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February
2008
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28th February Don't forget the imminent tour by the excellent Carolina Chocolate Drops (see later). This is a rare chance to see them and venues are likely to sell out. It's very close - book now!! *************************************** For those of you who made it to Kinsgbridge to see the Piney Woods and join in the session beforehand, go to www.kebc.co.uk and follow the "Crabshell Inn" link and then the review and photos of the day. *************************************** Next month’s Pickin' Lunchtime session at The Retreat Pub, Reading, Tel 0118 957 1593, on Sun 2nd Mar 2008, midday to whenever. The Retreat Pub, 8
St. Johns St, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 4EH. All players and listeners welcome….predominantly American fiddle and banjo genres but who’s checking…..bring your small items for selling or exchanging (records, cds, instruments, tuners etc) The Retreat Pub have arranged licensed parking at the Ukrainian Club nearby but if that don’t suit there is always the Queens Road Car Park almost directly opposite the pub….just that it ain’t free. Future dates: 6th April 2008, 4th May
*************************************** Details of the first mail-out for Going to the West Fest, Pembrokeshire's first Old-Time Festival which will be held June 13-15th 2008 in Angle. The line up should be: Moonshine A Galway based old-time trio made up of Frank Hall, originally from Indiana and formerly of The Monks, Lena Ullman, originally from Sweden and formerly of the Higglers Jug Band, and Johnny Moynihan – of De Danann, Sweeney's Men and (briefly) Planxty and yes, he does play old-time (he's seen the light!). plus Sara Grey and Ben Paley. Jock Tyldesley and Vera van Heeringen. The Kittyhawks. The Grumpy Bush String Band are a trio of old-time enthusiast from south west Wales. They are organising the festival, so they're going to play at it! These artists will perform and lead workshops on a variety of instruments and dance, giving an opportunity for learning at all levels. There will be a concert on Friday night, followed by a square dance, workshops in the day time on Saturday, a concert on Saturday night followed by a square dance, and a workshop or singing group and an open stage on Sunday, as well of lots and lots of tunes! Angle is a spectacular location right on the end of the southern Pembrokeshire peninsula in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. Both West Angle Bay (which holds a Green Coast Award) and the nearby Freshwater West beach and sand dunes have been designated SSSIs. The estuary of the river Cleddau is known for its interesting and abundant bird life. The village has two pubs and a shop. www.myspace.com/goingtothewestfest has lots of photos of Angle and its surrounding area, as well as links to other sites which may be of interest. Now for the important logistical information: Castle Farm, Angle is just around the corner from the village hall and provides camping at just £3 per person per night. The farm also has a few caravans and a five bedroom bungalow – contact 01646 641220 for more details. Weekend ticket £27.50 (£21) One night concert and dance ticket £8.50 (£6) family £20
*************************************** In the wake of a delightful tour with Piney woods, Kate Lissauer would like to announce an attempt to organise a second week of the Spanish Old-Time Music Holiday in Andalucia. The first week is full, and she would like to keep Dave Bing with her for a second week, due to an overspill in enrolment, and because it’s so darn FUN! To make this happen, she needs a few more people to join them. For information, read below, and contact Kate for even more info. Children under 14 are invited at half price. Banjo and Fiddle week in Spain with Dave Bing and Kate Lissauer The second Spain Music Week is announced at last! Saturday to Saturday, May 10-17, 2008. This is a holiday for fiddle and banjo players,, old-time musicians or enthusiasts and anyone, playing another instrument or not, who wants to be around fiddles and banjos for a week of shared adventure, musical and otherwise. Your home for the week is Nueva Luna, a lovingly restored farmhouse set in the stunningly beautiful, fragrant and remote highlands of Andalucia, near Almeria. Tutors Dave Bing and Kate Lissauer will each offer classes on both instruments. Additional worshops in guitar will also be available. Workshops will focus on traditional fiddle and banjo style, technique and repertoire, as well as on encouraging all participants to play together formally and informally. Individual assistance for beginners and for those wanting to learn other instruments will be available. Out-of-class time is spent on hiking, swimming, (20 metre pool included!) climbing, photography, eating, partying, jamming, daytrips to the beach or mountaintop, or to places of cultural or historic interest, and night trips to the taverna. The price for the week is £475, which includes room and full board of delicious home-cooked vegetarian and omnivorous fare, tuition, and use of all facilities. Travel is not included, but we will assist with organising transport to and from Almeria airport. Places are strictly limited, so early booking is encouraged. Contact