Showcase guests Tin River at the song session on Friday 27 January

Posted on 20 January 2017 by bridget

The showcase guests at the song session on Friday 27 January will be Norfolk trio Tin River: Skip Shipley (melodeons and vocals), Mim Barnes (whistles and vocals) and Marya Parker (guitar and vocals). Tin River specialise in instrumentals, three-part harmonies and accompanied songs from various traditions and with diverse treatments. The trio has built a solid reputation in the East, having appeared at every FolkEast Festival, as well as folk clubs, fairs and pub music venues.

This is a free event. Bring songs, tunes and your own drinks.

Moore Moss Rutter on Friday 13 January

Posted on 3 January 2017 by bridget

On Friday 13 January we welcome the first guests of 2017, Moore Moss Rutter. A series of remarkable gigs has heightened the sense of anticipation around the reunion of Jack Rutter (Seth Lakeman Band), Tom Moore (False Lights) and Archie Churchill-Moss (Beyond the Marches) in the trio that won them the 2011 BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award. The intervening years have seen them play with some of the biggest and best acts in English folk music, and now they reconvene to release the follow-up to their much acclaimed debut album.

Widely regarded as three of the best players of traditional folk amongst a precociously gifted generation, their music features ancient traditional material from Britain as well as newly composed tunes and songs, and focuses on their own movements from the countryside to large cities, and the contrasts that come into play.

Tickets £11 (club members £8) can be reserved via the form on our contact page. Bring your own drinks – teas and coffee available in the kitchen.

Song session showcase with Shorelark on Friday 21 October

Posted on 13 October 2016 by bridget

At the song session on Friday 21 October we look forward to a special showcase by Shorelark, a new young folk duo who were finalists at New Roots this year. Shorelark comprise singer-songwriter and guitarist Georgia Morgan Turner and recorder-player and English folk multi-instrumentalist Finn Collinson. Their meticulous arrangements make great use of unusual instrumentation, inspired by the duo’s wide influences, which range from Brazilian music to Baroque recorder works.

With a combined age of just 32, Georgia and Finn are experienced beyond their years and between them have enjoyed solo performances at the Barbican Hall (Georgia) and Cadogan Hall, London (Finn). They have also appeared at FolkEast Festival, Cecil Sharp House and Aldeburgh Festival.

Georgia and Finn will perform two sets within the song session, which is free. All singers, musicians and listeners are welcome to come along. Bring your own drinks – teas and coffee available in the kitchen.

Song session showcase with The Lion’s Share on Friday 29 July

Posted on 12 July 2016 by bridget

On Friday 29 July we look forward to welcoming New Roots finalists 2016 The Lion’s Share as showcase guests within the song session. This London-based folk duo grew out of the UCLU Folk and World Music Society and is made up of Tom Blackburn, a Nic Jones-esque guitarist, who has had the pleasure of supporting such acts as Martin Carthy, and Jimmy Grayburn, a frailing and finger-picking banjo player. Together, with driving vocals and tight harmonies, they sing stories of love, betrayal and homelessness, respecting the tradition while adding their own personal touch. The Lion’s Share will perform two sets within the session.

All listeners, singers and musicians are also welcome to join the song session, which starts at 8 pm. There is no charge. Bring your own drinks. Teas and coffee available in the kitchen.

Mick Ryan and Paul Downes on Friday 8 July

Posted on 27 June 2016 by bridget

On Friday 8 July we welcome Mick Ryan and Paul Downes. Mick Ryan is well known on the folk scene as a fine singer of traditional and original songs. He was described by Folk Roots as ‘definitely the most underrated singer in the country’. Having written both comic and serious material for the very popular band Crows in the 1980s, he has since written for radio and developed a series of highly successful folk musicals: ‘A Tollpuddle Man’ (with Graham Moore); ‘A Day’s Work’; ‘The Voyage’; ‘Tanks for the Memory’ and, recently, ‘The Navvy’s Wife’; ’The Pauper’s Path’ and the centennial revival of ‘A Day’s Work’.

Mick is joined by the consummately skilled and expressive Paul Downes, who has a sensitive, yet fun approach to live performances which puts him among the most respected artists on the British acoustic music scene today. He has been introduced (to his embarrassment) as one of the greatest acoustic guitarist in the world, but considers himself a singer of songs rather than a guitar technician. Paul has a rich musical background that has progressed through working with Phil Beer, The Arizona Smoke Revue, Pete Seeger, The Joyce Gang and Maggie Boyle.

Tickets available by reservation via our contact form, £10 (£7 members). Bring your own drinks. Teas and coffee available in the kitchen.

Ange Hardy on Friday 24 June

Posted on 21 May 2016 by bridget

Nominated at the 2015 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards and celebrated by The Telegraph as ‘one of Britain’s top folk musicians’, Ange Hardy has grabbed the attention of the traditional folk music world by writing new material and embracing modern technologies whilst maintaining a traditional feel.

Alongside a staggering list of other accolades, Ange was awarded FATEA Magazine’s ‘Female Vocalist of the Year’ in 2013, ‘Album of the Year’ in 2014 and ‘The Tradition Award’ in 2015.

As a solo artist, Ange performs with a 27-string Salvi Harp, three different guitars, a variety of low whistles, a bodhrán drum, a tambourine and an Indian shruti box. Her innovative and subtle use of live looping to build layers of vocal harmonies makes Ange Hardy one of the most diverse solo-artists you’re likely to encounter.

Tickets are £11 (£8 members) and can be reserved by emailing via our contact page. Bring your own drinks. Teas and coffee available in the kitchen.

The Changing Room on Friday 26 February

Posted on 10 February 2016 by bridget

A 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).

Dick Gaughan on Friday 30 October

Posted on 8 October 2015 by bridget

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.

Greg Russell and Ciaran Algar on Friday 15 May

Posted on 26 April 2015 by bridget

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

Posted on 29 March 2015 by bridget

Picture by Phil Nicholls (www.philnicholls.co.uk)

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’.