Author Archives: bridget

Peta Webb and Ken Hall on Friday 6 May

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PKMAINImage002On Friday 6 May we welcome the very accomplished unaccompanied singers, Peta Webb and Ken Hall. Peta’s & Ken’s singing is rooted in the oral tradition, their style absorbed over the years by listening to and singing alongside traditional singers in England and Ireland. In 2015 they celebrated twenty-five years at their Musical Traditions Club, London, providing a platform for unaccompanied traditional singers.

Long admired as solo singers, their coming together to explore duet singing sparked off a new creativity. They have a rich, distinctive sound, based on Irish and British traditions of unison singing and the harmonising of  American brother duets. The diversity of their material, from England, Ireland and America, celebrates the essential links between these cultures.

Reserve tickets £10 (£7 club members) by emailing via our contact page. Bring your own drinks. Teas and coffee available in the kitchen. Also do let us know if you would like to do a floor spot.

Dovetail Trio on Friday 8 April

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TheDovetailTrio_Promo2015Presenting England’s traditional songs with a bold and fresh approach, The Dovetail Trio explores familiar narratives with infectious energy and a passion for musical heritage. This exciting new group comprises the considerable vocal and musical talents of Jamie Roberts, Rosie Hood and Matt Quinn.

Barnsley’s Jamie Roberts is renowned for his narrative singing and driving guitar rhythms. In 2007 he joined folk quartet Kerfuffle with Hannah James and Sam Sweeney, and in 2013 was a BBC Radio 2 Folk Award nominee with duo Gilmore & Roberts (our guests in Norwich in 2010).

Rosie Hood‘s pure voice, linked with her keen eye on the history of the songs, particularly those of her native Wiltshire, brought her to our attention at New Roots in 2011. As support act, Rosie ably stepped in to rescue a night for us after the guest’s no-show due to illness. Since then she has performed at a number of the country’s leading festivals and folk clubs, and opened for the Cecil Sharp Project. During 2015, Rosie was a BBC Performing Arts Fellow with EFDSS.

Multi-instrumentalist Matt Quinn has been playing the melodeon, mandolin and fiddle, and singing his way around the English folk scene for the last seven years in various bands including Dogan & the Boombox Karavan, The Mighty Quinns and the Eliza Carthy Ceilidh Band.

This event will start at 8 pm. Tickets can be reserved by emailing via the contact page on this site, £10 (£7 club members). Bring your own drinks. Teas and coffees available in the kitchen.

The Askew Sisters on Friday 18 March

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2014-duo-01On Friday 18 March the club is very pleased to welcome back Emily and Hazel Askew – winners of Best Traditional Album in the Spiral Earth Awards 2015. The sisters play rhythmic foot-stomping tunes on fiddle and melodeon, and deliver powerful interpretations of songs and ballads, revealing an infectious enjoyment and love of English folk music.

‘The breezy robustness of their musicianship is demonstrated in the joyous way the two parts switch around, colluding and colliding during the course of a tune set, adeptly maintaining listener interest while keeping feet tapping … infectious pumping energy characterises their performance’, fRoots magazine.

Tickets £10 (£7 club members) can be reserved by emailing via our contact page. Bring your own drinks. Coffee and tea available in the kitchen. Please note the start time will be 8 pm and end time 11 pm, as with all future club events and regular song sessions.

 

The Changing Room on Friday 26 February

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TCR-GROUP-DERRY-WALLSA rare opportunity to catch up with The Changing Room on tour. The phenomenally busy Sam Kelly and Tanya Brittain will be joined on stage by Jamie Francis (Stark), Evan Carson (The Willows) and harpist Morrigan Palmer-Brown.
In the short time that they’ve been recording together The Changing Room have built up a significant catalogue of music, and clocked-up some impressive airtime on BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio 3. Their debut album was included in The Telegraph list of ‘Best Folk Albums of 2015’.
With rootsy, Celtic-infused, original folk, heavily influenced by the industrial heritage of Cornwall, this Looe-based band are ambassadors for collaboration. Their songs feature rousing choruses and catchy hooks. Accordion, guitar, bodhran, harp and banjo plus award-winning vocals deliver a winning combination, and unique sound.
Tickets £10 (£7 members) are now SOLD OUT, but you can be put on the list for returns by emailing us via the contact page. Bring your own drinks. Teas and coffee available in the kitchen. This event will start at 8.30 pm.
The Norwich Folk Club Annual General Meeting will take place from 8 pm on Friday 12 February, to be followed at about 9 pm by a song session open to all.
On Friday 19 February  the song session will run from 8 pm till 11 pm (not 8.30–11.30).

