E-Newsletter 19

1. NEWS FROM THE EARLY MUSIC CENTRE (1) − LUNASA SOLD OUT. Next Tuesday’s concert by this brilliant young Irish band has Sold Out in advance, with a long waiting list at the Box Office for any returns. I’m particularly pleased for Delma and the NCEM staff, who took on this booking at my suggestion when I was unable to do it as a Black Swan promotion. Those of you who wisely bought your tickets in good time are in for a real treat, I’m sure.

2. CITY OF YORK FOLK DAY − SATURDAY 22ND MAY. Plans for Folk Day 2004 are gathering pace and there’s a sense of enthusiastic anticipation in the air. All manner of singers and bands have expressed an interest in doing a turn in the course of the day, and the session players are raring to go. On the dance side, Black Swan Rapper and Ebor Morris will be there again, together with new mixed dance side The Minst! er Strays, and we’ve even had an approach from a folk record stall about setting up shop!
   I’m now beginning to think about running orders, MCs and the like. It would be appreciated if potential performers for both the Marquee and the Club Room could register an interest with me in the next few weeks, preferably with one or more preferred times of day (lunchtime, afternoon, early evening, later evening). I’ll also be on the look out for comperes.
   One area where we’d love to improve on last year is to have a decent Singaround session at some point in the day. There is a potential room, at least after lunches have been served, but we need enough singers to really make it happen, ideally with somebody to lead things off. If Singarounds are your thing, do get in touch.

3. NEWS FROM THE EARLY MUSIC CENTRE (2) − MALINKY IN MAY. Another outstanding young folk band is lined up for the NCEM on Friday 28th May. Scots Irish quintet MALINKY excel both vocally, with three lead singers including the sublime Karine Polwart, and instrumentally, with a line-up of bouzouki, fiddle, guitars, button accordion, flute, whistles and bodhran. Their repertoire is song-centred, taking in! both classic ballads and strong original material, but interspersed with plenty of sparkling tunes sets. This one is still six weeks away but already approaching one third sold. Don’t miss out − tickets are booking now at the Box Office (01904 658338), priced £10 (concessions £8), and they are also available from me at club meetings and to personal callers at Cassadys Records on Gillygate.

4. FOLK CLUB SUMMER PROGRAMME UPDATE. There have been a few changes to the list of Summer club guests given in E-News 17, and the remaining gaps have been filled. Julie Henigan’s withdrawal was reported in E-News 18. Since then, please note that Threlfall Ellison Edwards have been postponed by one week, to June 3, so as to avoid a direct clash with Richard Thompson’s York gig on 27th May. For those of you NOT going to see Mr T., we’ll have a Singers Night that day.
   The final line up for June, July and August is now as follows, with full details due in the next club flyer, which all being well should accompany the next issue of this newsletter.
   • June 3 Threlfall Ellison Edwards, June 10 Roger Sutcliffe, June 17 Singers Night, June 24 "World Sounds" Double Bill with Caramba! and Soundsphere.
   • July 1 Dave Burland, July 8 Emma Williamson, July 15 Singers Night, July 22 Ruth Hazleton £ Kate Burke (from Australia), July 29 Touchwood (also from Oz).
   • August 5 Phil Cerny’s Farewell Night (and Roland’s 50th), August 12 The Emily Smith Band, August 19 Mike Whellans, Aug 26 David Francey (from Canada).

5. NEWS FROM THE EARLY MUSIC CENTRE (3) − ETHNO ENGLAND. Our last concert promotion before the Summer break takes place on Tuesday 15th June and is something a little different, with upwards of 60 performers taking part! Ethno England is a week-long international folk music camp taking place at Riccall, near York. Modelled on previous such events on the continent, this is an English first and is largely down! to the enthusiasm of course director Sam Pirt. Fifty young musicians from as far afield as Nigeria and Uganda, Algeria and Russia as well as Sweden, Belgium and the British Isles will be coming together for a week, exploring and sharing each other’s musical heritage with guidance from artistic leaders such as James Fagan, Tim Van Eyken and Danish fiddle player Kristine Heebol.
   Mid way through the week, Ethno England moves up the A19 to York for a public concert of "work in progress". All the students will be taking part, plus the leaders, the course director and some as yet un-named "Special Guests". It should be an intriguing and enjoyable celebration of international harmony through music making. To encourage as wide an audience as possible, we have kept the ticket price down to a modest £8, or £6 for adult concessions and just £3.50 for all students and children. I’ll have more details in a future e-newsletter, but meanwhile tickets are already on sale.

6. NEWS FROM THE EARLY MUSIC CENTRE (4) − AUTUMN EVENTS. We are now organising some concerts for the Autumn season at the Early Music Centre. Already confirmed are Martin Simpson (19th October) and Show Of Hands (19th November) with two or three other acts under negotiation. Watch this space!

That wraps things up for now. With all these Special Events coming up, don’t forget that there is still good live music every Thursday at the Black Swan. In particular, watch out for Roy Bailey next week (22nd April) which is a first-come, first-served Pay On The Door event. If he’s on anything like the form I witnessed at Warwick Folk Festival last summer it should be a classic night.