Inside the Folkosphere...

Kevin and Joe celebrate 20 years of music making

2019-01-10T11:07:00.001+00:00

TWENTY years ago - in 1999 - Lance Armstrong won his first Tour de France, Bob The Builder debuted on TV, the average UK house price was £79,384 ... and Kevin Dempsey and Joe Broughton started to make sweet music together.

Joe (left) and Kevin

Today, Armstrong is disgraced, Bob is no longer building, and houses cost almost three times as much ... but Kevin and Joe are still making sweet music together!

The guitar/fiddle duo will celebrate their 20th anniversary with a series of gigs in February and March.

Since teaming up in 1999, Kevin Dempsey (Whippersnapper, Dando Shaft, Dave Swarbrick) and fiddle and mandolin player Joe Broughton (then in The Albion Band) have performed in 20 countries, and releasing three albums - Every Other Word (1999), Freehand (2004), and Off By Heart (2017).

Off By Heart album

Combining emotive songs, unrivalled musicianship, impromptu banter, and a spectacular high energy show, Kevin and Joe never fail to create a spellbinding atmosphere with songs and instrumentals that are rooted in folk music, but also call on sounds and styles from the four corners of the world.

Joe Broughton

Although both artists continue to pursue their own career paths — Joe as leader of The Urban Folk Quartet and the giant Conservatoire Folk Ensemble; Kevin increasingly as a solo artist, but also with various other musicians including, most recently, Pentangle's Jacqui McShee — the duo continue to reunite for their annual summer fiddle/ guitar workshops and, when their schedules allow, live shows.

Celebrating two decades of collaboration, the duo's spring 2019 appearances promise a broad mix of material from across their career, along with new songs (set to feature on their fourth album), and a few last minute surprises.

Kevin Dempsey

Says Joe: "It really doesn't seem 20 years since myself and Kevin first began playing together! Time really flies when we're on stage … and off stage too it seems. I always look forward to our annual reunions — Kevin is one of the UK’s best acoustic guitarists and the shows are a joy to play."

Adds Kevin: "I can still remember the day I was first introduced to Joe, then a young musician whose reputation was growing. We really hit it off. His reputation has grown further since those early days, and playing together is always great fun — for us and the audience.”

GIG DATES

Saturday 2 February 2019

Carperby Village Institute, Carperby, Leyburn, North Yorkshire DL8 4DE

£13/ £15

Box Office: 01969 663808

www.folkicons.co.uk

www.folkicons.co.uk/carperbyconcerts.htm

Sunday 3 February 2019

Raven Folk Club, The Bear and Billet, 94 Lower Bridge Street, Chester CH1 1RU

8.30pm

www.ravenfolk.org.uk

Saturday 9 February 2019

Plaitford Village Hall, Salisbury Road, Near Romsey, Hampshire SO5 1EE

£13

7.30pm

plaitford.org
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-dempsey-broughton-show-tickets-53781758688

Sunday 10 February 2019

Halsway Manor, Halsway Lane, Near Crowcombe, Somerset TA4 4BD

£10/ £4

7pm

halswaymanor.org.uk

Thursday 28 February 2019

The Kitchen Garden Cafe, 17 York Road, Kings Heath, Birmingham B14 7SA

£12

8pm

Tel: 0121 443 4725

www.kitchengardencafe.co.uk

www.kitchengardencafe.co.uk/events.php?pid=lsm&lsm_id=1508

Saturday 2 March 2019

Alstonefield Village Hall, Beresford Lane, Alstonefield, Derbyshire DE6 2FR

£12

8pm
Tel: 01335 310322

www.alstonefield.org

www.wegottickets.com/AVH-Concerts

Sunday 3 March 2019

The Sunny Sailor, 1 Fulbridge, Maldon, Essex CM9 4LE

£15

Tickets available at Maldon TIC: 01621 856503.

Info: www.mactheatre.org.uk

Online tickets: www.wegottickets.com/event/456700

Sunday 10 March 2019

The Albany Theatre, Albany Road, Coventry, Warwickshire CV5 6JQ

4pm

www.cvfolk.com

Thursday 14 March 2019

Stanley Halls, 12 South Norwood Hill, London, SE25 6AB

£16.50

8pm

www.stanleyhalls.org.uk
www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/london/stanley-halls/kevin-dempsey-joe-broughton

LINKS

www.facebook.com/dempseybroughton

www.dempseybroughton.co.uk

soundcloud.com/dempseybroughton/

International talent assembles in Ireland

2019-01-06T09:02:00.001+00:00

Ireland's largest festival of trad, folk and world music begins January 23 with a wealth of talent on show.

The programme for TradFest 2019 has officially launched. This year’s festival is set to include an evening in celebration of Ronnie, The Dubs & others - performed in story and song by Phelim Drew.

Martin Harte of The Temple Bar Company which runs TradFest, said: "The 2019 lineup is one of our most iconic yet, with a strong international lineup featuring the likes of multi Grammy award winner Kathy Mattea, evergreen folk-rock superstars Steeleye Span and Iberian piper Carlos Nunez.

Kathy Mattea

"It's also celebrating the cream of established Irish talent including Eleanor McEvoy, Andy Irvine, Arty McGlynn, all the while supporting emerging artists through our headline programme and our showcasing events.

"As usual the festival strives to ensure that there is a strong female presence across the programme. We are also delighted to expand and increase the hugely popular front row sessions with more concerts, more days and more fun than ever before."

Tickets are on sale now via tradfest.ie

The headline gigs will include: ANDY IRVINE, BRENDA CASTLES, BRÍD HARPER & ARTY MCGLYNN / SEÁNA DAVEY & STEPHEN DOHERTY, CAOIMHÍN Ó RAGHALLAIGH, CARLOS NÚÑEZ, CATHY DAVEY, DAOIRÍ FARRELL, DAVID KITT AND INNI-K, DORI FREEMAN, ELEANOR MCEVOY plus support ANNA MIEKE, FREDDIE WHITE, JERRY DOUGLAS / TEDDY THOMPSON / LAURA CORTESE & THE DANCE CARDS, JIM PAGE, JOHN SHEAHAN & MICHAEL HOWARD, KATE RUSBY, KATHY MATTEA, LINDISFARNE, LIZ CARROLL & JIMMY KEANE, LOAH / SIVE, MARK REDMOND & PATRICK FITZPATRICK, MARTHA GUINEY & AISLING LYONS, MARTIN HARLEY & STEPHEN JAMES SMITH, RADIE PEAT, RÉ PLUS SUPPORT KERN, RYAN O’SHAUGHNESSY, SIBÉAL NÍ CHASAIDE, STEELEYE SPAN, THE BLACK FEATHERS & THE ONCE, THE ESKIES, THE KANE SISTERS & THE FRIEL SISTERS, THE LOST BROTHERS, TRAD GALA – DANÚ / THE MCGOLDRICK TRIO / THE GREEN FIELDS OF AMERICA, ZOE CONWAY & JOHN MCINTYRE.

Folk opera runs aground in muddy shallows

2018-01-15T12:27:00.001+00:00

Review:

THE TRANSPORTS: A tale of exile and migration.

Charter Theatre, Preston, Lancashire.

