Profiles of the artists and workshop leaders appearing at Valley Music 2011
Belshazzar's Feast
"Their music is breathtaking and wickedly inventive and the between-tunes interchange as intelligent and hilarious as the music." - Mike Harding, BBC Radio 2
"Famed for their on-stage humour." - The Guardian
Belshazzar's Feast combines the talents of Paul Sartin (Bellowhead) on oboe, violin and voice and Paul Hutchinson (Hoover The Dog) on accordion. Fresh from receiving a nomination for Best Duo in the 2010 BBC Folk Awards, the Pauls take their unique blend of exceptional playing of some of the most beautiful traditional songs and tunes with a wry wit that invariably sends audiences home with a smile.
Andy Cutting - diatonic button accordion. Jo Freya - clarinet, saxophones. Paul James - bagpipes, saxophones. Gregory Jolivet - hurdy-gurdy. Dave Shepherd - violin. Barn Stradling - bass guitar. J Swayne - bagpipes, saxophones.
Blowzabella produce an inimitable, driving drone-based sound played with a fabulous sense of melody, rhythmic expertise and sheer feeling. Originally formed in 1978 they have played everywhere from the main stage at Glastonbury Festival to the outer reaches of Brazil and West Africa and innumerable places in between. They compose their own music which is influenced by British and European traditional dance music. Many bands across Europe who experiment with the boundaries of folk music cite Blowzabella as a major influence.
Sample track from Blowzabella: See website for full biography - www.blowzabella.com Hear the band at www.myspace.com/blowzabella Contact:
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/ Phone 0788 794 8853
Craig Morgan Robson
Hailed as "one of the best harmony groups in the country" by fRoots, and as "true tradition bearers" by Living Tradition, this trio's winning combination of glorious voices, breathtaking harmonies and warm stage presence creates "a mix made in heaven". In the past few years they've captivated audiences in the USA and Canada as well as the UK, turning their hands (and voices) with consummate ease to a wide range of mainly traditional material, strongly linked with each group member's regional identity. Their performances have been described as "a joy to the ear" and "a harmony master-class".
Their first two CDs "Peppers and Tomatoes" and "Stranded" were described as "A gem of an album" (Mick Peat BBC Radio Derby) and as "a truly lovely CD, brimful of exceptional singing". In 2009 they released two more albums, "Humming-bird's Feather" and (in collaboration with the Askew Sisters) "The Axford Five" "The playing and singing here are superb; there isn't a duff track on the whole CD" Gavin Atkin EDS
"An engaging new force to reckon with" - The Guardian.
Luke is a contemporary composer and multi-instrumentalist working with folk and traditional music from England, Scotland and Ireland and a virtuoso button accordionist. Since winning the BBC Young Tradition Award back in 1992 he has worked with the Riverdance Show, De Dannan, The London Philharmonic Orchestra, The English National Opera, Royal Opera House Covent Garden Garden, Glenveagh National Park and The Centre for Irish World Music and Dance at University Limerick. His educational projects for young people are run through his charity Gael Music and supported by Arts Council England, Youth Music and The Performing Rights Society Foundation whilst solo projects include Histories Rhyme, Lost Music of the Gaels and Islands with performances in the Royal Festival Hall, at the London Jazz festival and for BBC Belfast's Blackstaff sessions and on Radio 3's In Tune Program.
Luke is bringing a quartet to the festival in St Mary Bourne.
Sample track from Luke:
KillBillies
KillBillies are Ben Childs (UK) and Micah Scott (USA). Based in West Palm Beach, South Florida, they are both touring veterans who have recently come together through a shared love of rowdy, rootsy music that speaks to the soul and has something to say. Their combined mission is simple, to stand on the shoulders of giants and see the future. Playing banjo, mandolin, guitars, accordion, tin whistles, and whatever else they can get their hands on, they draw on Celtic music, Bluegrass, folk, Punk, Rock and country to create their sound. Playing all over South Florida from Irish bars to bistros, street corners to festivals, private functions to concert halls, Killbillies get the party started. Their energetic live show involves them playing live percussion with their feet whilst both playing instruments and both singing. These boys make a lot of noise for two people... Expect to dance! Sample track on its way - they are in the studio soon!
