June 2001

Best of the Rest of the UK Gigs - June 2001

Fri 1st Michael Jerome Brown
http://www.michaeljeromebrowne.com/
+ Jim Condie
http://www.btinternet.com/~jimcondie
Hebden Bridge Trades Club, West Yorks 01422 845265

US-born country blues master, now resident in Montreal, described by
'Real Blues' Magazine as "a brilliant multi-instrumentalist and a
marvelous interpreter of roots music traditions." Inspired in his teens by
the likes of Jesse Fuller, he is a virtuoso in a myriad of American folk
music styles - appalachian, cajun, western swing, country blues, early
jazz, R&B and electric blues. Lead singer and guitarist with the
Stephen Barry Band, one of Canada's finest blues bands, he also
toured regularly with the late, great Vann 'Piano Man' Walls who
guested on his 1998 eponymous album (Productions Bros). Here,
touring the UK with top Scottish blues guitarist, Jim Condie, a founding
member of 'The Dexters' (with Edinburgh legend Tam White), in the
eighties, who has worked with the likes of Van Morrison, Charlie
Musselwhite, and Jo Ann Kelly, amongst others. Later in the year Jim
will also be joining Canada-based bluesmen, Tim Williams and Ken
Hamm on their respective tours of the UK.

Sat 2nd The McCAlmans
http://www.mccalmans.co.uk/
The Davy Lamp Folk Club, Washington, Tyne & Wear

Scotland's foremost Folk Song Trio. Formed in 1964, they have
continued to record and tour without interruption, with only one
personnel change in thirty-six years - the current line-up includes Ian
McCalman, Derek Moffat and Nick Keir. Their performance is based
on searing three part harmony, humour and a respect for the tradition
of song in Scotland. Their latest CD, 'A Hard Night's Day' is a live
album recorded at the Skagen Festival in Denmark. On their website
they include a 'Joke of the week' - currently: What does it mean if a
bodhran player is dribbling out of both sides of his mouth? -
The stage is level.

Sat 2nd Tarras
http://www.tarras.org/
Ashcroft Arts Centre, Fareham, Hampshire 01329 310600

Young, vibrant, "cheeky" and exceptionally talented band from the
Scots/English Borders, described by Top Magazine as "the hottest new
act in town" and credited as one of the groups who have helped to
rejuvenate and reinvent the English folk canon. Guided by their passion
for authentic English and Celtic traditional music, they have also
successfully applied a contemporary pop-tinged sensibility to their
song-writing and performance. "An absurdly fine debut album" is how
Folk Roots Magazine described last year's 'Rising' (Topic). Their new
album, 'Walking Down Main Street' (Topic Records) has just been
released.

Sun 3rd Bob Brozman & Woody Mann
http://www.bobbrozman.com
http://www.woodymann.com
Lichfield Arts Centre 01543 262223

Renowned US guitarists who both come from traditional blues
backgrounds but have added many other influences to their unique
styles. Describing their new CD 'Get Together' Roger Wolmuth says
"Together, Mann and Brozman have concocted the recipe for a music
that is all their own, but seasoned by their separate backgrounds. Call
it world music with Mississippi roots. Or maybe New Age with grit, it
has the thunky dirve of 1920s bluesman Charley Patton , the haunting
strains of a Gary Davis spiritual, a hint of Portuguese fado (via Mann's
12 string Guitarra Portuguesa), oldtime boogie (powered by Brozman's
big baritone National), some saucy swing, gypsy waltz, exuberant jazz.
Mix the ingredients together and the result is more than music with
interesting flavoring. It is a feast."

Sun 3rd Rab Noakes and the Varaflames
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~android/rnoakes.html
The Tron Theatre, Glasgow 0141 552 4267

One of Scotland's foremost contemporary singer/songwriters since his
1970 debut album 'Do You See The Lights' (Decca) which included
the song "Together Forever" which was picked up and turned into a hit
by Lindisfarne. An original member of 'Stealers Wheel' with Gerry
Rafferty and the band 'Gene Pitney's Birthday' which included Lorraine
McIntosh (later with Deacon Blue) and Andy Alston (now with Del
Amitri). His current band, The Varaflames includes Pick Withers - ex
Dire Straits, Rod Clements - ex Lindisfarne and Fraser Speirs.

