I must begin this latest and rather overdue blog with a tribute to Martin Carthy given the latest sad news on his health and the fact that he will no longer be able to tour.
I didn’t really get into folk music until the early seventies by which time I had missed out on the years when he first made his reputation playing solo in the clubs and then with Dave Swarbrick. Many years later I was fortunate enough to see Carthy and Swarbrick when the two performed together at Hitchin Folk Club whilst Swarb was still recovering from yet another operation but my first exposure to Martin’s unique voice was mainly through albums with bands such as Steeleye Span and The Albion Country Band. I remember being delighted when he briefly rejoined the former for the Storm Force Ten tour in 1978 when I luckily got to a concert in Bath. Over the years I have probably only seen Carthy in concert on around ten occasions, not enough really, but last of all in Royston Folk Club a few years ago when I was pleased to be able to say thank you to him personally for another very enjoyable performance. I have always thought of him as the male ‘Voice of English Folk’ with respect to all the other great English folk singers I have heard over the years and of course he was justly renowned for his unique style of guitar playing. I hope his final years will be peaceful which would be the least he deserves for the huge contribution he has made to English folk music and beyond over the course of his long and distinguished career.
On a happier note Ninebarrow will embark on a short series of concerts starting tonight Friday February 6th in Upwey, Weymouth and finishing on 2nd May in Sturminster Newton. In between there are just 6 dates and they do not venture too far out of the South West apart from their concert in Hackney, London on 27th March. However, they are planning at least one e-concert from Ninebarrow HQ on 7th March and all the details can be found using the link in the ‘Gigs & Tours’ Listing on the main Unicorn Folk website.
The new year is a good time to consider learning new skills or brushing up on old ones and there is an opportunity for folk musicians to do just that at The Stables in Milton Keynes which is hosting a six week course covering The Ceilidh Experience which starts on Sunday 8thFebruary. In a similar vein, Chiltern Folk Association are hosting a number of events during February and March including a Caller’s Workshop led by no lesser practitioner than Mr Barry Goodman and that will take place in Amersham on Saturday 28thMarch. Details of both the 6-week course and the workshop can be found amongst the ‘Featured Events’ on the main Unicorn Folk website.
The Unicorn Diary has been updated to include some additional gigs not previously in various folk club’s programmes at the beginning of the year and now covers the period February to April and includes over 110 events. It would be really good to get a Dance Diary off the ground this year so dance clubs and societies and Morris sides are all invited to send in listings of their events to info@unicornfolk.uk ideally in the same format as in the Unicorn Diary.
Finally, the latest edition Show 114 of Filby’s Folk has been available since last Thursday and as it was recently Burns Night this edition of the podcast is dedicated to Scottish Folk music, old and new. If you like Scottish Folk music then you will enjoy this podcast and if you don’t but listen anyway then you might change your mind!