London Gigs
Thur 1st Emily Slade
http://www.emilyslade.co.uk/
Hale End Folk Club
Daughter of the organisers of the Hitchin
Folk Club, one of the UK's
longest running and most respected clubs, Emily has been immersed in
folk music from an early age. An outstanding guitarist, she has been
described by Traditional Music Maker
magazine as "a singer/
songwriter to be reckoned with...her performances so far on the folk
circuit have received rave reviews."
Sat 3rd Kim Richey
http://www.kimrichey.com
The Borderline 020 7734 2095
Brief UK/Irish tour
for US singer songwriter who last year won the
Gibson Guitar Award for 'Best Female Country Guitarist'. Her 1998
album 'Bitter Sweet' and her most recent, 'Glimmer', have both won
Nashville Music Awards and she has recently been signed to Mercury
Nashville's new label, Lost Highway
Records along with the likes of
Lucinda Williams, Robert
Earl Keen, Ryan Adams and Whiskeytown.
Sat 3rd Janet Russell
http://www.rootsworld.com/harbourtown/russell.html
Cellar Upstairs, Golden Lion, NW1 - 020 7281 7700
A fine Scottish singer of traditional and original songs, known round
the UK, Europe and the USA, where she has toured both solo and
with Scottish singing partner Christine
Kydd and in 'Sisters Unlimited'
with Rosie Davis and Sandra
Kerr, and Peta
Webb.
Sun 4th The Albion Band
http://www.folkicons.co.uk/albion.htm
Old Bull Arts Centre, Barnet
Still led by the legendary Ashley Hutchings, with a glorious history
stretching back over twenty years, The Albion Band has been a
showcase for some of the finest folk musicians in the land. Past
members include John
Kirkpatrick, Shirley
Collins, Martin Carthy,
Phil Beer, Chris
While and Julie Matthews, Dave
Mattacks, Simon
Nicol, John
Tams and Richard Thompson.
The current line-up
follows in this fine tradition, with Joe Broughton (one of Britain's
leading fiddlers), singer Kellie While, top-rated guitarist Ken Nicol
and drummer Neil Marshall. Their new album 'Road Movies' (Topic
Records) will be released this month.
Mon 5th Bert Jansch
http://www.folklib.net/index/j/jansch_bert.shtml
The Jazz Cafe
Ground-breaking virtuoso acoustic guitar playing, deeply affecting
songwriting and his dark, passionate voice have delighted audiences
since the mid-sixties. Famously admired by the likes of Jimmy Page,
Neil Young, and Nick Drake, more recently young luminaries such
as Noel Gallagher, Jarvis Cocker, Bernard Butler and Johnny Marr
have paid homage to this unassuming but hugely revered master.
(See this biography).
His latest album 'Crimson Moon' (When!
Records) is widely regarded as his finest album of recent years
and he was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award at last
month's BBC Radio 2
Folk Awards.
Mon 5th Buddy Mondlock
http://songs.com/buddy/index.html
The Borderline 020 7734 2095
A top Nashville writer whose songs have been covered by the likes
of Nanci Griffith, Joan
Baez and Janis Ian. His latest album,
'Poetic
Justice' includes guest artists Guy Clark,
Ellis Paul and Nanci Griffith.
See this radio interview
with Angela Page on Folk Plus.
Tue 6th David Olney
http://www.davidolney.com
The Borderline 020 7734 2095
Another top Nashville songwriter, described as an American Richard
Thompson, whose songs range from brooding chamber-folk to
bluesy, down-and-dirty rock. According to Moshe Benarroch's
review of his last album 'Real Lies' (Philo) in the Folk
& Acoustic
Music Exchange, he's "one of the most original voices in American
music. He ranks easily alongside Townes van Zandt (to whose
memory this recording is dedicated), Guy Clark, Richard Dobson
and Rex Foster."
Wed 7th Dave Alvin & The Guilty Men
http://www.davealvin.com
The Borderline 020 7734 2095
Winner of the Best Traditional Folk Album Grammy last month for
'Public Domain : Songs from the Wild Land' (Hightone
Records).
"Most of the songs on this CD," says Alvin, "I found collecting
old
records with my brother Phil when we were barely in our teens. We
searched thrift stores and junk stores, attics and swap meets to find
old blues, R&B, or country 78s and 45s, and long-out-of-print
reissue albums on obscure labels. We were just looking for something
that excited us more than the bulk of what was on radio. Little did we
know that we were discovering America's folk music." In a press
interview after the award ceremony Dave was asked, "What will you
do next?" He replied, "It's all down hill from here. I'm gonna sell
this
award, and buy a farm."