We are in the era of the theatrical mega-musical — magical, multicoloured fantasies of spectacle, music and dance. The Transports is the exact opposite to such stage extravaganzas.

Dark, dour and unremittingly grim, it rejects showbiz tropes and presents a grinding history lesson that tells us life stinks and then you die.

The late Peter Bellamy’s 40-year-old “folk opera” concept album about petty crime and pernicious punishment in the 18th Century has been revived as a touring musical-theatre show, given a contemporary political twist and populated with a cast of top folk musicians.

But as musical-theatre it’s only half successful. The music is strong … the theatre far less so.

The cast of The Transports

First of all, the good stuff. When it comes to performing the music, the cast — which includes all six members of The Young’uns and Faustus, plus Nancy Kerr, Rachael McShane and Greg Russell — is excellent, and the folkies show off their great talents with an array of instruments and strong vocals.

However, those musical credentials shine out like a reliable beacon in a choppy ocean of uninspired storytelling coupled to a woeful, dreary production style. As a result, The Transports is too often stodgy, drab and boring.

Bellamy’s tale was inspired by the true story of two smalltime thieves — Henry and Susannah — who met while locked up in Norwich jail in the 1780s. They swiftly produced a baby out of wedlock but, when Susannah was selected for transportation to the new penal colony of Botany Bay in Australia, Henry and the child were set to be left behind in England. Only the intervention of a prison guard (played here with much-needed humour by Greg Russell) kept the family together … both father and baby were packed off to Australia, too!

Although impressively played and sung, Bellamy’s 1970s songs are dated, despite being given new arrangements by Paul Sartin. Meanwhile, the characters are shallow, poorly defined, mere tokens. I felt little for them and, as a result, had no emotional connection to the story.

There is no dialogue and the songs are instead linked by a newly-written narration. This should be engaging, thrilling and enthralling, but is too often rambling, preachy or supercilious.

The bleak story progresses leadenly as the sketchy personae shuffle from crime to court and from prison to ship. First the narrator tells the story and then, redundantly, the cast sing the story until Henry and Susannah eventually embark on their hellish voyage to the unknown. Curtain down. End of part one.

Brown boxes

Immediately after the interval, baffling references to Syria, mobile phones and modern day mass movements of people around the globe are tossed into the mix as the show abruptly departs from Bellamy’s original concept and clumsily attempts to inject topicality into the 200-year-old tale.

Sean Cooney of The Young’uns plays Henry, and Cooney’s own superb composition, Dark Water, is slotted into Bellamy’s dated material at this point. His voice is heartbreakingly impassioned, the song is a fresh masterpiece, and it easily stands out as the best number in the show.

However, this chillingly beautiful ballad about modern refugees would work far better at the end of the show rather than halfway through, where it serves to scupper the main story and to divert the show onto a tangled tangent. When we finally return to the story of the first ever Antipodean Transportation and the founding of Australia, the show has lost what momentum it had.

Despite having a huge historical canvas to draw from, by the time the central characters wash up on the alien Aussie shore the plot has run out of ideas. Henry and Susannah’s surprisingly happy real life ending is neglected musically, explained away instead by a few lines of pallid narration.

There’s no uplifting denouement pointing to a brighter future; instead we get a superfluous sea shanty. Still, at least the shanty is a bit of fun and there’s precious little of that to be had elsewhere in these moralising, worn down tales of little people caught up in geopolitical machinations.

The nagging narration from the headmasterly Matthew Crampton becomes pompous, and the songs fail to sufficiently illuminate the characters, but it is the bland production style that really crashes the ship. The Transports’ spartan set consists of four packing cases, a plank and a collection of bar stools. It is utterly sterile and vapid.

The ten members of the cast, clad in a creased and crumpled mishmash of mismatched taupe, fawn, camel and tan-coloured modern outfits, perch on the stools or slump on the brown wooden boxes, while behind them hang four khaki banners, showing a muddy map of the world. There has never been a more beige stage!

The show is a feast for the ears but a famine for the eyes, so why bother seeing it? If you enjoy the songs, listen to the newly-recorded soundtrack album and let your imagination paint the colourful scenes the show fails to recreate.

• I feel I must add that the show received a standing ovation from the Preston audience, most of whom clearly did not share my exasperation with the show. Please add your own review of The Transports in the comments below.

• The Transports is touring until January 24th. The album is available now.

PHIL WIDDOWS

Music for fiery New Year

2017-12-28T18:09:00.000+00:00

Folkie Phil here with news about The Last Hurrah!, our annual mix of music for the New Year.

DOWNLOAD HERE

As you may know, this show started several years ago and has been added to, changed, pruned, grown, evolved and expanded every year since.

The good news is I’ve just finished editing the latest edition. The less good news is that the show is becoming a real monster! It’s almost two hours long, and that means that it’s well over 100mb in size, half as big again as a normal FolkCast show.

Now, I don’t want to fill up FolkCasters’ phones, computers and mp3 players with such a big file, so instead of podcasting it I thought I’d send you this special notice and invite you to visit www.folkcast.co.uk at your earliest convenience. Once there you can either stream the show from our website or download it. It’s your choice. Or, I suppose, you could leave it alone entirely — but if you do you’ll miss out on some really good music all about New Year, about time, about fire and about drink. Lots and lots of drink!

I’ll be back with the first of a new year of new podcasts in January, and they will be coming direct to all subscribers to the podcast as normal.

I’m looking forward to sharing another year of folk, folk-rock, singer-songwriter and roots music with you. We’re about to enter our 12th year of podcasting, making FolkCast the longest established independent folk podcast from the UK, so wherever you are in the world, keep our digits in your ear!

The Last Hurrah is available at the website for a limited period only, and will be gone by the time our first show of January goes live. So, waste no time! Go to www.folkcast.co.uk to hear the latest version of The Last Hurrah!

Have a happy and healthy New Year, and I’ll see you in 2018.

Streets song helps homeless this Christmas

2017-12-04T12:19:00.000+00:00

Legendary singer-songwriter Ralph McTell has re-recorded his timeless song Streets Of London with a choir made up of clients from Crisis – the national charity for homeless people – and guest vocalist Annie Lennox, to raise money for the cause in the run up to Christmas.

First penned 50 years ago, the classic song shares its birthday with Crisis, whose 50th anniversary also falls this December.

To mark the occasion, Crisis’ homeless clients and staff from across the country came together to form an 88-strong choir to sing alongside Ralph and Annie Lennox. The choir was conducted by Only Men Aloud’s Tim Rhys-Evans, while the recording also features Richard Thompson on guitar.

To download the track for 99p click here: smarturl.it/streetsoflondon

One of the most recorded songs of all time, Streets Of London has been covered by more than 200 artists including Cat Stevens and Glen Campbell. The song has long been associated with homelessness, with its lyrics speaking of lonely figures walking through Surrey Street Market in Croydon, where Crisis now has a centre.

The single is being released to raise money for Crisis and help support some of the thousands of people facing homelessness this Christmas, many of whom will have nowhere to turn as the winter months close in. As well as opening 13 centres for over 4,000 homeless guests over Christmas, the charity works year-round to help people out of homelessness, as well as campaigning for changes that will end homelessness once and for all.

Ralph McTell said: “It’s 50 years since I wrote Streets of London and it saddens me that the issues raised in the song are still so relevant today.

