Jez Lowe on Friday 7 June

Jez Lowe has long been one of the UK’s busiest folk performers, playing for audiences the world over, either solo, (with guitar, cittern and harmonica accompaniment), or with his band The Bad Pennies. His Men At Words tour of North America saw Jez joining forces with James Keelaghan and Archie Fisher for much-acclaimed concerts across Canada and the USA. And as part of The Pitmen Poets (with Bob Fox, Benny Graham and Billy Mitchell), Jez has helped to rekindle the fire in the tradition of mining songs and culture of his native region in a series of sell out theatre performances around the UK.

Over the last couple of decades, the likes of Fairport Convention, The Dubliners, The Unthanks, Wizz Jones, The McCalmans, Mary Black, The Duhks, Bob Fox, The Young Uns, Enda Kenny, Cherish The Ladies, Tom McConville, The Clancys and scores more, have queued up to adopt his songs for their own repertoires. No wonder no less than Richard Thompson has called him, ‘The best singer songwriter to come out of the UK for a long time’.

Our events start at 8 pm. Tickets are now SOLD OUT. Bring your own drinks. Teas and coffee available in the kitchen.

Ewan McLennan on Friday 21 September

Ewan McLennan has come to be known as a guitarist at the very forefront of his generation; a troubadour, balladeer and storyteller cut in the old style; a singer that can move audiences with his passion and pathos; and a songwriter for whom social justice is still a burning issue.

From a BBC Horizon Award to his performances on the acclaimed Transatlantic Sessions, recent years have been marked by numerous awards and accolades for his music.

Ewan’s most recent project entitled Breaking the Spell of Loneliness – a collaboration with renowned author and journalist George Monbiot – seeks to use music and word to open up the issue of loneliness. Their UK tour and concept album have received wide acclaim and been featured widely, including live appearances on BBC Two’s Newsnight, BBC Radio 4’s Front Row and BBC Radio 3’s In Tune. New video, just released: Shelter from the Storm

Tickets £11 (members £8) can be reserved by emailing contact@norwichfolkclub.net. Bring your own drinks. Teas and coffee available in the kitchen.

Pete Morton on Friday 20 July

Pete Morton is one of the finest original songwriters on the folk scene. Perhaps best known for one of his earliest songs ‘Another Train’, Pete is constantly producing new material, sharing his unique view of our place in a changing world.

Pete’s most recent CD, ‘The Game of Life’, is a compilation of his most popular tracks, performed with the band Full House, and includes both up-tempo and serious songs, including ‘Seven Billion Eccentrics’, ‘The Shepherd’s Song’, and ‘The Luckiest Man’, as well as ‘Disobedience’ and ‘Shores of Italy’, written in 2003 but still sadly topical.

Tickets £11 (£8 members) can be reserved by emailing contact[at]norwichfolkclub[dot]net. Bring your own drinks. Teas and coffee available in the kitchen.

 

Sam Kelly and Jamie Francis on Friday 22 June

Sam Kelly is a BBC Radio 2 Folk Award winning Bristol-based singer, song-writer, producer and multi-instrumentalist. Coming from a family largely made up of Norfolk dairy farmers has left Sam Kelly with an unmatched experience of singing in front of hurtfully disinterested Friesians, and his meandering musical journey has ranged from reaching the final of ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent as a teenager, to being selected for the first ever EFDSS Artist Development Scheme.

Sam was nominated in the Best Singer category at the 2015 Spiral Earth Awards and won the BBC Radio 2 Horizon Award in 2016. Sam Kelly and The Lost Boys were nominated for the Best Band category in 2018. Sam will perform at the club with Lost Boys band member and talented banjo player Jamie Francis, whose playing has been described as ‘fantastic’ (Mike Harding) and ‘exemplary’ (Folk Radio). Golden Vanity

Tickets £13 (£10 for club members) can be reserved by emailing via our contact form or to contact{at}norwichfolkclub[dot]net Bring your own drinks. Teas and coffees available in the kitchen.

John Conolly on Friday 8 June

Lincolnshire singer-songwriter John Conolly is a long-established member of the folk community. John originally found his way into folk music through the skiffle route, but is best known for what many think is a traditional song, ‘Fiddler’s Green’, performed here with Dave Fletcher and Bill Whaley. John’s other well known songs include “Punch and Judy Man“.

“If there were ever a Campaign for Real Folk-Singers, John Conolly would be the sort of act it would promote – his well-crafted songs sit well with his easy-going charm and sense of humour, making him a firm favourite with both audiences and fellow-musicians.” (Topic Folk Club, Bradford)

Tickets ( £7 members, £10 non-members) can be reserved by emailing: contact [at] norwichfolkclub [dot] net. Bring your own drinks. Teas and coffee available in the kitchen.

Showcase with Terence Blacker on Friday 11 May

Copyright Rob Howarth Photography
Terence Blacker

The showcase guest at the song session on Friday 11 May will be local performer Terence Blacker. Once described by the Boston Globe as ‘an angry, smart, and funny man’, Terence Blacker is a songwriter, singer and author who has sung and read at festivals, clubs and theatres in the UK, Europe and America. His songs have been compared to the work of Jake Thackray, Tom Lehrer, Noel Coward and Jacques Brel, but his style is very much contemporary and his own.

Terence will perform two sets within the song session. Free entry with raffle. Bring your own drinks. Teas and coffee available in the kitchen.

Showcase with Clarke Camilleri on Friday 28 July

On Friday 28 July we welcome showcase guest and New Roots 2017 finalist Clarke Camilleri, a young guitarist and songwriter, and a keen student of traditional folk music. Clarke has a recent EP of his own material and his current interest is in making his own arrangements of traditional British songs. 

Clarke, who was one of our favourite New Roots performers this year, will be performing two sets within the song session.

This is a free event. As usual, bring songs, tunes and perhaps a bottle or two. Teas and coffee will be available in the kitchen.

Norwich Folk Club meets from 8 pm every Friday throughout the summer for the regular song session. Everyone is welcome to come along, whether to sing, play or listen, and we particularly enjoy meeting visitors to the area. Free entry to all song sessions.

Please note that the song session on Friday 1 September will be in the cosy upstairs room, for one week only.

 

Wizz Jones on Friday 10 March

tearooms140The guest on Friday 10 March will be folk and blues singer-songwriter and guitarist Wizz Jones. Admired by many well known folk musicians, including Ralph McTell and Martin Carthy, and top guitarists, such as Eric Clapton and Keith Richards, Wizz Jones has been touring since the 1960s. His best known song, ‘When I leave Berlin’, has been performed by Bruce Springsteen and Wizz himself has been described as ‘one of the finest guitarists you are ever likely to see’ (review of performance at the Green Note, Mark Harrison).

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

Song session showcase with Shorelark on Friday 21 October

shorelark-2016-001-landscapeAt 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.

Mick Ryan and Paul Downes on Friday 8 July

Mick Ryan and Paul DownesOn 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.