Archive for the ‘folk music sessions’ Category

Opportunities in Morris dance sides for beginner pub session folk music musicians and traditional dancers in Devon, the West Country and England

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009

When I suggest to beginner musicians that folk music sessions are a great way to start playing in public, inexperienced acoustic musicians often reply that they are afraid that the standard is too high for them and they would be too nervous to play before strangers in a pub folk music session, especially if they had to ‘take a turn’ in a sing-around or open mike session.

Joining a Morris side and playing in the Morris dance band may be a great way for these beginner musicians to gently start playing in public whilst at the same time meeting new people and making new friends in the welcoming and community orientated world of Morris dancing.

And now is the ideal time to start. As the Winter evenings draw in, Morris sides all over Devon, West Somerset, the West Country and indeed England are settling in to their weekly Winter practice sessions with their musicians. At these weekly Morris dancing practice sessions the dancers learn the new traditional English Morris dances and the musicians learn the traditional English folk tunes with which they will excite and entertain the public at the next years village fetes, weddings and folk music festivals.

These weekly Morris dancing practice sessions are an ideal opportunity for beginner musicians to learn the tunes that go with the Morris dances and for dancers to learn the intricate and fascinating steps of the traditional Morris dance repertoire. At each Morris dance practice session, the folk music tunes are played many times as the dancers practice the dance formations and steps and so it is easy for beginner musicians to learn the tunes.

So, if you are a beginner folk musician who is a little nervous about playing in public at a folk music session, why not approach your local Morris dance side and ask them if they are looking for extra musicians for their Morris band. In my experience, most Morris dance sides have an open door policy and welcome newcomers who want to try out the Morris tradition and see if they like it.

I was at a Christmas folk music session last year run by my local West Somerset Morris Men side and I recollect that several on the committee mentioned they welcomed new members in their Morris team. They practice through the Winter at Halsway Manor near Crowcombe in West Somerset which is a delightfully ancient country house worth a visit in itself.

My own side is the Exmoor Border Morris dance side and on our ‘Home turf’ page is says ‘Newcomers are welcome to join’. Certainly they have made me welcome :-)

Of course, if you are an experienced traditional English folk musician, you may also find joining a Morris side wonderful fun. It is a great opportunity to meet lots of friendly new people who often have a well developed social circle that is very welcoming to newcomers as well as the opportunity to play traditional English folk tunes for appreciative dancers and the public at fetes, festivals and other locations.

If you are a folk musician or acoustic musician or aspiring traditional dancer hoping to keep fit, finding a local Morris dancing side in your area, is easy. A good place to start is the Morris Ring side finder service. Just click on the map where you want to find a Morris dance side and follow the instructions. Alternatively, why not try your favourite search engine typing in Morris dance sides and your location. You will probably be surprised at the choice and the great welcome you will receive :-)

Are you a member of a Morris dance side and would you like to hear from new acoustic musicians or aspiring Morris dancers? Click on ‘comments’ below and I look forward to hearing from you :-)

Bye for now

Rob

Rob Hopcott – online author (retired) and Morris dance side musician

Posted in Christmas folk music session, Exmoor Border Morris, Folk Music Session, Morris, Morris Ring, Morris Side, Morris dance, Morris dance sides, News from Rob Hopcott, acoustic musicians, beginner musicians, folk music sessions | No Comments »

Weymouth pub sessions and pub singarounds continue to be successful at Dorset’s Wessex Folk festival 2009

Thursday, June 11th, 2009

Many folk festival devotees see folk music sessions and folk song singarounds as being at the heart of any good folk music festival and the Wessex Folk Festival committee is particularly keen to enable amateur musicians and singers or even professional musicians and singers resting between acts to enjoy some home spun music in a relaxed pub setting.

Weymouth is particularly well served by pubs ideal for musicians and singers sessions and singarounds.

The Kings Arms in Trinity Road is always popular for the Irish or Celtic sessions and this year also hosted a shanty session and a music and song session that seemed much enjoyed.

The Excise House hosted a half speed Irish Session and a lot of tunes that were definitely nothing like half-speed with expert contributions from both Old Rooms Stage and Hope Square Stage performers taking some time out.

The Sailors Return on the other side of Town Bridge in Nicholas Street, Weymouth is the home of the regular Wednesday sessions and was host over the weekend to a variety of festival sessions varying from a Bluegrass Session with Nigel Cantor for musicians to a Gentle Song Session for singers with Dawn Harris and friends.

