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THE MUSIC DIARY…

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The monthly Zoomarounds continue on the first Tuesdays at 8.15pm, with music starting at 8.30pm: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89787380016 Meeting ID: 897 8738 0016 – no password. See you there!

 

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November 17, 2021: Daoirí Farrell (Ireland)

Daoirí (pronounced Derry) is a former electrician who decided to become a musician after seeing Christy Moore perform on Irish TV. The Dublin-born traditional singer and bouzouki player has been described by some of the biggest names in Irish folk music as one of most important artists tto come out of Ireland in recent years.

After a promising debut album, The First Turn, back in 2009, Daoirí spent several years studying traditional music and performance at colleges across Ireland. While at the University of Limerick, Fintan Vallely introduced him to the singing of the late Liam Weldon, an encounter that was to prove formative to his sound and his approach to folk song.

The former musician of the Dublin-based Fourwinds band had cut his teeth as a singer in Dublin’s famous Góilin Singers Club and at other sessions across the city, many of which he still visits regularly. His follow-up album, True Born Irishman, was released in October 2016. The following spring his won two BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards – Best Traditional Track and Best Newcomer – and performed with a six-piece line-up at the awards ceremony at London’s Royal Albert Hall.

He has since performed in Australia, Canada, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, The Czech Republic, USA and Portugal, and played Cambridge Folk Festival, Milwaukee Irish Festival, Vancouver Island Folk Festival, the National Folk Festival of Australia and many more. In 2018 he toured the UK with Transatlantic Sessions and recorded his new album with Dónal Lunny in the producer’s chair.

(£8 admission, £5 members – thanks to the Arts Council of Wales for their Noson Allan / Night Out grant.)

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December 1, 2021: Quicksilver

Hilary Spencer and Grant Baynham are a pair of tremendous performers who can turn their prodigious talents to any style of song from folk to jazz via blues and French chanson. Their repertoire includes songs by Jake Thackray, Victoria Wood and Grant’s own offerings, both comedic and serious. Hilary’s fabulous voice and incredible dynamic range is complemented by Grant’s voice and virtuoso guitar which offers styles from John Williams to Django Reinhardt. There simply is not another duo like them. They’ll grab the audience’s attention and not let it go from the opening notes to the last encore.

Hilary holds the prestigious record of appearing at Llantrisant Folk Club more times than any other artist – her voice is a thing of beauty. The smoothly-powerful centre of Artisan’s benchmark a cappella for 20 years, she has rightly been described as: “A Rolls Royce of a voice, one of the defining sounds of English Folk” (Steve Ritchie, of the Ontario band Tanglefoot.) 

Grant matches the baroque style of his songwriting with a guitar technique of gorgeous intricacy. His lengthy broadcasting credits include four years on BBC1’s That’s Life! As Ned Sherrin put it: “Comic song touched with gold.” 

Watch the video of Quicksilver kicking the whatsit out of Victoria Wood’s ‘Ballad of Barry and Freda’ – enjoy!  

(£8 admission, £5 members – Thanks to the Arts Council of Wales for their Noson Allan Night Out / Noson Allan grant.)

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December 15, 2021: Christmas Party No. 1 with Chiefly Yourselves

Christmas carols, seasonal songs, poems, stories and tunes, bring-your-own-buffet, jollity and Pattie’s Gigantic Bumper Raffle – Nadolig Llawen!  

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December 22, 2021: Christmas Party No. 2 – Jackie Oates & John Spiers

It’s Christmas… and Llantrisant Folk Club warmly welcomes two of the mainstays of folk tradition – Jackie Oates, described by The Independent On Sunday as having “the sweetest voice of her generation of English folkies”, and Bellowhead  melodeon member John Spiers, currently celebrating the release of the latest Spiers & Boden album Fallow Ground. 

Jackie was born in Congleton, Cheshire, in 1983 but grew up in Staffordshire. A member of Rachel Unthank & The Winterset, now called The Unthanks, she has recorded three solo albums. John – better known in folk circles as ‘Squeezy’ – is one of the leading melodeon players of his time.

Please watch this video of Jackie and John in the recent covid lockdown, performing together while staying at home! 

