What’s On at…

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August 14, 2019: Mike O’Connor and Barbara Griggs (Cornwall)

These two make music of breathtaking beauty on a variety of musical instruments, principally the harp, violin, octave violin, and viol. Mike is one of the leading researchers of music in Cornwall, and Barbara is a respected early music specialist. Together they perform a unique repertoire, the product of unprecedented scholarship that has led to the discovery of many early manuscripts and previously unconsidered sources in Cornwall.

Mike is well-known for his song-writing, and his bulging portfolio – which contains items such as such as ‘Carrying Nelson Home’ – has a wide following. He is also a well-respected storyteller, with a deep knowledge of Cornish legends and folk tales, and a mesmerising skill with language. An evening with Mike and Barbara is relaxed and highly entertaining, a delightful blend of fact, fiction, An evening with Mike and Barbara is a delightful blend of fact, fiction, and music – balm for the soul!

(£8 admission, £5 members)

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September 4, 2019: Josie Duncan & Pablo Lafuente (Scotland/Spain)

2017 BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award Winners Josie and Pablo are a vocal/guitar duo like no other. Calling the Isle of Lewis and Glasgow/Spain home, their music focuses on many strands of Scotland’s web of traditions where centuries-old ballads meet Gaelic Puirt A Beul, songs from the mines and cotton mills, as well as some original writing. Josie’s crystal-clear voice, with its slight island twang, is equally at home in any of these domains. Accompanied by Pablo’s dynamic, sensitive guitar playing, they illuminate the lyrics. Their music, at times sparse and haunting, at others driving and all-consuming, leaves audiences stunned.

They are both accomplished musicians in their own right. Josie is a recent graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where she studied with some of the masters of the Scottish and Gaelic traditions. She has toured extensively, performing at festivals and venues in Europe, Canada and America. Her other projects include a collaboration with innovative Gaelictronica band Inyal, and Blasta, a showcase of singers of the Isle of Lewis, commissioned by this year’s Festival Interceltique de Lorient. Pablo’s experiences are no less varied; he has put down cultural roots in Scotland, exploring the tradition to its deepest core. Since completing his studies of guitar and fiddle at the National Centre for Excellence in Traditional Music, he has been in high demand, playing, recording and touring internationally with artists including The Outside Track, Barluath, Sketch and Spanish gaita extraordinaire Anxo Lorenzo. Since joining forces in 2016, Josie and Pablo have taken the scene by storm, quickly becoming one of Scotland’s most in-demand live acts at festivals and venues across the country. They were nominated for Folk Band Of The Year at the MG Alba Scots Trad Music Awards. Watch a video of Josie and Pablo performing ‘Shift and Spin’.

(£8 admission, £5 members)

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September 18, 2019: Colum Sands (Ireland)

A warm welcome back for Colum, who has performed in over thirty countries around the world – confirming the universal appeal for the songs and stories with which he observes the minute and often humorous details of life. A member of the internationally renowned Sands Family from County Down, Colum established his reputation as a songwriter with the release of his first solo album, Unapproved Road, in 1981. Songs like ‘Whatever You Say, Say Nothing’ and ‘Almost Every Circumstance’ were soon in the repertoire of artists from Billy Connolly to Maddy Prior and June Tabor.His second album, The March Ditch, inspired a special BBC television documentary and songs like ‘The Man With The Cap’ and ‘Looking The Loan Of A Spade’ confirmed his unique ability to observe locally and appeal universally.

In March 2001 Colum joined Middle Eastern storyteller Sharon Aviv for a tour of Israel and a concert in that country’s first integrated school and village for Jews and Arabs, Neve Shalom. This concert inspired the song ‘The Child Who Asks You Why’ and ‘Going Down To The Well With Maggie’, just two of the songs which appeared on a unique collection of songs and stories, Talking To The Wall, released by Colum and Sharon in 2002.

Colum noted that people in Belfast were asking him if he wasn’t afraid to go to Israel with all the trouble going on over there and then, that people in Israel inquired if he wasn’t afraid to go back to Belfast with all the trouble over there…In response to these and many other questions in each place as to what exactly the problem was, he put pen to paper to record his thoughts on the complexity and yet the simplicity of it all. The result, ‘Skipping History Lesson’, was a one-minute summary of human conflict and appeared on his 2003 album The Note That Lingers On, along with songs of love and life like ‘The Wake Song’, ‘Sweeney The Fiddler’, ‘Song For Adam And Eve’ and a live version of Mickey MacConnell’s classic ‘Politician’s Song’.