Roger and Jo Quigley with many supporting friends hosted the all important Survivors Session that always rounds off the weekend perfectly.

If sessions and singarounds truly are the heart of a good folk festival, thanks to the many hard working session organisers, musicians, singers and pubs where the sessions and singarounds were hosted, there can be little doubt that Wessex Folk Festival 2009 was a festival with a huge heart.

Were you there? Did you enjoy a session or a singaround at the Wessex Folk Festival 2009? What was memorable for you? We would love to hear from you in the comments below :-)

Bye for now

Dave
Dave Milner – Wessex Folk Festival Committee

Posted in Dorset pub sessions, Dorset pub singarounds, News from Rob Hopcott, Wessex Folk Festival 2009, Weymouth pub sessions, Weymouth pub singarounds, folk music sessions, folk song, folk song singarounds, sessions, singarounds | No Comments »

Crediton Folk Festival 2009 at Cheriton Fitzpaine

Monday, April 27th, 2009

Just got back from a great weekend playing in the sessions at Crediton Folk Festival at Cheriton Fitzpaine with lots of other great folk musicians including the renowned Bill McKinnon and John and Wendy from the Hips & Haws English Country Dance Band.

Several interesting looking folk festivals came to my notice, particularly West Somerset Folk Festival, Roger’s Rant , Dulverton Folk Festival and for a great session (recommended by Bill McKinnon) the Wittfest – according to its web site ‘the best FREE festival in Oxfordshire (or anywhere else for that matter!)’.

Best laugh of the weekend was seeing Stanley Accrington who was absolutely brilliant and extremely talented.

Bye for now

Rob

Rob Hopcott – online author and folk musician
.

Posted in Cheriton Fitzpaine Folk Festival, Crediton Folk Festival, News from Rob Hopcott, folk, folk music, folk music sessions, folk musicians, folk musicians sessions | No Comments »

French traditional English and Irish folk music sessions at l’Homme Vert, St Pierre Sur Orthe, Mayenne, Pays De La Loire, France

Monday, March 2nd, 2009

If you like playing in traditional English and Irish folk music sessions and would like to do it in the traditional French countryside village setting of St Pierre Sur Orthe, Mayenne, Pays De La Loire, France, the French bar / English pub l’Homme Vert might just be the place for you to be Tuesday evenings.

Like many, I have occasionally wondered whether the French joie de vivre would be a great backdrop for a somnambulant retirement amongst leafy French glades but have been somewhat put off by the thought of being separated from my sources of traditional English and Irish pub folk music joining in sessions en Angleterre!

So, when I spotted l’Homme Vert bar / pub website, I immediately sent off an email to the proprietor asking for more information. Within less than the space of a few good traditional folk music session tunes, I had my reply and couldn’t resist sharing it with all you globe trotting instrumental folk music session players out there.

Landlady Jen said:

St Pierre sur Orthe is a very pretty village …The Tuesday night sessions would suit you, I think. It is nearly always instrumental, although, occasionally someone will burst into song if they know the words. Hearing Frenchmen sing to ‘Leaving of Liverpool’ or ‘Whisky in the Jar’ is a real treat!

I have played piano accordion for years, mainly Irish/Scottish/English folk, but also go off into Eastern European stuff. I have just bought me a diatonic accordion (melodeon) which I am determined to master… just can’t get the hang of the push/pull bit yet.

One of our regulars has a Mongolian viola which adds hilarity to the sessions. We are not sure what he does with it or what he is playing but, somehow he manages to end on the same note as the rest of us.

If you or any of your friends fancy coming over, be sure of a very warm welcome. We have a gite next to our house which sleeps 4 in a large family room, and the house is only 20 metres from the bar!! (Which also has a great English pint on tap) …

If you are about on 1st May we are having a ‘Green Man’ festival … One of the finest examples is only 40Kms away at Le Mans Cathedral.

So, if you are passing St Pierre Sur Orthe, Mayenne, Pays De La Loire, France or are looking for a French gite to pass a musical week away from home, it may well be worth checking out Jen’s warm welcome, traditional English and Irish folk music sessions and other musical events at l’Homme Vert.

Au revoir mes amis!

