After The Stranglers Golden Brown

Gordon Brown

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Gordon Brown Never a Frown