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November
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30th November STOP PRESS From Cornwall to Somerset via Pennsylvania (thanks Walt) comes the news that the Cornish Bluegrass Festival WILL be happening next September to a reformation of the Cornish Bluegrass Committee. More details http://www.cornishbluegrass.co.uk 29th November London - Old-Time Fiddle Workshop with Rayna Gellert Thursday, Dec. 13th 7pm - 9pm £35 Location TBA (will be very near Turnham Green tube station District line ) Description (Rayna's words): This will be a fun old-time fiddle workshop for players who already know their way around the instrument -- at least enough to play a few tunes passably. Since it's a short one-off, I'll try to keep the pace quick, so bring an audio recording device (no video, please). I will teach at least a couple tunes thoroughly (breaking down to demonstrate bowing, etc.) and get everyone playing, but will also include a repertoire session (playing tunes by myself for you to record and work on later). Send questions/booking requests to her *************************************** This from John and Moira Wirtz: Sore Fingers Week 2008 Sore Fingers Week 2008 is well on track and we are delighted to announce our latest list of tutors as follows: Starting with Old Time: Thomas Bailey – Old Time Fiddle and Brett Ratiff - Old Time Banjo. Please help us out by booking early as we have to pay for flights up front and we need to know we will have enough students to break even. Bluegrass tutors are: Scott Nygaard – Guitar Keith Little – Singing John Lowell – Song Writing Sally Van Meter – Dobro Megan Lynch – Fiddle Danny Thompson – Bass Mike Fenton – Autoharp Bill Evans – Banjo Andrew Collins – Mandolin We are currently in communication with Ron Block as a second banjo tutor Beginner/Intermediate courses will be taught by our much beloved clan of UK heroes: John Dowling – Banjo Dan Norton – Mandolin Anna Kelly – Fiddle James Dewdney – Guitar Steve Mazillius - Bass. There is more information about individual tutors on the website. The courses will be held from Monday 24th to Friday 28th March 2008 in the beautiful grounds and buildings of Kingham Hill School in Oxfordshire. Sore Fingers Week rates among the top five Bluegrass and Old Time Camps in the world and is reputed to be a very friendly place to meet like minded people. The whole event is held on one single site where you sleep, eat, drink and, above all, make music. Prices include 5 full days tuition, 6 nights accommodation and all meals (breakfast, lunch & dinner). There are several accommodation options from camping self catering in the school grounds to full board in the school accommodation houses. The courses run over five full days – Monday through Friday – and finishes with the annually renowned and totally amazing tutor concert! Most students will arrive on Sunday 23rd, the evening before the courses begin and leave early morning on Saturday 29th after breakfast. Sore Fingers Week has become a veritable honey pot for Bluegrass and Old Time Music in Britain and if you’ve never tried it, maybe it’s time you did. You will not regret it!!! More information on our website www.sorefingers.co.uk or call 01373 813590. *************************************** More on the fund raising event to help with fiddler Jon Glik’s medical bills etc., Rick Townend reports they were able to send around $1000 to the fund. Jon has had his transplant surgery and all is well so far. He is seriously ill – but regrettably (like many musicians) has no medical insurance. If you feel you would like to help Jon, please mail any possible donations directly to the Jon Glik Medical Fund, c/o Barbara Glik, P.O. Box 4005, Annapolis, Maryland, USA 21403. *************************************** The next Pickin' Lunchtime at The Retreat Pub, Reading is on Sun 2nd Dec, midday to whenever. The Retreat Pub, 8
St. Johns St, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 4EH.
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&oe Bring your small items for selling or exchanging (records, Cds, instruments, tuners etc). Future dates: 6th Jan; 3rd Feb 2008; 2nd Mar 2008 For more information and parking/driving details contact Colm Daly ************************************** The Foundlings, recent artists at Sweet Sunny South Festival have a gig nearer their home... Cardiff Chapter House Arts Centre on 7th December.
