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Hitchin Folk Club |
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Monthly Newsletter - Hitchin Folkus |
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June 2008 |
Hi Folks
The last Folkus before the summer break, where has the year gone? We’ve certainly had some fabulous evenings this season, and have three more to finish off with.
Sunday
June 8th
we have an evening of warmth and great humour with Vin
Garbutt plus Dave Burland.
Powerful,
hugely moving, warm, humane, inspired, funny and gut wrenchingly honest.
These are just some of the superlatives used to describe Vin Garbutt’s performance this year. This international,
award winning, singer songwriter is about to embark on his 40th year on
the road. He is for ever in demand and his shows are continually sell outs!
Vin is reputed to have said that he is not interested in becoming a
big star in the accepted sense. Nevertheless in the area of music where he
performs, there is no bigger star. He prefers to be a big fish in a small
pond. This attitude means that his need for privacy and a balanced home life
are safeguarded and satisfied. What the world realised long before Vin did,
was that the small pond had grown over the years into a considerable lake.
All this has happened without the hype from big Record Companies, and
without the usual publicity from the mass media. He has performed all over
the globe, and in parts of countries that the biggest stars will never see.
This phenomenon has occurred solely by word of mouth, spread by people who
have come across him, and felt the need to share this unique experience with
their fellow countrymen. Winner
of BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards "Best Live Act" Award 2001.
BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards Nominee for "Best Live Act" Award
2007.
Dave Burland has retired twice in his life. In 1968 he left the Police Force to pursue a career in folk music, as a singer and guitar player. This particular period lasted until 1998 approx., when he took a proper job in which he had to wear proper trousers and, on occasions, a suit and tie. During the aforementioned period of thirty years, he visited quite a few countries, made quite a few solo records, quite a few of which are no longer available, played quite a lot of clubs and concerts and festivals, and made session appearances on quite a few other persons' records including Kate Rusby, Nic Jones, Richard Thompson, Mike Harding, Tony Rose, Bob Pegg and quite a few others. The period of 1998 to 2007 has been taken up by work with the very occasional engagement. However, in July 2007 all this changed when he retired for the second time, allowing him to concentrate on his music once again. Quite a few people will see this increased availability as quite a good thing! “Dave is a uniquely calm, gentle and cleaver singer, who makes you fell it’s all so amazingly simple. He’s also got a deliciously wicked sense of humour.” – Nic Jones.
The
last concert of the season is reserved for the king and queen of British
Folk Music, Norma Waterson and Martin
Carthy, joined as usual by Chris
Parkinson. It is hard to
think about anything to say about Norma & Martin that hasn’t been said
a thousand times before! They
are simply our best loved folk monarchy!
Norma
formed The Watersons in the early 60's
with her sister Lal, brother Mike and cousin John. They went on to become
the most influential vocal harmony group of the times, and achieved near
cult status when they stopped touring in the late 60's. In 1996 Norma
received universal acclaim with a nomination for the Mercury Music Prize, in
which she came a very close second to pop band Pulp. Norma has one of the
strongest and truest voices that contemporary folk music has ever produced.
A doyenne of British Folk Music, described in Mojo magazine as "possibly
the finest English singer alive today." More...
Martin
is widely regarded as one of the
finest singers and interpreters of traditional music from the British Isles,
as well as a highly influential guitarist. Martin has worked with a host of
significant folk artists including Steeleye Span, Dave Swarbrick, The Albion
Band, The Watersons and Brass Monkey, as well as maintaining a busy solo
career. He still prefers to follow his insatiable musical curiosity rather
than cash in on his unrivalled position as one of folk music's great
innovators. Awarded the MBE in 1998 for services to English
music, Martin has been the subject of various TV documentaries and has
received a spectrum of BBC Folk Awards, including the 2008 Best Traditional
Song award for Cold Haily Rainy Night, an award he won alongside
Eliza Carthy and Chris Wood. More...
Chris
has played music since the age of five, starting with the harmonica, and
moving on to piano, guitar, concertina, tin whistle, melodeon, piano
accordion and keyboards, and even a little time playing the fiddle. He plays
traditional folk music of UK, Europe and beyond, and is also no mean hand at
blues, rock & roll, and even a bit of jazz. Chris is also a founder
member of the much travelled and highly acclaimed "The House
Band". He is in great demand both for live performance and studio
session work, and has worked with countless people from the folk scene
and beyond - Martin Carthy & Norma Waterson, Ralph McTell, Mike Harding,
Martin Simpson, Steve Phillips.)
……………………and
that’s it until September 7th, when we open with Wild
Willy Barrett’s Sleeping Dogz plus Christene
LeDoux.
Autumn
Ticket Information.
Tickets are available for Karine
Polwart, Corrina
Hewat & Annie
Grace on September 28th, and Show of Hands on
November 2nd. SoH
tickets are currently only available to existing members, but any remaining
tickets will be opened up to non members on September 7th.
As
always, thank you for your continued support.
(goodmusic@hitchinfolkclub.co.uk)
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