“When the idea of a single to support Crisis was mooted, I was very pleased that it might help raise awareness of the charity’s work and the wider issue of homelessness. I have been performing a Christmas concert in aid of Crisis for a few years now; inspired by its commitment to improving the circumstances of so many.

“I was also thrilled that the wonderful Annie Lennox was prepared to lend her voice to a new recording, and when I discovered that Crisis had its own choir, it offered the perfect opportunity to create a new and exciting version of a song so many people know.”

Jon Sparkes, Chief Executive of Crisis, said: “Our heartfelt thanks go to Ralph McTell, Annie Lennox and all Crisis clients and staff who lent their voices to this record. The vital funds and awareness it will raise will help us support even more people facing homelessness this Christmas.

“It’s 50 years since Crisis was founded as an urgent response to an unacceptable situation – and it’s nothing less than a tragedy that we are still here today when homelessness should be a thing of the past.

“This collaboration between our clients and Ralph McTell can help us to raise awareness of the similar crisis we’re facing 50 years on. But homelessness isn’t inevitable and we’ll continue to work to ensure we won’t be needed in another 50 years’ time.”

Cambridge tickets set for sale

2017-11-27T14:46:00.000+00:00

Tickets for Cambridge Folk Festival 2018 go on general sale Friday 1 December at 10am, available from www.cambridgefolkfestival.co.uk

The festival will be held in the grounds of Cherry Hinton Hall near Cambridge between 2-5 August, for four days of outstanding music from legendary acts and breakthrough artists alike.

For next year, Cambridge Folk Festival is very proud to announce a historic twinning with the legendary Newport Folk Festival. This partnership will herald the start of a new transatlantic artistic relationship that will allow both festivals to share ideas, experiences and indeed artists between these two festivals that have grown up together since the 1960s.

Hailing from North Carolina, the 2018 guest curator is Rhiannon Giddens: songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and founding member of Carolina Chocolate Drops. Fresh from her recent UK tour, Rhiannon is set to bring her vast knowledge of the most cutting-edge talent and respected musicians on the scene to the 2018 line up.

Rhiannon Giddens

She said: “I am honoured to be the next guest curator for Cambridge Folk Festival following on from the amazing Jon Boden who has done a wonderful job this year. Having played the Festival before I know how special Cambridge is and I am really excited to be contributing to the line-up next year as well as performing.”

Steve Bagnall, Cambridge Live managing director, said: “We are very excited about Rhiannon Giddens taking over the role of Guest Curator and our plans with Newport Folk Festival taking shape we are certain that this year will be a unique one for Cambridge Folk Festival.

"We are also very proud to be recognised for our work with developing artists with a UK Festival Nomination in this field, Cambridge has and will continue to be an important platform for the development of young folk talent and we are committed to growing this part of the Festival even further for 2018.”

Ticket Information:

Full Festival ticket: £175.50; Day tickets: £29 (Thu), £62 (Fri), £72.50 (Sat), £72.50 (Sun).

Booking: www.cambridgefolkfestival.co.uk

Cambridge Live Box Office 01223 35751

Camping at Cherry Hinton Hall and Coldham’s Common is available. Glamping at Coldham’s Common is also available. Concession tickets (disabled access and carer, Under 21, Cambridge City Resident) are available.

Can YOU make the Selection?

2017-11-08T17:27:00.003+00:00

Our 2017 Selection Box of music for the season of Christmas and Yule is taking shape at Folkie Phil’s secret workshop, somewhere near the North Pole (well, just off the M6 in Lancashire, to honest). Anyway, we want YOU to be part of it!

WRITERS! Do you have a poem or short prose piece about Christmas/Yule? Why not record yourself reading it (use a smart phone to make a voice memo) and send it to us?

MUSICIANS! Do you have a festive song you’d like to see as part of the Selection Box?

We really want original, new songs rather than covers of carols and other well known songs of the season. But less well known festive gems are welcome. If in doubt, get in touch!

There has been a Selection Box show every year since we started FolkCast in 2006, presenting an alternative to the obvious, commercial music that saturates Christmas, and we’ve spiced it up with poetry, recitations, fun facts and even recipes! This year will be no different, but we need your help!

Send your musical or spoken word contributions to us as soon as possible. Click here - HOW TO SEND MUSIC TO FOLKCAST - for details of how to do that.

The Selection Box is a positive and (mostly) happy show, a celebration of the season in all its aspects. However, while we don’t submit to cynicism we don’t wallow in sticky sentimentality, either. We feature music that is beautiful or jolly, wacky or wistful; our spoken word selections should make you think or make you laugh.

The only humbugs we want are the stripy sort that you can eat!

(Want to listen to a show? You can access previous years' Selection Boxes and our other seasonal shows here: http://www.folkcast.co.uk/ShowNotes/seasonalindex.html)

ALSO - The Last Hurrah! will return in time for New Year's Eve. It's our ever-evolving, ever-expanding party mix of music to see out the old and wheel in the new. So, if you know of a piece of folkie music that absolutely must be included in your countdown to 2018, get in touch.

Please get your contributions to us as soon as possible - deadline for the Selection Box it’s December 11th, and for the Last Hurrah! it’s December 27th.

Click here - HOW TO SEND MUSIC TO FOLKCAST - for details of how to do that.

Thanks.

Folkie Phil

Belgian Brothers mix it up

2017-10-13T10:00:00.000+01:00

Ward (guitar/mandolin), Hartwin (accordion) and Koen Dhoore (electro-acoustic hurdy gurdy)

Trio Dhoore are a young and talented band of musical brothers from Flanders in Belgium.

Their extensive repertoire of traditional Flemish tunes is punctuated by songs, many of their own compositions. This mix all goes to provide their audiences with a soundscape where traditional and contemporary music, melancholy melodies and intuitive interplay merge to unique effect.

The brothers Dhoore - Koen, Hartwin and Ward - present their instrumental music in a very dynamic way, writing and playing many of their own compositions, while at the same time they breathe life and energy into traditional Flemish music with a skill that belies their ages.

To date Trio Dhoore have released three albums, Modus Operandi, Parachute and Momentum and since the release of their first album in 2013 they become a leading Flemish music export and festival favourites.

The brothers' performing highlights include a ten-date tour of Canada and they have appeared at festivals in Germany, Finland, Sweden, France, Estonia, and Denmark as well as the UK.

Trio Dhoore : UK tour 2017

October

Fri 27. The Bowerhouse Maidstone, Kent Tel: 07585 662395 Tickets £10.00 -- Doors 7:30 p.m.

Sat 28. The Cut Halesworth, Suffolk Tel: 0300 3033211 Tickets £12.50 -- Doors 7:30 p.m.

Sun 29. The Canteen Bristol Tel: 0117 923 2017 Admission Free -- Doors 4:00 p.m.

November

Wed 1. The Forge at the Anvil, Basingstoke Tel: 01256 844 244 Tickets £15.50 -- Doors 7:30 p.m.

Thu 2. Kings Place, Kings Cross, London Tel: 020 7520 1490 Tickets £12.50 -- Doors 7:30 p.m.

Fri 3. Arts Centre, Stamford, Lincs Tel: 01780 763203 Tickets £16.00 -- Doors 7:30 p.m.

