Folk-electronic project


New EP from collaborative folk-electronic project, “Folkatron”

Upcycled Sounds Records have announced the upcoming release of our ‘Folkatron’ 2017 EP - ‘Mais c’est quoi maman?’. 10 musicians, 6 days and 4 folktronica tracks from scratch.

 

Folkatron is a new project from Upcycled Sounds, an independent sound production team based between Oxford and Paris. It brings together young folk and electronic musicians together for a week to produce experimental arrangements of traditional folk music.

 

The music video for the EP single, ‘Eleno Kerko’ will be released this Friday June 1st, followed by the full EP on all major digital platforms on June 15th, 2018. This marks the first day of the 2018 Folkatron edition. Llisten to a pre-release of the EP through Soundcloud using the link here. The lead single ‘Eleno Kerko’ and accompanying music video will be released on Friday, June 1st, followed by the full EP release on the first day of Folkatron 2018 - June 15th.

Watch the video for a taste of the project

 

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From Melodeon to Button Accordion

Having seen John Tams playing the melodeon in the Albion Dance Band in 1976, I decided that was the instrument for me. But where to buy one? At that time, Hobgoblin was a very small business selling second-hand concertinas from a garden-shed sized building somewhere in rural Sussex. I eventually tracked a one-row Hohner pokerwork instrument in C to a shop in Streatham, South London. I had to stop smoking to afford to pay the £30 they were asking for it! It wasn’t long before I progressed to a two-row G/D Hohner pokerwork instrument.

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Upstairs at the Red Lion in Manningtree

A history of the Upstairs at the Red Lion Manningtree
The acoustic and roots music nights Upstairs at the Red Lion in Manningtree celebrated their 20th anniversary in 2017. The music nights were established by a group of local music enthusiasts in January 1997 as a forum for top UK and international acoustic based musicians and singers to perform in intimate surroundings supported by the best in local talent.

Barry Carter, one of the founders explains: "The intention wasn't for it to be another folk club as the organisers shared a variety of musical tastes." The first gig took place on 17th Jan.1997 and featured the folk duo Steve Tilston and Maggie Boyle who fused traditional and contemporary music and were already making waves in the UK and across the Atlantic. This trend continued with the club's first major coup when Bert Jansch, the iconic guitarist from the 60's appeared to a packed house in May '97.

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Colchester Folk Club 1964 - 2018 - Elaine Barker

The folk club opened at The Recreation Hotel (‘The Rec’) in 1964 during the ‘Folk Revival’. It was the brainchild of the late Brian Hughes who had strong connections to CND and the sixties protest movement. That first night 16th March, the audience seemed to consist largely of Brian’s personal friends but by December that year membership stood at 300 and weekly audiences were between 80 and 100. Its first guest artist was a young Julie Felix who was about to become nationally known for her appearances on That Was the Week That Was. The following year, The Essex County Standard reported that Julie Felix had verbally agreed to play for the first birthday on 22nd March but in fact was booked by The Troubadour and Dave Moran of Chelmsford Folk Club to play in Colchester’s Moot Hall on the same night. After this mix-up the club went ahead and celebrated the first birthday with Sandy and Jeanie, Bob Davenport and other residents performing to an audience of 300. To the folk club’s delight, Julie Felix turned up (along with The Spinners) towards the end of the evening after the concert at the Moot Hall and treated the audience to a few songs. Organizer Brian Hughes claimed it as a triumph for the club pointing out that only 98 had attended the concert at The Moot Hall!! The third time Julie played, her agent phoned the organiser to say she’d like to play the club but there was to be no publicity and it was to be for members only. By then she was filling big concert halls. The fee was £50 so the ticket price had to be doubled. Many years later Julie returned (in 1999) to play for the club’s 35th birthday.

In the early years guests booked included Mike Harding (formerly of the BBC Radio Folk Programme), Arlo Guthrie (of Alice’s Restaurant fame), Long John Baldry, Jasper Carrot, Ewan McColl and Peggy Seeger, Louis Killen, Alex Campbell (a regular visitor), Sandy and Jeanie, A.L. Lloyd, Anne Briggs, Nadia Catoose, Bob Davenport, The Strawbs, Alexis Korner, The Watersons and Martin Carthy. Many artists were repeatedly booked since there wasn’t the network of professional artists there is now and with the explosion of folk clubs starting up and down the country the few professionals were very much in demand.

Read more: Colchester Folk Club 1964 - 2018 - Elaine Barker