Oh dear! It’s a good job that August is a quiet month on the folk scene, for the clubs at least, although of course the opposite applies for festivals and I hope you enjoyed any that you went to. Unicorn Folk has been quiet for a while for reasons that I will come to, but in the meantime folk clubs are opening up again and there are some very interesting evenings awaiting music fans around here.
Royston Live actually started up on August 25th and they are back with bang this coming Friday 8th with a concert featuring the talented Ken Nicol of Steeleye Span and Albion band fame (amongst others) accompanied by classically trained violinist Wendy Ross. If that isn’t enough for one evening, for no extra dosh at all, you can sample the delightful sounds of DnA, Dave Oxley and Ali Cosser, in a new duo born out of ‘Sky West’.
On Thursday this week Bishop’s Stortford Acoustic Club is hosting Dave Sutherland in concert which will be an all ticket event – details on the website: http://www.acousticclub.co.uk/ Alternatively, if you are in the vicinity of Leytonstone tomorrow, Leytonstone Folk Club are hosting a Ceilidh with quality musicians at the bargain prices of £5 in advance and £7.50 on the door. You can even bring your own snacks and booze! Just click on the link for more details.
Speaking of Dave Oxley, his blues and ragtime partnership with fellow ‘SkyWester’ Martin Kaszak, ‘Cut the Mustard‘, is back live at the The Bull Beer Fest, Langley CB114SB this Saturday 9th Sept supported by ‘Pass the Buck’ and a lot of beer presumably! Starts 2pm.
The last couple of events are brought to you by way of Unicorn Folk’s grapevine but everything else can be found in the Unicorn Diary in the Listings on the main Unicorn Folk website.
On Sunday 10th you are spoilt for choice with Hitchin Folk Club hosting John Tams and Black Fen Folk Club hosting Gilmore and Roberts. Later in the week on Wednesday 13th Ely Folk Club are hosting Phil Beer and to round things off for the week on Friday 15th Watford Folk Club have the Polly Morris Band.
Into next weekend and Baldock Folk Club is hosting a day of live music at the Wimpole Estate Harv’Fest Festival with Free entry on Saturday 16th. Morning session – 11-12 – Kelly & Woolley and Greg Rose. Afternoon session – 1.30-2.30. – Kaszak & Afifi and Phil Hewett. Email Greg – greg_fieldfare@hotmail.com or text 07785328097 by Thursday 14th September to get free entry to the Wimpole Hall estate.
Now the big news that you have all been waiting for! Royston MusicFest is part of Royston Arts Festival and working on both has kept Unicorn Folk quiet during the peak summer weeks, if our disappointing weather this year can still allow that description of July and August! Now the MusicFest schedule is ready and all the expected artists and venues are shown on the roystonmusicfest.uk website. There are five venues this year with six mini-concerts of around 40 minutes each and excellent quality artists. Effectively, you can turn up at any venue and experience an extended session of quality music all for FREE. Do please buy a drink at the venue though, or perhaps treat yourself to lunch?
If you are not sure what to expect from MusicFest I suggest that you listen to the Special MusicFest Edition of Filby’s Folk going out on Royston Radio on Sunday 17th September at 7pm. You will be able to hear something from every artist and a few words of explanation about the type of music they play. Then you can check the schedule and plan your Sunday afternoon at Royston MusicFest. You can also listen to all sorts of music on Royston Radio HERE at any time or catch up on the podcasts for Filby’s Folk if you miss the show on a Sunday evening.
Unicorn Folk News 