Rob

Rob Hopcott – online author yearning for le joie de vivre under English leaden skies

Posted in English folk sessions, France, French folk sessions, Green Man, Irish folk sessions, L'Homme Vert, Mayenne, News from Rob Hopcott, Pays De La Loire, St Pierre Sur Orthe, folk, folk music sessions, traditional folk sessions | No Comments »

Rosin the Bow and other fiddle violin thoughts from a dark and dusty attic

Friday, January 23rd, 2009

Talking about preserving and treating – we were weren’t we? I haven’t had any rosin on my fiddle bow recently. I had a feeling that my fiddle bow was feeling a bit … neglected.

A violin bow needs a bit of rosin every now and then. If a violin is played often, of course it needs more, but, then, it’s been a bit quiet on the playing front for me recently.

Talking about rosin makes me think of the old folk tune Rosin the Bow. It’s a nice tune that Tom, my owner, used to play at pub folk music sessions along with the other aged folkies.

Rosin the Bow has a nice little lilt to it. I remember with affection the many times we played Rosin the Bow … except for one occasion.

Tom had taken me to a new pub where a folk club had only just been started. A new landlord had moved in and was keen to get some custom.

You can always rely on the folkies to buy a pint of beer or two although they do tend to drive out any local custom. Of course, in this case, there was no local custom because the pub had been empty for a while until it was taken over by this new landlord – so he had nothing to lose by letting the folkies in.

Anyway, the evening started off quite nicely with a few tunes. There was Tom and I on the violin, a bodhran, a couple of tin whistles, a wooden flute, a couple of acoustic guitars and a few people that I reckoned were probably the audience – a bit unusual for a folk club to have an audience, I thought.

As it turned out, the audience proved not to be an audience, instead, they were people who expected to be allowed to do some singing.

Aargh!

Now I have nothing against human beings singing, especially if they do it somewhere else, but, in my opinion, it is not a natural thing for a human being to do.

Making lovely sounds is the province of musical instruments that are designed for this express purpose. Human beings are not and, quite honestly, if they had to sing for their supper, as a species, I reckon they would soon be extinct – perhaps not a bad thing in many cases.

Well, Tom obviously agreed with me because he soon made his excuses and we disappeared back home, never to return to that pub again and its painful sing-around.

I heard him talking on the telephone some time later about how the pub had been converted into flats so I guess quite a few other people felt the same.

Anyway, I wonder how Mr Woodworm is getting on?

Posted in News from Rob Hopcott, Rosin the Bow, fiddle, fiddle bow, folk club, folk music sessions, folk sessions, folk tune, folkies, old folk tune, preserving, pub folk music sessions, rosin, singing, treating, violin, violin bow | No Comments »

Like folk music, folk singing and folk dancing? You could love Folk Camps!

Friday, December 12th, 2008
Folk Camps are all about people who like getting together to dance, sing and play folk music in a family friendly, community and camping environment.

Folk Camps are for people who like getting together to dance, sing and play folk music in a family friendly, community and camping environment.

If you like folk music, folk dance and folk songs, you might just love Folk Camps which is a registered charity and exists to bring people who like making their own entertainment playing folk music, folk singing or folk dancing together in beautiful and relaxed community camping locations.

I first heard about Folk Camps from Nicole and Pete Mac when I was visiting a folk festival on Exmoor. Subsequently I attended a musicians camp at Beckford and was very impressed by the ethos of this essentially voluntary organisation.

One of the really great things about Folk Camps is that it enables people who enjoy folk music activities to do them in a family friendly environment. This contrasts with the usual pub folk music sessions and pub folk club sing-a-rounds which parents might feel are places that are inappropriate to take their children.

The Folk Camps Society has been quietly organising folk activity holidays now for over 40 years. The staff all give their time for free and campers help to organise workshops, daytime events and entertainment each evening.

I enjoyed my weekend folk camping and reckon, especially for families, it could be a great way to help the up and coming generations develop an interest in playing folk music, singing folk songs and dancing folk dances which could provide them with pleasure for the rest of their lives.

For more information about this excellent organisation, visit their Folk Camps website.

Bye for now

Rob

Rob Hopcott – online writer and folk musician

Posted in Folk Camps, Folk Camps Society, News from Rob Hopcott, folk, folk camping, folk club, folk club sing-a-rounds, folk dance, folk dancing, folk music, folk music sessions, folk musicians, folk singing, folk songs, sing-a-rounds | No Comments »

Swanage Folk Festival in Dorset was a pleasant day out despite the sogginess

Monday, September 8th, 2008

We decided to have a day out at Swanage Folk Festival in Dorset away from Hopcott Mansions in soggy Somerset although it involved traveling something like 97 miles (and back) with a weather forecast suggesting it would be soggy in Swanage too.