Thur 7th Elle Osborne
http://www.elleo.com
The Cutty Wren Folk Club, Marske by the Sea, N. Yorkshire

Rich textured voice and powerful melodic fiddle style, reviving the
ancient arts of unaccompanied singing and fiddlesinging. Likened to a
young Frankie Armstrong and a female Rory McLeod, her debut CD
'Testimony' is, according to Colin Irwin in Folk Roots Magazine "one
of the most compelling performances I've heard all year..her earthy
commitment to performance, uncompromisingly living the lyrics, give
her a strength and character rarely heard in this day and age...her fiddle
playing has a coarse instinctiveness that is again indicative of a
disappearing English tradition"

Thur 7th Scott MacDonald
http://www.scott-macdonald.co.uk
Betty Nicols Folk Club, Kirkcaldy, Scotland

Singer/songwriter from Glasgow, whose acoustic and harmonica driven
music has been described as "where alt. country meets celtic" by The
List Review, calling his recently released album, 'New Heart'
(Dragonfly), "an affecting and human debut of great promise. Backed
predominately by a solitary acoustic guitar, these songs of yearning and
loss mix folk and country with occasional shots of Gospel and indie
with no small degree of success."

Thur 7th Bayou Seco
http://www.cantos.org/bayouseco/home.html
The Royal Oak, Station Street, Lewes

Cajun & Tex-Mex tinged delights, on tour from Silver City, New
Mexico. Ken Keppeler and Jeanie McLerie, who form the heart of
Bayou Seco, have been researching and playing the music of the
Southwest - from the Mississipi River to the deserts of Arizona - for
twenty two years. Respectfully drawing from these traditions and from
their own ancestors, they present an exciting and informative program
of Southwestern music on diatonic accordions, fiddles, guitar, mandolin,
banjo and harmonica. Their latest album is 'Home on the Great Divide'.
According to the Albuquerque Weekly Alibi, "Regardless of whether
you're four or 84, Bayou Seco always manage to have something up
their collective sleeve for you. Their music is exceedingly joyous, dance
inspiring and a respectful preservation of tradition."

Thur 14th Cherish the Ladies
http://www.cherishtheladies.com
Assembly Hall Theatre, Turnbridge Wells 01892 526121

UK tour for the ladies, Joanie Madden, Mary Rafferty, Mary Coogan,
Deirdre Connolly, Donna Long, and Liz Knowles, promoting their
latest CD 'The Girls Won't Leave The Boys Alone'. Described as
"literally the most successful and sought-after Irish-American group in
Celtic music history, they were originally organized in the late 80's by
folklorist/musician Mick Moloney to feature the brightest lights in Irish
traditional music. According to Dirty Linen Magazine, "They have
converged and risen like a great wave to engulf the hearts of audiences
from Brooklyn to Belfast and from Boston to Brittany. They are
currently in top form, touring the world as a mighty example of the
richness of America's Irish music traditions."

Sat 16th Sally Barker
http://www.sallybarker.co.uk
St Mary's Hall, Lichfield 0121 3544234

Known to many folk fans as the original lead singer of The Poozies.
Sally's involvement with music, however, encompasses more than folk
- spilling over into blues, jazz and country as a songwriter of distinction
as well as a great singer. Her strong, but delicately percussive guitar
style is complimented by her gutsy yet shimmering honey-tinged voice.
Over the years Sally has supported many respected artists, including
Bob Dylan, Richard Thompson and Taj Mahal, amongst others and
has released seven albums. The latest 'Another Train', is a compilation
of Sally's work over the last 12 years, which, according to The
Birmingham Mail, "serves as a perfect snapshot of Barker's eclectic
writing style and influences, from John Martyn to Bonnie Raitt to
Aretha, not to mention the songwriting prowess as evidenced on such
songs as 'We Built Fires', 'Moses' and 'Favourite Dish'." Tonight she'll
be joined by guitarist and pedal steel player, Keith Richard Buck.

Sun 17th macAlias
http://www.stoneyport.demon.co.uk/bio/macaliasbio.html
McLaren Hall, Killin, Scotland

The hottest vocal duo on the Scottish music scene at the moment,
combining the voices, intricate guitar work and sharp wit of Karine
Polwart and Gill Bowman. Karine, also the voice of Malinky and more
recently The Battlefield Band, is regarded as one of the best Scots
ballad singers of her generation, whilst Gill is one of Scotland's
foremost singer songwriters and a fine interpreter of traditional music,
in particular the songs of Robert Burns. Their new CD 'Highwired'
(Greentrax) produced by Rab Noakes contains "a quirky, genre-
defying repertoire that encompasses lush arrangements of Scots
murder ballads, breezy country waltzes and songs about guys called
John" with, according to The Scotsman newspaper, their "bright,
bold harmonies balancing sweetness with melancholy in a manner
reminiscent of The Roches or The Indigo Girls.

