Tag Archives: Traditional and contemporary songs

Martin Carthy on Friday 13 May

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For more than 50 years Martin Carthy has been one of folk music’s greatest innovators, one of its best loved, most enthusiastic and, at times, most quietly controversial of figures. His skill, stage presence and natural charm have won him many admirers, not only from within the folk scene, but also far beyond it.

Martin is a ballad singer, a ground-breaking acoustic and electric-guitarist and an authoritative interpreter of newly composed material. He always prefers to follow an insatiable musical curiosity rather than cash in on his unrivalled position. Perhaps, most significant of all, are his settings of traditional songs with guitar, which have influenced a generation of artists, including Bob Dylan and Paul Simon, on both sides of the Atlantic.

The event starts at 7.30 pm. There are some tickets left (£15 non-members, £12 club members). These can be reserved by emailing us via the contact page. Bring your own drinks.

Martin Carthy on Friday 20 March

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For more than 50 years Martin Carthy has been one of folk music’s greatest innovators, one of its best loved, most enthusiastic and, at times, most quietly controversial of figures. His skill, stage presence and natural charm have won him many admirers, not only from within the folk scene, but also far beyond it.

Martin is a ballad singer, a ground-breaking acoustic and electric-guitarist and an authoritative interpreter of newly composed material. He always prefers to follow an insatiable musical curiosity rather than cash in on his unrivalled position. Perhaps, most significant of all, are his settings of traditional songs with guitar, which have influenced a generation of artists, including Bob Dylan and Paul Simon, on both sides of the Atlantic.

Due to the current national situation THIS EVENT IS POSTPONED TO EARLY 2021.

The Teacups Trio on Friday 5 July

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Returning to Norwich Folk Club on Friday 5 July we welcome The Teacups Trio, a fantastic young harmony group who we last saw in June 2015. As you may already know, The Teacups formed as a foursome while studying at Newcastle and offer unadorned, gutsy singing of traditional and contemporary material. Not to be missed!

Tickets £11 (£8 club members), can be reserved by emailing via the form on our contact page. Bring your own drinks. Teas and coffees available in the kitchen.

In the meantime, the showcase guest at the song session on Friday 21 June is the popular local singer, melodeon player and guitarist Roger Gamble. A veteran of the folk and acoustic scene for over fifty years, Roger helped set up the first Norwich Folk Clubs at the Unthank Arms and the York Tavern and still regularly performs at sessions and clubs in Norfolk and Suffolk. Over the years Roger has happily absorbed influences from Dylan to Knopfler, from the Blues to the West Coast, but Norfolk song and humour are always likely to break through. This is a free session. Bring songs and tunes as well as your own drinks.

Ninebarrow on Friday 16 November

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Ninebarrow are a multi-award-winning folk duo who are impressing audiences across the country with their innovative and captivating take on the folk tradition. Described by Mark Radcliffe as sounding ‘like two halves of one voice’ and by Kate Rusby as ‘absolutely amazing’, Jon Whitley and Jay LaBouchardiere combine breath-taking vocal harmonies and melodies, delivering original songs that are inspired and rooted in the landscape and history of the British Isles. As well as crafting unique and engaging original material, Ninebarrow also take a wide-range of traditional folk songs and rework them in their own distinctive way, accompanied by tenor and octave mandolas, ukulele, two reed organs and piano.

In 2017, the duo were nominated at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in the ’Horizon’ category for ‘Best Emerging Artist’. One of the highest accolades in their genre, it was made even more exceptional because it was only a few months prior to this that Jon and Jay relinquished their jobs as a teacher and GP in favour of a full-time music career. Farewell Shanty

Tickets £11 (members £8) can be reserved via the email box on our contact page. Pay on the door. Bring your own drinks. Teas and coffee available in the kitchen (50p).

Ewan McLennan on Friday 21 September

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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.

Sam Kelly and Jamie Francis on Friday 22 June

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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.

Showcase with Jaki Alden and Pete Wilks on Friday 25 May

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On Friday 25 May we welcome well known local performers Jaki Alden and Pete Wilks as showcase guests at the song session. Jaki (cello and flute) and Pete (fiddle, banjo, guitar) are accomplished instrumentalists and singers, with an eclectic mix of acoustic songs and tunes, some ancient and some modern. Look forward to an evening of mellow sounds.

Entry is free, with a raffle, and all are welcome to come along to the session, whether to sing, play or listen. Bring songs and tunes, and your own drinks. Teas and coffee are available in the kitchen.

Tony Hall on Friday 16 March

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We look forward very much to welcoming local celebrity, melodeon player and modest wit Tony Hall back to the Folk Club on Friday 16 March. Summed up by Islington Folk Club as: ‘East Anglian melodeon player with a distinctive, quintessentially English style, who played on the iconic ’80s Nic Jones release Penguin Eggs. Hall’s sets are laid-back affairs, interspersed with his dry, sometimes gently surreal humour.’

Please let us know if you would like us to save tickets £9 (£6 members), via the email on the contact page. Bring your own drinks. Teas and coffee available in the kitchen.

The Norwich Folk Club AGM, which was postponed from 23 February due to illness, will now be held on Friday 23 March at 8 pm, to be followed by a song session, open to all, from around 9 pm.

The Shackleton Trio on Friday 19 January

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The guests on Friday 19 January will be the Shackleton Trio, a lively local band featuring fiddle-player and songwriter Georgia Shackleton, supported by guitarist Aaren Bennett and mandolin player Nic Zuppardi. Georgia writes and performs ‘wordy songs about other people’, instrumentally influenced by British, American and Scandinavian folk traditions, with a regional twist.

The Trio have toured the UK, Belgium and the Netherlands, and have performed at Cambridge Folk Festival and Folk East, Towersey and Broadstairs Folk Week, as well as folk clubs across the UK.

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

The club’s Christmas Party will be on Friday 22 December. All welcome. Bring your own drinks and perhaps some food to share.  Seasonal songs, tunes and a grand raffle.

Norwich Folk Club will also meet on Friday 29 December this year.

Martyn Wyndham Read and Iris Bishop on 1 December

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Martyn Wyndham-Read has been involved with folk music for over 40 years. In his late teens he left his mother’s farm in Sussex and headed off, with his guitar, to Australia where he worked on a sheep station in South Australia. It was while he was there that he heard, first hand, the old songs sung by some of the station hands at Emu Springs and he became captivated by these songs and the need to know more of them and where they came from grew.

Martyn headed off to Melbourne and became part of the folk song revival there and throughout Australia during the early1960s. Based back in the UK, he has toured worldwide, performing a variety of traditional and contemporary songs. Martyn is accompanied by box player Iris Bishop.

Tickets £11 (£8 club members) can be reserved via the email link on our contacts page. Bring your own drinks. Coffee and teas available in the kitchen.