The Folk Forecast: 22–28 Feb 2021
The Unthanks, Seth Lakeman, John Kirkpatrick and the latest sneak previews from new folk musical Travelling with Thomas.
Welcome back to another jam-packed issue of The Folk Forecast! There’s heaps to choose from this week, including a weekend of musical activities with The Unthanks, a special concert from Seth Lakeman, morris tunes with John Kirkpatrick and workshops with the fantastic Leveret.
This week, you can also catch showcases from the fantastic new folk musical, Travelling with Thomas, which features music from Lady Maisery, Avital Raz, The Vox Hunters and Cohen Brathwaite-Kilcoyne. We caught up with the creator of the project, Laurel Swift, to find out all about it, and you can watch the interview over on our YouTube channel!
MONDAY 22 FEBRUARY
Folk Unlocked Virtual Conference — various events running from 22-26 February
Folk Alliance International
A 5-day virtual conference for the international folk community to come together for panels, workshops, showcases, networking and more. The full conference includes many events for industry professionals, but audience members can also enjoy the artist showcases, including the Global Music Match Marathon which is the finale of the week on Friday. There’s a huge amount going on (too much to mention here!) but take a look at the website for more info.
Entry is on the basis of ‘pay as you are able’, with the recommended registration fee for the full conference being $150 (around £107). If you’d like to attend as an audience member, you can get a ticket just for the artist showcases, which is also on the basis of paying what you can.
Seasons of Change with Tom Kitching — 7.30pm GMT
Chesham Folk Club on Zoom
Tom Kitching tells stories from his book, Seasons of Change, and plays tunes inspired by and played on his busking tour of England, as described in the book. Email Cheshamfolk123@gmail.com to find out more and get the Zoom code.
Free to view, but donations to the tip jar encouraged.
Phil Beer — 8pm GMT
Firebrand Music Events/Nettlebed Folk Club
Phil Beer, half of the ever-popular duo Show of Hands, presents a solo gig for you to enjoy from the comfort of home, hosted by Nettlebed Folk Club.
Tickets £16.50 plus booking fee.
Phil is very busy this week, and you can also catch him here:
Poppleton Live on Thursday 25 February at 7.30pm
‘The Fiddle Hour’ on Sunday 28 February at 8pm
TUESDAY 23 FEBRUARY
Katherine Priddy: The FolkSoc UK Winter Streams — 7pm GMT
FolkSoc UK on Facebook
FolkSoc presents Katherine Priddy for a live gig followed by a Q&A. Katherine’s beautiful voice and superb songwriting will leave you spellbound.
Free to view
WEDNESDAY 24 FEBRUARY
Jo May’s Family Percussion Workshops — from 2.45pm GMT
Live to Your Living Room
Join Jo May for two fantastic percussion workshops for families — a great option if you’re looking for something different to do while home schooling!
Kitchen Percussion - 2-2.45pm
Learn to play the spoons! - 3-3.45pm
Tickets £5 per workshop or £8 for both.
Bob Fox — 8pm GMT
Live to Your Living Room
With a masterful command of traditional and contemporary song, Bob Fox is one of the UK’s best loved singers and guitarists. His performance as Songman in the National Theatre’s production of War Horse holds a special place in my heart.
Tickets £14, with options to pay a bit more or less depending on your circumstances.
Bruce Molsky + Allison de Groot + Tatiana Hargreaves — 8pm GMT
Green Note website, Facebook page and YouTube channel
Enjoy an evening of song-sharing and tunes with Bruce Molsky, Allison de Groot and Tatiana Hargreaves, as they perform virtually ‘in the round’ for London’s Green Note.
No ticket required, but donations gratefully received on Paypal.
Miranda Sykes Live with Eastbourne Lamb Folk Club — 8pm GMT
Firebrand Music Events / Eastbourne Lamb Folk Club
Join Miranda Sykes for an intimate solo gig, hosted virtually by Eastbourne Lamb Folk Club. There will be an optional Q&A session on Zoom after the concert.
Tickets £15 plus booking fee.
Ben Morgan-Brown & Jim Chorley — 8pm GMT
Live at Thornsett Road on Facebook
A double-header of singer-songwriters: Ben Morgan-Brown is swiftly gaining recognition for his finely crafted songs and beautiful fingerpicking guitar style, whilst Jim Chorley’s magically melodic songs tell stories that are authentic, moving and meaningful.
Free to view, but donations encouraged.
THURSDAY 25 FEBRUARY
Big Band Ceilidh Tunes Workshop — 6.30pm GMT
Live to Your Living Room
A fantastic chance to learn ‘big band’ arrangements of a few of your favourite ceilidh tunes, with Jenny Newman and Andy Glass of The Party Band. Suitable for all instruments and abilities. Workshops will run for 5 weeks on Thursdays at 6.30pm.
Tickets £12, with options to pay a bit more or less depending on your circumstances.
