Folk

Hi

Just a couple of Folk Nights before THE FESTIVAL…..

On 25^th June we welcome 2009 BBC Folk on 2 Musician of the Year, TOM McCONVILLE to the Club. Apart from being one of the finest fiddle players in the country with the likes of Seth Lakeman claiming him as his greatest influence, Tom is also a fine singer with a silky smooth voice and wide grin and a dry Geordie wit. He has shared stages throughout the world with such different talents as Stephan Grappelli and The Chieftains and has been drafted in as session musician on albums by Lindisfarne, Barbara Dixon and the Furies to name but three. His latest solo album is destined for further awards.

July 9^th - the eve of the Festival - and we will abandon our Catshill home for one night only and repair to THE BOWLING GREEN INN Stoke Prior, home of The Festival, for a grand Singin’ Suppin’ and Session. The pub, inside and out, will be the scene of the session and The Mini Marquee will be open for Singin’ and Suppin’ - a chance for all you would be performers to get up in front of an audience to show us what you can do.

And so onto the Festival itself. In addition to the sessions, dance demonstrations, Sunday walks, Showcase Concerts, Foam Flinging and general congenial frivolity that go to make Bromsgrove Folk Festival such a unique event the are a number of excellent concerts. There is, of course, our Saturday morning Showcase concert featuring Luke Smith and Friends, Legacy and Keith Parry (more to come) and on Saturday evening we are giving over The MiniMarquee to Tim Judson and Julia Hares, two of the brightest young talents on the local folk scene.

We’re very proud of the line-ups (should that be lines-up?) we have presented for you over the years and this year continues that tradition. After all of the campers have settled themselves onto the site (many will have done it on the day before as the Festival Campsite is open from 4pm on the Thursday (not before please), THE FRIDAY NIGHT CONCERT features award winning Canadian band, TANGLEFOOT, at the end of their final tour before returning home to call it a day after 25 years on the road. Exciting driving music, brilliant narrative songs, fine, fine, harmonies and a stage presence that is electrifying - and this is your last chance to see them. As a measure of how highly I rate them, it is rare for me to buy a CD at a gig but the first time I saw Tanglefoot, I cam away with two and a DVD!

The SATURDAY AFTERNOON CONCERT features sets by our old friends EVANSTEVENS, THE SHELLBACK CHORUS (see picture), the brilliant pairing of Hilary “The Voice” Spencer and Grant “Fingers” Baynham as QUICKSILVER and topping the bill the wonderful MEGSON who, supported Seth Lakeman at a recent Symphony Hall Concert and, gave him a tremendous act to follow

And, so onto THE SATURDAY NIGHT CONCERT. The evening will get under way with the exciting Afro Brazilian sound of Bromsgrove’s own GLAMBA, followed by Midlands favourites, THE JOHYN RICHARDS BAND fronted by John Richards himself one of our finest and most recorded songwriters. MEGSON take centre stage for another, different set before the legendary ERIC BOGLE completes the night accompanied by JOHN MUNRO. This will be one of  Eric’s farewell concerts in the UK as he has decided to hang up his travelling, but hopefully not his songwriting/recording, boots. The man has given so much to folk music, it’s time to give him a rousing send off.