This seems a strange time of the year with such mild weather in February, in the South-East at least, and perhaps that’s why life seems unusually busy again though if I start repeating myself that’s not going to be very entertaining! What should be very entertaining are many of the acts that we have coming to our region over the next week or so.
Tonight, Tuesday 20th I’m off to see Bird In The Belly in concert at St Neots Folk Club a band that I have wanted to see ever since I wrote the review of their CD ‘After The City’ for Unicorn Folk which you can read HERE along with lots of other reviews. Then, on Friday 23rd Royston Live have their first Singers and Players Night since the new organisers of Bryan Causton, Penni Maclaren-Walker, Guido Rincón & Jeremy Harmer took over. (Hopefully, one or two of the hosts might provide a song or two!) On the same night, The Stables, Milton Keynes have Maddie Morris and Watford Folk Club have Hamish Currie as guest artists and Cambridge Folk Club have Nick Barraclough and friends.
On Sunday 25th February Hitchin Folk Club have Miranda Sykes & Hannah Martin as guests and again on the same day The Stables, Milton Keynes have Seth Lakeman on the Kitty Jay Tour. On Wednesday 28th Baldock Folk Club have North Sea Gas + Orphean Sprig and Four Rivers Folk Club in Hertford have Kate Ellis and finally on Thursday 29th the Acoustic Club, Bishop’s Stortford have one of their 6 Acts 4 Songs nights with Colin Frid, Mike Excel, Melanie Quinn, Cider at Yours, Paul Booth + Si + Verna, and Ali Cossor.
A little further ahead and St Andrews Church in Hertford have Martin Simpson in concert on Thursday 14th March. Their concerts seem to sell out quickly these days, probably because of the high quality of their performers so, should you be interested, I advise that you enquire quickly about tickets. Details with links can be found on the main Unicorn Folk website amongst the posters in the Featured Festivals & Concerts section.
I have recently become aware of the work of The East Anglian Traditional Music Trust, a registered charity which is based in Stowmarket, having been approached by them to help with publicity for their Traditional Music Day on Saturday 21st September 2024.
As the Trust’s website says, East Anglia has a rich seam of traditional folk music, and has provided inspiration for composers such as Ralph Vaughan Williams, and been the subject of many recordings, books and articles. You can find information about their current projects, and how to get involved, including workshops and evening classes, community projects, research and publications on their website https://www.eatmt.org.uk/ and you can contact them at: info@eatmt.org.uk or ring 07495 054669.
In connection with the above and as regular readers of this blog will know I’m keen on keeping alive the old dance traditions, so I won’t apologise for another mention of the Dance Diary in The Listings on the main Unicorn Folk website. This provides a FREE listing of events for all EFDSS or Morris sides to allow them to publicise their activities. Do take advantage if you can and send your details to info@unicornfolk.uk ideally using the either Word or Excel forms (still labelled 2023 but fine to use) which makes it a lot easier to collate than just plain text in an email.
The new releases are starting to come out this year and I have a few to review now, more of which in the next blog but in the meantime keep your eyes on the CD Review page HERE. I have already started playing tracks from new albums in ‘Filby’s Folk’at 6pm on Sunday evenings on Royston Radio with a repeat at 1pm Tuesdays. The show features a wide range of folk music including traditional, acoustic, Celtic, European, Breton, Indie and folk rock. I usually include a reminder or two about ‘What’s On’ in the way of folk concerts in the week or so following broadcast so do give it a listen and if you like it spread the word please. Thank you!
Unicorn Folk News 