Posts Tagged ‘Chris Wood’

Chris Wood continues None the Wiser tour

In support of his latest release, folk multi-instrumentalist Chris Wood continues his None the Wiser tour tonight at Shrewsbury’s Theatre Severn venue. The remaining eight dates include performances London’s Union Chapel and Birmingham’s Glee Club.

A recipient of multiple successes at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, most notably winning Folk Singer of the Year in both 2009 and 2011, Wood continues to be an important figurehead at the forefront of the traditional English music scene. 

UK tour dates:

May 16 – Shrewsbury, Theatre Severn
May 16 – Canterbury, Cathedral Lodge
May 21 – Liverpool, St George’s Hall
May 22 – Birmingham, The Glee Club
May 23 – London, Union Chapel
May 24 – Derby, The Guildhall 
May 25 – Winchester, Discovery Centre
May 26 – Brighton, The Basement

Tags: bbc radio 2 folk awards, Chris Wood, english folk, none the wiser, traditional, union chapel.

The English Folk Dance Song Society (EFDSS) at Cecil Sharp House has another great series of unique concerts lined up for us. Here are the highlights…

First up are the Grammy Award-winning Carolina Chocolate Drops – they’ll be kicking off the Spring/Summer season on January 23 with their modern takes on traditional string tunes.

Next in line is the Cecil Sharp Project on January 27. The project has received critical acclaim from the Guardian, who gave it an excellent four stars. The work is a memoir to Cecil Sharp – be sure to check it out. Musicians include Steve Knightley, Jackie Oates, Andy Cutting, Caroline Herring, Jim Moray, Patsy Reid, Leonard Podolak and Kathryn Roberts. On the following day, January 28, Caroline Herring and Kathryn Roberts will be pairing up for an exclusive concert.

Fans of Bellowhead will be pleased to hear that Sam Sweeney will be returning to the stage at Cecil Sharp House again on February 15. He had a brilliant time during his last gig with Rua Macmillan, to the point where his fiddle snapped! It didn’t keep him from playing though. This time he’ll be playing for the launch of his new album, with former colleague Hannah James.

Then Lucy Ward will be supporting Belinda O’Hooley and Heidi Tidow on April 25. She was nominated the 2012 BBC Folk Award’s Horizon category, so this is guaranteed to be a good one. The House will then host Irish singer Cara Dillan the following day. She’s considered to have one of the most stunning voices in traditional music, so make sure you don’t miss her on April 26.

Folk and hip-hop will collide on May 19 – this should be interesting! Chris Wood (BBC Radio 2 Folk Singer of the Year) will be collaborating with rapper/singer Dizraeili (BBC Radio 4 Poetry Slam award winner). Finally, Oslo Jammerkor will be making their London debut on April 29 and they’ll be joining the Cecil Sharp House Choir for a collaborative performance.

Also, don’t forget the Folk Rising evenings throughout the season, which will be bringing the best acts in emerging folk music to one of London’s most celebrated venues.

For more details on the Cecil Sharp House concert series, please visit the EFDSS website.

Tags: Andy Cutting, bbc folk awards, belinda o'hooley, cara dillan, carolina chocolate drops, caroline herring, caroline herring kathryn roberts, cecil sharp house, Chris Wood, dizraeili, efdss, english folk dance song society, folk rising, hannah james, heidi tidow, jackie oates, jim moray, Kathryn Roberts, Leonard Podolak, lucy ward, oslo jammerkor, Patsy Reid, sam sweeney, steve knightley.

For every person mourning the end of the festival season here at Songlines HQ, there was one ceremoniously setting fire to their tent and wellington boots. Now don’t get us wrong, weekends spent in the open-air surrounded by soul-soothing music is a dream come true, but add into the equation the unpredictable British weather and four nights sleeping in a drafty two-man, and things can become pretty tiresome…

ENTER MUSICPORT!

This festival – with its intimate setting in a refurbished art-deco Spa, nestled in the East Yorkshire coastal resort of Bridlington – is a gift from the gods if fields and camp fires ain’t really your thing, but you still want to enjoy a whole host of top-notch bands in one weekend.

This year’s festival, which takes place in November, has a stellar line-up with performances by South African’s Hugh Masekela, Norwegian songstress Mari Boine, and folk star Chris Wood. Other performances will include Krar Collective, Amsterdam Klezmer Band and Sura Susso among many others. The full line-up can been viewed here.

For more information on Musicport (4-6 Nov, 2011), please visit their website.

Read more about Musicport Festival from issue #70 here.

Tags: amseterdam klezmer band, bridlington, Chris Wood, Hugh Masekela, krar collective, Mari Boine, musicport, sura susso.

Only two days till we head up the M5 to Shrewsbury for their annual Folk shindig. We’re all busy doing sun dances here at Songlines HQ, and praying for fine weather, but sadly the forecast doesn’t look too bright. Never mind, at least there’s plenty of wonderful music on over the weekend to keep us smiling even if we do get rained on.

Here are just a few things I’m particularly looking forward to seeing:

Cecil Sharp Project – saw this at Cecil Sharp House back in March and the album has been a constant on the Songlines office stereo, so I can’t wait to see them again. I’m also looking forward to all of the Project’s members’ individual sets, so Steve Knightley with Show of Hands, Caroline Herring (the lady has a voice that is guaranteed to warm up a chilly Shropshire evening), Kathryn with her husband Sean Lakeman; Patsy with Breabach; Andy who’s playing with Chris Wood; Leonard with his new Duhks offshoot band, the Turtle Duhks and last but not least, siblings Jim Moray and Jackie Oates. You can read all about the Project in the current issue and hear a track on the covermount CD.

Bellowhead – well, it’s no secret that the Songlines team are all Bellowhead groupies, especially after their fabulous opening gig at WOMAD. I hope they’ll be bringing along their Songlines award along as a mascot (or maybe Pete Flood has incorporated it into his percussion kit!).

17 Hippies – my favourite German big band.

Walsh & Pound – we featured them in Songlines a couple of issues back (#76) and I’m rather partial to a bit of harmonica and banjo, so keen to check these guys out.

Lots more great stuff to check out. If you’re going, then come along to the CD Artists signing tent, where you’ll find some of the Songlines crew (Jo, Alex, Sophie and Chris).

Right, now where are my wellies…?

Jo

Tags: 17 hippies, bellowhead, breabach, caroline herring, cecil sharp, Chris Wood, jackie oates, jim moray, seth lakeman, show of hands, shrewsbury, shrewsbury festival, shrewsbury folk festival, steve knightley, walsh & pound.