Black Swan Folk Club

E-Newsletter 261

February 2024

 Hello everyone

 

Welcome to our first Newsletter of 2024. One month in and we’ve had a very busy January, raising money for the British Heart Foundation in memory of our old friend and resident singer Pete Quinn and for Bowel Cancer UK in memory of our late landlord Andy Cross. Andy’s partner Maggie now landlady of the pub has been wild swimming every morning in January to raise funds for this one and it was such a brave endeavour we couldn’t let it pass by without contributing. Well done Maggie!

 

January had some great music which included guests Lee Collinson, plus from Canada Gordie Tentrees and Jaxon Haldane. We had probably our best Winter Folk Day yet and finished off the month with a special Americana Open Mic. That seemed to be very popular so we’ll doubtless do one again.

 

Our first February guest is practically here as on Thurs February 8 we are presenting PETE DAVIES.

This will be his first appearance as a guest at The Black Swan Folk Club. Pete dropped in to give us a short set at an Open Mic a few months back and we've been keen to give him a guest slot ever since.

"Pete Davies is a great singer-songwriter!” The late, great, Vin Garbutt.

 

On Thurs February 15 we entertain HARP and a MONKEY

Last here at The Black Swan Folk Club in December 2015 and a return visit is long overdue. Songs about cuckolded molecatchers, a lone English oak tree that grows at Gallipoli, care in the community, medieval pilgrims and Victorian bare-knuckle boxers... We can only be talking about the acclaimed song and storytelling trio Harp & a Monkey.

 

Thurs February 22 KENNY SPEIRS

On tour from his home in the Scottish borders many will remember Kenny from his time with the John Wright band and with the late Judy Dinning and Eilidh Grant in the band Real Time. This time round Kenny is back with a solo performance.

 

Thurs February 29-NORTH SEA GAS

Another evening with a Scottish flavour. North Sea Gas are one of Scotland’s best-loved folk groups who have toured the world. The band, who have made 21 albums including over 270 songs and 70 Scottish and Irish tunes, are massively popular in the United States, Europe, and particularly Germany. ‘Fans expect us to play favourites like ‘Fear A’Bhata’ and ‘Johnny Cope’ said Dave Gilfillan, the band’s founder-member. ‘but there’s always a request for ‘Caledonia’.

 

Thurs March 7- KIT HAWES and AARON CATLOW

One of the most exciting duos to emerge from the UK in recent times, Kit Hawes & Aaron Catlow combine heartfelt musicality, unparalleled virtuosity and vocal harmony. Using the folk music of the British Isles as a catalyst, Kit and Aaron create dynamic and effervescent interpretations of centuries-old material as well as original songs and compositions, all the while celebrating the timeless aural quality of a guitar, fiddle and vocals duet. “Never a dull moment, with imagination firing throughout and an abundance of creative energy” -Living Tradition

 

Tuesday March 12-THE SAM SWEENEY BAND at The Crescent Club

Following the colossal success of supporting Bellowhead on their comeback tour in 2022, Sam is taking to the road to play his genre-defying landmark album, Escape That, with his all-star band. Featuring Louis Campbell on electric guitar, Ben Nicholls on double bass and Stuart McCallum on acoustic guitar, this will be a gig you don’t want to miss. Sam is one of England’s finest and most in demand traditional musicians.

 

Thursday March 14-DUNCAN McFARLANE and ANNE BRIVONESE

Firm favourites at The Black Swan Folk Club, Duncan McFarlane is a highly regarded singer-guitarist who splits his sets equally between traditional fare and his own songs which are written, most definitely, in the trad idiom. Rated by Mike Harding as a 'fine showman', his intrinsic seriousness of intent and approach is laced with a healthy irreverence and humour that The Living Tradition magazine calls 'hugely entertaining'. Accompanying him on fiddle and harmony vocal duties will be Anne Brivonese. Together they've made several albums over the years, including 'All Rogues and Villains' which gained a five-star review from R2 magazine.

 

Thursday March 21-OPEN MIC.

Everyone is welcome to our Open Mic evenings, performers and listeners alike, and if you’d prefer to perform acoustically without the mic, that’s fine.

 

Thurs March 28-THE LANGAN BAND This event has now ‘SOLD OUT’

 

Thurs April 4-LIZ STRINGER

Liz Stringer is one of Australia’s most admired and versatile songwriters and instrumentalists. A venerated guitarist and vocalist, her notoriously powerful live performances and melodically rich, story-based songs have earned her a unique place among the most important Australian songwriters of the modern era. An exciting debut for this artist and a chance to see her in the intimate setting of The Black Swan Folk Club

 

Mon April 8-UFQ (The Urban Folk Quartet) at The Crescent Club.

Back with us in York once again. In an age where the word “folk” encompasses everything from acoustic pop to hardcore traditional music, the use of such labels to distinguish one musical experience from another has arguably been stretched farther than ever. The Urban Folk Quartet’s distinguishing features have much less to do with the traditional idea of genre. Yes, this is fiddle music that draws heavily from celtic dance forms and traditional song but from there on in it is unlike any folk band you have ever heard.