Travelling with Thomas: Building a Narrative — from 25-28 February at 7.30pm GMT each day
Travelling with Thomas
Travelling with Thomas is a folk musical in the making, and you’re invited to get a glimpse behind the scenes! Now that the story and music are coming together, the cast will be holding showcases from 25-28 February to share sneak peeks with audiences. Featuring four fabulous actors and facilitated by storyteller and theatre artist Debs Newbold, the showcases will feature brand new songs recorded for Travelling with Thomas by Lady Maisery, Avital Raz, The Vox Hunters and Cohen Brathwaite-Kilcoyne. Find out more in our interview with Travelling with Thomas creator, Laurel Swift, over on YouTube.
Tickets £10, with the option to pay more or less depending on your circumstances.
The Wilderness Yet and Eimear McGeown & James Carty with Jonas Fromseier — 7.30pm GMT
Kings Place / Irish Music and Dance in London (IMDL)
Kings Place presents a double headliner of music with Irish roots, featuring folk trio The Wilderness Yet alongside fiddle player James Carty and flautist Eimear McGeown, who will be joined by Jonas Fromseier on bouzouki. This performance will be available to watch for 7 days, so there’s plenty of time to catch it if you aren’t free at the time of broadcast.
Tickets £10
The Finn Collinson Band Live @ Courtauld Memorial Hall — 8pm GMT
The Finn Collinson Band via YouTube
Join contemporary folk group The Finn Collinson Band for their first ever online concert! Filmed in Covid-secure conditions in late 2020 with professional-standard audio and visuals, the stream features music from Finn’s highly acclaimed debut album Call To Mind, as well as some previously unreleased material.
Free to view but donations encouraged.
FRIDAY 26 FEBRUARY
The Unthanks Winter Onliner — Various events from 26-28 February
The Unthanks
The Unthanks present 22 hours of online content for fans to enjoy, including exclusive new performances and films, podcasts and Q&As, workshops, interactive chat rooms, cook alongs and family content.
Weekend tickets £40 (or £60 for two people); tickets for just the filmed concerts £15.
CCM Live 2021 — 3 days of concerts from 26-28 February
CCM Live
CCM Live presents a 3-day live online music festival featuring nine outstanding artists, including Blazin’ Fiddles, Gnoss, Ímar, Jenna Reid, RURA, Siobhan Miller, Talisk, Frigg and Madison Violet.
Weekend tickets £25, with the option to pay less depending on your circumstances.
HOME: Grace Petrie at Leicester Cathedral — 7pm GMT
The Robot Needs Home Collective
HOME is a love letter to the city of Leicester — a series of ten streamed shows from ten different, spectacular locations commissioned by The Robot Needs Home Collective and supported using public funds from Arts Council England. For this performance, folk singer, songwriter and activist Grace Petrie headed to Leicester’s spectacular Cathedral (the final resting place of King Richard III). When the stream goes live, Grace will be in the chat answering questions and giving insights into the songs and the recording. It will then be available to watch on demand.
Free to view
Bollington Folk Club Presents Mossy Christian — 7pm GMT
Bollington Folk Club
Bollington Folk Club welcomes fine young multi-instrumentalist and singer Mossy Christian in this live online concert. Specialising in the musical traditions of Lincolnshire and Yorkshire, Mossy draws on a rich and diverse repertoire of folk songs and tunes.
Tickets by donation - this is at your discretion, but suggested around £7 to £8.
Steeleye Span: The 50th Anniversary Tour Event Stream — 7.30pm GMT
Park Promotions
Tune in for a stream of Steeleye Span’s performance at the Epsom Playhouse in 2019, as part of their 50th anniversary tour. The concert features songs from the EST’D 1969 album, as well as some of the greatest hits that cemented Steeleye as one of British folk’s most iconic groups. There will also be a Q&A in the interval.
Tickets £12 for a 48 hour pass or £16 for a month pass.
An Hour or So With… Eliza Carthy — 8pm GMT
Downend Folk Club on Facebook
We’re in for a treat from Downend Folk Club again, as Ant Miles welcomes folk legend Eliza Carthy for an hour or so of songs and chat. Twice nominated for the Mercury Prize, Eliza has revitalised folk music with her originality and creativity, crossing boundaries and collaborating with just about everyone on the folk scene! She’s sure to have more than a few stories to tell about her incredible career so far.
No ticket required, but donations gratefully received to the tip jar.
SATURDAY 27 FEBRUARY
Leveret Workshops — 2 days of workshops, running 10am-5pm GMT
Leveret on Zoom
Join Leveret as they dissect their music, exploring the tools and techniques they use to find new repertoire and play together, and sharing multitrack recordings so you can be part of the band! Available to all instruments and all abilities, although the workshops will cover some fairly in-depth ideas and techniques.
Tickets £75 for 2 days of workshops.
Festival of New — 2pm GMT
Britten Pears Arts
A showcase of fresh and exciting new work from various artists across a range of genres, including Maz O’Connor, Charlie Grey and Joseph Peach.