So, enclosed in Madame Hopcott’s rather snazzy and waterproof Ford Focus Zetek, instead of my usual rather beat up and leaky old transit camper, we headed for the Purbeck Hills and Hardy country.

I don’t recollect ever having been to Swanage before – which probably means that I haven’t been there for at least a couple of weeks given my recent tendencies to senility – but I was pleased to find it a very pleasant place which had all the best and gentlest folkie vibes.

There were lots of Morris dance sides skipping up and down and the afternoon parade of dancers was spectacular including Exmoor Border Morris and some dancers from Bradford on Avon who gave me a nice wave and a number of friendly faces from the Weymouth and Portland area that I met during Wessex Folk Festival.

We dropped into the tented area which was a bit soggy underfoot but quite negotiable and chatted with Roger of Rogers Rant in the main performance tent. Roger runs a very nice small festival I visited recently (see photo below).

The music in the tent was free and Madame Hopcott, in particular, gave it the thumbs up (I almost fell into the mud in deep shock as Mm Hopcott normally hates folk music!)

Then onward to see if there was an English session at the Crows Nest, although to be fair the programme only advertised a session to be on in the evening. Unfortunately, there wasn’t anything impromptu happening but we did enjoy the walk along the sea front.

So back to the high street we went in search of the White Horse hoping for an impromptu Irish session where we found violinist Fred whom I know from Christchurch Folk Club and various other folk festivals bravely entertaining the lunchtime pub drinkers and eaters with the help of a rather good banjo / mandolin player. So, after a cup of coffee during which I watched them manfully struggling on, I submitted to the urge and joined them.

As lunchtime moved into afternoon, quite a few musicians came and joined us, including a rather good squeezebox player and his daughter so it developed into quite a good session with appreciative support from the audience.

When 3.30pm arrived we had to make a dash for the car park because I’d only bought four hours although it still still cost me five pounds sterling! I sometimes wonder whether District Councils have any comprehension about how difficult it is to earn any money these days? A fiver for parking only four hours. We was robbed!

I liked Swanage Folk Festival – although it was a long drive home :-)

Bye for now

Rob

Rob Hopcott – online author and pub folk session enthusiast

Posted in Dorset folk festival, Dorset folk festivals, Hardy country, News from Rob Hopcott, Purbeck Hills, Swanage Folk Festival, folk festivals, folk music sessions, gigs Dorset, gigs Swanage, what's on Dorset, what's on Swanage | No Comments »

Sidmouth folk festival 2008 success story I hardly dare to tell

Friday, August 8th, 2008

Well, Sidmouth folk festival 2008 is over today and, as I look back over the week, there is a success story I hardly dare to tell.

Sidmouth folk festival is many things to many people; for me, it is the instrumental sessions that make it special. There are the Irish and English tunes at the Bedford Hotel, English tunes at the Radway Inn and Irish tunes at the Anchor and many more elsewhere.

But, for me and for a growing number of other people, the sessions at the Sidmouth Sailing Club have come to hold a very special place in our hearts. Somebody said to me that the Sailing Club Sessions are like a cuddly woolly blanket that just wraps around everybody and makes them feel welcome. I couldn’t agree more and obviously many others feel that way because the numbers of devotees to the Sailing Club sessions just keep growing.

On one evening this week at the Sailing Club, I looked to the left of me and saw musicians in ranks, shoulder to shoulder, for twenty paces and then looked to the right to see musicians, in ranks, for a further twenty paces. In front of me there were further rows of them too. The photos in this post tell some of the story but cannot replicate the enormous feeling of being with so many friendly, happy and kindred spirits.

One person estimated there were at least 200 musicians, all somehow playing in time … It was wonderful!

To discover why this particular session has become so popular one has to look to the people who are running it who are called the Loose Knit Band. Quite simply, they have a policy of meeting and welcoming everybody who comes to their sessions at the Sailing Club. People love it. It’s like a big family and people just keep coming back and, whats more, they tell their friends so it is easy to see why growth of this popular session has been so explosive.

To find out more about the Loose Knit Band, I recommend you visit their web site run by Martin Hughes, himself a leading member. It’s an interesting story and one rooted in the true ethics and ethos of the folk movement.