Sat 4. The Met, Bury, Lancashire Tel: 0161 7612216 Tickets £15.00 -- Doors 7:30 p.m.

Prior Engagements: Maddy and friends on tour

2017-10-12T10:00:00.000+01:00

Over the course of her remarkable career, Maddy Prior has made it her mission to work with some of the most exceptional musicians in the world - both within Steeleye Span and beyond.

To that noted list she has added accordion player, singer and clog dancer Hannah James and multi-instrumentalist Giles Lewin (Bellowhead / Carnival Band), forming a trio that explores the music of England, the British Isles and Eastern Europe.

Debut album 3 For Joy included 14th Century poems, tales of the industrial revolution from Ulster and music from the Southern Baptist Church tradition, while their latest Shortwinger (due out soon) is themed on the wild field, mainly concerned with birds, hares and their place in folk mythology.

The trio will be performing songs from both albums as well as highlights from Maddy's solo and band career - all presented in a daring acoustic style that enhances one of the finest voices this country has ever produced.

MADDY PRIOR IN CONCERT : OCTOBER 2017

16th - Nettlebed Folk Club

17th - The Theatre Chipping Norton

18th - Liverpool Philharmonic Music Room 

23rd - Kings Place, London

24th - Revelation St Mary's The Virgin Church, Ashford

25th - Cramphorn Theatre, Chelmsford 

26th - Derbyshire County Hall

27th - Civic Theatre, Rotherham

Folk in the U.S.A.

2017-10-11T16:45:00.003+01:00

Where can you hear great live folk music in the USA?

Charity-boosting ticketing service Good Deed Seats has compiled a guide to The 35 Best Folk Music Venues In The US.

Let us know in the comments if there are any they missed out!

Enjoy a festive Lock In!

2017-10-05T13:39:00.000+01:00

The Demon Barbers' 'Lock In' show - a magnificent mix of live music, folk dance and street dance - is being given a Christmas twist.

The Lock In Christmas Carol show will be touring in England in December.

Half gig, half dance show and half panto (...!), the show is set on Christmas Eve and the regulars of The Olde Fighting Cocks pub are excited about the night ahead: it’s going to be the Folk and Hip Hop dance party of the year!

Jasmineezer Scrooge is troubled by spirits...

However, to their dismay, the scary landlady, Jasmineezer Scrooge, has more profitable ambitions and is preparing to launch her new business, the ‘Oompah Techno Bar’!

Cheap alco-pops, luminous lighting and mind-numbing bass beats are all in danger of alienating the local community and ruining Christmas! Fortunately, some insightful souls are at hand to lead her back to her senses.

Tickets are on sale now.

The Lock In ‘Christmas Carol’ 2017

1st Dec - Barnsley Civic

8th Dec - The Met, Bury

9th Dec - Norwich Playhouse

10th Dec - Bedford Corn Exchange

16th Dec - Sage Gateshead

17th Dec - Theatre By The Lake, Keswick

More info: www.thelockindanceshow.co.uk

Take Comfort

2017-09-28T10:00:00.000+01:00

Never let it be said that Iain Matthews is one to dwell on past successes.

Iain Matthews

These days, most band ‘reunions’ take place because of the huge financial rewards available and occasionally, record company pressure. In the case of Matthews' Southern Comfort, neither reason applies.

The original band wasn’t around long enough to have any fanatical following - despite much very fine music and the worldwide hit with Joni Mitchell's song ‘Woodstock’ - and there is no high profile label waiting in the wings. MSC has been reborn simply because Iain Matthews feels he didn’t quite get it right the first time. Originally a vehicle for his musical concepts, forty years on the sounds and songs just keep on coming.

The original band came to a shuddering and premature halt, when Matthews (the original male vocalist with Fairport Convention) decided, rightly or wrongly, that it lacked musical depth. The formation of an all new MSC comes from his desire to finish the journey, plus a deep ongoing passion to make perhaps one more important musical statement that will be heard and acknowledged by his peers.

Matthews' Southern Comfort

In conceiving and assembling this unique group of spirited and likeminded players, Matthews has once again surpassed all expectations. The musicianship and commitment are second to none and the sumptuous, soaring vocal harmonies instantly bring to mind the 60's version of the band.

Other than Scunthorpe-born Iain, the new MSC features an all-Dutch lineup - Iain himself has lived in Amsterdam since 2000. There is renowned guitarist, songwriter and producer BJ Baartmans; plus keyboardist Bart de Win, fresh from several seasons with The Birds of Chicago and his acoustic duo, Tipjar; and rounding out the lineup is Amsterdam singer songwriter Eric Devries.

Obligatory stairwell shot

This spectacular band represents both the past and the present, as Matthews cleverly reinvents some of the classic MSC songs, to accompany the new originals.

The new MSC album "Like A Radio" is set for release in January 2018.

TOUR: December 2017

Friday 1st: Skegness - Great British Folk Festival, Butlins Resort - WEBSITE

Saturday 2nd: Saltaire - The Victoria Hall - WEBSITE

Sunday 3rd: Kinross - The Green Hotel - WEBSITE

Wednesday 6th: Newport, Isle of Wight - Quay Arts Centre - WEBSITE

Friday 8th: Selby - The Town Hall - WEBSITE

Saturday 9th: Barnoldswick - The Arts and Music Centre - WEBSITE

Early Birds get the Acoustic bargain

2017-09-27T10:20:00.000+01:00

Early Bird tickets for the 2018 ACOUSTIC FESTIVAL OF BRITAIN have gone on sale, promising savings for the three-day music event.

There are no booking or admin fees for these advanced tickets (saving £5 per ticket), which will only be on sale until October 30th 2017.

The festival line-up is currently being assembled, with the first bookings including Gloucestershire roots-rockers THE OUTCAST BAND, and FAKE THACKRAY (John Watterson), with FolkCast favourites MERRY HELL headlining the Friday evening on the main stage.

Friday headliners Merry Hell

The event runs from FRIDAY JUNE 1st to SUNDAY JUNE 3rd at Uttoxeter Racecourse on the Staffordshire / Derbyshire border, and features loads of peripheral entertainment including a vintage clothing theme, children's entertainers, the Zen Zone and fancy dress contests, alongside the Blues tent and the huge main stage.

There's onsite camping, glamping and a caravan site with electric hook ups and laundry facilities. There's even a DIY hair and make up salon, bring your own dryers, straighteners - the festival supplies the furniture, mirrors and electricity!

There are afternoon comedy sessions in the live lounge and a late night Blues tent have been a successful addition over the past year and are extended to 2018's festivities. Plus, there will be open mic sessions from 11am until 1pm in the live lounge, and the Nearly There stage, featuring four upcoming bands daily.

For more info about the festival, and to book tickets, visit their website: acousticfestival.co.uk or phone 0333 9000 919

Strawbs return with new album and tour

2017-09-25T16:13:00.000+01:00

The legendary folk/prog band Strawbs is set to return with their first new album for eight years plus a UK tour through October.

The new album is ‘The Ferryman’s Curse’ and is produced by Chris Tsangarides, whose studio is littered with diamond, platinum, and gold discs by the likes of Thin Lizzy, Judas Priest, and guitar virtuoso Yngwie Malmsteen.