 

Thurs April 11-OPEN MIC

 

Thurs April 18-CATHRYN CRAIG and BRIAN WILLOUGHBY

One of our favourite duos at The Black Swan Folk Club, Craig and Willoughby make a welcome return. Cathryn Craig has sung with Chet Atkins, Shel Silverstein, The Righteous Brothers and Jorma Kaukonen. Her great-grandfather Jacob Sowder was recorded by Cecil Sharp and featured in his book English Folk Songs From The Southern Appalachians. Brian Willoughby is best known for his virtuoso performances on electric and acoustic guitar, with progressive folk/rock band Strawbs and also with Mary Hopkin, Joe Brown, Roger Whittaker, Bridget St.John, Jim Diamond and Monty Python.

 

Thurs April 25-OPEN MIC

 

Sun April 28 FARA at The Crescent

Fired up and raring to go after a lockdown spent creating a hugely popular film project, ‘The Orkney Series’, Scottish powerhouse quartet FARA unveiled their highly anticipated third studio album in 2022. Bursting with brand new self-penned instrumental tracks, and with songs adapted from the words of Orcadian.poets a ‘unique mix of spell-binding vocals, intricately woven fiddle harmonies and energetic closers.

 

Thurs May 2-FIONA ROSS and CHRISTINE KYDD
Fiona is from Glasgow and, having also lived in North Lewis, emigrated to Australia in 2009.  In Melbourne she is recognised as a well-established tradition-bearer of Scots song.  Fiona’s honest, earthy & evocative singing style and extensive repertoire showcases the richness & diversity of the tradition.
Christine an award winning singer of Scottish songs and ballads has been inducted into the Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame. Her warm vocals and passion for the material draw you into a magic musical world.
The pairing of these two voices promises to be an excellent evening of Scottish folk song.

 

Sat May 4 SOUND of the SIRENS are at The National Centre for Early Music
Sound of the Sirens are a singer-songwriting duo based in Exeter, Devon comprising of Abbe Martin & Hannah Wood. Honing their craft over the past decade, Martin & Wood have cemented themselves as firm favourites as “one of the UK’s finest folk acts” not only on the West Country scene, but nationally, and internationally. Their status, and fast-growing fan-base is not only testament to the pair’s prowess as songwriters and musicians, but as people too.
Their musical and vocal dexterity dovetails beautifully on the co-written songs, which range from beautiful, emotive ballads, to up-beat, foot stomping, hands in the air, sing-along anthems. Their musical creations translate well onto recorded media, but it is in the live arena where they truly excel. There is a certain majesty about their live performances that simply cannot be put into words.
If you aren’t aware of this exciting duo a visit to You Tube to check out their high profile TV appearances will tell you what you want to know.

Thurs May 9 OPEN MIC

 

Fri May 10 ALLAN TAYLOR ‘The Road Well Travelled’. The acclaimed singer-songwriter presents his new one man show about his life and times at The National Centre for Early Music.
Songs, stories and anecdotes of more than fifty years on the road Accompanied by his own songs and music Allan will talk about his life and times from the 60’s in London, through to the 70’s in America (New York, Los Angeles, Nashville) and then on to the 80’s in Europe and up until the present day. He will describe the experiences that led to the songs, the recordings, (more than 25 albums to date) and in excess of one hundred and fifty cover versions. ‘the most important songwriter of his generation’ Dr. Frederick Woods in the Oxford Book of Traditional Verse.

 

Wed May 15 KATHERINE PRIDDY at The Crescent Club

Since emerging with her debut EP ‘Wolf’, UK singer-songwriter Katherine Priddy has quickly become one of the most exciting names on the British music scene. Priddy’s haunting vocals and distinctive finger-picking guitar style have already seen her sell out a headline tour, perform at prestigious festivals around the UK and abroad, including Glastonbury where she featured on their BBC 2 coverage, and support a number of world class artists including Richard Thompson, Loudon Wainwright III and Vashti Bunyan, as well as a recent show with Guy Garvey at The Roundhouse. Now, early 2024 sees the release of Priddy’s eagerly-awaited second album, The Pendulum Swing, on February 16th, via Cooking Vinyl. The LP explores themes of home, family, love and memory, as Priddy seeks to move forwards whilst acknowledging and honouring all that has gone before.

 

Thurs May 16 RACHEL NEWTON

Her date at the Black Swan last year had to be rescheduled due to the dreaded Covid but now we’re happy to announce a new date for singer, harpist and composer Rachel. She draws on poems, ballads and stories that are hundreds of years old, working them into her contemporary compositional style to create a rich sound that is ambitious, original and unique.

A skilled collaborator, she’s a founder member of The Furrow Collective and the Lost Words: Spell Songs, as well as the duo project Heal & Harrow with long time friend and colleague Lauren MacColl and was named Musician of the Year at both the Scots Trad Music Awards and the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.

