FOLK legends Steeleye Span are in a celebratory mood as they are about to set off on a 20-date UK tour to commemorate their 50th Anniversary!
Many members have come and gone, but vocalist Maddy Prior is still there, as she was back in 1969.
Speaking at her home, Maddy, expresses an unusual emotion about the milestone.“Surprise more than anything,” she says. “Nobody sets off intending to last 50 years.”
Interview by Simon Haines
Unless you are a folk performer, you may not have heard of Alan Bearman, but he has been involved in the English folk scene for over 40 years, starting as a folk club organiser, moving on to being heavily involved in organising the Sidmouth Folk Festival. He is currently Artistic and Marketing Director of the festival, now in its 65th year, as well as running Alan Bearman Music (ABM), an agency representing major artists on the folk, roots and acoustic music scene. He is also one of the few holders of the EFDSS Gold Badge, awarded for services to English folk music. Alan has famiy connections with the area and is a regular at Folk East Festival and at pub sessions in our area. Here is my recent interview with Alan
by Jill Parson
Since Suffolk Folk ‘morphed’ into mardles.org in 2017 the idea of putting on events in East Anglia was always near the top of the agenda for the steering committee. Enter Vintage Squeeze! a group of enthusiastic melodeon players based in Norwich who will travel almost anywhere to reach a workshop that would help them improve their mastery of the instrument.
Read more: Playing together workshop - Norwich, 13 April 2019
This year’s HARWICH INTERNATIONAL SHANTY FESTIVAL takes place on the 11th, 12th and 13th of OCTOBER and will soon be only six months away! Once more the narrow streets and alleyways of this old town will resound to the rousing sounds of shanties and songs of the sea as befits its rich maritime history. The guest list is filling fast with many artists already confirmed from Canada, France, Denmark, Poland and Germany as well as all over the UK - and more to come. Much of the entertainment is free! Here are some of the exciting acts to look forward to!
The story so far
by Sally Barrett
It was after tutoring for The West Country Concertina Players (WCCP) for several years at their workshops held alongside Sidmouth Folk Festival and at their annual ‘beginners’ weekend held at Kilve Court in Somerset that I thought it was time I did something about my ambition to start a new group here in Norfolk. My experience was in teaching very-nearly-absolute beginners, through to those becoming a little more confident, post-beginners/intermediate players.
Together with my husband, I had previously belonged to The East Anglia Concertina Players, a group formed in the early 90s with members travelling here monthly from as far away as Ipswich and Stamford, but this group had diminished in number and eventually folded. The group had, however, set up and run an annual ‘Play in a concertina band for a day’ event called SqueezEast, held in Stamford Arts Centre, and conducted by my husband, Paul.