Thur 8th Jimmie Dale Gilmore
http://www.jimmiegilmore.com/
+ Slaid Cleaves
http://www.slaid.com
+ The Cash Brothers
http://www.cashbrothers.com/
The Garage, Highbury and Islington
Great bill for alt.country/Americana fans - Jimmie Dale Gilmore
was a member of The Flatlanders with Joe Ely
and Butch Hancock in
the 70's. Their 1991 reissue 'More a Legend Than a Band' (Rounder)
is regarded as a milestone of progressive, alternative country music.
Jimmie's following solo 90's albums, 'Spinning Around the Sun' and
'Braver Newer World' both earned him Grammy nominations for Best
Contemporary Folk Artist. His new album, 'Blue Shadows'
(Windcharger) has been co-produced by guitarist Buddy
Miller, and
includes contributions from Emmylou Harris,
Jim Lauderdale, Victoria
Williams, Cry Cry Cry and Julie
Miller. --
Slaid Cleaves is a past winner of the prestigious "New Folk"
competition at the Kerrville Folk Festival. His 1997 debut album 'No
Angel Knows' (Philo)
received widespread accolades. According to
Entertainment Weekly, reviewing his latest album 'Broke Down'
(Philo), "The sparse, roots-country sound of Cleaves' second album
precisely mirrors the forsaken lives and godforsaken landscapes of his
songs." -- Canadian band The Cash Brothers' latest album
'Phonebooth Tornado' features "tight, meltingly delicious harmonies set
against a hauntingly spare background of bass, drums and acoustic
guitar."
Thur 8th Pete and Lucy Castle
http://www.folkmusic.net/petecastle/castpe_set.htm
Islington
Folk Club, 01233 820960
Pete (no relation) is a renowned traditional ballad singer and storyteller
described as "A master of English folk music." Here performing with
his daughter Lucy, who after studying Transylvanian fiddle music,
formed the trio 'Popeluc' with her father and leading Transylvanian
folk singer Ioan Pop, producing three albums and touring Britain four
times between 1994-97 with huge success. Pete's latest album is
'Mearcstapa' (Steel
Carpet Music)
Thur 8th Michael Roach
http://www.michaelroach.com/
Hale End Folk Club
An evening of top notch blues singing, harmonica, both fretted and
bottleneck guitars and many, many stories in his own warm, laid back
style. An African-American, born in Washington DC, now living in
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire in England, Michael learnt his Piedmont
blues style directly from such well known figures as John
Jackson,
John Cephas
and Philadelphia
Jerry Ricks. He has lectured for the
American Smithsonian Institute and more recently at Oxford
University here in England. His latest album 'Good News Blues
(Stella Records)
includes a selection of his own songs and his versions
of songs by Big
Bill Broonzy, Bumble
Bee Slim and others.
Sat 10th The New Deal String Band
http://www.wildwood-records.co.uk/NDSB.HTML
Cellar Upstairs, Golden Lion, NW1 - 020 7281 7700
Originally formed in 1966 by Tom Paley and Joe Locker, two banjo
and guitar playing ex-New Yorkers living in London. Tom was a
founder-member of The New Lost
City Ramblers with Mike
Seeger
and John Cohen in 1958. These days the band is completed by Tom's
son, Ben Paley, a fine and versatile fiddler who has recorded with
several groups including The
Sussex Pistols. Their repertoire comes
from material recorded by early country stringbands in the 1920s and
1930s.
Mon 12th Chris Bartram and Keith Holloway
http://www.chris-bartram.co.uk/bahindex.htm
Herga Folk Club, Wealdstone
01923 250640
Fiddler Chris and melodeon player Keith play and sing traditional
music from southern England, mainly from their home communities
in the Vale of White Horse, an area named after the 3000 year old
image cut in the chalk of the Berkshire Downs above the village of
Uffington, and collected on their recent CD 'From the Vale'
(Wild Goose WGS285).
Mon 12 Serious Kitchen
http://www.securit-solutions.co.uk/seriouskitchen/nfframeset.htm
Croydon Folk Club
Kicking jigs, reels and ancient ballads. Nick Hennessey on harp,
whistles & bodhran, Vicki Swan on flute Scottish smallpipes and
bodhran and Jonny Dyer on guitars, low whistle and djembe,
described by Rock 'n' Reel as "A
drop of the pure stuff."
Tue 13th Robbie Fulks
http://www.RobbieFulks.com
The Borderline
Alt. country US singer songwriter, described by The Boston Herald
as "an exhilarating dose of the hardscrabble country sound and humor
that went out of style with Buck Owens, while adding contemporary
songwriter craft, rock 'n' roll energy and an attitude that goes a step or
two beyond irreverent....Fulks' latest CD is jokingly titled 'The Very
Best of Robbie Fulks'. It's not a greatest hits set - he's never had
anything resembling a hit - or even a collection of his previously
released best. It's a set of unreleased and rare tracks from the past
10 years, though liner notes that mix fact and fiction obscure their
true origin."
