Jez Lowe at The Canopy Theatre
JEZ LOWE – CANOPY THEATRE BECCLES - Sat 22nd March at 8.00 p.m.
Jez Lowe has long been one of the UK’s busiest folk performers, playing for audiences the world over, either solo, (with guitar, cittern and harmonica accompaniment), or with his band The Bad Pennies.
His Men At Words tour of North America saw Jez joining forces with James Keelaghan and Archie Fisher for much-acclaimed concerts across Canada and the USA. And as part of The Pitmen Poets (with Bob Fox, Benny Graham and Billy Mitchell), Jez has helped to rekindle the fire in the tradition of mining songs and culture of his native region in a series of sell out theatre performances around the UK.
Over the last couple of decades, the likes of Fairport Convention, The Dubliners, The Unthanks, Mary Black, Bob Fox, The Young Uns and scores more, have queued up to adopt his songs for their own repertoires.
Richard Thompson has called him “The best singer songwriter to come out of the UK for a long time”, and personally invited him to play at Thompson’s Meltdown Festival at London’s South Bank Centre in 2010.
Swilkie, the new album from Highlands based singer and songwriter Iona Lane, weaves ecology, conservation, islands and folklore into poetic songs and contemplative melodies. Written during three residencies on the Isle of Eigg, Isle of Mull and Sanday in Orkney, sense of place and landscape are at the core of these songs. From basking sharks to lighthouses, lichen to vanishing islands, curlews to tree planting; the album was recorded in a boathouse on the West Coast of Scotland and the eager listener may even hear the lapping sound of the tide murmuring through the album. Iona’s connection to places by the sea is translated through these songs with evolving vocal melodies, subtle guitar and shruti box.
For what began life as a side project for Michael Weston King & LouDalgleish, a labour of love and a homage to the classic country duets of the 60’s and 70’s, My Darling Clementine has grown and grown.
“Sarah was just fantastic – she had a sold out audience captivated from start to finish.”— Ards Arts Centre, Northern Ireland
Towards the end of September Milkmaid Molly were invited to bring a team to Thornage Hall Camp Community - a specialist school near Holt in Norfolk. Seven of the Milkmaid team made the trip plus three musicians. Milkmaid Molly is an inclusive Molly side based in Bury-St-Edmunds in Suffolk. It comprises a good core membership of 'Mollies' (those who live with disabilities) and their 'Buddies' (volunteers who provide experise and support) with everyone linked by a common love and enjoyment of folk dance and music. On this occasion only the Buddies attended as it was our privilige to introduce members of the Camp Community to an afternoon of country dancing.
The workshop was led by Gill Bosley who is a founding member of Milkmaid and general head honcho. It was great! We were given a very warm welcome at the school and were joined by about a dozen students all raring to go. There were no problems getting people onto the floor and they were brilliant, quickly getting the hang of the dances whilst enjoying a good laugh. Dancing with a partner, proved to be so much fun for these young people and it was a pleasure to introduce them to a world of folk dance and music which they had never experienced before.