FolkWorkhops April Newletter

Dear All,

STOP PRESS: FolkWorkshop this coming Wednesday April 13^th at Newton Church Room at 7.30

Please spread the word!!!

A week is a long time in politics and so it would seem it is the same in the world of FolkWorkshops and the Black Hill Folk. Having had a great time at our Ceilidh it has taken a bit of time to recover but I am pleased to say we are not only re-covered personally but that we recovered our costs and made a modest profit for our events fund.

Many thanks to all those who helped with the various tasks to set the whole thing up, but a big thank you has to go to all of you who turned up to dance. Without you it would not have been the great family occasion which has convinced our group that we will try and organise another one during the early winter. We had visitors from the Village Quire members and supporters’ from hay and beyond and several people responded to our Villager News entry in the Hereford Times and made the journey from Hereford City.

Many thanks to the Silver Branch Ceilidh Band who kept us on our toes and to our Black Hill Folk singers, joined by Village Quire members, who started the second half.

So why is a week a long time? Well, with a bit of ale going off in the barrel the ceilidh organising crew had to have an emergency meeting to decide what to do about the potential waste of beer and to sort out who was owed what. This was soon resolved and as result we had a planning session and few songs. The result was the following.

Firstly, we must return to our original home at Newton Church Room. The first will be on THIS COMING WEDNESDAY 13^th April at 7.30. We will also be having another one in mid-May once all the bank holidays have passed. At the moment Wednesday the 11^th or 18^th May is being suggested so if you have any thoughts please let me know by Wednesday 13^th as that is the Newsletter deadline for advertising the session.

Please notel the Norma Waterson Benefit Gig which will betaking place on Saturaday 21^st May ( see Gigs List attached). We are hoping that a few of us will go and car share could be possible.

Secondly, we have been asked to do a bit of singing at the Mountain Mayhem Fete in aid of Llanveynoe Church on Easter Bank Holiday Monday. We will have our own table and have been asked to do some songs from about 12.45 to give the place a bit of life. The more that can come along for an hour or so the better. We will have plenty of printed word sheets for those who want to join in and we will be singing many of the songs at the coming workshop on Wednesday. It will be more of a ‘sing song’ rather than a formal performance so it should be a relaxed affair. There should be a good few choruses.

Having inspected the venue it is a big one, believe me, so we will be able to blast away in the manner of the Crown at Christmas or like our experimental evening at the Bridge Inn. We have about six very strong pieces most of us know already and with one or two other impromptu sing around songs it should be a pleasant afternoon. We are not obliged to stay all afternoon but as there is a bar and hot food this might be immaterial. More details will be given on Wednesday when we will be singing several of the songs we have in mind.

See the posters and flyers for full details of the fete.

Thirdly, we have been asked to do a set at the Help the Heroes fund raiser in Peterchurch on 26^th of June. This is a very flexible event and details will become clearer nearer the time

Fourthly, we will be running a stall at the Longtown Show on Saturday 20^th August. This will include a display of musical instruments, a bit of singing and playing as well as lots of leaflets and publicity to do with folk music in our area as well as trying to find more musicians and singers who would like to join us. We have permission to take a caravan plus awning so if the weather turns nasty we should be quite comfortable. If you would like to take a spell at the stall have any ideas as to what can go on the stall please let us know and.

Fifthly, we will of course be involved in organising a return visit to Newton and St.Margarets Churches by the Village Quire with their new programme, High Days and Holidays in the Welsh Marches on 28^th September and 1^st October for a Workshop and Concert. All proceeds will be shared between the two church funds. We managed to attend the premier performance of this collection of songs and reading last week and it is something well worth looking forward to. Please see a review of the performance at http://tinyurl.com/6khate2

Finally, our experimental visit to the Bridge Inn a while back now brought new contacts and inquiries from audience members as to when we would be making a return visit. We would be very keen to do so at sometime. In the meantime look out for other appearances of Black Hill Folk at local hostelries as part of our campaign to support local facilities: ‘Keep it lively, & Keep it Local!’

While I have been writing this the grass has been growing, more bits have fallen off the cottage, and Jane has been reading Broad Sheep and finding more events to go to. At this rate it looks as though a trip to the Garway Folk Weekend in June might be difficult to fit in. But then, the grass will still be there when we get back!

