I’m sure everyone will agree it was great to be back at Dreamers last Sunday, to see so many friends who had turned out on a very cold evening and, of course, to hear some great performances. Welcome back, too, to this Newsletter.
Next Sunday we welcome Djazz Celtica to the Club. Noel and Pam Betowski from West Cornwall have performed their innovative mix of “Hot Club” Gypsy jazz and traditional music as a duo at all sorts of functions and venues for over 35 years. Should be a good evening.
We were a bit anxious about the December session of the Cornish Zoom Folk Club during the holiday period and also because circumstances meant we had to run it from up country. In the event all the techie stuff worked fine and we had an amazing turn-out with some excellent performers from the UK and from much further afield as well as a number of folk who came along as audience. We had numerous comments in the chat and messages subsequently to say how much folk enjoyed the evening and appreciate these sessions. Not easy to manage the numbers online so well done to Malcolm and Hilary as MCs. The next one is on 27th January.
Further afield:-
· Endelienta Arts, a charity based out of St Endellion, Port Isaac, have a year-round programme of concerts, family theatre, workshops, exhibitions and literary events. Next month, they have Will Keating and a line-up of special guests – sax and whistle player Daniel Woodfield, accordion player Matthew Bray and Matthew’s 16-year-old son Finley Bray on mandolin and banjo. They also have Kathrym Roberts and Sean Lakeman in March. Full details on their ebsite: https://endelienta.org.uk/
· We were pleased to see Sam and Eleanor from Folk Life at the December zoom session. They put together the very informative Folk Life magazine covering folk news, clubs, events and so on around the country – www.folklife.uk The January to April edition is now available.
· As always, Live to Your Living Rooms has various events planned, details and tickets at Events | Live Music Online Gig | Live to your Living Room.
o Tonight, 11th January, there’s Greg Russell at 8.00 p.m. in a hybrid gig in partnership with Live At Sam’s in Sheffield. Greg has won two BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards and was the creative force behind the political song project Shake the Chains and a member of the touring Transports musical.
o Next Friday, 19th January at 8.00, the site features the trio Sherburn Bartley Sanders who have played together since 2016 – a repertoire of English folk songs to complement the some more Celtic roots.
· And, for those who wish to cling on to Christmassy things for a little longer, Folk on Foot have posted a new, seasonal, episode from St Tydecho’s Church in the village of Mallwyd in mid Wales with the ancient tradition of the plygain carols, welsh language carols which have been handed down for generations. More info and the link can be found at Folk On Foot
Enough for this week. As always, do let me know if you have any news or events which could usefully be circulated in this Newsletter
All the best
Nigel