FolkWorkshops Newsletter

Dear FolkWorkshops Supporter,

A great deal of things seem to be going on. A quick look at Broad Sheep says it all. Supporters are gradually increasing on this e-mail list and so by the time the dark winter evenings arrive there should be a few more of us. Our Twitter followers are also steadily increasing but, ironically, not from among our own supporters. Since there seems to be a lot of people out there who are interested in what we do we shall continue to run the account as well as the FolkWorkshops tag for the Blackhilltales Blog which gets about a hundred visits a month. Since a major insurance company I know of only gets 900 visits a month with the aid of a vast advertising budget this tag connection seems to do very well with just the aid of the @FolkWorkshops account. If you would like to send in a review or article for publication then please e-mail it to us. This newsletter is always posted on the FolkWorkshops tag. ( see signature bit below if you were wondering what it was) Equally if you hear of an event which is worth publicising then that can be easily posted on Twitter if you let us know.

We will continue to have evenings at Newton Church Room. If we can have one or two sessions like the Wednesday 11th May evening then the winter months will soon pass by. Many thanks to Jim Neale once again and he sends his thanks to all of you who have supported the various events to fund his sons trip to Cambodia to do some teaching. We have also been made very welcome at the Crown Inn, Longtown, and so look out for announcements of regular sessions there as well.

Our singers who went to the Help the Heroes event in Peterchurch did exceptionally well. One of our group was in the audience and will give us some constructive feedback which will be useful for the next time we do this sort of thing. The general feedback from the organisers and members of the audience was very positive. As most singers had not performed before up on a stage with microphones, among all the cable, drums and amps, I think they should all be highly commended for that alone. Although at times the evening was a bit daunting in prospect it was one of those experiences which was well worth it. We have made a few more friends as a result and we have been invited back for next year. At the last count they had raised about £900.

Foxwhelp Morris: Now the light evenings are with us you may be looking for an outing. Why not combine support of a local hostelry with watching a bit of Morris Dancing. Here is Foxwhelps itinerary for places nearby. Full details can be found at: http://foxwhelpmorris.wordpress.com However, just a reminder that they will be at The Crown, Longtown this Tues 19th July from 7.30 pm and at The Yew Tree, Preston-on-Wye on 26th July.

Village Quire Visit: Make sure you put these dates in your diary. Workshop and Concert at St. John’s Newton and St.Margarets Church on September 28th and October 1st. This is a jint effort between FolkWorkshops and the two PCC’s so all offers of help welcome.

There are lots more events coming up in the Autumn and we hope to get most of this information to you in due course. In the meantime the August Newsletter may be delayed. Jane and I will be visiting a few folk clubs this August and a festival or two but we will be in back for our FolkWorkshops stand at the Longtown Show on the 20th August. We are then off again as our great niece is singing at Canterbury Cathedral and rather more mundanely we will be joining the sing around at Faversham Folk Club. It’s a long story but suffice it to say we were in Faversham, Kent, earlier this month buying another banjo and we were made very welcome at the local club when we made contact via e-mail in advance. It must have been reasonable as they have asked us back!

Finally, by visiting other singers and venues we have learnt quite a few things about developing our activities. Sing Arounds are a good way for individual singers and duos or quartets etc to develop their confidence and ability; whether singing or instrumental. There is nothing wrong in getting together separately to rehearse such contributions but such efforts should be given room to perform at the sing arounds without a group expectation that everyone should be able to join in with the whole piece. If there is a chorus, then all well and good, but individual performers need room to build their confidence and thereby add to the group experience. Equally, instrumental sessions, if run properly, can allow the beginners and improvers to learn from the more experienced in a way which allows them to learn from their mistakes without embarrassment. Several of the clubs we have come across make such sessions a regular event, separate from the main ‘club night’. This was the case with us in Faversham but as we were travelling back to our caravan in Walton-on-Thames that night via the M2, M20, M26 and M25 the invitation to try the new banjo out in the main bar with half a dozen instrumentalists the following night had to be declined! Consequently any players who are beginners or improvers should keep a look out for any instrumental workshop sessions which may be organised by individual supporters in the coming months.

If you can drop in at a local club when you are on your travels it can be quite a worthwhile experience, and in any case, you can always leave early.