Wednesday 31 December 2014

COMING YOUR WAY & NEWS

COMING YOUR WAY

Happy New Year to everyone who has visited and enjoyed the Folkall blog, and to those who will visit in 2015. I am looking forward to writing about and being part of another exciting year of folk and acoustic music with many new and established acts gearing up for a busy year ahead. Danny


Kim Lowings
The Red Lion Folk Club in Kings Heath, Birmingham has a full month ahead starting with Black Country group Kim Lowings & The Greenwood on January 7.
Lowings from Stourbridge, Dudley has, with The Greenwood which is Andrew Lowings, Tim Rogers and Dave Sutherland, established herself as a respected musician with a voice that is crystal clear. Lowings also plays a mean Appalachian dulcimer. They will be sharing the bill with Caz Forbes & Ste Moncrieff. The show starts at 7.45pm with the doors opening 7.15pm and tickets are £11 for members and £1 extra for non-members.
Should you be unable to make the concert at the Red Lion you will be able to catch Lowings on her home patch when the band plays The Woodman Folk Club at the Marina, Kingswinford on January 30. Tickets are £6 for members and £1 more for non-members. The show starts at 8.30pm. Phil Beer, a highly respected musician in his own right, but also of Show of Hands fame comes to the Red Lion on January 14. Beer will be bringing the sounds of his new album Plays Guitar and Fiddle, Sings A Bit. Times are the same and tickets cost £13.
Then on January 21 the club plays host to Megson who had a successful 2014 with the release of their critically acclaimed album In A Box. The duo of Stu and Debbie Hanna will be supported by Marie-Claire Berreen who has released her debut album Box and a Ribbon. Tickets for the show are £11 plus an extra £1 for non-members.
Taking out the month for the club are The Acoustic Strawbs who are enjoying their 45th year in the music business and are touring on the back of their album Prognostic. Dave Cousins, Chas Cronk and Dave Lambert will be playing the club on January 28, tickets are £13.

First Aid Kit
Staying in the Second City First Aid Kit have sold out their concert at the Symphony Hall, Birmingham on January 16. The Swedish duo of Johanna and Klara Söderberg will be bringing their distinctive mix of folk, acoustic and country to the impressive venue at 7.30pm. Tickets, should you be able to get any returns, are £20 and £25 plus a £3 transaction fee.

Outside of the city centre the Kitchen Garden Cafe has as an impressive line up for the start of the year with multi-instrumentalist Vera Van Heeringen. The Dutch musician, who will play pretty much any instrument she can lay her hands on, is working on her new album and will be bringing her talents to the Kings Heath venue on January 18. Doors open at 7.30pm with the show starting at 8pm. Tickets are advertised as £7 in advance but could incur a fee if booked online.
The following day, January 19, the cosy venue welcomes Bonfire Radicals. The Birmingham band are making their mark on the folk/world scene with their particular brand of music brought to you by Ruth Lyndsay, Katie Stevens, Michelle Holloway, Andy Bole, Trevor Lines and Liam Halloran. All shows at the Cafe start at the same time and tickets for this one are advertised at £6.
If you want to see a show and a half then the Gerry Colvin Band should fit the bill. The eccentric and manic performer will be bringing his unique take on the world and music to the venue on January 25. Tickets are advertised at £10.
On January 27 Cahalen Morrison and Eli West come to the venue with their mixture of old folk tunes and traditional bluegrass. Tickets are advertised as £10.
Finishing off the month at the venue is the folk legend Martin Carthy who will be playing there January 28. Carthy has been an icon for generations and tickets for the show are likely to sell fast. Tickets are £10 in advance or £12 on the door.

The Woodman Folk Club which meets at The Marina, Kingswinford plays host to Dublin entertainer Tommy Dempsey on January 16. Bill Caddick is back on the circuit and at the club, after a six year gap, on January 23. Both shows start 8.30pm and tickets for both shows are £6 for members and add £1 for non-members.

The Jigantics
The Jigantics will be playing The Studio at Warwick Arts Centre on January 18. The five piece band of Rick Edwards, Marion Fleetwood, Lyndon Webb, Mark Cole and Martin Fitzgibbon will be supported by Gloucestershire duo The Black Feathers. Sian Chandler and Ray Hughes have been touring for the last two years and last year released their debut EP Strangers We Meet. Tickets are £9 or £7.50 with concessions and the show starts 7.45pm.

