Category Archives: Guest
The Wilsons on Friday 22 January
On 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.
Friday 27 November with Steve Tilston and Jez Lowe
We look forward very much to welcoming two of Britain’s foremost singer songwriters, Steve Tilston and Jez Lowe, to Norwich Folk Club on Friday 27 November. This promises to be a great evening.
Bring your own drinks. Teas and coffee available. This gig is SOLD OUT, so arrive early to be sure of a place in the car park.
Dick Gaughan on Friday 30 October
Dick 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.
Carolyn Robson and Moira Craig on Friday 2 October, with a harmony workshop on Saturday 3 October
On Friday 2 October we welcome two of Britain’s foremost acapella singers, Carolyn Robson and Moira Craig, who hail from Northumberland and Scotland respectively and whose repertoire reflects their Northern roots. Both performed for some years as part of the renowned harmony trio, Craig: Morgan: Robson, appearing at all the major festivals as performers and inspirational workshop leaders.
Carolyn Robson is a traditional folk song and dance specialist who has three solo albums and was featured on Kathryn Tickell’s CD ‘The Northumberland Collection’. Moira Craig is from a family of singers and musicians based in East Kilbride near Glasgow and is known for her superb interpretations of Scottish, Irish and English songs and ballads. She has a solo album, as well as three albums with Craig: Morgan: Robson and can also be heard on the ‘Pastimes’ albums.
Tickets for the concert on Friday 2 October can be reserved via the form on our contact page, £10 (£7 members). Bring a bottle or enjoy a choice of teas or coffee from the kitchen.
Carolyn Robson and Moira Craig will be hosting a harmony singing workshop from 1.30 to 4.30 pm on Saturday 3 October at Hayman’s Lodge in Catton Park, Oak Lane NR6 7DB, just off the ringroad in Norwich. Open to all abilities – a great opportunity to try singing for the first time in a supportive atmosphere – and it’s only £5. (Book spaces via our contact form.) Bring cold drinks. There will be tea and coffee available.
Steve Turner on Friday 4 September
Steve Turner is known as a pioneer of highly sophisticated English concertina song accompaniments, stretching the boundaries of traditional forms, with one of the best voices in the business. He is a multi-instrumentalist, who also accompanies himself on the cittern and plays mandolin and banjo.
In the F/Roots August/September 2014 edition Nancy Kerr in her “Rocket Launcher” interview when asked “what was the best gig you ever saw?” answered “the best spot I’ve seen recently was Steve Turner – total intensive musical focus and a vast serious repertoire”.
In support will be Isobel, Lydia and Ellie Barber – a string trio from the village of Thorpe in the Peak District. They began learning classical violin at the age of 5, and started playing folk music together after first participating in Folkworks Summer Schools a few years ago. With a particular love for Scottish folk music, the Barber Sisters have been influenced by bands such as RANT, and enjoy playing arrangements of original and traditional tunes on fiddle and viola. They were one of the 10 acts shortlisted for the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award 2015 and were also finalists at New Roots 2015.
Tickets can be reserved via the contact form on our website: £10 (£7 for club members). Bring a bottle or enjoy a tea or coffee from the kitchen.
Pete Coe and Alice Jones on Friday 10 July
Pete Coe has been a professional musician since 1971. He has performed at festivals, concerts, folk clubs, dances and schools throughout Britain, Europe, Asia, New Zealand and the USA. Multi-instrumentalist Alice Jones first learned folk songs from her mother and was the singer with The John Dipper Band.
Together, Pete and Alice present ‘The Search for Five Finger Frank’, which features new arrangements of both classic and rare folk songs unearthed from the treasure trove that is the Frank Kidson collection. The show celebrates and commemorates the incredible legacy of a man widely regarded as ‘a pioneer of the folk song revival’. Many of the songs now popular in the folk repertoire of today were initially collected and published by this founder member of the Folk Song Society and key figure in the folk movement of the early 1900s. Check out Sprig of Thyme and One Summer’s Morning.
Tickets: £7 members (£10 non-members), can be reserved by email via the form on the ‘Contact us’ page. Bring a bottle or enjoy a tea of coffee from the kitchen.
The Teacups Trio on Friday 19 June and harmony workshop on Saturday 20 June
Alex Cumming, Kate Locksley, Rosie Calvert and Will Finn met whilst studying on the Folk Degree at the University of Newcastle and formed The Teacups in 2010. It’s an age-old format – a quartet of singers: two men, two women – performing an age-old collection of songs. But The Teacups are new, they’re young, and after the success of their debut album, ‘One For The Pot’ which reveled in the vibrancy of youth, and all that heartache, or confusion, or euphoria, that goes with it, the band take significant steps forward with their brand new album ‘Of Labour and Love’, an offering which represents a maturity in material matched only by its maturity in sound. And the best way to get that across to the listeners? Through unadorned, gutsy singing, where arrangements add the intrigue.
This summer the group will be performing as a trio, as Alex is currently suffering from ill-health and is not able to travel back to the UK from the USA, where he has settled since his marriage last summer. The trio incarnation of The Teacups has already successfully appeared at Chippenham Folk Festival and we look forward to welcoming them to Norwich. Tickets £10 (£7 non-members), can be reserved by sending an email via our contact page. Bring a bottle, or enjoy a tea or coffee from the kitchen.
From 10 till noon on Saturday 20 June, The Teacups Trio will be leading a harmony workshop in the hall at the Christ Church Centre. All abilities and ages are welcome to come along and join the fun. Tickets £5, can be reserved via the contact page.
Greg Russell and Ciaran Algar on Friday 15 May
Two-time BBC Folk Award winners Greg Russell and Ciaran Algar released their debut album, The Queen’s Lover with Fellside in 2012. Numerous tours followed, as the duo developed and honed their stagecraft, becoming one of the most sought-after young acts on the English folk scene. ‘The press coverage and folk club reports have been glowing and rightly so’ (R2 Magazine). In January 2013, the pair picked up the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk award.
After recording their second album in the November of 2013, again with Fellside, Russell and Algar received the Horizon Award for best breakthrough act at the 2014 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. The second album, The Call, was then released in July, receiving 5 Stars in fRoots, 4 Stars in both R2 Magazine and The Telegraph and a host of other brilliant reviews, Bright Young Folk describing it as an ‘outstanding show of maturity’ with ‘enormous promise’. In the last year, both Greg and Ciaran have been touring with Mick Ryan’s folk opera, A Day’s Work. They were also nominated in the Best Duo category in the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2015. YouTube clip: Davy
Tickets £10 (£7 members) can be reserved by emailing us via the contact page. Bring a bottle or two, or enjoy a cuppa from the kitchen.
Sarah McQuaid on Friday 17 April
On Friday 17 April we welcome singer-songwriter Sarah McQuaid to the club. Sarah has a wide repertoire of songs that includes traditional Irish songs and Appalachian folk, as well as her own compositions. Her rich singing voice is complemented by accomplished guitar playing. ‘Captivating performance, great songs, playing and singing.’ Gerry Evans, Twickfolk. Hear a live interview with Sarah on BBC Radio Norfolk at 2.30 pm on the same day.
Sarah is also known for her interest in the DAGDAD tuning system. She is the author of The Irish DAGDAD Guitar Book, described by The Irish Times as ‘a godsend to aspiring traditional guitarists’.
Tickets £10 (£7 members) can be reserved by emailing us via the contact page. Bring a bottle or two, or enjoy a cuppa from the kitchen.