(£8 admission, £5 members)

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January 12, 2022: Jack Dawgs (Wales) 

Howlin’ good-time music for all occasions! This Swansea trio, created by musician and Gower Bluegrass Festival organiser Roland Emmanuel, will whip up a storm. They will celebrate the Old Welsh New Year – Yr Hen Galan – and they have promised to bring a Mari Lwyd. 

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February 2, 2022: The Outside Track (Scotland) 

Winner of Best Group in both the Live Ireland awards and the Tradition In Review awards, The Outside Track are one of the top Celtic acts in the world. They were Best Live Act nominees in the MG Alba Scots Traditional Music Awards, and won the German Radio Critics Prize for their album Flash Company. Live Ireland hailed them as “Among the top bands in the world – stunning on every cut!”

The Outside Track’s marriage of Celtic music, song and dance has been rapturously received around the world. Hailing from Scotland, Ireland and Cape Breton, its five members are united by a love of traditional music and a commitment to creating new music on this as a foundation. They blend fiddle, accordion, harp, guitar, flute, whistle, step-dance and vocals with breath-taking vitality. Their blend of boundless energy and unmistakable joie de vivre has won them a large following around the globe.

Band members include: Nova Scotian-born Mairi Rankin, one of the hugely influential Rankin Family, legends on the Canadian music scene – she plays fiddle, sings and also step-dances up a storm; Teresa Horgan, from County Cork, who has an emotive singing style; Ailie Robertson, from Edinburgh, who is widely regarded as one of Scotland’s leading young traditional musicians – composer, arranger, teacher, improviser and harp virtuoso; and from the Highland village of Evanton, Fiona Black developed a love of music and dance from a young age, through the feisean movement which provided her the opportunity to nurture her passion through learning to play the piano accordion. composing and recording.

(£8 admission, £5 members)

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February 23, 2022: Whiskey River (trio):

Blues from the Bayous! Whiskey River play Americana – Cajun, Zydeco, Good Country and Low Down Dirty Blues with a dangerous edge. With many years experience of performing, these guys deliver the goods. The two founder members, Martin Blake (from Hereford) & Aidan Sheehan (from Cwmbran), are joined by fabulous fiddler Alan Cooper (from the Brecon Beacons).

The current band was born after founder members Martin and Aidan went to Louisiana in 2003 and visited a fabulous funky dance hall called “Whiskey River Landing”, built on the edge of the Atchafalaya swamp, South of Breaux Bridge. They had a fantastic time there and got to thinking that Whiskey River might be a good name for a band. About a week later, a guy in a bar in Houston, Texas, heard them talking over a beer at the bar and said: “Hey, are you guys from New England?” – “Nope, we’re from Old England!” The guy then gave them a plectrum with ‘Whiskey River’ written on it. This was taken as a definite sign – and the band they were working with back in the UK was renamed on their return.

(£8 admission, £5 members)

 

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March 9, 2022: Boo Hewerdine & Brooks Williams – State of the Union (England/USA)

We have been waiting a long, long time to experience Boo and Brooks – two lovely guitarists and songwriters who were born on the different sides of the Atlantic Ocean. They were booked here that year – but covid got in the way. Boo and Brooks create a magical, stripped back and enthralling musical atmosphere with two guitars and two voices. Their performances are consistently brilliant, equal parts emotive and entertaining.

The two formed their collaboration in 2011 and created three albums in rapid succession, State of the Union, Snake Oil and Saltwell Sessions. Subsequent tours took them around the UK, to Ireland and Portugal, including a 14-date stint playing theatres with Eddi Reader and an appearance on The Andrew Marr Show (BBC 1), plus four-star reviews in Q and R2. Both have an impeccable sense of rhythm and melodic beauty. Their sound is huge, two guitars and two voices exceeding the sum of the parts – and both love the craft of writing. Their fourth album was released on Reveal Records. Please watch a video of State of the Union delighting a packed audience at Shrewsbury Folk Festival in 2018. 

