Black Swan Folk Club

E-Newsletter 7

Late February 2003

  1. MAIRE Ni CHATHASAIGH & CHRIS NEWMAN (25 February). First up, a quick reminder of Tuesday night's concert at the Early Music Centre. Maire and Chris really are phenomenal musicians, and great entertainers with it. Looking back in Club archives, I see they first regaled us almost exactly 12 years ago, 21 st February 1991. They've been back to our Peasholme Green home five more times since then and every time a Full House audience has enjoyed their awesome music making. Which makes it all the more puzzling why response to this bigger venue performance has been relatively muted.
    Do your ears a favour and get along there tomorrow night (not, incidentally, Thursday night as the Evening Press mistakenly reported at the weekend). There will be plenty of tickets available on the door (£8 full / £6 concessions) and the concert kicks off at 7.30 prompt with a support set of fiddle tunes and songs from an extremely talented youngster − just turned 16 − NICKY WARD

  2. FUTURE CONCERTS. We are now planning our Autumn concert programme for the Early Music Centre. Firm bookings have been made for THE POOZIES (10 September), SIMON MAYOR & HILARY JAMES (25 October) and THE ARTISAN CHRISTMAS SHOW (22 December), and I am still on the lookout for a couple more acts to fill out the season. Any suggestions? Meanwhile, a warning that our April concerts, SHOW OF HANDS and WATERSON:CARTHY, are both three-quarters sold already. And if you are also into World Music, look up the Early Music Centre's new brochure for details of several interesting concerts they are running themselves.

  3. REGIONAL FOLK MAGAZINES. The grass-roots folk scene in England is well served by a patchwork of regional magazines. In their various ways, these volunteer produced periodicals report local folk news, give details of clubs, concerts and festivals and review both CDs and live events. There are actually three such magazines with coverage areas which overlap around York:
    • Tykes' News for West Yorkshire and adjacent areas (£1)
    • Folk Roundabout covering from North Yorkshire to Northumberland (£1)
    • Folk News a smaller scale mag for East Yorkshire and surroundings (40p)
    We stock all three at the Black Swan, as a service to our supporters, and the Spring quarterly issues are due any day now. If you want to know what is happening around the region, even if just the forthcoming festivals, why not pick up all three? After all they'll set you back little more than the price of a pint and last a lot longer!

  4. YORK MUSIC LIVE FESTIVAL / CITY OF YORK FOLK DAY. York Council is promoting the whole of May as a month-long festival of live music, following on from BBC Music Live and other shorter events in recent years. The Black Swan will be actively participating and all our club events in May (which happens to be a five Thursday month) will be included in the Festival programme, as will LAST NIGHT'S FUN at the Early Music Centre on 23 May.
    What's more, I've decided to take the plunge and organise a CITY OF YORK FOLK DAY for Saturday 31 May at the Black Swan Inn. Planning is still at the embryonic stage, but I envisage a FREE and INCLUSIVE event open to all singers, players and listeners, bringing in all elements of the lively York folk scene. It will emphatically not be just a Black Swan Folk Club thing. Perhaps there could be a rolling club event upstairs, an on-going tunes session downstairs and even music making and rapper/morris dancing in the beer garden. More details in due course, but meanwhile put a note in your diary NOW.

  5. FUTURE CLUB NIGHTS . After a SINGERS & MUSICIANS NIGHT this week we have the local debut of Sands brother number three, BEN SANDS, on 6 March, followed by extrovert Barnsley lass SHARON FOUNTAIN on 13 March and a Double Bill of vocal delights on 20 March. I'm particularly looking forward to that one, which features VOICE OF THE WATER (stars of our snow-bound January Singers Night) and MONKEY'S FIST (who travelled many miles to do a floor spot for Isla St Clair last week). Finally, don't forget that tickets go on sale tomorrow for our club Easter Special, 17 April, with the mighty ANDY IRVINE − available as usual at Club meetings, from Cassadys or by post from me.