In celebration of the release, Strawbs set out on UK tour dates (see below), including the album’s official launch date at London’s Under The Bridge on 29^th October – which will include some very special guests!

Strawbs' 1974 album ‘Hero & Heroine’ has been listed by Rolling Stone magazine as “one of the 50 greatest prog rock albums of all time”. It is the band’s biggest seller worldwide and was certified gold in North America. In the USA, Strawbs had seven consecutive albums in the Billboard Top 200.

Dave Cousins, founder member, has been described by All Music Guide as: “the most talented Dylan-influenced songwriter to come out of England”. He released his long awaited, and critically acclaimed, autobiography Exorcising Ghosts: Strawbs and Other Lives. It was listed by influential critic Richie Unterberger in his “Top 10 of 2014 rock books”.

Strawbs are often mentioned in the same breath as progressive rock bands like Yes, King Crimson, and The Moody Blues. It is well documented that Rick Wakeman left Strawbs for Yes. Rick was followed by Blue Weaver - who left Strawbs to join the Bee Gees, John Hawken – from the original Renaissance, Don Airey - now with Deep Purple, Adam Wakeman, and Oliver Wakeman, who, like his father, left Strawbs to join Yes!

Strawbs emerged out of the British Folk Movement of the mid-1960s, starting life as the Strawberry Hill Boys playing bluegrass. They moved into the mainstream in 1967 by making the first Strawbs album 'All Our Own Work' with Sandy Denny, a full year before she recorded her first album with Fairport Convention. The album attracted the attention of A&M Records in Hollywood who signed Strawbs as the first British band on the label.

The current Strawbs line-up comprises Dave Cousins, lead guitarist Dave Lambert, bass player Chas Cronk, and drummer Tony Fernandez, who recorded and toured together in the 1970s. They are joined by keyboard virtuoso Dave Bainbridge of Iona, a band whose mystical blend of rock, folk, Celtic and ambient music has endeared them to audiences across Europe and North America for the last 25 years.

UK Tour - OCTOBER 2017

Thu 5 The Stables, Wavendon

Fri 6 Village Hall, Lowdham

Sat 7 Globe, Cardiff

Thu 12 Tivoli Theatre Wimborne

Fri 13 Dorking Halls, Dorking

Sat 14 Arlington Arts Centre, Newbury

Sun 15 Centre Spot, Dover (fundraising benefit)

Mon 16 The Apex, Bury St Edmunds

Thu 19 Arts Centre, Solihull

Fri 20 Vivacity, Peterborough

Wed 25 Green Hotel, Kinross

Thu 26 TBA, Langholm

Fri 27 Tollbooth, Stirling

Sat 28 Blackburn, venue TBC

More info: http://www.strawbsweb.co.uk/

Megson announce 'Pushing On' tour of England

2017-08-29T11:01:00.002+01:00

Megson announce 'Pushing On' tour of England

Live dates through Sept, Oct and Nov

Watch the tour video trailer HERE

Folk duo Megson hit the road once again in 2017, with a string of dates booked through September, October and November for their "Pushing On" tour.

Comprising husband and wife Debs Hanna (Vocals, Whistle, Piano Accordion) and Stu Hanna (Guitar, Mandola, Banjo), Megson have gained fame on the British folk scene, not only for their arresting and intelligent songwriting, but for their exquisite musicianship and northern humour.

Stu Hanna says: "We've had a fantastic summer of festivals and now can't wait to get back out on the road again. We'll be heading to some of our favourite venues and also some exciting new ones too... We're really looking forward to sharing some new songs, some old songs and even a bit of banter with folk all across the country!"

MEGSON: PUSHING ON TOUR 2017

Sept

28th BATH, Chapel Arts Centre, [buy tickets]

29th ROYSTON, The Old Bull [buy tickets]

30th FARINGDON OXON, All Saints Barber Rooms [buy tickets]

Oct

4th BIRMINGHAM, The Red Lion Kings Heath [buy tickets]

5th CANTERBURY, The Gulbenkian Theatre [buy tickets]

6th SHREWSBURY, The Hive [buy tickets]

7th CAMBRIDGESHIRE, Toft Hall [buy tickets]

Nov

9th CRAWLEY, The Hawth [buy tickets]

10th LONDON, St John On Bethnal Green [buy tickets]

11th CHELTENHAM, Woodmancote Village Hall [buy tickets]

17th ROTHERHAM, Firbeck Village Hall [buy tickets]

18th MATLOCK, Imperial Rooms [buy tickets]

20th COLCHESTER, Colchester Arts Centre [buy tickets]

26th HITCHIN, The Sun Hotel [buy tickets]

www.megsonmusic.co.uk

www.facebook.com/megsonmusic

www.twitter.com/megsonmusic

Free folk in Liverpool

2017-08-14T11:41:00.002+01:00

Last year's festival

More than 200 folk, roots and acoustic performers from across the UK and Europe will converge on Liverpool's Albert Dock over August Bank Holiday weekend for Folk On The Dock - a free, three-day live music festival on the city’s iconic waterfront.

Headlining the Dock Stage will be Brighton-based, multi-award winning band Moulettes, Anglo/Americana trio Wildwood Kin, former Coral guitarist Lee Southall, Pilgrim’s Way, and returning to Albert Dock after last year’s triumphant gig, Henry Priestman.

Other acts to look out for include Two Ways Home, Pete Riley, Paul Walker & Karen Pfeiffer, Mondegreen, Hayley McKay, and Rob Lear.

The Shanty Stage, Merseyside Maritime Museum, Frances Hayhurst tugboat and The Baltic Fleet pub will host the popular Liverpool Sea Shanty Festival, that boasts an impressive line-up of international artists, including the 30-strong, all-female Gouda Viswjvenkoor choir from the Netherlands; Belgium duo 2sheets2thewind, Norwegian choir Risor Shantykor; and local duo Trim Rig & Doxy, who have curated the shanty programme.

Marina Blore, festival organiser, said: “From international celebrated names and seasoned festival acts, to up-and-coming, local musicians, we’ve got the very best of folk, roots and acoustic performing live here at Albert Dock over the August Bank Holiday. And what’s more – it’s free! Liverpool Acoustic will also be programming artists indoors in the Dr Martin Luther King Junior Building.

“It really is an incredible line-up, so if you love your music, get down to the Dock and see the summer out with great music on our world-famous waterfront… and bring the whole family along for the ride!”

The Dock’s many bars, restaurants and attractions will of course be open during the festival, giving music-goers the opportunity to make a day – or a full weekend – of it.

Folk on the Dock, in association with The Liverpool Shanty Festival, is supported by Bido Lito!, Liverpool Acoustic, and Music Glue.

Folk on the Dock comes to Albert Dock Liverpool from August 26-28. Visit www.folkonthedock.com and follow them on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @FolkOnTheDock for performance schedule.

Five take Flight

2017-05-02T11:41:00.004+01:00

CHRISTINE COLLISTER, MELANIE HARROLD, JULIE MATTHEWS, HELEN WATSON and CHRIS WHILE have recorded a new album Knows Time, Knows Change and are about to embark on a British tour.