************************************** 22nd November There was a good FOAOTMAD turnout to see Uncle Earl on the last night of their UK tour in Bristol. A wonderful night - not long enough for the audience but there was a curfew due to it being a residential area - and included special guest John Paul Jones on mandolin, obviously taking a break from rehearsing with Led Zepplin. The same venue (St. Bonaventures Club) will be featuring the Carolina Chocolate Drops on 4th March. Obviously more details of that tour when I have them. And back to Uncle Earl... Rayna Gellert is offering a fiddle workshop on December 12th. It will be in London (Chiswick - near Turnham Green tube station) for a couple of hours in the evening. She would prefer a reasonable sized class but if there isn't enough interest she could do a few private lessons or a couple of small-group lessons instead. Dec. 13 is also an option. Please reply directly to her if you're interested: FOAOTMAD member MaryE Yeomans wrote about the Uncle Earl evening in her blog - pictures too. I'm taking the liberty of adding the link here, I'm sure she'll not mind... http://travels-with-marye.blogspot.com/2007/11/gearls-nite-out.html *************************************** For your diaries .... or rather NOT for them: There will not be a Cornish bluegrass Festival in 2008. Dean Woon, CBA Chairman, is spreading the news that due to personal changes for some members of their committee the massive amount of commitment required to organize a festival on the Scale that they have become accustomed to is just too much for the few remaining committee members to undertake. The decision to cancel was taken at their AGM & although they are devastated that they will not be able to provide a festival in 2008 it was agreed by all concerned, that a festival on a lesser scale would indeed be a step backwards & one that they were not prepared to consider. I am not aware if future years are affected. *************************************** Just to perpetuate some stereotypes... Tue 11th December 7.30 LEON AND BURT'S BIG BLUEGRASS BASH Tickets £12 full, £10 concessions, £9 Members of the Little Theatre The Little Theatre Cinema, St Michael's Place, Bath 01225 330817 (I quote) Grab your paddle and let Burt's canoe take you to the land of duellin' banjos and droolin' bozoes. But before you get afloat, let Bath's own Leon Hunt, the UK's undisputed king of the 5 string banjo, entertain you with some of the best Bluegrass this side of Appalachia. Leon's 4 piece band (banjo, guitar, harmonica and percussion) will transport you away from midwinter Bath to the melting heat of the South, with a selection of tunes capable of bringing a smile to the chops and a jig to the legs of even the grimmest homicidal toothless old mountainman. Followed by... DELIVERANCE [18] Director John Boorman. Starring: Burt Reynolds, Jon Voight, Ronny Cox, Ned Beatty. US 1972. 109mins Burt Reynolds in the role of his life as the ultra-physical Lewis, an outdoor fanatic who takes his friends canoeing in the Georgia backwaters and who leads his party into a series of singularly nasty scrapes at the hands of the less than friendly locals... ************************************** Next Old Time & Bluegrass Session at the Walnut Tree Inn, Blisworth, Northants (3rd Monday of every Month) will be a festive one on December 17th, 8pm start. Contact Andrew Metcalfe for more details - *************************************** Anyone in the U.S., near Phildelphia... Adam Hurt will give a clawhammer workshop from 1-3 PM on Saturday, December 15, 2007, in Oxford, PA. (Chester County, zip code 19363). ***Reservations for this workshop are required*** Workshop price is $40. Lunch is included. Space is limited, so please contact for a reservation as soon as you can. Email Kellie Allen - kaallen@aol.com or phone is 267-879-7967. Also: Adam and Beth Hartness are giving a concert on Friday, December 14, for the Brandywine Friends of Old-Time Music in Newark, DE. The concert will start at 8:00 PM. More information at http://www.brandywinefriends.org/ UK readers note that Adam and Beth will be with us at Gainsborough. *************************************** As long as it is still there, this link should feature Tom Bailey on the BBC Merseyside Folkscene - http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/merseyside_aod.shtml?merseyside/folkscene *************************************** 15th November FOAOTMAD members Dick Glasgow, from Northern Ireland, has recently started an internet forum and also a web page featuring old time. The web page is http://www.causewaymusic.co.uk/usotm.html The forum is http://oldtimehammer.proboards76.com/index.cgi Both are Well worth a look and he is 'pushing' FOAOTMAD as an excellent means of taking in interest in oldtime , particularly if you live 'this side of the Pond'. To take part in the forum you need to register as a member ( a simple process) but you can read what is there as a 'guest'. The web page has lots of links to both bands and audio-visual clips. And while you are in that frame of mind, may I remind you about Colm Daly's 'Sacrewell' website which offers some similar features. To view it you need to go to www.sacrewell.myfamily.com and use the universal login of ‘sacrewell_camp’ (note the underscore) and ‘visitor’ as password. Or you can register as yourself!