(£8 admission, £5 members)

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March 16, 2022: John Watterson / Fake Thackray

Jake The Master portrayed by John the brilliant interpreter! The folk scene and the entertainment business were stunned to hear that Jake Thackray passed away in 2002. John decided that the songs were too good not to be kept alive – so he set about learning more of them: “Before I had decided what to do when I grew up, it was time for my mid-life crisis. I told my wife Carol that I wanted to give up the day job and sing Jake’s songs and she said, ‘OK, then’ – so I did!’
John toured the show with Fairport Convention on their six-week nation-wide tour, and has performed 20 shows at the Edinburgh Fringe, earning several four-star reviews. He has also been delighted to support Ralph McTell, Richard Digance, and the late great Vin Garbutt and many more of his music heroes.

Fake Thackray is in increasing demand for clubs, festivals, village halls, arts centres and theatres, as well as house concerts and after-dinner engagements. John says: “It’s wonderful that Jake still has so many fans across the country, and the younger generation are catching on to a man who should be regarded as one of our greatest national treasures.”

(£8 admission, £5 members)

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March 30, 2022:  Over the Moon (Canada)

Canadian roots/swing duo Over The Moon’s Suzanne Levesque and Craig Bignell are awarding multi-instrumentalists / vocalists that met, fell in love, got married and discovered their voices blend so well together that people often tear up upon hearing them sing. Living on a ranch in the foothills of Alberta’s Rocky Mountains, it’s inevitable there will be a strong sense of place – and the rhythms of the land when you start to make music.   When the couple released their debut album, the resonances were there for all to hear. reflecting the pulse of life,  lived in a territory that is both dirt-hard rugged and beautiful.
Their music is a wild ride from 1940s-sounding western swing and Appalachian old-time to cowboy blues.  Simple and sweet, all of their material has a common thread that speaks of the Canadian west. On their UK release, reviews were glowing: “Exceptional” (American Roots UK); “There’s so much to enjoy here” (Country Music People); “You will love this”  (Maverick Magazine);  “We knew we were on to something special” (Elmore Magazine, New York).

(£8 admission, £5 members)

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April 13, 2022: Winter Wilson

Now in their ninth year as full-time musicians, Kip Winter and Dave Wilson bring a sense of intimacy to every venue, blending superb, often hard-hitting original songs, stunning harmonies and musicianship with sometimes hilarious humour and tales of life on the road. Kip (vocals, accordion, guitar, flute) ​”simply has a voice to die for” (​ John Roffey, Maverick Magazine), whilst Dave (vocals, guitar and banjo) is now rightly recognised as being amongst the top tier of British songwriters, with his songs sung in folk clubs across the UK and beyond. Together, their voices are sublime.

​“In 30 years of listening to folk music, I have never heard two voices blend so perfectly” ​(David Aird, Chairman, Glenfarg Folk Club)

You will laugh; you may cry. You will certainly want to see them again! 

(£8 admission, £5 members)

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April 27, 2022: Tania Opland & Mike Freeman (USA/England)

She’s from Alaska and he’s from England, and their motto is: Have hammered dulcimer, guitar, fiddle, mandolin, hurdy-gurdy, recorders, whistle, djembe, ocarina, will travel! 

Tania and Mike have a wonderful stage presence – “Their repertoire is vast, and includes things like sing-alongs in Russian. Credits include numerous UK and US tours and seven albums (including collaborations with Anne McCaffrey)” – Whidbey Island Folk Festival, Washington, USA

“Unquestionably the most talented duo we have ever had at this club… I’ve never seen so much variety in a single set” – The Song Loft, Milton Keynes

(£8 Admission, £5 members) 

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May 18, 2022: Cup O’ Joe (Ireland)

(£8 admission, £5 members)

May 25, 2022: Rory McLeod 

Ex-circus clown and fire eater, a one-man soul-band, poet and storyteller, singing his own unique upbeat dance stories. He’s a modern travelling troubadour using tap shoes, a capella, harmonica, guitar, trombone, spoons, finger cymbals, bandorea, djembe and various percussion instruments.

Rory has travelled the globe for different reasons at different times, from Asia to the Middle East, from Gambia to Cuba, Central America, Australia, North America, Canada, Europe and other nooks and crannies of the globe. The Sydney City Hub observed: “You don’t listen to McLeod – you travel with him.”