In 1995, five of the finest folk, blues and soul singers of their generation found themselves at the Cambridge Folk Festival. They decided to sing some songs together... magic happened and DAPHNE'S FLIGHT took off.

Now, two decades after their debut album, they have gathered again - "older, wiser and twice as powerful".

Fledg'ling Records is releasing their second album Knows Time, Knows Change. The songs blend folk, blues, jazz and pop, and include a new arrangement of Elvis Costello's 'Shipbuilding'.

Daft Monkeys clowning around

2017-03-30T17:51:00.002+01:00

CORNWALL'S anarcho-pirate-folk-rockers 3 DAFT MONKEYS are about to release a new album and embark on a mammoth six month tour of England and Scotland.

In typical fashion, there are four daft monkeys in Three Daft Monkeys: TIM ASHTON (vocals, 12-string guitar, penny whistle); ATHENE ROBERTS (violin, vocals, accordion); RICH MULRYNE (percussion, vocals); and JAMIE GRAHAM (6-string bass).

The new album, worryingly, is titled "Year Of The Clown" (scary, scary clowns...)

Says frontman Tim: "We’ve finally written a whole bunch of new songs for your delectation and delight after 3 years of wonderful European festival touring adventures and child-induced sleepless nights.

"We love our quirky touring existence, gathering life experiences, and best of all meeting our fabulous dancing, smiling audiences.

"The album has a whole new vibe, to match our new line-up, with songs of love, social comment and reflections of our perspectives on these crazy times we find ourselves in."

You can order the album and all kinds of special goodies from the Pledge Store

Scary, scary Monkeys: (l-r) Rich, Athene, Tim, Jamie

Three Daft Monkeys' UK Tour 2017

APRIL

Thu 6th Queens Hall Nuneaton TICKETS

Fri 7th Trades Club Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire TICKETS

Sat 8th Solidari-Tea Fundraiser Wiveliscombe, Somerset TICKETS

Fri 21st Kingskerswell Parish Church Kingskerswell TICKETS

Sat 22nd Porthleven Food and Beer Festival Cornwall TICKETS

Sat 29th ALBUM LAUNCH PARTY Princess Pavilion (with People's String Foundation & The Roustabouts) Falmouth TICKETS

Sun 30th Smugglers Den Pie & Ale Festival Trebellan INFO

MAY

Fri 5th Wycombe Arts Centre High Wycombe TICKETS

Sat 6th Barnsley Rock and Blues Barnsley, South Yorks. TICKETS

Thu 11th Hare and Hounds Birmingham TICKETS

Fri 12th Prince Albert Brighton TICKETS

Sat 13th Chapel Arts Centre Bath TICKETS

Fri 19th Barrel House Totnes, Devon TICKETS

Sat 20th Palladium Bideford, Devon INFO

Thu 25th Bearded Theory Festival Catton Hall, Derbys. TICKETS

Fri 26th Milk Maid Folk Club Bury St. Edmunds INFO

Sat 27th Small World Festival Headcorn, Kent TICKETS

Sun 28th Bearded Theory Festival Catton Hall, Derbys. TICKETS

JUNE

Thu 1st The Fleece Bristol INFO

Sat 3rd Asparafest Evesham TICKETS

Fri 9th Glastonbury Fringe Glastonbury TICKETS

Sat 10th Sisterfest Oxfordshire TICKETS

Fri 16th 3 Wishes Fairy Festival Mt Edgcombe, Cornwall TICKETS

Sat 17th Carn Marth Cornwall INFO

21st-25th Glastonbury Festival INFO

Wed 28th Talking Heads Southampton TICKETS

29th-1st Sark Folk Festival Channel Islands INFO

JULY

Fri 14th Once upon a Time in the West Trowbridge TICKETS

Sat 15th Bromsgrove Folk Festival Bromsgrove TICKETS

Fri 28th The Source Collective Carlisle TICKETS

Sat 29th Craigdarroch Arms Moniaive, Scotland TICKETS

Sun 30th ButeFest Isle of Bute, Scotland TICKETS

AUGUST

Wed 2nd Seamas’ Bar Sligachan, Isle of Skye, Scotland INFO

Fri 4th Belladrum Festival Inverness, Scotland TICKETS

Sun 6th Wickham Festival Hampshire TICKETS

Fri 25th Cornwall Folk Festival Wadebridge, Cornwall TICKETS

Sat 26th Purbeck Valley Folk Festival Corfe, Dorset TICKETS

Sun 27th Pirates on the Prom Penzance, Cornwall INFO

SEPTEMBER

Fri 1st Penlee Park Penzance, Cornwall TICKETS

Fri 8th Blue Moon Festy Treyanon Bay, Cornwall I NFO

Sat 23rd Little Big Gig The Lizard, Cornwall TICKETS

Sun 24th Cornucopia Festival Hull TICKETS

Fri 29th Marine Theatre Lyme Regis I NFO

Sat 30th Rock Stock Festival Derby

*check for updates on the band's website

Cobblers are back at last

2017-03-29T11:20:00.000+01:00

Keston Cobblers Club are back with a new album and an English tour.

New album: Almost Home

The indie-folk band from the Kent/London interface that is the village of Keston were first featured on the FolkCast podcast in their early years, in 2011, and are now set to release their new album, Almost Home.

The 2017 album sees the 5-piece taking a more simple approach to their song writing, as lead singer Matthew Lowe explains: “The idea was to go back to song writing in its simplicity, based around nostalgia and the idea of 'home'.

"We were careful not to over embellish or over produce, instead we wanted to concentrate on the story and melodies.”

Formed in 2009 by siblings Matthew and Julia Lowe, and childhood friend Tom Sweet, Keston Cobblers Club spent their first couple of years releasing demos and cutting their teeth on the London live circuit, playing every venue that would have them.

With a few line-up changes to iron out, they were joined by tuba player Bethan Ecclestone and drummer Harry Stasinopoulos and in 2012 they recorded their first album, One, For Words, releasing it as a digital download. Since then they’ve released further EPs and two albums, all the while building an extremely loyal fan base.

The new album's sound involves doing less: minimal use of strings, simple arrangements, and songs that let the key instruments sit perfectly without bulking out the tracks in production.

“There’s always going to be an overall 'Cobblers sound' to our albums that we want to keep. I love an element of consistency from bands, but you do also want to bring something new to the table with each release.”

The result is a 12-track collection aimed at letting the songwriting shine through.

Out~~standing~~lying in their field: Keston Cobblers Club

A 12-date UK tour kicks off in Manchester on April 18, and a European tour is in the works, plus and a busy summer of festivals.

“We get most excited about touring new tracks and seeing how we can work them into our set” says Matthew.

“I always write first, then produce, then we get together in the studio and work out how we're going to take the tracks to an audience. So I’m particularly looking forward to getting out there with this album.”

Keston Cobblers Club Tour - APRIL 2017

18th Manchester Royal Northern College of Music
19th Brighton Komedia
20th Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms
21st London Union Chapel
22nd Ashford St Mary’s Church
23rd Exeter Phoenix
25th Milton Keynes Stables
26th Nottingham Rescue Rooms
27th Kendal Brewery Arts
28th Durham Gala Theatre
29th Sheffield Greystones (3pm matinee AND 7.30pm evening show)
30th Bristol Colston Hall Lantern

FolkCast 124 out now

2017-03-25T13:28:00.001+00:00

We're back (again), baby!
The second March 2017 edition of the FolkCast podcast - Episode 124 - is out now.

