Clive Gregson & Liz Simcock

Saturday 19th May Canopy Theatre, Hungate Church Beccles

Acclaimed singer/songwriters Clive Gregson & Liz Simcock first toured together in 2015 in a series of shows performing songs from the Clive Gregson & Christine Collister back catalogue. The tour was a resounding success, so Clive and Liz decided to keep the partnership going and in October 2017 they released Underwater Dancing, a CD of 14 brand new Clive Gregson songs

They undertook a very successful and well received tour in support of the album in autumn 2017 and will be embarking on the next leg of that tour in early summer 2018, bringing them to the Canopy Theatre at Hungate Church Beccles on Saturday 19th May at 8.00 p.m.

Photo Sara Porter

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Hadleigh French weekend

Hadleigh Folk and Acoustic Music Nights hosted another weekend of French music and dance form 6th - 8th April, attracting well over 100 people from all parts of the country. Our main guests, La Chavannée, have been responsible for some of the best interpretations of traditional music from Central France for the last 50 years.

 

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Tony Hall's Folk Band Night moves to new venue

From April, Tony Hall's Folk Band Night will move from the Duke of Wellington to The Reindeer, Dereham Road,NR2 4AY.

They will be playing every week on wednesdays and as before, this is a listening session (not joining in)

(known formerly as The Von Krapp Family Band)

The Ballad of Shirley Collins - Film release

Widely regarded as the 20th century’s most important singer of English traditional song, Shirley Collins is someone who was born to invoke the old songs. Alongside her sister Dolly, she stood at the epicentre of the folkmusic revival during the 1960s and ‘70s. But in 1980 she developed a disorder of the vocal chords known as dysphonia, which robbed her of her unique singing voice and forced her into early retirement.

The Ballad Of Shirley Collins - which premiered at this year’s London Film Festival - tells this story, though to reduce it to that single aspect
does everyone (not least of all Shirley!) something of a disservice. The story proves itself to be something of a time-travelling Transatlantic road-movie of sorts, utilising a motherlode of archive audio to recount the tale of her seminal 1959 song-collecting trip around America’s Deep South alongside her then-lover (and legendary ethnomusicologist) Alan Lomax. As well as these songs (notably Alabama Sacred Harp Convention, Texas Gladden and Sidney Hemphill-Carter) there are more recent offerings, a home recording of Shirley's sister Dolly Collins, and a BBC session from 1958, "Eight Five Spiritual" which gets its first release, some 60 years after it was recorded.

Shirley Collins spent her life in song. Even during her time without her performing voice she was telling the stories of others’ music. Not once has she dropped the baton in keeping these songs, these stories, these people alive. The soundtrack to ‘The Ballad Of Shirley Collins’ - though diverse - showcases just a fraction of the facets that make up an extraordinary career by anyone’s standards.


"Music Documentary Of The Year" – Louder Than War

"One of the great voices in British folk music" - The Guardian

Deliberately eschewing a straightforward biopic approach, Rob Curry and Tim Plester's follow-up to their award-winning documentary WAY OF THE MORRIS, is a lyrical response to the life-and-times of this totemic musical figure. Granted intimate access to recording sessions for Shirley’s first album of new recordings in almost four decades, and featuring contributions from the comedian Stewart Lee and David Tibet of Current 93, what emerges is a meditative and carefully textured piece of portraiture. A timely delve into the arterial blood, loam and tears of our haunted island nation. The film was released in October and has played more than 50 venues to date. January 9th is the date to look out for, with the film showing at around 30 venues across the country. Between then and January 20th there will be screenings in:
Bath , Birmingham, Bradford, Brighton, Edinburgh, Exeter, Glasgow, Henley, Liverpool, London, Norwich, Oxford, Southampton, Torrington and York.
Performance dates can be found HERE

News from East Anglian Traditional Music Trust HQ

 

TRADITIONAL MUSIC DAY will be taking place in Bungay, Suffolk on 15th September 2018. We are really excited that the new version of TMD is going ahead with a view to it taking place in a different county each year. There will be plenty of concerts, workshops, sessions and much more to keep you inspired and entertained. We will be taking over the whole Fisher Theatre and St Mary's Church (of Black Shuck fame) with more venues to be announced. Make sure you put the date in your diary now for this very exciting day of music, song and dance.

Our website is currently offline and having a little break over Christmas, (i.e. we have unfortunately been hacked! Don't worry we have a back up!) But.... this gives us the opportunity to complete the brand new website which will be up and running in January, fresh and new for 2018. Please email if you have any general queries before it is up and running This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Folk Choir Workshops starting on February 19th 2018 These sessions will be led by a very inspiring professional singer who specialises in traditional and early songs. The workshops will lead towards a performance at the Traditional Music Day in September, being part of the performance is not compulsory if you would like to take part in the workshops without the pressure of performing. Booking Details will be available in January.

Melodeons & More  There have been several enquiries about the Melodeons & More Day for 2018. A decision was taken by Katie and the Trustees not to book one for 2018 as they had not appointed a new Director. I am sorry if this is disappointing news for some of you, but rest assured there are some really exciting projects in the pipeline.

Sound Survey Collecting Project This is a major new project we are working on, details of which will be announced early 2018, including how to submit your own recordings. We will also be launching our very own EATMT Record Label in 2018.

We are also discussing lots of other interesting things... and always keen to hear ideas from EATMT Friends and subscribers - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Laura Cannell and Alex Bartholomew