Such sad news to hear of the passing of Dave Shepherd, violin player with Blowzabella for over 40 years since 1983, especially so since the band had announced that they would stop touring in 2028 on the 50th anniversary of their formation.
I can’t claim to have known Dave on a personal basis nor to know very much about him, but it’s clear from some of the tributes that he was a much loved husband, father and grandad and a very well respected musician who was an integral part of Blowzabella. I have been a fan of the band since 1986, not long after he joined, so his violin playing has always been a part of the sound that I love and I am so pleased that I managed to see Blowzabella in October last year at Cecil Sharp House after a long interval between concerts. Not only was he a fine violinist but also a fine teacher of dance and dance tunes and a composer of many, and an important part of the European Balfolk movement. I would therefore like to register my thanks and appreciation for all the fine music I have enjoyed for over half my lifetime thanks to Dave and Blowzabella as well as offer sincere condolences to his family, friends and musical colleagues.
Looking ahead to what’s going on over the next few days the first thing to say is that the Ceilidh planned as a fundraiser for Ely Folk Festival this coming Saturday 28th March has now been cancelled, which is why the poster for the event has disappeared from the Featured Events section on the front page of the main Unicorn Folk website.
Tonight, Thursday 26th, I’m looking forward to seeing Owl Light for the first time at Royston Live but if that is too soon for you there are plenty of other gigs in the next week or two which can be found in the Unicorn Diary covering March to May in the Listings on the main Unicorn Folk website. Amongst those is the Fairport Convention concert at the Union Chapel in London this coming Saturday 28th and if you need persuading you can find a review of their recent concert at The Apex in Bury St Edmunds HERE or amongst the other concert reviews under the ‘Music’ tab on the main Unicorn Folk website where you can also find the ‘Gigs & Tours’Listing which includes details of the rest of their Spring Tour amongst those for many other folk artists. Be quick if you want to see Fairportas many of the dates are selling out fast!
Also on Saturday 28th the East Anglian Traditional Music Trust are hosting one of their informative and instructional events at the Copeman Centre in Briston, this time involving a celebration of Norfolk traditional music, song and dance. A link to that event can either be found in the Unicorn Diary or in the Featured Eventson on the front page of the main Unicorn Folk website.
The Stables, Milton Keynes hosts the Phil Beer Trio tomorrow evening, Friday 27th and looking further ahead, I can thoroughly recommend the Gigspanner Big Band at the same venue on Thursday 9th April – see last year’s concert review on Unicorn Folk.
Dunton Folk in the person of Simon Bailes are holding a series of Sea Shanty Workshops over the coming months and the next one is at Letchworth Settlement on 2nd April. Simon has been a friend to the Unicorn Magazine in the past and you can find details of all the workshops here on the Dunton Folk website with a link in the Unicorn Diary. Later, on Tuesday 7th April there is an interesting FREE concert at The Harrison in London staged by The Woolverstones and you can listen to their music first on Bandcamp before booking tickets HERE.
Filby’s Folk Show 115 came out on March 12th and is worth a listen especially if you are interested in new folk music as it contains lots of new stuff from both new and established artists. There is plenty more to come in the same vein so do keep an eye out for Show 116 which should be out within the next week. In the meantime I hope you have a folking good weekend!