Ticketed but free to view.
Seth Lakeman — 8pm GMT
Crosstown Concerts / Stabal
A one-off global online concert celebrating the 15th anniversary of Freedom Fields. Featuring a special live band including Ben Nicholls, Benji Kirkpatrick and Alex Hart.
Tickets £16.50 for a single view of the concert, or £22 for a 30-day pass with bonus features.
Jon Wilks — 8pm GMT
Live to Your Living Room
Explore a wealth of traditional folk songs with Jon Wilks, whose new album, Up the Cut, is going down a storm! The album focuses particularly on songs from Jon’s native Midlands, with each one having a fascinating story to tell.
Tickets £14, with options to pay a bit more or less depending on your circumstances.
SUNDAY 28 FEBRUARY
Cotswold Morris – Bledington Jig Workshop — 2pm GMT
The Morris Federation
A workshop for dancers with some experience of Cotswold morris. Learn to dance a solo morris jig, so even without a full team you can still get dancing!
Free to attend, but donations to charity encouraged.
Sunday Social Dancing with Lisa Heywood and Matt Norman — 4pm GMT
Lisa Heywood and Matt Norman on Zoom
Enjoy a laid-back afternoon of dancing inspired by ceilidh (UK), contra (US) and European folk dances.
Tickets £6, with the option to pay more or less depending on your circumstances.
John Kirkpatrick - Morris Music — 7.30pm GMT
John Kirkpatrick on Zoom
A second outing for this show due to overwhelming demand! John Kirkpatrick plays tunes and songs from ‘Morris On’ and ‘Plain Capers’, plus tunes from his local dance teams and more.
Tickets £10
Regular events
‘Almost Acoustic’ with Eliza Carthy on Radio Scarborough - Mondays at 8pm. The show is also repeated through the week, so you can catch up if you miss it.
Afternoon Tea with Paul Walker and Karen Pfeiffer - Concerts are held on Fridays at 4pm on Facebook.
Winter Wilson Live from the Lounge - Concerts are held on Thursdays at 8.15pm on Facebook.
Jack Hogsden’s Kitchen Sessions - Concerts are held on Saturdays at 7.30pm on Facebook. All money raised goes to Don’t Stop the Music.
Paul McKenna - Paul regularly plays Facebook gigs on Saturday nights at 8pm.
Tim Edey’s Sleeping Tunes - Concerts are held on Saturdays at 9pm on Facebook.
Will Pound’s Sunday concerts - Concerts are held on Sundays at 11.30am on Facebook.
Honey and the Bear - Concerts are held on Sundays at 7pm on Facebook.
Cara Dillon: This Woman’s Work on BBC Radio Ulster - This radio series is being broadcast on Sundays at 4pm, and you can catch up on past episodes now.
The Isolation Pub Sessions - John Spiers hosts monthly sessions on his Facebook page, and you can submit recordings of you playing if you’d like to join in!
‘Folk from the Boat’ - a YouTube series exploring traditional songs and tunes with Anna Tam, as she travels through Britain’s waterways on her canal boat.
Rachael McShane fiddle classes
Rachael McShane has 2 fiddle courses starting this week:
Beginners Fiddle Course - A 6-week block of lessons on Wednesdays from 10-11.30am, starting on 24 February.
Improvers Fiddle Course - A 6-week block of lessons on Mondays from 6.30-8pm, starting on 22 February.
Breabach (Dùsgadh) - Virtual Tour
This was mentioned last week, but just as a reminder, the new animated film project with music from Breabach is continuing its virtual tour this week. Based on The Sea Maiden, the film is available to view in Gaelic and English. It features a soundtrack with five new pieces of music, one from each of Breabach’s five members, all of which were written, recorded and produced from home during the pandemic.
This week’s playlist
Head over to this week’s playlist to hear a selection of tracks from artists featured in this issue. Listen to something new, and see which gigs you might fancy going to!
Record of the week
Last Mile Home by Jon Boden, an album that explores a journey from moor to coast, and the interaction between the human race and nature. This is Boden’s fifth solo album, and marks the final part of his trilogy of records exploring a post-climate change world. With songwriting rich in imagery, Last Mile Home paints a vivid picture of a landscape overflowing with nature, and contemplates our place in it.
Last Mile Home is out on Friday 5 March, and is available to pre-order now, if you’d like to be one of the first to get your hands on it!
Keep up to date - find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
The Folk Forecast is created for artists, for audiences and for the UK folk scene. All information is correct to the best of our knowledge. If you have queries about the events listed, please contact the artists or promoters. If you have any suggestions for inclusion in future newsletters, please email TheFolkForecast@gmail.com. We may not be able to include absolutely everything, but we’re interested in UK folk events with a broad appeal, and would particularly welcome suggestions from Scotland, Wales and Ireland. The Folk Forecast is compiled by one person, so please bear with me if I can’t get back to you right away.