Kate Lissauer for any further information you require, or to book. 5 Christchurch Street West, Frome, Somerset BA11 1EH or phone 01373 474 110. *************************************** 21st February A correction - Beverly Smith and Carl Jones will be at the Wolf Folk Club, SANDRINGHAM, Norfolk on May 15th NOT Sheringham!! My fault... I live the other side of the country and it sounds vaguely similar (and it's roughly the same direction, says he, digging himself into a deeper hole)!! I expect to have full details of the tour in a couple of weeks. *************************************** Left at Gainsborough a small capacity (16Meg) SD camera card with about 8 pictures on, some of which are the presentation of a charity cheque and others appear to be family pictures. Contact me if it's yours **************************************** The Beachy Headbangers have a gig on Sat. May 10th at The Lewes Arms, Lewes, East Sussex. *************************************** The ROOTS venue in Rainham Kent has a 'slow jam' session every 4th Friday in the month for anybody that wants to go along. *************************************** I hear rumours that the Almeley Festival (Herefordshire) has been cancelled. I'll confirm that as soon as I can. *************************************** I gather that tickets for the Cornish Bluegrass Festival are now on sale. They sold out last year so any of the oldtime contingent who are thinking of raising our profile might want to get their booking in early. September 19th to 21st. http://cornishbluegrass.co.uk **************************************** Old Time at Sore Fingers Week The Old Time Banjo course is just about respectable at 11 students but the fiddle is still seriously lagging behind at 4 students. They are four weeks away from the event and John Wirtz doubts they’ll achieve “break even” attendance on this course but are now committed to running the course. If you are wavering on the side of coming, please let then know as soon as possible please. Details below. **************************************** There is another rare 'in concert' performance by the recently and briefly resurrected Six Hands in Tempo, featuring the multi-talented Dave Proctor. It is on 28th Feb at 8pm in The Barn, Main St, Baston, Sth Lincs. Baston, near Stamford and Bourne, PE6 9PA Bring your own drinks. Tickets £6 from Alan or Maggie Wood on 01778 560497. Book early - concerts at the Barn tend to sell out quickly. Baston is on the A15 between Market Deeping and Bourne. The Barn is the village hall on the large Playing Field 100yards from the A15 crossroads. **************************************** There's a film of a banjo setup workshop on YouTube. Featuring changing a banjo head, stringing a banjo, placing the bridge and setting the neck angle. http://youtube.com/watch?v=yiilZ-PD1uQ **************************************** There's an Acoustic Folk Session at the Mick Jagger Centre, Dartford, Kent on Wednesdays; 7.30-10pm For more information please contact Malcolm Rees on 01322 225567 **************************************** The Down Trodden String Band have a clip of their Friday set at Gainsborough on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/user/downtroddenmusic **************************************** Check out a musical slideshow of the recent square dance at the San Francisco Bluegrass & Old-Time Festival with the newly reformed Freight Hoppers as the band. http://mikemelnyk.com/sfbot08/squaredance_frthop/ **************************************** Do you live near Hemel Hempstead? Derek Brimstone, one of our members living there, has enjoyed a long career as a folk club professional. Now he's not gigging anymore he is able to offer his services as a guitar or banjo tutor to anyone who fancies a lesson. He plays folk style guitar in all the major tunings. His mastery of 5-string banjo playing in both frailing and Scruggs style won him the Outstanding Instrumentalist Award of at Cambridge Folk Festival. I understand his rates are very reasonable and interested parties can contact him on 01442 264924. **************************************** The next session at The Walnut Tree Inn, Blisworth, Northants is March 17th at 8.00pm start Contact Andrew Metcalfe **************************************** Here's a link to a BBC radio 2 programm which I believe is the first of 4. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/musicclub/doc_redneckmusic.shtml There is a listen again link BUT the programme goes out on Saturday nights so you'll have to be quick before it gets replaced. Mark Lamarr travels the length and breadth of America - from the mountains in the east to the swamps in the Deep South -to tell the story of Redneck music. Redneck is the music of the hillbilly, the banjo and the moonshine still, and it usually gets a bad press. Yet this is a beautiful music with a fantastic history. Under Mark's expert guidance, we follow the journey of Redneck from its 1930s roots, through to so-called Modern Redneck, via the good, the bad and the ugly in between. Along the way we'll be listening to the music and the thoughts of Hank Williams III, Charlie Louvin and Tom Russell amongst many others - enjoying the music as it's played today and tracing the influences drawn from the past. **************************************** 14th February Is anyone