LEWES SATURDAY FOLK CLUB PROGRAMME

March April May June July
Click here for a printable programme.
MAR 3 FAY HIELD TRIO £9 Fay (voice, Witches of Elswick) with Rob Harbron (English concertina, fiddle, guitar, Kerr Fagan Harbron, English Acoustic Collective) and Sam Sweeney (fiddle, Bellowhead). FAY HIELD: ENGLISH TRADITIONAL SONG WORKSHOP http://www.fayhield.com/ Royal Oak, Station Street, Lewes BN7 2DA 10.45 - 4.45 p.m. Places £35 Fay is a fine young singer, scholar & teacher of English traditional song. She has performed & recorded with the Witches of Elswick, Damien Barber, Jon Boden, Fay Hield Trio & the Woodbine & Ivy Band. She & Jon Boden run the Royal Traditions folk club, Dungworth. (website) The workshop will help singers to develop their own style to bring the best out of songs. ROB HARBRON: ALL-SYSTEMS CONCERTINA WORKSHOP SOLD OUT http://www.robertharbron.co.uk/ 10.45 a.m.- 4.45 p.m. Places £35 The Crown Inn, 191, High St, Lewes, BN7 2NA (website) Rob is widely considered the most important concertina player of his generation, playing with Dr. Faustus, Tim van Eyken, The English Acoustic Collective, Emma Reid, Kerr Fagan Harbon & the Fay Hield Trio. He has been a popular tutor for Folkworks, Hands-On Music, the International Concertina Association & a great many more. The workshop will look at phrasing, pulse, dynamics, ornamentation, fingering & use of the bellows & also chords & harmony. Rob's technical knowledge is mostly centered on the English system, but players of all systems are welcome. SAM SWEENEY: ENGLISH FIDDLE WORKSHOP SOLD OUT http://www.samsweeneymusic.com/ 10.45 a.m.- 4.45 p.m. Places £35 Elephant & Castle White Hill Lewes BN7 2DJ (website) Sam is a dazzling young fiddler in the English traditional style. He plays with Bellowhead, Jon Boden & The Remnant Kings, The Fay Hield Trio and with accordionist, singer & dancer Hannah James. He's an experienced & inspiring fiddle tutor. The workshop will cover learning some tunes, searching for exciting repertoire, introducing & improving ornamentation & bowing, and how to free yourself from the simple notes to bring a tune alive. MAR 10 TWAGGER BAND http://www.twaggerband.co.uk/The_Twagger_Band/Home.html £6 Mostly traditional music & songs from Joy Lewis, Derrick Hughes, Sue Evans, Ian Chisholm & Will Duke on concertinas, hammered dulcimers, Northumbrian pipes, whistles, psaltery, harmonium, recorders, bouzouki, mandolin, guitar, serpent, crumhorn & harp. MAR 17 COME-ALL-YE with spotlight on Adrian & Oli Waters £3 Bring songs & tunes, & enjoy some delightful concertina duets from this father & son duo from Kent. MAR 24 THE ASKEW SISTERS http://www.askewsisters.co.uk/ £7 Fine singing & playing of traditional English songs & tunes from two thrilling, brilliant & intelligent young musicians with fiddle & melodeon. MAR 31 JON HESLOP http://www.redherring.unisonplus.net/jon.htm £5
APRIL 7 EASTER COME-ALL-YE £3 APRIL 14 SYLVIA WATTS £5 Unaccompanied singer & writer of beautiful, atmospheric songs APRIL 21 DAVE MIDDLETON £4 Traditional songs, many from Gordon Hall's repertoire, in a fine, authentic tenor voice and monologues from Bernard Miles. APRIL 28 CLOUDSTREET http://www.cloudstreet.org £7 From Australia, Nicole Murray & John Thompson offer hot harmonies with spellbindingly precise delivery. They add humour, vitality & excitement to traditional & modern Australian, English & Celtic songs & tunes with guitar, flute, fiddle, whistle & concertina. John is also a member of The Spooky Men's Chorale & has an excellent blog, An Australian Folk Song A Day CLOUDSTREET: VOCAL HARMONY WORKSHOP 10.45 a.m.- 4.45 p.m. Places £35 Discover & explore vocal harmony. Warm-ups for body & voice, useful techniques to enhance your tone, breathing, pitch, phrasing & rhythm, enjoyable songs in parts, & improvisation & harmony development. Workshop booking forms & evening tickets from the club & here.
