Folklife Quarterly FQ 40: Jan 2014 Folklife Quarterly, web version | Page 21

v FQ 40, Jan 2014 p19 v Clubs & Venues, England Ü West Country Ü West Midlands Ü Other Areas folk in Worcester the Somers traditional folk club every Friday, 8.30pm Alma Tavern, 74 Droitwich Rd (A38) Worcester WR3 7HT (01905 28103) 4 miles from M5 J7 ~ 5 miles from M5 J6 Hear us ! Sample tracks from our Club CD on website “a place where traditional song is at home” Jan 03 Singers’ Night, with Choruses to start the year! Jan 10, 17, 24, 31 Singers’ Nights Feb 07 Singers’ Night, with Choruses to start Feb 14, 21 Singers’ Nights Feb 28 Singers’ Night, featuring JIM PRESTON Born and raised in Cornwall, Jim is proud of his Cornish heritage, and sang church, folk and choral music while at school and college, but then spent what he describes as “a lamentably long time away from folk music”, until his retirement from education. Jim sings a widening range of traditional and contemporary folk, catching up on those “lost” years (his words!). Come along to what will surely be a very special evening. Mar 07 Singers’ Night, with Choruses to start Mar 14, 21, 28 Singers’ Nights Sam / Eleanor on 01684 561378; or email Chris via website Come and join us any Friday! www.somers-folk-club.org.uk Visitors £2 … your 1st visit is FREE ! ‘Tunes at 8’ ~ calling all musicians! At the SOMERS ! Would you like play some tunes occasionally, before the Club starts? We have a ‘mini-session’ now and again, to encourage you to extend your musical talents and share some tunes. We would particularly like to welcome anyone learning an instrument who wants to join in with session tunes. You don’t need to read music, but there will be some ‘dots’ for those who like them. 8-8.30pm on Fridays tba, see www.somers-folk-club.org.uk Hope to see you there! Julia Davies Magpies: “the best Harvest Supper we have ever had” WORCESTERSHIRE ® FOLK AT THE FOLD, The Fold, Bransford, Worcs WR6 5JB (A4103, Worcester-Hereford road) 4th Sat, very occasionally others, 8.30pm Held in The Fold’s delightful Cart House, with its natural wooden beams, brick and lime plaster walls, a wonderfully atmospheric room, creating the perfect venue for our Club and all the folk-related aspects evident on our website: www.ericpaynefolksongs.co.uk FAF enjoys the considerable attendance of enthusiastic audiences and a wide variety of fervent performers who are passionate about their folk music interests, bringing their own individual magic to our inspirational evenings. Beginning at 8.30pm sharp, club nights cost just £2.00. Bring your own drinks, though we do have tea, coffee and (lovely) biscuits available at a nominal cost. Club nights are: Jan 25, Feb 22, Mar 22. ‘4@the Fold’: time usually prevents us from seeing as much as we would like from some performers … so occasionally we ask audiences to nominate their favourite acts. Following a draw, the winning nominee has the opportunity for an extended performance of four ‘pieces’ or approximately 15 minutes to entertain. So Feb 22 will be a draw for the 4@the Fold to be held on Mar 22. We also present infrequent, high quality concerts: we have a provisional date for a concert on 29th March (tbc) - please check the website nearer the time. ® Eric and Eileen Payne ✆ 01886 880061 : www.ericpaynefolksongs.co.uk If ......... you would like some publicity - do join Folklife. Membership is only £14 a year • more copies only £2 each, so 2 are £16, 3 are £18, etc. You can have up to 200 words - each issue! • As a guide, the ‘Fold’ above is exactly 200 words (we don’t count the heading; and we don’t count the contact details below). And if you have an advert, you can write more (see p3) And it will last for 3 whole months! - What value for money, eh! WORCESTERSHIRE ® SOMERS TRADITIONAL FOLK CLUB, The Alma Tavern (01905 28103), 74 Droitwich Rd [A38], Worcester WR3 7HT. Fridays, 8.30pm Ads above & on left 5th Oct: “The best Harvest Supper we have ever had: the floor singing was good, the food was excellent and the band was just wonderful!”. That was our MC’s verdict, and the assembled crowd wholeheartedly and vocally agreed. Over sixty members and guests packed out Rushwick Village Hall for a memorable night of feasting and singing. Both these essential ingredients of “pastime with good company” were prepared with consummate skill and enjoyed by all with great gusto. Magpie Lane were indeed wonderful. Fiddle, concertina, cello, mandola, guitar, side drum, and five brilliant folk voices delivered two perfectly balanced sets of traditional songs and tunes. Plenty of opportunity for audience participation won approval in turn from the band, who offered to “send the bus round” to take the club with them on future bookings! Uptempo drinking songs, elegiac love ballads, familiar choruses and delightful rarities performed with tightly wrought harmonies, plus cleverly arranged instrumentals and infectious dances were all woven together with a tremendous sense of energy and fun. A good time was had by all. By kind permission of the band, the evening was recorded, and the two band sets are available on our website. Chris Stewart Chris has also reviewed Mitch Reynolds’ 20th Sept feature, see Performers pages. There has been quite a busy season of Club nights, full of song, music and merry banter. Two successful “Tunes at 8” sessions, led by Julia, were held on 18 Oct and 22 Nov; see ad on left for more. “Somers’ Lunch Club” (a purely social, nonmusical event!) has been well-supported; Bob Fox reports a Christmas Lunch in December went very well, and will become an annual event. The Lunch Club meets at 12.30 at the Alma on 1st Tuesdays. For further information contact Nicky on 01905 23569, or e-mail [email protected] The Club looks forward to a feature spot from Jim Preston on 28 Feb 2014 (details see advert above) Come along to what will surely be a very special evening. Not been before? Then your first Friday visit will be free! We welcome all visitors, whether performers or audi V