 

Thurs May 23 MIRANDA SYKES,

Miranda started her career as a musician in 1996 at the age of 18, playing bass guitar in a country rock band. After 2 years touring and playing for line dancing in working mens clubs across Britain, folk-rock band Pressgang were looking for a bass player. Miranda spent the next 2 years touring internationally with them. After a few years of musical promiscuity playing with Firebrand, Little Johnny England, Robb Johnson, Bill Jones, Steafan Hannigan, Reg Meuross, Kirsty McGee, The Phil Beer Band, Martyn Joseph and The Scoville Units; Miranda depped for Pete Zorn in the 2004 Show Of Hands festival band line up. She worked with them for the next 20 years. Miranda also found time for a short tour and album with the Miranda Sykes Band in 2005, duo album tours with mandolin player Rex Preston and 2 solo albums. 2024 brings a second tour with Hannah Martin, a new Baring-Gould Centenary project with Jim Causley, summer festivals with vocal group Daphne’s Flight, a tour with The Phil Beer Trio and a new solo album and tour “Out Of The Woods”.

 

 

Thurs June 6 TONY McMANUS & JULIA TOASPERN

Tony and Julia's previous and most recent UK-wide tour in May-June 2022 had 29 gigs in it and one of them was at The Black Swan Folk Club in York. It was a classic evening of skilled musicianship with these two virtuosos playing to a packed house. And so we thought we’d do it again.

Hailed by the late John Renbourn - who was no mean guitarist himself - as ‘the best Celtic guitarist in the world’ Tony McManus has been listed as one of the 50 transcendental guitarists of all time by Guitar Player Magazine.

Julia Toaspern is a multi-talented musician from Berlin who combines classical training on violin and voice with a wide interest in genres such as jazz, baroque and traditional music. On top of this her skills as a guitarist are prodigious and make an exciting fit with Tony’s work.

 

Fri June 7 until Sun June 9 CITY of YORK ‘Roland Wall’s’ FOLK WEEKEND

Still in preparation, once again we’ll have a weekend packed with the best of local folkie talent and some surprises as well.

 

Thurs June 27 ENDA KENNY.

Another visit to the club for ENDA KENNY an Irish-born songwriter who has made his home in Australia since the late 1980's. His thoughtful, descriptive stories of his adopted homeland have struck a chord with  audiences Australia, Ireland the UK and beyond. Rock and Reel describes him as a cracking live entertainer.

Last year started well, Enda was awarded Artist of The Year at Newstead Live Music Festival in January 2023.

"On small stages to intimate audiences or large stages to festival audiences he always holds the crowd in the palm of his hand. Witty and intelligent songwriting and a brilliant night's entertainment" 
Eleanor McEvoy 

 

And lined up at the club for later in the year are:-

FLOSSIE MALAVIALLE (Sept 12), ROBB JOHNSON (Sept 26),

JESSE TERRY(USA) (Oct 3), HUNTER MUSKETT (Nov 7), CHRISTINE COLLISTER (Nov 28)

And we have CALAN scheduled to appear at the NCEM on Wed Nov 13.   

 

Tickets are already on sale for our Christmas show (it’ll be here before you know it) with 
ST. AGNES FOUNTAIN. The band’s performance at the NCEM proved to be so successful last Christmas that we’ve decided to do it all over again.

The date is Monday December 2nd and once again the venue will be

The National Centre for Early Music in York.

 

 

Ticket links and availability for all the above concerts and club nights can be found by going to the Black Swan Folk Club website:-www.blackswanfolkclub.org.uk Watch our Facebook and Twitter pages for updates.

 

Here are some other local folkie events taking place in York:-

Black Swan Folk Club stalwart TONI BUNNELL will be raising money for the Motor Neurone Disease Association with a concert at The Black Swan Inn this coming Sunday February 11th. As well as Toni , MARTIN HEATON and ANDY TAGGER are also on the bill. It’s from 2pm to 4.15pm and admission is £5 cash on door. All proceeds to MNDA.

There’s a tune session at The Maltings, Tanner’s Moat every Tuesday evening and you’ll find old-time tunes and songs at The Golden Ball, Bishophill on Sunday evenings. Friday evenings there’s a session of tunes and songs at The Three-Legged Mare in High Petergate.

The National Centre for Early Music in York present Eliza Carthy on June 28 and Steve Knightley on Oct 22 and you can see Mad Dog McCrea and Leather’O at The Crescent Club on March 2.

At the Black Swan Inn on Tuesday March 5 as part of the Acoustic Gatherings by Candlelight tour, DARKHER play a York date. DARKHER feature guitar vocals and electric violin, and perform dark melancholy folk, with beautiful, haunting female vocals. Support is Swedish vocalist and guitarist Grift.

 

As always we’re looking forward to seeing you soon at The Black Swan Folk Club or at one of our in concert events.

 

Chris and The Black Swan Folk Club