We have songs and tunes about a giant squid, foxes, an execution, the moon, political banishment, transvestites, a broken banjo, Napoleon Bonaparte junior ... and a dripping toilet cistern!

Music comes from: Apple Of My Eye - Two’s Company - Amy Duncan - The Trials Of Cato - Kaela Rowan - Kadia - The Broken String Band - Jimmy Aldridge and Sid Goldsmith - The Hut People - Feast Of Fiddles - The Carrivick Sisters - Daria Kulesh - Andrew Gordon - Dipper Malkin

CLICK HERE to listen to the show, or download it

Harry's video tribute to his dad

2017-03-22T18:08:00.001+00:00

Harry Pane

Singer/songwriter Harry Pane has released the moving video for his new single Fletcher Bay, which is a heart-warming tribute to his late father who sadly passed away last year.

Inspired by their trip to the idyllic Fletcher Bay in Coromandel Peninsula, New Zealand, and Pane’s return there to scatter his father’s ashes last year, the video features Harry performing with his acoustic guitar, entwined with scenes of him on that vast coastline.

This is the first taste of new music from Northamptonshire-born, London-based Harry following the release of his 2016 EP Changing and is taken from his forthcoming EP The Wild Winds, due out April 7th .

The new music was recorded with Dani Castelar (Paolo Nutini, REM, Snow Patrol) in Valencia, Spain, at the start of the year, and was funded by Island Records after Harry was picked as the winner of #Roadtothe100Club, a competition organised by a new platform called Meet & Jam in association with PRS for Music.

Harry’s distinct vocals have filled room across the country and last year alone he clocked-up over 200 shows including performances at SXSW Festival, multiple Glastonbury stages, Big Feastival, CarFest and regular shows at Soho Farmhouse Home House as well as sold-out headline shows across London and in his hometown.

Now continuing to share his music with live audiences across the UK, Harry will be heading out on a UK headline tour at the end of March.

You can read more about the story of ‘Fletcher Bay’ here - https://www.lovefletcherbay.com

and more about Harry at his website: harrypane.com

HARRY PANE - LIVE DATES

MARCH
Thu 30^th – The Bedford, London (headline)

APRIL
Wed 5^th – The Hope & Ruin, Brighton (headline)
Thu 6^th – The Hare & Hounds, Birmingham (headline)
Fri 7^th – The Rowbarge, Guildford (headline)
Mon 10^th – Zigfrid Von Underbelly, London (I Luv Live)
Sun 16^th – Also Known As, Banbury (headline)
Tues 18^th – Gwdihw, Cardiff (headline)
Wed 19^th – The Crofters Rights, Bristol (headline)
Sat 29^th – City Sound Project, Canterbury
Sun 30^th – The Mad Hatter, Oxford (headline)

MAY
Tue 3^rd – O2 Priority Lounge, London
Wed 4^th – The Railway, Winchester
Fri 19^th - O2 Oxford Academy, Oxford (BBC Introducing Uprising)
Sat 20^th – The Radcliffe Centre, Buckingham (headline)

Bank on Chester for festival fun

2017-03-19T10:00:00.000+00:00

The Chester Folk Festival has announced its line-up of music for this year's event, which takes place on Spring Bank Holiday Monday (Friday 26th - Monday 29th May) in the village of Kelsall, eight miles from the city of Chester in England.

MUSIC BY:
Chris Sherburn & Denny Bartley (with Emily Sanders) • Bob Fox • The Wilson Family • Belshazzar’s Feast • James Keelaghan & Hugh McMillan • Flossie Malavialle • Kathryn Roberts & Sean Lakeman • Granny’s Attic • Lucy Ward • The Hut People • Sam Kelly & Jamie Francis • Jaywalkers • Vicki Swan & Jonny Dyer • Dipper Malkin • Phil Hare • Full House • The Waite Collective • Fiddlestone • Roy Clinging • Graham Bellinger Deportees • Welcomme, Finnan & Chrimes • Charlotte Peters Rock • Banter • Purcell’s Polyphonic Party • Albireo • The Time Bandits

DANCING BY:
Sheffield Steel Rapper • The Witchmen • Bradshaw Mummers • Chester City Morris Men

The Witchmen

PLUS family events and children's entertainment with Panic Circus, ceilidhs, sessions, singarounds ... and there's free camping too!

For more information about this year's guests, plus the outline provisional programme, and ticket prices visit the festival website at www.chesterfolk.org.uk

Fiddlers elbow their way to the front

2017-03-18T10:00:00.000+00:00

Take a bow and join the feast – the Feast Of Fiddles – as the rosin-powered folk supergroup takes to the road with their first new studio album in four years.

Feast Of Fiddles was formed in 1994 as a one-off concert ensemble under the baton of (non-fiddler and leader) Hugh Crabtree, and features some of the best fiddlers from the UK folk scene.

Fast forward and in 2017 their sixth album entitled Sleight Of Elbow will be released as Feast Of Fiddles embarks on its 24th annual spring tour.

Feast Of Fiddles fiddling up a feast

Typically, fiddlers Peter Knight (Gigspanner, Steeleye Span), Chris Leslie (Fairport Convention), Phil Beer (Show Of Hands), Brian McNeill (Battlefield Band), Ian Cutler (Bully Wee Band), Tom Leary (Lindisfarne) and Garry Blakeley (Band of Two) add their extensive range of playing styles to the rock back-line of guitars, keyboards, sax and accordion – all held together by legendary drummer Dave Mattacks.

The new album is something of a departure for the band as it features a lot of original compositions from within the band and only a single traditional tune. One well established feature of the band is well exposed, however, and that is Feast Of Fiddles' arrangements of tunes from other genres, film or TV.

The title track is one of two pieces by guitarist Martin Vincent which was first aired during the 2016 spring tour – the tour that Martin missed because he was in hospital getting a new valve for his heart. (FolkCast's own guitar virtuoso, Ken Nicol, filled in for Martin on that tour).

McBrides is a tune from the band Moving Hearts and a real test piece for a big band. The Scottish band The McCalmans provide the first of only three songs on this recording: Smugglers' Song, a rousing tale of – you guessed it – smugglers!

The band on stage en masse

The band’s arrangement of String of Pearls (best known through the Glen Miller Band) demonstrates the versatility of Feast of Fiddles. Used as tour opener in 2016 it instigated immediate spontaneous applause at more than one venue.

This is followed by the second song – an original from Alan Whetton, who joined the band on sax and keyboards in 2012. Butterfly’s Wing picks up the concept of chaos theory which suggests the brief flapping of a butterfly’s wing in England might result in a tornado in the mid-west of America.

Another piece from Martin Vincent – Paper Chase – is probably the nearest the band has got to jazz. Written for a huge school band when Martin was teaching music, the title reflects the frustration of most teachers these days dealing with increasing burden of paperwork.

The next track, Siamese Kashmir, is a classic example of what Feast of Fiddles is all about. A famous film tune segueing into classic rock. The March Of The Siamese Princes And Princesses from the film The King And I somehow seemed to naturally lead to Led Zeppelin’s Kashmir ... or so thought bass player Dave Harding, a frequent provider of left field material choices to open the show.

