04/March/ 2021
Hello again and welcome to another Dreamers Newsletter – coming up to a year now but maybe the end is in sight. As those who were at Sunday’s session will have heard, Jonathan has been in touch with the Sportsmans and Roger is hoping to welcome us back later in the year. Fingers firmly crossed and wood touched!
For once, we had no international visitors on Sunday but still a good and busy evening so thanks to all and, especially, Marion and her glamorous assistant. Unknown to John and Marion at the time, while they were busy as MCs on Zoom, a raging gorse fire was taking place nearby with the road closed and flames stretching from one side to the other. Typical British stiff upper lip – or it would have been if they had known about it!
We’ve all been enjoying the regular visits from Bruce Watson (which may come to an end soon, at least for a while, when our clocks go forward and the hour on a Monday morning in Melbourne really does become too uncivilised. Bruce set himself the challenge of writing and posting a song every day in April last year as a Covid Social Isolation Project – you can see them all, as he puts it “a bit warts and all” at https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsi1zocYSIaUy4OqDxo6FX3dNgkOUBGT8
Whilst on the subject of special lockdown recordings, the fiddle player and composer Duncan Chisholm, based near Inverness, started the “Covid Ceilidhs” last year, posting traditional tunes, filmed in some wonderful places, daily on twitter. This lasted for four months – some can be found on youtube now.
One I missed last week wasThe Official Folk Albums Chart Show from Folk on Foot. It looks like this will be on the first Monday of every month but you can catch up with it on Chart Show | Folk on Foot (or on youtube). This first edition features a high energy live track from Peat and Diesel, an interview with Jim Ghedi about his brilliant new album In The Furrows of Common Place and music from Westward The Light, Steve Tilston, Luke Concannon, Karen Matheson and The Staves.
Short notice but it seems that St Piran’s Day is being celebrated in Sheffield on Thank Goodness It’s Folk Friday this year! Friday March 5th, 10am on www.sheffieldlive.org with James Fagan and on-line later at www.mixcloud.com/jimbobfagan/ They are promising some great Cornish music from Dalla, Richard Trethewey, The Changing Room and others – two hours of excellent music.
That’s all for now, looking forward as always to Sunday night’s Live Zoom session with Alistair. If you’re looking for ideas for material, a reminder that it was St David’s Day this last Monday (1st March), it’s St Piran’s tomorrow (Friday 5th March) and International Women’s Day is on Monday (8th March).
Until then, take care, stay safe and all the best
Nigel