Akabella showcase on Friday 5 February

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Akabella at Strangers HallThe showcase guests at the song session on Friday 5 February will be Norwich-based harmony group Akabella. The group was started by Susan Bell, has been running for a couple of years in its present form with eight members and has performed at many local venues. 

Akabella aim for variety and like to sing songs in three- or four-part harmony, with arrangements by Susan and others in the group. Their material is eclectic, drawn from the British folk tradition as well as Eastern Europe, Spain, Sweden and Africa – not to mention the occasional pop classic.  

Akabella will perform two sets during the song session. Other singers and musicians are also very welcome. There is no charge, but there will be a raffle to help with expenses. Bring your own drinks – tea and coffee available in the kitchen.

The Wilsons on Friday 22 January

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Outside the Sage Prom RehearsalsOn Friday 22 January, we welcome superstar harmony quintet The Wilsons, lately collaborators with Sting on ‘The Last Ship’ project. If you like gloriously powerful vocal harmony, then look no further. Tom, Chris, Steve, Ken and Mike sing traditional and traditionally oriented songs with understanding, joy and good humour. They shared a close friendship with Peter Bellamy and cite him as a major influence. He commented: ‘The Northern Wilsonia – a vocal orchestra’.

Tickets £13 (£10 club members) are SOLD OUT. Bring your own drinks – teas and coffee available in the kitchen.

Christmas and Old Year’s Night

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Everyone is welcome at our Christmas song session on Friday 18 December, whether to sing, play or listen. There may be seasonal songs and tunes – and other party pieces. Bring a bottle or two and perhaps some food to share. Extra prizes for the raffle would also be appreciated. There will be a prize for the best Christmas jumper – and maybe for the worst too!

We shall not be meeting on Christmas Day.

FezziwigOn Old Year’s Night, Thursday 31 December, there will be a special session to greet the New Year with lots of songs, as well as some dances led by the Fezziwig Ceilidh Band. All welcome. Tickets only £5 on the door. Bring instruments, voices, bottles, some food to share – and maybe donations of unwanted presents for the grand raffle!

The first song session of 2016 will be on Friday 8 January.

Showcase with Blue Wing on Friday 13 November

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On Friday 13 November Norfolk folk group Blue Wing will be our the showcase guests and will play two sets during the song session.

Tony Fitzharris (guitar and vocals), Mike Thomas (banjo and vocals) and Kelly Woods (guitar and vocals) were all regulars at the monthly Uncle Walter’s Music Night session in North Walsham – playing a wide range of music between them. In 2013 they got together as Uncle Walter’s All-Stars to play a very contemporary set at a folk concert at North Walsham’s Atrium arts centre.

They performed again at the UWMN Christmas party in 2013 and last year became a quartet with the addition of another UWMN regular, Emma Barber (vocals, fiddle and guitar). In August they played as guests on North Norfolk radio under their new name, Blue Wing, and the band opened the Peggy Seeger concert as part of the recent SamFest weekend.

This is a free event and all musicians, singers and listeners are welcome. Bring a bottle or make a coffee or tea in the kitchen.

Dick Gaughan on Friday 30 October

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Dick GaughanDick Gaughan has been at the cutting edge of Scottish music for almost five decades! Guitarist, singer, songwriter, actor, musical director, composer, arranger, producer, engineer, he’s been there, done it. He is a stunning singer with a wonderfully expressive voice belying passion, allied to a dazzling guitar technique.

Well known for his forthright and long-time consistently held, oft-expressed political views Dick has never been attracted by a vogue of consensual, namby-pamby, pragmatic and equivocating politics. Dick gives voice to an uncompromising solidarity with the flotsam and jetsam of tunnel-vision global capitalism: the victims, the helpless, the wronged, the fighters, the brawny working-class bravehearts who made capitalism work (after a fashion).

In December 2009 Dick was honoured by being inducted into the Scots Trad Music Hall of Fame. Then, less than two months later in London, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award at BBC Radio 2’s annual Folk Awards ceremony.

Bring your own drinks. Teas and coffee available in the kitchen.

TICKETS FOR THIS EVENT ARE SOLD OUT.