MAY 5 MAY SONGS with Maids of Honour £3 Bring May songs & tunes. The Maids are little tarts (made with cream cheese, lemon, almonds, currants & eggs). MAY 12 SO LAST CENTURY STRING BAND http://www.solastcenturystringband.com/ £6 American Jug-band songs, square-dance tunes, gospel, weird crooked tunes & crunchy harmonies with fiddle, banjo & guitar from a popular local band. MAY 19 SINGING FOR BEGINNERS DAYTIME WORKSHOP £15 We are running a singing workshop for beginners in the daytime with professional singing coach Hayley Stevens. See here. MAY 19 ROBIN & THE MERRY GREENWOOD £3 We will be singing songs & ballads of Robin Hood & general woodland activities (poaching, nutting, hunting disposal of by-products of crime, etc.) Bring songs & tunes on the theme; email to reserve a song or tune in advance if you like. MAY 26 JIGJAW http://jigjaw.co.uk/about.html £8 Janet Russell, Rosie Davis, Kerry Fletcher, Frances Watt combine the percussion & passion of dance traditions with vocal harmonies. They use step-dancing, social dancing, mouth music, nonsense rhyme & songs from Britain & beyond for a highly distinctive performance, rekindling the links between dancers & singers. JIGJAW: SINGING FOR DANCING WORKSHOP 10.45 a.m.- 4.45 p.m. Places £30 Elephant & Castle White Hill Lewes BN7 2DJ (website) There will be song & dance each part of the workshop, and an option for step dancers to learn a routine. Concentrate on singing or dancing, or have a go at everything - just have fun. Workshop booking forms & evening tickets from the club & here.
JUNE 2 RIGHT ROYAL NIGHT £3 Bring songs & tunes on the subject; all points of view welcomed. Derek Seed is in the chair. JUNE 9 JOY LEWIS & DERRICK HUGHES http://www.joydeckmusic.co.uk/ £5 Beautiful traditional songs & tunes with guitar, smallpipes, hammer dulcimer, harp, bowed psaltery, concertina, serpent, recorders & whistles. JUNE 16 MICK WEST & FRANK McLAUGHLIN http://www.myspace.com/mickwestband £8 Mick's beautiful voice is one of Scotland's finest; Frank is a superb guitarist & bagpiper. Together they are spellbinding. JUNE 23 KITTY VERNON & DEREK BURGESS http://www.myspace.com/kittyvernon/music £6 Mainly traditional English songs with stylish guitar and vocal harmony. JUNE 30 ANNE NEILSON & GORDEANNA McCULLOCH £7 Two superb Scottish singers: Gordeanna sang with The Clutha & is currently with The Eurydice Choir. Anne sings with Stramash. They are rarely seen this far south. ANNE NEILSON & GORDEANNA McCULLOCH: BALLAD WORKSHOP 10.45 a.m.- 4.45 p.m. Places £25 Gordeanna & Anne were introduced to ballads by Norman Buchan's Ballads Club. Both are tutors on the Traditional Music course at the Royal Scottish Conservatoire. They run regular superb ballad workshops in Glasgow with source singers from Scotland & beyond. Anne & Gordeanna will introduce us to a less familiar ballad in the morning: The Bonny Hind, Child No. 50. You are also invited to bring along at least one traditional ballad of your choice to sing & talk about in the afternoon. Workshop booking forms & evening tickets from the club & here.
JULY 7 ROY NASH, TONY BURKE & PAUL HOLDEN £5 Three voices, three guitars & an English concertina. Traditional songs with plenty of choruses, with a touch of flamenco as well. JULY 14 BRENDAN POWER http://www.brendan-power.com/ £7 Brendan is a dazzling player of Irish traditional music & blues on harmonica; he also sings & beatboxes. This year he & Tim Edey won Best Duo at the BBC2 Folk Awards. BRENDAN POWER: IRISH & BLUES MUSIC for HARMONICA WORKSHOP 10.45 a.m.- 4.45 p.m. Places £35 Brendan has performed in Riverdance & recorded with Donal Lunny, Altan, Paul Brady, Arkady, Artie McGlynn, Mary Black & Tim Edey, plus Kate Bush, Sting, Van Morrison, James Galway & Shirley Bassey. The workshop will cover Brendan's approach to playing traditional Irish tunes on harmonica, as well as Blues and improvising. He'll also explain his microphone and effects. No previous experience necessary - ask questions relevant to your playing, or just come along and enjoy a fascinating & entertaining workshop. Workshop booking forms & evening tickets from the club & here. JULY 21 WILSON FAMILY http://www.thewilsonfamilyalbum.co.uk/ £8 The glorious, powerful vocal harmony of The Wilsons of Teesside has rung out in folk clubs & festivals - and last year in the Royal Albert Hall - for nearly 40 years. WILSON FAMILY WORKSHOP: MINING SONGS & SONGS of GRAEME MILES 10.45 a.m.- 4.45 p.m. Places £30 . Tom, Chris, Steve, Ken & Mike sing traditionally-oriented songs with deep understanding, joy & good humour. They shared a close friendship with Peter Bellamy & cite him as a major influence, along with The Copper Family, The Young Tradition, The Watersons, Johnny Collins, Jim Mageean & Fred Jordan. They will sing & share songs from the mining industry, with which they have a close affinity, & some from the superb songwriting of Graeme Miles. There will be plenty of chance to sing, try out some harmonies, & discuss the songs in the final ‘Big Sing.' Workshop booking forms & evening tickets from the club & here. JULY 28 CHRIS RICKETTS http://www.chrisrickettsmusic.com/ £5 Chris is a fine young singer & guitarist from Portsmouth, with a warm, energetic style & an attractive range of traditional songs & shanties. He's a student on the Newcastle University traditional music degree course. SUNDAY JULY 29 FREE BALLAD SINGAROUND with STUART WALKER, noon- 3.00 p.m. Prolonged applause guaranteed for those with a high body count or particularly grisly doings. Food available from the bar.