Thur 21st Martin Simpson
http://www.martinsimpson.com
Brewery Arts, Cirencester, Gloucestershire 01285 655522

According to Guitar Player Magazine, Martin is "One of the finest
finger pickers and slide players of our time." His live performances
alternate between great subtlety and 'feel' and driving bottleneck blues,
keeping alive the original country bluesmen like Blind Willie Johnson
and McTell.." Rumoured to be moving back to the UK, having lived in
the US for several years, Martin has recently covered Bob Dylan's
'Boots of Spanish Leather' for the new tribute album, 'A Nod to Bob'
(Red House) and this month Topic Records release 'The Bramble
Briar', his first recording of exclusively English - predominately
traditional - material.

Thur 21st Suzanne Vega
http://www.vega.net/
Warwick Arts Centre

First date on a brief UK tour. Suzanne has recently finished a new CD,
'The Mother and The Matador' which is expected to be released later
this year on Interscope Records. Her long-time bassist, Mike Visceglia,
writes about the recording process and takes you inside the making of
the new record in this article on his website.

Thur 21st The Oxford Waits
http://www.bejo.co.uk/bejo/html/artWaits.htm
All Soul's College Garden, Oxford
Advance tickets from Liz Yardley (tel 01869 249 565) or
from the Pitt Rivers Museum, South Parks Road, Oxford

Midsummer Night's open air concert - a rare chance to visit the gardens
of All Soul's - with 'The Oxford Waits', a costume band formed by
Tim Heal specialising in 17th-century ballads and dances, taking their
name from a real-life band of city musicians, known as 'waits,' who
flourished in Oxford during the 17th century, the tumultuous era of the
English Civil War and Restoration. The performers appear in period
costume, and concerts are enlivened by street ballads, dance tunes,
airs and rounds as well as readings from diarists and poets. Superb
singing voices are matched by specialist skills in an array of instruments
that include fiddle, bagpipes, lute, cittern, harpsichord, pipe and tabor,
hurdy-gurdy, shawm, flute and percussion. Their debut album, 'Hey
for Christmas' (Beautiful Jo Records), with The Mellstock Band was
recorded in association with the Bodleian Library in Oxford, whose
amazing treasure trove of 30,000 broadside ballad sheets has recently
been made available on the Library's website.

Mon 25th Robin Laing
http://www.folkmusic.net/robinlaing/
The Bridge Folk Club, Newcastle 0191 2376249

Highly regarded Scottish folk singer and songwriter with a passion for
both folk song, especially the old Scots Ballads, or "Muckle Sangs" as
they are sometimes known - and whiskey, the subject of his 1997
album 'The Angels' Share' (Greentrax), which developed from the
one-man show he created on the subject - 'The Angels' Share' being
the name given to the whisky lost through evaporation as the spirit
matures for years in oak casks. He is sometimes to be found on the
Tasting Panel of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("It's a difficult job,
but someone has to do it!", and as he says in this article in 'Living
Tradition', "Whisky is, after all, a large part of Scotland's contribution
to humanity. What better way to celebrate it than through folk song,
for singing and whisky gang the gither!" The title of his most recent
album 'Imaginery Lines' (Greentrax), released in 1999, comes from
a song about Harrison's Sea Clock.

Wed 27th Duck Baker
http://www.anetstation.com/duckbaker/
Edinburgh Folk Club, Scotland

Renowned US guitarist regarded as one of the finest fingerpicking
guitarists in the world today. His guitar repertoire spans a wide
panorama of musical styles -- blues, jazz, country, ragtime and Celtic
melodies. He has recorded numerous solo albums as well as performing
and recording with Leo Kottke, John Renbourn, Davey Graham and
making numerous instructional albums for guitar playing, as part of the
Stefan Grossman Guitar Workshop . His most recent album, last year's
'My Heart Berlongs to Jenny Day (Job Records) is, according to Duck
"mostly Irish, with a couple of American trad numbers, sort of a follow-
up (20 years later) to 'The Kid on the Mountain', which was the first
fingerstyle solo record of Irish & related tunes."
(Orders to 570 25th St., Richmond, CA 94804, USA - e-mail)

Go to:
Back to Page 1
London gigs
Best of the Rest of the UK
Festival Listings

Browse the index of Previous Articles