Backing up the Loose Knit Band, Martin Hughes tells me

“are the members of Sidmouth Sea Angling and Sailing Club who do all the hard work behind the scenes and who are responsible for making us welcome at the Sidmouth Sailing and Sea Angling Club. Without them it just wouldn’t happen.”

Finally, I did speak to Octogenarian Terry Pearson before writing this article and asked him if it was advisable to give this excellent session more publicity when it was already bulging at the seams.

In true Loose Knit Band style, Terry waved his hand in dismissal, laughed and said ‘The more the merrier!’

The Loose Knit Band, is very much as their name suggests, but with the help of Martin Hughes, I finally managed to track the names down of those present at Sidmouth 2008. They were Jacqui Chiplin (Shetland Isles), Will Chiplin (Shetland Isles), Bob Ellis (Cumbria), Bill Francis (Kent), Martin Hughes (Somerset), Chris Malkin (Cumbria), Gordon Newton (Kent), Terry Pearson (Kent) and Geoff Maskell (Cumbria).

What a fine job they all did :-)

So pssst – there’s a great session on during the evenings of the Sidmouth folk music week where you will be made really welcome by a group of talented musicians. Yes, it’s a lot of squeeze boxes in one big room plus a few other instruments. Yes, it might feel more like a squeeze box orchestra and the sound may hurt your ears. But there is no other place in Sidmouth, in my opinion, where you will get a better welcome or to the same extent be made to feel you are part of a wonderful family and for me that counts for more than I can possibly describe.

But, if you want to get in next year… Psssst … Just … Don’t … Tell … anybody :-)

Bye for now

Rob
(Rob Hopcott – online author and folk musician)

Posted in Anchor, Bedford Hotel, Loose Knit Band, News from Rob Hopcott, Radway Inn, Sidmouth, Sidmouth Folk Week, Sidmouth festival week, Sidmouth folk festival 2008, folk festivals, folk music sessions | No Comments »

Priddy Folk Festival continues to please

Monday, July 14th, 2008

Last weekend I dropped in a couple of times to the Priddy Folk Festival and wasn’t disappointed. The parking was still relatively cheap and easy and I found nice sessions on the Saturday lunchtime and the Sunday lunchtime.

Saturday lunchtime I enjoyed an excellent English traditional music session at the Queen Victoria Priddy. It is a very traditional pub and suited the traditional English music we played beautifully. I could just imagine people like us playing the same or similar tunes a century ago, or even further back in time. I wonder if they imagined that we would still be playing their tunes today? (see photo top right).

Although weather forecasts were rather dire for the weekend, the weather stayed clement and Sunday lunchtime and afternoon was absolutely brilliant outside the New Inn, Priddy where we played mainly some great Irish folk music (photo left).

There is almost nothing better that I can think of than playing great tunes with some very fine musicians in the sunshine in the heart of the Mendips.

On the way back home across the Mendips I saw a glider take off at the Mendip Gliding Club – what an amazing sight.

There was a pulley system that literally pulled the glider into the air and then within seconds it was way up in the sky – all too fast to get a picture of the take-off, unfortunately. (Perhaps, on another occasion, I can come back and try again.)

It’s amazing what you see when you are out and about :-)

Bye for now

Rob
(Rob Hopcott – online author and folk musician)

Posted in Irish folk music session, Mendip Gliding Club, News from Rob Hopcott, Priddy Folk Festival, folk music sessions, traditional English folk music sessions | No Comments »

New Year music adventure using new camper van for more UK and West of England folk music session and festival visits

Wednesday, February 7th, 2007

At long last, after prolonged research and gazing at my rather empty wallet, I now have my new (rather preloved) campervan / small motorhome which I intend to use to visit as many new instrumental folk music sessions and festivals as I can this year.

It’s an old Ford Transit camper which is white with blue flashes (quite pretty really). Although it’s an ‘L’ registration, it’s not in bad condition for it’s age and I certainly intend to treat it with all the TLC I would give to any of my … well … instruments :-)

Hopefully, getting to more remote inns for pub folk playing sessions and festivals will enable me to record lots of new info about folk music sessions in Exmoor and England’s beautiful musical West Country.

Bye for now

Rob

(Rob Hopcott – online author and musician)

Bye for now

Rob

(Rob Hopcott – online author)

Posted in Exmoor, Folk Music Session, News from Rob Hopcott, UK, West Country, West of England, campervan, festivals, folk music sessions, motorhome, new camper van, new year, pub folk playing sessions | No Comments »