'Hampshire is my adopted home. We were always straying into it from Newbury, where I grew up (I recall Guide camp at St Mary Bourne) and 20 years ago I found myself back here. I have the best possible job - as Hampshire County Archivist I am responsible for caring for our unique archive heritage and opening it up for people to explore the fascinating stories of people and place it contains. I hugely enjoy playing fiddle with The Madding Crowd which revives old church village band music, and being part of a folk club at Wherwell. ''
Lauren Goldsmith received a BA in Music and Politics at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, then, at The Juilliard School in NYC, her Master of Voice. While at Juilliard she sang with the American Opera Centre and at Alice Tully Hall in the Lincoln Center. Amongst numerous concerts of chamber music and oratorio, Lauren performed at the Aspen Music Festival, the White Mountain Festival, the Mozart Opera Project of New York and the Des Moines Opera Festival. Lauren appeared in a private recital at the Wigmore Hall last year and our sample song, a Shaker song arranged by Aaron Copeland 'Simple Gifts' is recorded live from this event. Later this year Lauren will be appearing in recital at New York's Bargemusic and with the Constanza Chorus in London.
Sample track from Lauren:
James Carter
James Carter, poet and guitarist, performs a range of wonderfully weird and sensationally strange poems from his collections Cars Stars Electric Guitars and Time–Travelling Underpants. Greetings, Earthlings! And How To Turn Your Teacher Purple! . For little ones, James presents a mellow and interactive session, 'Hey Little Bug!' for tiny tots.
Morag Joss is an amateur singer who writes fiction. Her seven novels have won literary awards in Britain and abroad and have been translated into several languages, and she also teaches creative writing for Oxford University and the Arvon Foundation. She has lived in St Mary Bourne for four years.
Joe Penland was born and raised in rural Madison County in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina. He is the proud steward of twelve generations and over 350 years of the rich oral tradition of his Scottish and English ancestors.
From his birth, Joe has listened to and learned the stories and love songs these travelers brought with them across the ocean, then southwest to the narrow coves and high meadows that many consider the richest repository of Great Britain's folk songs in the world. Joe inherited his grandfather's instruments and was taught to play by his Aunts. He was content to continue this tradition in his front room, the porch or around campfires on his secluded farm. His daughter Laurin along with lifelong friends Sheila Adams, Mary Eagle and David Holt convinced him to share his life and music with a broader audience. Since then, he has appeared at numerous festivals, twice toured Great Britain, and has been awarded the coveted Bascom Lunsford Award, named for his cousin and founder of the longest running folk festival in America, for his significant contribution to ''preserving our mountain music." Joe also writes and sings his own songs, which he calls ''just more stories of love and life here in the mountains.
Formed in 2002 (hence the name) this local band play in various pubs, clubs and boats afloat in and around Hampshire and adjacent counties. They are regulars at fetes, weddings, and beer festivals and have given concerts as near as Goodworth Clatford and as far a field as Parliament Square. The repertoire comprises mainly of the well-known exquisite New Orleans jazz music of the 1920s-30s ranging from blues, stomps and rags to the more up-to-date renderings of similar music made famous by Kenny Ball, Acker Bilk and Chris Barber.
Mad Hatter Morris
Mad Hatter Morris is a new(ish!) team hailing from Guildford, Surrey. Established four years ago as an inclusive side, the team welcomes both men and women and boasts an age range of early 20s to 60 plus! The Mad Hatters perform traditional dances from the Cotswolds, in particular from the villages of Bledington and Adderbury, using both hankies and sticks, not forgetting bells!
To find out more about Mad Hatter Morris, where they are dancing and how you can get involved visit www.madhattermorris.com
Pan Jazz International
Sounds of Steel is part of a Community Music project - Portchester Panyard. Over 200 people of all ages rehearse at Portchester as part of the project. This Steel Orchestra has recorded and toured extensively, including South Africa, India, the Caribbean Islands of Grenada and Barbados, France, Spain, Italy and Germany. This is one of the leading groups in the UK.
Nigel and Harriet Dickinson
Nigel studied piano at Trinity College of Music and Russian Musicology at Goldsmiths college, London. Has been organist and choirmaster in St Mary Bourne since 1987 and is currently researching early 20th century English piano music at Southampton University.
Harriet trained at Trinity College of Music and has played in many concerts and given recitals in and around Hampshire . She currently teaches at various prep schools in the area and very much enjoys making music with young musicians.
Nigel and Harriet have lived in the valley for 25 years.
Mad Hatter Morris is a new(ish!) team hailing from Guildford, Surrey. Established four years ago as an inclusive side, the team welcomes both men and women and boasts an age range of early 20s to 60 plus! The Mad Hatters perform traditional dances from the Cotswolds, in particular from the villages of Bledington and Adderbury, using both hankies and sticks, not forgetting bells!