The endless range of venues around the world inspired the title track of Colum’s seventh album, Look Where I’ve Ended Up Now. Meetings on the road with Scottish Gaelic singer Maggie MacInnes led to another fascinating project and a new album, The Seedboat, investigating musical and linguistic links between Ireland and Scotland. There are many more albums, and between touring and recording, countless other performers have been introduced to the airwaves through Colum’s work as a presenter of BBC Radio Ulster’s Folk Club programme. He has also broadcast a series of programmes for BBC Radio 2 and has compiled and presented a series RTE Radio called Rootin About. Watch a video of Colum performing ‘The Wake Song’ in the Humph Hall in Sydney, Australia in 2016.

(£8 admission, £5 members)

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October 2, 2019: Showcase with Bruce Watson (Australia)

Bruce is a hilarious humorist, writer and performer with the power to move audiences to tears. His performances are joyful and thoroughly engaging, with witty lyrics and energetic presentation. He is a masterful song craftsman, be they evocative and heart-wrenching, or side-splittingly funny.

(£3 admission)

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October 9, 2019: Phoebe Rees (Wales / Scotland)

Originally from Oswestry, Phoebe grew up in Scotland – and it was in the North West Highlands where she began learning the fiddle. After going on to study as a classical viola player in Edinburgh and London, she is now living back in Oswestry. She is exploring a new sound by combining fiddle, viola and voice and getting back to her roots in Scottish and other traditional music. Over the past year, Wales has heard her performing, from the Cwlwm Celtaidd festival to the North Welsh coast – please watch a video of Phoebe playing and singing the Joan Baez composition ‘Prison Trilogy’ at Rhyl Folk Club.

(£8 admission, £5 members)

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October 30, 2019: Hallowe’en Special with Andrew McKay & Carole Etherton (Wales)

Andrew and Carole present their spooky Special, featuring seasonal songs, sketches, costumed characters and shadow puppets….a little bit of theatre!

(£8 admission, £5 members)

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November 6, 2019: Dan McKinnon (Canada)

A big welcome back for Dan! Folk music enthusiasts just cannot mistake this

native Nova Scotian for his wonderful

deep-brown baritone voice, the flowing liquidity of his guitar, his prolific songwriting, his inspired storytelling and his larger-than-life personality that keeps his audiences transfixed and thoroughly fascinated thoughout his performing career. Playing French horn in various youth orchestras helped to form Dan’s love of music, but it was two defining influences that showed him a new direction. During a summer break at the Nova Scotia Teachers’ Training College, Dan picked up his sister’s seldom-used 100-dollar guitar – and he was smitten. And hitching a ride to a folk festival, he was introduced to the magic of Stan Rogers’ songwriting; hearing Stan’s performance would never leave him, and in the midst of a history degree he decided to take the plunge and go on the road. Dan has played concerts, festivals and folk clubs around the world, and he has released six albums: Just Another Day, Fields Of Dreams And Glory, Minstrel In The Rain,  Songs From The Hearth, Chasing Sunsets and Between Wind And Water.

Watch this video of Dan singing ‘Wandering Days’ at the Mystic Seaport Sea Music Festival on America’s East Coast in 2014.

(£8 admission, £5 members)

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November 20: Tommy Sands (Ireland)

Tommy was born in Mayobridge, County Down in 1945 – and this singer, songwriter and social activist has achieved something akin to legendary status in his own lifetime. From the pioneering days with the highly influential Sands Family, bringing Irish Music from New York’s Carnegie Hall to Moscow’s Olympic Stadium, he has developed into one of the most powerful songwriters and enchanting solo performers in Ireland today. His songwriting, which draws the admiration of Nobel Poet Laureate Seamus Heaney and father of folk music Pete Seeger, prompts respected US magazine Sing Out to regard him as “the most powerful songwriter in Ireland, if not the rest of the world”.

His songs, such as  ‘There Were Roses’ and ‘Daughters And Sons’, have been recorded by Joan Baez, Kathy Matthea, Dolores Keane, Sean Keane, Frank Patterson, Dick Gaughan, The Dubliners and many others. His verses have been translated into many languages and are currently included in the English language syllabus in German secondary schools.