from the Nottingham/Derby area able to offer a lift to Sorefingers in March? A lift would be appreciated and expenses met. Please ring Ken 01332 552004 *************************************** Session amendments: The Wednesday session in Hebden Bridge, W. Yorks is at the Fox and Goose (not the Flowers as listed in the Old Time News) There is also a Friday night session in Lancashire at The Flowers (yes, this time!), Todmorden Rd., Bacup. Contact for both is Clive Green 01706 814682 *************************************** The summer is staring to fill up. There's a new picking weekend/mini festival at Angle, the far western tip of Pembrokeshire. It's the weekend of June 13th - 15th. Contact Jackie: 01646 661363 or Jo: 01834 871616 www.myspace.com/goingtothewestfest
*************************************** As part of a Deering banjo promotional weekend, Eagle Music are presenting another day of workshops and a night concert event on Saturday March 8th. This will feature the world renown Kruger Brothers, appearing as part of their European tour. Greg and Janet Deering will again to promote Deering Banjos. Special guests will also include 'Howard Brothers', Paul Bienek, Tim Howard, Howard Shepherd and Tom Napper. The event will take place at their on-site venue the North Light Gallery, Tickets and further information are available from: Eagle Music Shop, 1 St Pauls House, Yorkshire Technology Park, Armitage Bridge, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, HD4 7NR 01484 661460 Shop Open 9:30am till 5pm Monday to Friday, 10am till 4pm Saturdays *************************************** Southern Tenant Folk Union, are a London based band whose promotional material claims that in their short tenure they have shredded all expectations associated with the term ‘bluegrass’ and developed into one of the most exciting groups performing and recording roots music in the UK. They feature Oldtime, Bluegrass, GOspel and Celtic Folk. You can see them on tour: Wed 12th Mar Bristol, The Prom Thu 13th Mar Swansea, The Chattery Fri 14th Mar Taunton, Tachi Morris Arts Centre (supporting The Thunderbridge Bluegrass Boys) Sat 15th Mar St Agnes, Driftwood Spars Sun 16th Mar Bath, The Bell (lunchtime gig) Wed 2nd Apr Newport, Hot Burrito Club @ Le Pub Thu 3rd Apr Devon, Holsworth Memorial Hall Fri 4th Apr Devon, The Pilton Hall, Barnstaple Sat 6th Apr Devon, Parracombe Village Hall Thu 10th Apr Swindon, Bee Hive Fri 19th - Sun 21st Sep Cornwall Bluegrass Festival www.myspace.com/southerntenantfolkunion www.southerntenantfolkunion.com www.nessmp3.com/music/southern_tenant_folk_union *************************************** Monday 18th is the next Old Time & Bluegrass Night at The Walnut Tree Inn, Blisworth, Northants 8.00pm start Further info ring Andrew Metcalfe on 01604 862256 *************************************** The Midwest Banjo Camp preliminary schedule for 2008 has been posted on the website at www.midwestbanjocamp.com June 6-8, 2008, Olivet College, Olivet, Michigan (about 30 miles southwest of Lansing) Registration opens 12 noon on Friday; Camp ends 3:30PM on Sunday At MBC, you can study old-time or bluegrass banjo with some of today's best players and teachers in both styles. The program features hands-on classes, demonstrations and two faculty concerts, and still leaves lots of time for jamming with your fellow banjo enthusiasts. INSTRUCTORS: Old-time: Bob Carlin, Cathy Fink, Adam Hurt, Brad Leftwich, Reed Martin, Joe Newberry, Michael Miles and Ken Perlman. Chris Coole heads up our old-time Novice program. Bluegrass: Janet Beazley, Greg Cahill, Pat Cloud, Bill Evans, Bill Keith, Jens Kruger, James McKinney, and Alan Munde. Mike Sumner heads up our old-time Novice program. Accompanists: Peter Knupfer (bluegrass fiddle), Ron McKeever (bluegrass guitar) Chirps" Smith (old-time fiddle) and Mark Sahlgren (old-time guitar).
*************************************** Richard Plank and Guy Charles will be appearing at The Western Hotel, Royal Square, St. Ives, Cornwall every Friday (from Feb 22nd) at 9pm. With regular guests. info@acousticart.co.uk www.acousticart.co.uk *************************************** 6th February THE KITTY HAWKS FORTHCOMING GIGS 8th, 9th Feb – Gainsborough Old Time Festival 16th Feb – The Greenote, 106 Parkway, London. Tube: Camden Town 20th Feb – Merlin Theatre, Bath Road, Frome , Somerset, BA11 2HG. www.merlintheatre.co.uk box office 01373 465 949 - With Piney Woods *************************************** There's a fiddle workshop in Alcester on the evening of Thursday 27th March with Rodney Miller, the amazing contradance fiddler from the USA. Contact Andy Richards *************************************** Some weeks ago I mentioned that James Wood of Lancing, North Carolina runs a weekly session and also has a house available to rent. Lucienne Ekström from Sweden has reserved the house from mid May until early June and wonders if anyone from the UK plans to go to go there - or maybe will be in the area at the time. It's about 20 miles north of Boone, near the NC, WV, VA border.
*************************************** Derek Parsons has fixed a date for this year's 'Not Stanchester' picking weekend at Stoke St. Mary, near Taunton in Somerset. It will be the weekend of June 6th - 8th. More information nearer the time. *************************************** |