************************************** The reborn Freighthoppers (original members David Bass and Frank Lee are now joined by Thomas Bailey and Isaac Deal) have a myspace page to keep an eye on: http://www.myspace.com/thefreighthoppers *************************************** There's a few interesting videos of Clifftop this year on youtube - music and dance: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=imxAqs7TlUU http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=rWWP0Nif5Z4 http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=6ew3png9eH0 http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=877n1XNsyfI http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=R0zKQINzrJw *************************************** The Oxford City Bluegrass and Appalachian/Old Time session has moved venue! They still meet on the LAST THURSDAY of the month, but are now at the Duke of Monmouth Pub at 260 Abingdon Road/Sunningwell Road in Oxford. This is the same main street as the previous venue, but a few streets north, a little closer to the city centre. Free parking, so please come if you live in the area or are just passing through. They are always pleased to have guests and are a bluegrass/oldtime only session. *************************************** Lark Camp - Celebration Of World Music, Song & Dance 2008 August 1-9, 2008, Mendocino, north California Check out the Lark Camp Website: http://www.larkcamp.com 28th Year Of Lark Camp - Music and Dance from the World Over Music, Song & Dance Workshops * Cabins * Dances * Parties * Sessions * Great Food * Dance Hall * Dining Hall * Camping * Fire Circles * Mendocino Woodlands Redwoods Full Camp 8Days or Half Camp 4 Days *************************************** 8th November Dates for your diary: Gainsborough Festival - Feb 8th to 10th Spring Camp - May 23rd to 26th Summer Camp - August 8th to 17th (both Spring & Summer dates are almost certain but still to be confirmed by the Sacrewell management) ************************************** You may remember a few weeks ago I passed on details about American fiddler Jon Glik,a great creative fiddle player who visited the UK in the 1980s with the Del McCoury Band, and again in the 1990s playing for Eileen Carson’s Fiddle Puppets/Footworks. Jon is in need of very expensive medical treatment. There has been a tremendously successful benefit concert for him in Arcadia, Maryland, but money is still needed. There is now a UK event to raise an extra contribution which takes place at the Rainham Oast Community Centre, off Station Road, Rainham, Kent ME8 7SG (just north of the station) on Sunday 18 November 2007 from 7.30 to 10pm and features: Bob Winquist – Master Fiddler from Vancouver island Grassroots – Traditional and Original Bluegrass Native Grass – Old-Time and Bluegrass Music from North Kent The Kent Carters – a tribute to the original Carter Family and Graham Anstee with the ROOTS Regulars – who entertain at the Centre's sessions twice a month. £5 Tickets and Information from Rick Townend 01732 458261 or on the door www.gooddealebluegrass.com/Jon_Glik_Medical_Fund.html *************************************** Forthcoming gigs by The Slowdown Boys : Featuring Dave Proctor, John Elliott, Tim Zielonko, Julian Clark Fri 23 Nov The Devonshire Arms Nether End, Baslow, Derbyshire DE45 1SR Tel. 01246 582551 Wed 5 Dec The Travellers Rest 24 Derby Road, Draycott, Derby, DE72 3NJ. Thu 20 Dec The Maze Forest Tavern, Mansfield Road, Nottingham *************************************** Beverly Smith & Carl Jones are searching out some possible gigs to fill out their UK tour next May. If you haven't already seen them, they do mainly oldtime music with a strong Carter Family/Louvin Brothers/Delmore Brothers influence on fiddles guitars, banjo and mandolin and harmony vocal. If you are able to put on a gig for them please contact them via their web site www.smithnjones.net *************************************** Uncle Earl (currently touring - see their dates) featured in The Guardian the other day. Read it here... http://music.guardian.co.uk/folk/story/0,,2203270,00.html *************************************** From Pat Francis: The landlord of The Dolphin Inn in Osborne Road South, St Denys, Southampton is trying to build up Wednesday nights as Bluegrass night. We (Wood Wire and Words) are playing there on the 14th November. Entrance is free and the beer is superb. The landlord is an ex-muso and can’t do enough to make music lovers welcome. You