One of the biggest names in folk at the moment Seth Lakeman will be playing the Main Auditorium of Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury on January 27. The show is a double treat because the support act is one of the hottest duos around Phillip Henry & Hannah Martin who last year released their fantastic album Live in Calstock which has been raved over by many critics. They will be back in the Midlands later in the year to play in Birmingham. Tickets range from £19.50 to £21.50 with friends of the theatre getting a 10% discount. The show starts at 7.30pm.

Blair Dunlop is coming to the Gatehouse Theatre, Stafford on January 12. The young Horizon award winning guitarist has been making a big impression on the folk scene. Someone else who has been making her own impression on the circuit is support act Kelly Oliver who had a fantastically busy time last year. The show starts at 8pm. Tickets are £12.50. Oliver will also be supporting Tobias Ben Jacob & Lukas Drinkwater at The Prince Albert, Stroud. on January 13, with the show starting 8pm.

Matt Woosey will be bringing his blend of acoustic and blues music to the Robin2, Bilston on January 14. Woosey is touring on the back of his latest album Wildest Dreams. Tickets are £8 in advance or £10 on the door. Woosey will be supported by Rebecca Downes.

News

Daria Kulesh's new album
Daria Kulesh will be launching her debut solo album Eternal Child on January 31 at The Old Town Hall, Hemel Hempstead. Also taking part in the launch night will be award-winning multi-instrumentalist Jonny Dyer, Daria's band KARA, video artist Kara Rose, singer-songwriters Kelly Oliver and Kaity Rae. You can pre-order the album through her website. Tickets for the launch show are £10 or £8 with concessions and the show starts 7.30pm.

Findlay Napier
Scottish singer songwriter Findlay Napier will be launching his album VIP: Very Interesting Persons on January 12. The album will be distributed through Shellshock Records and will be available digitally too. On January 17 Napier will have a celebratory show at Celtic Connections which will feature those involved in producing the album. Napier is about to support Eddi Reader on tour and will be at the Artrix, Bromsgrove on March 24.

The Shrewsbury Folk Festival which runs from August 28-31st has confirmed another impressive list of artists for the annual event which attracts thousands from all over the country. Among the artists playing there are:
Friday 28: Fran McGillivray & Mike Burke, Harare, Kate Rusby, Mawkin, O’Hooley & Tidow, Peatbog Faeries, Steve Knightley.
Saturday 29: Blowzabella,  Gordie MacKeeman & His Rhythm Boys, Liam Robinson Band, Lucy Ward, Oysterband special performance, Sharon Shannon, Ten Strings & a Goat Skin, The Roaring Trowmen, The Young’uns, Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain and Winter Wilson.
Sunday 30: Amadou DiagneGranny’s AtticGren Bartley,  Ross Ainslie & Jarlath HendersonSpooky Men’s Chorale and  The Boundless Brothers.
Monday 31:  Catrin Finch & Seckou KeitaFalse LightsJohn Jones & the Reluctant RamblersLa Bottine SourianteMary Humphreys & Anahata and Whapweasel.

The Stourbridge Folk Festival which was scheduled for September 5-7th 2014 has been moved to May 19-24th this year and all ticket sales for the original show will be refunded by wegottickets. Some of the names lined up for the Black Country festival include Chris Smither, Sunjay Brayne, The New Bushbury Mountain Daredevils, Lucy Ward and Kim Lowings, Ranagri and Ashley Hutchings.

This month Bella Hardy will be launching the first single from her new album With The Dawn, which is due out on March 31. The first glimpse of the music will be on January 22 at Celtic Connections at The Mitchell Library, Glasgow. Tickets are available here. Then she will on a supporting tour with her new With The Dawn Band coming to the MAC Birmingham and Huntingdon Hall, Worcester later in the year.

If you or your band have any news, events, gigs or album releases, especially concerning the Midlands, then please contact Folkall either through danny@dfarragher.wanadoo.co.uk or danfare60@gmail.com or on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/folkall?ref=aymt_homepage_panel.

















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