(£8 admission, £5 members)

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December 11, 2019: Christmas Party no. 1

(£3 admission)

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December 18, 2019: Christmas Party no. 2: Carolling & Crumpets with John Kirkpatrick

Taking its title from John’s unforgettable song telling the Nativity story from the point of view of the animals in the stable, this show is a heart-warming look at the timeless rituals found in the folklore and folk music at Midwinter. John peels away the commercial gloss of modern Christmas to reveal the powerful pagan urges that race through us all at this time of year, and the life and death struggle that is symbolised in so many traditional songs and customs.

And if that all sounds just a little too intense, then rest assured that the mysterious and murky goings-on in these magical songs of wassailing, wren-hunting, stirring the fire, and incessant feasting, all come dressed up in a glittering finery of toe-tapping tunes and cracking choruses. Add to the mixture a light-hearted smattering of hilarious original songs, a sprinkling of carols both familiar and unfamiliar, all stirred up with John’s usual panache and energy, and supported by his scintillating skill on a variety of squeeze-boxes, and you have an unbeatable recipe for having a rattling good sing, guaranteed to keep the spirits cheery and the cold at bay.

(£8 admission, £5 members)

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December 25, 2019: Nadolig – Christmas Day – Club closed

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January 1, 2020: Survivors’ Night…

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January 22, 2020: Showcase with Dragons Breath (Wales)

(£3 admission)

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February 26, 2020: Tim Edey

Please watch this video of Tim’s jaw-dropping guitar work at Australia’s Illawarra Folk Festival in New South Wales – his diatonic accordion mastery is really not bad either!

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March 18, 2020: Mike & Dylan James (Bzh)

(£8 admission, £5 members)

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May 6, 2020: Anthony John Clarke

(£8 admission, £5 members)

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May 20, 2020: Nick & Mally Dow

(£8 admission, £5 members)

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August 12, 2020: Sadie and Jay (Australia)

(£8 admission, £5 members)

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September 2, 2020: Hungrytown (USA)

(£8 admission, £5 members)

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October 7, 2020: The Jigantics

The Jigantics roared down to Llantrisant Folk Club some years ago and received a rapturous encore. They have slimmed down to four musicians and vocalists – Keith Thompson (guitar, bass guitar, who has sold over 100,000 albums); songwriter Sarah Kelly (ukulele and bass guitar, winner of the Musicians’ Union instrumentalist award); front man Mark Cole (squeezebox, harmonica, mandolin and guitar, an in-demand international session player); and percussionist Marty Fitzgibbon, who has performed with (and in front of) some of the biggest names in the world of popular music, including Mick Jagger, David Bowie and Lou Reed – but says the Jigantics are the most exciting project with whom he’s ever been involved.

They frequently swap instruments and share lead vocals, interpersed with stunning four-part harmonies. Never afraid to mix musical styles, but always with a touch of class, they combine original material with their own interpretation of Steve Earl and Tom Waites. Their foot-tapping, feel-good music, plus totally convincing tear-jerkers, makes for a remarkable  eveningsʼ entertainment. Here’s what the critics say:

“One of roots music’s supergroups and must-see live acts” – Daily Telegraph;

“An awesome band, genuine, easy-going and very skilled musicians” – Ken Brown, Square Roots promoter;

“You can’t go wrong with a band that has two standing ovations”
– Koen Hottentot, Roots aan de Zaan, The Netherlands

(£8 admission, £5 members)

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October 21, 2020: Winter Wilson

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(£8 admission, £5 members)

(£8 admission, £5 members)

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November 11, 2020: Jody Kruskal (USA)

Jody flew in from the USA last year for a UK tour and played an very entertaining Showcase for the Club, and we booked him without question! He was born in Chicago, but he’s lived in Brooklyn, New York City, for 30 years. He is a performer, composer, educator, dance caller and instrument designer,  expert dance musician and he sings and plays an anglo-concertina which he fashioned himself. Please watch a video of Jody singing ‘Ghost Riders In The Sky’ in Brooklyn – and a video of him playing his anglo-concertina in the open air, luring a herd of adoring cows. Finally, you must watch a video of Jody and his dancing companion, Henry, performing ‘Cluck Old Hen’ – it’s totally fascinating!

(£8 admission, £5 members)

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DON’T FORGET: All other Wednesdays are S&M (Song And Music!) Nights, starting at 8.30pm

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For past guests, click here

For booking Information & general enquiries…

Pat Smith			Mick Tems
Telephone	01443 226892		Telephone	01443 201634
Mobile	07989 209824		Mobile	07531 812400
Email (click)	Pat Smith		Email (click)	Mick Tems