Peter Knight, Martin Vincent
and Huge Crabtree

A great band tune from Alan Whetton – Three Legged Race – comes next. Then a past top-of-the-show track which starts with the theme music of TV series Mission Impossible and joins with another tune from the pen of Alan Whetton, Mission Statement; almost inevitably this is entitled Mission Improbable.

The final track on the album is the only traditional tune and one that has been a feature of the band’s repertoire ever since the very beginning. Frequently introduced as a French dance tune that morphs into a drum solo it is Branle Des Chevaux or Horses’ Brawl as it is better known in the UK.

April 2017 English Tour Dates

2nd Chatham, Brooke Theatre 01634 241108 tickets.medway.gov.uk
3rd and 4th Nettlebed, Village Club, 01628 636620, nettlebedfolkclub.co.uk
5th Worcester, Huntingdon Hall, 01905 611427, worcesterlive.co.uk
6th Preston, The Minster, 07971 243809, Fofshop.org.uk
7th Lowdham, Village Hall, SOLD OUT
8th Wimborne, Tivoli Theatre, 01202 885566, tivoliwimborne.co.uk
9th Exeter, Corn Exchange, 01392 665938, exeter.gov.uk/cornexchange
10th Chippenham, Neeld Arts Centre, 01249 446699, neeld.co.uk
11th London, Union Chapel, Online Only unionchapel.org.uk
12th Milton Keynes, The Stables, 01908 280800, stables.org
13th Tewkesbury, The Roses Theatre, 01684 295074, rosestheatre.org

Feast Of Fiddles website

On the road again with Gilmore & Roberts

2017-03-17T10:00:00.000+00:00

Contemporary folk/acoustic duo Gilmore & Roberts are setting out on a British tour this month.

Gilmore & Roberts

Last year, Katriona Gilmore (fiddle, mandolin) and Jamie Roberts (guitar) celebrated their 10th anniversary as a duo, and they have recently been touring in America and across Europe.

Now they are concentrating on live dates in their homeland with a tour that begins on March 23rd and continues through the summer, including festival dates such as Wickham, Towersey and WeyFest.

BRITISH TOUR DATES 2017

March 23 : Lawrence Batley Theatre HUDDERSFIELD
March 24 : Mackenzie Hall, Brockweir CHEPSTOW
March 25 : Holy Trinity Parish Church SUTTON COLDFIELD
April 1 : Woodmancote Village Hall CHELTENHAM
April 2 : TwickFolk TWICKENHAM
April 7 : Malt'n'Music NORTHWICH
April 8 : The Maltings BERWICK UPON TWEED
April 20 : Black Swan Folk Club YORK
April 21 : The Greystones SHEFFIELD
April 22 : Farnsfield Acoustic NOTTINGHAMSHIRE
April 28 : Letwell Village Hall WORKSOP
May 5 : Friday Folk at West Heaton STOCKPORT
May 6 : Brigg Arts Fest LINCOLNSHIRE
May 7 : Plug'n'Play PENRITH
June 2 : Cambridge Folk Club CAMBRIDGE
June 3 : Blue Boar MALDON
June 4 : Hitchin Folk Club HERTFORDSHIRE
Aug 5: Wickham Festival FAREHAM
Aug 20: WeyFest FARNHAM
Aug 26/27: Towersey Festival THAME

For further details, see the band's live dates webpage.

Photography by Paul Newsom, Poppleton Live, October 2015

Thea Gilmore swaps guitar for an iPad on new album

2017-03-16T11:29:00.002+00:00

Singer-songwriter Thea Gilmore has announced a 10-date tour of England to co-incide with the release of her new album, The Counterweight.

Thea says: "This tour is going to be something else (we have a 7 piece band for starters!) so make sure you pick up your tickets as soon as possible!"

Thea Gilmore wants to make people think

The Counterweight is released on June 2nd. You can get the new single to download straight away if you pre-order now on iTunes or via Thea's website. and there will be double vinyl and limited edition copies too.

Since releasing her debut as a teenager nearly 20 years ago, the Oxfordshire-raised, Cheshire-based singer and songwriter has chosen to shake things up with her next release.

Fifteen albums in, Thea has all but abandoned her trusty acoustic guitar in favour of an iPad and a piano. The change forced her out of her comfort zone in to exploring new methods of composing as well as new ways of recording.

“I’m not someone who plans albums in advance,” says Thea.

“I don’t decide what subjects to write about or how the songs will sound. But I knew I needed a change. I didn’t want to write another acoustic guitar album. I’d done that enough already.”

The iPad she had used only sparingly before. The piano, she claims, she can’t play.

“Using an instrument you can’t really play imposes limits,” says Thea. “If something sounded right, I kept it, but a proper pianist might be horrified. The iPad I’ve previously used for vocal arrangements, but never to write entire songs. It’s a brilliant tool for framing lyrics in a way you just can’t do on guitar.”

“I remember around Avalanche [her 2003 breakthrough album] thinking that we were heading down a rabbit hole. I wrote about how technology was dominating our lives, but little did I know... We’re now its slaves, not its masters. Our attention spans have become so tiny that unless you confine yourself to 140 characters, no one listens. Tackle politics like that and you end up with Trump and an unelected Tory leader. You can’t pick your way through important debates in sound bites, but that’s what we’re doing. I’m not anti-technology, but you have to use it right.”

Despite its hefty themes, The Counterweight also delves into disco and pure pop and boasts strings, samples, shimmering soundscapes and pretty piano. She adds: "Where it might have been mournful, it’s often airy and optimistic. Where it does delve in to darkness, it also glimpses light."

On the day the song 'Johnny Gets A Gun' was recorded, the MP Jo Cox was shot and killed.

“That was such a strange and terrible day,” recalls Thea. “News of the shooting came through just as we arrived at the studio and by the time we’d finished the song Jo had died. It seemed so resonant to be singing about misfits and outsiders at such a tragic time.”

The Counterweight’s closing track, The War, includes several direct references to the late Labour MP in a call-to-arms for change.

“I find the best way to ram a point home is to mask what you’re doing by making people sing along,” says Thea.

“It’s like subliminal advertising. People don’t realise you’re shouting at them if you’re singing a sunny tune.

“There are ballads on the album, but they’re uplifting rather than mournful. A songwriter’s job is to get people thinking, not make them so despondent they don’t act. You may as well stick your head in the oven right now if you can’t see a crack of light in dark times!"

THEA GILMORE TOUR 2017

Tues May 30 - Sage, GATESHEAD BUY TICKETS
Thurs June 1st - Union Chapel, LONDON BUY TICKETS
Fri June 2nd - Revelation, ASHFORD  BUY TICKETS
Sun June 4th - RNCM, MANCHESTER  BUY TICKETS
Mon June 5th - The Stables, MILTON KEYNES  BUY TICKETS
Tues June 6th - MAC, BIRMINGHAM  BUY TICKETS
Wed June 7th - Junction 2, CAMBRIDGE BUY TICKETS
Sun June 11th - Contemporary, NOTTINGHAM  BUY TICKETS
Tues June 13th - Arts Centre, POCKLINGTON  BUY TICKETS