Looking forward to the summer ahead,

John and Jane Baxter

PS: We are thinking of organising dedicated workshops for specific instruments. We already hold informal 'strums ins' and 'pluck ins' for banjo and guitar but we will also be doing a 'drum in' for those who want to have a go or just let off steam. We have already done twitter and folk on the internet sessions. All of these can be arranged on demand when there is enough interest.

PPS: It has just been confirmed that we will be running a Workshop at Longtown Village Hall at the invitation of Longtown WI on Tuesday 18th October. More deatils should we live that long.

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Review: The Village Quire: High days and Holidays along the Welsh Border Marches Maesyronnen Chapel, Saturday 2nd April 2011

It was after telling a colleague where our permanent family base was, and singing the area’s praises he responded with the words, ‘ Ah!, a sense of place. You must be very fond of it’. I had not come across the phrase before.

This conversation came back to me last night during the first performance of this new programme from the Village Quire. I was already feeling that ‘sense of place’ when we parked the car in the field by Maesyronnen Chapel and looked across the Wye Valley to the northern escarpment of the eastern ranges of the Black Mountains. I knew I was in for a musical treat but I did not appreciate how much that landscape and its history was to be woven into the performance I was about to witness.

I think it is not only fair, but accurate to say, having heard the Village Quire perform on several occasions now, that these singers and their narrator are unique. With a mixture of West Gallery Music, Shape Music, Catches ( rounds which can be a bit cheeky) and the broader traditions of the folk repertoire, the audience never fails to be bowled over by the glorious polyphonic blast that greets them at the start and which underpins the performance throughout. I suspect that much credit has to go to Dave Newell, their conductor and fellow singer, for the harmonic arrangements which are so beautifully brought to life by this well balanced and disciplined group of voices.

‘I Like to Rise When the Sun She Rises’ led the way into a not so distant world of rural worthiness, naughtiness and rebellion which through its echo enriches us today and which makes living on the border so interesting. In looking back from the comfort of modern living we must remember that these would have been hard times, yet among all the troubles, humour, faith and community seems to have produced the communities which so fascinate today.

In all there are 16 pieces in the programme with an interval just over mid-way. It is hard to choose a favourite at this stage, but suffice it to say that the material ranges from the secular to the sacred, from the Welsh to the English, and from the light to the dark as though reflecting the tensions that have for centuries ebbed and flowed across our much loved Welsh Marches. Like having heard an album for the first time the favourites only emerge when you have had time to mull over the tracks. This is why I shall be going to another performance of this programme later in the season.

Similar tensions can be found in the readings which interleave with the songs. I am ashamed to confess that although my particular sense of place has been with me in excess of 50 years I have never got round to reading any of Raymond Williams works. This author’s description of our part of the Marches, taken from his book The People of the Black Mountains, is used to set the scene and the image presented is one that will remain with me permanently. I shall not spoil its effect by repeating it here and would advise, if, like me, you are a Williams novice, that you postpone reading the book until you have seen and heard this performance.

Also among the readings are extracts from Mary Webb, Alexander Cordell, Dylan Thomas, and Pat Malloy together with extracts from the stunningly named Brecon and Merthyr Silurian. For those who know little of the toll road troubles Dylan Thomas’s account in ‘Rebecca’s Daughters’ is entertaining history at its best.

This is a demanding programme but is no less well performed because of that and certainly no less enjoyable. I could go on at length about how important it is that people get together and sing and where this fits into what appears to be a retreat from funded culture, but you would find this tedious. Instead I will say that anyone who has an interest in music, local history and literature will feel very disappointed when they hear from friends what they have missed. To avoid this feeling, make sure you go.

Dacier

The Village Quire will be performing at:

St Michael and All Angels Church, Lyonshall, Herefordshire
HR5 3LN
On 30/04/2011
Further details and tickets from Bo Hollingshurst on 01544 340788
at 7.30 pm.In aid of the church bell fund.
£7.50 in advance / £8 on the door
(to include glass of wine / juice)

St James' Church, Audlem, Cheshire
CW3 0AJ
28/05/2011
2.00 - 4.00 pm
Entry free to festival goers.
Tel. (01270) 812125
info@audlemfestival.com



At the Abergavenny Food Festival
Abergavenny Baptist Church, Frogmore Street, Abergavenny
NP7 5AH
17/09/2011
7.30 pm
Details to be announced


Singing Workshop for FolkWorkshops
Newton Church
Newton St Margaret's
Hereford
HR2 0QR
28/09/2011
7.30 pm
And at nearby St.Margerets Church Saturday 1st October at 7.30
Tcket details to be announced. All proceeds in aid of both church funds.