Thur 15th The Hosepipe Band
http://www.hosepipe.dial.pipex.com/
Hale End Folk Club
An electro-acoustic barn dance band that are equally at home in the
club or concert setting. They play music from a range of traditions
mixing British and European influences.The four-piece line up features
flute, bagpipes, saxophone, melodeon, hurdy-gurdy, bombarde,
hammered dulcimer, mandola and bass. Their recently released
second CD, 'Polstead Meadow', consists of music composed to
accompany a series of etchings depicting Suffolk scenes by East
Anglian artist Glynn Thomas.
Fri.16 June Tabor
http://www.junetabor.com
Blackheath Halls
Described by the New York Post as "one of the finest vocalists in
music today," June started singing mainly unaccompanied traditional
music in her teens influenced by singers like Anne
Briggs and Belle
Stewart , before collaborating with Maddy Prior from Steeleye Span
in the the Silly
Sisters, with whom she made two fine albums, and with
guitarist Martin Simpson on the superb
'A Cut Above' album. Her last
album, A Quiet
Eye paired June with the eleven-piece 'Creative Jazz
Orchestra'. Recently she has working on an album based on the
theme of the Rose - (Rosa mundi - the rose in word and song) -
which promises a blend of the traditional, contemporary, poignant
and terrible, frivolous and amusing, which will be the common thread
for her UK gigs this spring.
Fri 16th Lindisfarne
http://www.lindisfarne.de/
The Borderline
They first appeared out of Tyneside in the early 70's with an instantly
identifiable sound and style combining memorable songs, rootsy
instrumentation and rock sensibility. They produced a clutch of hit
records which have since acquired classic status: 'Meet Me On The
Corner', 'Lady Eleanor', 'Fog On The Tyne' (the top selling British
album of 1972) and 'Run For Home'. Despite the death of founding
member Alan Hull in 1995,
they remain as popular as ever on the
live circuit, continuing to write new songs and remaining true to the
ideals that had first inspired them.
Sat 17th SinÉ
http://www.meteo.physik.uni-muenchen.de/~paul/eire.html#SINE
Blackheath Halls
St Patrick's Night Special - a vibrant melting pot of cultures, styles
and traditions, Sin É combine a core of Irish traditional music with
a
variety of influences drawn from jazz, rock, pop and world music.
Tonight they will be joined by DJs, traditional musicians, comedians
and others for a non-stop celebration of Ireland and its music.
Thur 22nd Michelle Shocked
http://members.xoom.com/g_limbo/
Dingwalls, Camden Lock, NW1 (020) 7267 1577
and Fri 23rd Blackheath Halls
Michelle first made a name for herself in the UK when an English
producer recorded her on a Sony Walkman at the 1986 Kerrville
Folk Festival and released it in the UK without her knowledge as
'The Texas CampfireTapes' on the Cooking Vinyl label, becoming
a surprise hit over here, reaching number one on the British
independent charts in 1987. Her 1992 'Arkansas Traveler' album
featured the likes of Doc Watson, The Band's Levon Helm and
Garth Hudson, the Alison Brown Quartet, Alison Krauss and the
Union Station, blues legend Taj Mahal and renowned flatpicker
Norman Blake. [See links].Her
most recent albums, both
independently produced - 1994's 'Kind Hearted Woman' and
1998's Gospel-and-jazz-inspired 'Good News' have been
available only at gigs and by mail order. See full UK
tour dates.
Mon 26th Sid Kipper
http://www.adastey.demon.co.uk/kipper/index.htm
Croydon Folk Club 020 8698
5322
Sid started singing at school, and was sent home immediately. He
didn't let that put him off though, and in 1984 he and his old father,
Henry, were discovered by local song enthusiasts, and toured
extensively as The Kipper Family. In 1992 Sid went solo, and
since then he's never looked back. His performances typically
consist of a mixture of songs, stories and folk wisdom which hold
audiences enthralled.
Thur 29th Derek Gifford
http://chanteycabin.co.uk/Gifford/Gifford.htm
Hale End Folk Club
Seasoned, versatile folk club performer whose wide repertoire
includes sea songs and shanties as well as other chorus songs.
Whether singing unaccompanied or with the addition of guitar or
bowed psaltery, Derek's performance is traditional in style,
relaxed and humorous in delivery.
Thur 29th Pete Morton
http://www.rootsworld.com/harbourtown/morton.html
Islington
Folk Club
Described by Folk Roots magazine
as "amongst the best the British
roots music scene has produced in living memory", Pete's latest
album is 'Hunting the Heart (Harbourtown Records) includes a duet
with Julie Murphy of Fernhill.
He is currently working on a new album
entitled 'Ballads Live', a collection of songs with the average age of
400 which Pete has been playing live during his last American tour.
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