can get a rough idea of our kind of music from our website, www.woodwireandwords.com which also links to our Myspace sight. Please encourage lovers of Old Time, Bluegrass and Acoustic Americana to drop in on the 14th. The atmosphere is great, the beer is excellent and it all comes with free music. More details from Pat *************************************** John Lilly - A former member of the Green Grass Cloggers dance team, John spent years playing traditional string band music with groups including Ralph Blizard and the New Southern Ramblers. He is a former a tour guide at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, and is currently editor of the West Virginia state heritage magazine Goldenseal. He is also considered an authority on both Hank Williams and Jimmy Rodgers. John appears at The Thomas Fraser Memorial Festival in Shetland this weekend, he dropped by the BBC Radio Scotland Highland Cafe and sang three songs, "Who Broke The DJ's Heart" at the start, "Whippin that Old TB" in the middle and closed out with "The Waltz Of The Winds" You can hear a repeat on Friday 1915-2000 on BBC Radio Scotland FM. or listen at www.nessmp3.com/music/johnlilly 1st
November *************************************** Once again revellers in early American music & dance are invited to another blazing Pickin' Lunchtime at The Retreat Pub, Reading on Sun 4th Nov, midday to whenever. The Retreat Pub, 8 St. Johns St, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 4EH (see links below for directions). Bring your small items for selling or exchanging (records, Cds, instruments, tuners etc). Parking is now safe and easier if you follow the new route below. Future dates: 2nd Dec; 6th Jan; 3rd Feb 2008 New Parking Route: Just finding the Pub by car alone is convoluted but also there is little by way of safe parking so here is a safer bet, by parking at the Ukrainian Club’s car park, about a minutes walk away in Greys Court off Sidmouth Street, - Come into Reading preferably from the east (A329M from Junction 10 on the M4 or the A4 via Maidenhead). Both approaches merge at a large roundabout with traffic lights, take the first exit (London Road A4) towards town centre. - Go straight over at the next large junction passing the Upin Arms Pub on your right. - Take the second filtered right turn into Sidmouth Street and Greys Courts is on the right. If the car park is closed you will have ring The Retreat for the code 0118 957 1593. The Retreat Pub is found by continuing on foot in the same direction, across Watlington St, into St Johns Road and then down St Johns St. - Otherwise, if you come by car a different route, head towards Reading East (London bound) and where you come off a large on-way roundabout continue around clockwise using the slip road into Queens Road. St Johns St. is first left but for the car park continue to the next left into Sidmouth St, and Grey’s Court is up on the left.
*************************************** BBC Four have now released the transmission dates for the Cambridge highlights TV programmes: 4 half-hour progs on Fridays at 8.30pm, starting November 2nd. Scheduling is as follows: Programme 1: Shooglenifty, The Waterboys (performance and interview with Mike Scott), Renegade (Sharon Shannon, Michael McGoldrick, Dezi Donnelly, Jim Murray), Under One Sky (performance and interview with John McCusker and Roddy Wooble), Kris Drever, Fiddlers Bid. Programme 2: Show Of Hands, Under One Sky (performance and interview with John Tams and Graham Coxon), Martin Simpson, Bellowhead, Kate Rusby Band (performance and interview). Programme 3: Joan Baez, Nanci Griffith (performance and interview), Steve Earle and Alison Moorer (performance and interview), Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder (performance and interview). Programme 4: Fanfare Ciocarlia, Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, Toumani Diabate, Toots & The Maytals, Kate Fagin, CJ Chenier & The Red Hot Louisiana Band, The Waterboys & guests. *************************************** For those of you in the USA: Nov. 16-17, 2007: Poole (Charlie) Party Weekend, Newark, DE & Oxford, PA Concert on Fri., Nov. 16th in Newark, DE Workshops and music party in Oxford, PA on Sat., Nov. 17th Fri Nov 16: Sat Nov 17: Lunch (and refreshments) will be provided If you’re coming for a workshop or workshops, please plan to stay on for the party after the workshops are over. To reserve places please email or call Kellie: or 267-879-7967 |