Rory’s look on life: “I’ve travelled to look for work, to mend a broken heart, to be with someone I longed for. I’d travel to visit friends and on the way I’d make new ones, I’d roam because I was curious to see what was around the next corner, sometimes I travelled to follow the warmer weather and migrate… like the birds and the big whales and fishes do”.

(£8 admission, £5 members)

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June 15, 2022: Nick & Mally Dow

Nick is a mesmerising performer, guitarist and respected song collector who has been singing traditional folk songs for over 40 years. He has had a big influence on the folk scene; award-winning folk musician Jim Moray has quoted Nick as an influence, singing two songs from Nick’s repertoire and including one (‘Seven Long Years’) on his album Skulk.

Nick is an acknowledged expert on West Country folk songs; together with his gipsy wife Mally, he has collected over 300 songs in Dorset, and also found singers in Lancashire and Essex. He has also made recordings of gypsy singers some of which have been included on the Topic Records series The Voice of the People. He returned to the folk scene after a long absence, spending several years building up his signwriting business and building and restoring gypsy wagons.

Nick has lived an amazing life. From a rough childhood in South London, he has lived on his wits since he left home at eighteen – travelling half way round the world, living on the road with the travelling folk and learning their songs, working as a TV and film extra, broadcaster, narrowboat painter, writer, folklorist, guitar teacher and general dealer. Every song Nick sings has a story attached to it, and his gigs are as informative as they are entertaining. Nick and Mally now live happily in East Lancashire surrounded by moorland and fells.

(£8 admission, £5 members)

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July 6, 2022: Andy Cutting

(£8 admission, £5 members)

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July 20, 2022: Pauline Vallance (Scotland)

(£8 admission, £5 members)

September 7, 2022:  Road Not Taken

Road Not Taken are a Bristol-based four-piece who are starting to make waves on the UK folk scene. Having honed their craft over a number of years of performing live, their debut album Fragment brings together eight songs, inspired by the tradition. Fragment is a collection of five inventive and atmospheric arrangements of traditional folk songs and tunes, two originals and a creative arrangement of a popular classic. Singer Anita Dobson’s clear and striking vocal soars over hypnotically beautiful melodies from Claire Hamlen on violin and viola, underpinned by Ant Miles’ understated finger-style guitar and Joe Hamlen’s creative use of harmonium, banjo and bass guitar.
On the album title, Ant (chairman of Downend Folk Club and director of Fancourt folk agency) says: “A fragment is a piece that can stand alone, but also form part of a greater whole, a bigger picture, which we feel reflects our approach to arranging songs from the traditional folk canon; our interpretations are just one aspect of the many variations which exist of these familiar songs.”

(£8 admission, £5 members)

 

 

September 21, 2022: Hungrytown (USA)

After more than 15 years of world-wide touring and three album releases, Rebecca Hall and Ken Anderson – otherwise known as Hungrytown — have earned a reputation for the quality and authenticity of their song-writing.  Lyricist Rebecca is credited with compositions “that sound as timeless as any traditional songs” (Northern Sky, UK) while producer /multi-instrumentalist /husband Ken is lauded for his “remarkable affinity for instrumental embellishment” (No Depression) and for crafting Hungrytown’s “gorgeous vocal harmonies” (Folk and Roots, UK).

Hungrytown’s introduction to folk music came when a close friend, who died young due to a tragic misdiagnosis, entrusted to them her collection of 1960s folk albums and her guitar, which has since been featured on all of their albums. Inspired by the grit and true-to-life experiences she heard in these traditional ballads, Rebecca was inspired to write the lyrics that later became her first songs, aided by Ken’s flair for musical arrangement. Soon afterwards, Rebecca released two solo albums, Sings! (1999) and Sunday Afternoon (2002), both produced by Ken. In the winter of 2003, the duo quit their desk jobs, moved to the green hills of Vermont and decided to pursue a full-time career as touring musicians. They released their first CD, Hungrytown, in 2008; Any Forgotten Thing in 2011; and Further West in 2015. The couple continue to spend more than half of each year on the road in North America, Europe and New Zealand. 

Please watch this video of Hungrytown performing ‘Hard Way To Learn’ in the BBC Wiltshire studio.

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October 5, 2022: Sapphire Storm

(£8 admission, £5 members)

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