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Jody Kruskal with Andrew and Margaret
at Whitby Folk Week
Playing with Einar Hansander, Pär and
Marianne Furå in Dalsland
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News
2008
Thursday 26th
June saw the launch concert for our new CD – Borrowed Days, at St.
Mary’s Church, Low Newton. What a great night it was! We were
overwhelmed by the size of the audience with the church being
absolutely full, with an overspill of folks listening from the porch
and outside through open doors! Thank goodness we had a sunny
evening! It was a night to remember made even more special for us
having Andy May joining us on smallpipes, piano and guitar and Hinny
Pawsey on fiddle. Thank you to Andy and Hinny and each and everyone
of the audience.
Click here to read a
review of the concert.
Click Here to watch video
excerpts from the concert
Our new CD ‘Borrowed Days’ is now available (view
CDs and samples page
for details). We’re delighted to have Andy May as a guest
on five tracks, and we had great fun playing around with new (often
spontaneous) arrangements and different combinations of instruments.
There’s also a track with smallpipes and hummelchen (Margaret’s
Renaissance bagpipe, similar to the keyless open-ended chanter of
early Northumbrian smallpipes).
We’ve several bookings taking us further afield this year. In mid
May we go to France for three performances in Normandy, continuing
our musical friendship with Jean-Pierre Menuge, a fantastic recorder
player and harpsichord builder. Then we’re off to Sweden again in
July and August. Through our friendship with Hanna Wiskari we’ll be
playing a concert on the island of Tjörn - thanks to Hanna and her
mum for organising this - and then appearing at the Dalslands
Spelmansförbund summer festival. Dates have just been confirmed for
some exciting gigs in Dublin and Howth in October. It’ll be a real
treat to play with Peter Hedlund (nyckelharpa), Leo Rickard (Uilleann
pipes) and John Kelly (fiddle). Check our
events page
for dates and details.
Jody Kruskal (concertina player from Brooklyn) is staying with us
for a few days at the end of May, when we’ll be working on some new
exciting arrangements for smallpipes, fiddle and concertina, and
recording some ‘transatlantic’ tracks together.
Our performances in Leicestershire in April were very successful.
Both concerts were a platform to introduce people to our music and
to our different pipes; Swedish pipes, hummelchen and smallpipes all
appeared at some point. We shared the Aylestone concert with Julian
Goodacre and his many bagpipes. Our final sets featured smallpipes,
hummelchen and English great pipe all playing together – what a
combination!
2007
In late November, we were delighted to meet up with Scandinavian
trio Habbadam and Hanna Wiskari (soprano sax player with Habbadam
from Sweden) at the Rolling Hills Folk Club, Melrose. We had a great
evening listening to Habbadam and playing two spots including an
impromptu set with them. This summer we hope to play a concert with
Hanna whilst we’re in Sweden for the festival in Dalsland.
As a result of meeting singer Francy Devine at Bradfield Traditional
Music Festival back in August, we were invited to Dublin and Howth
at the beginning of November. We played at the Teachers' Club and
had a memorable night in Howth playing music with Leo Rickard (uillean
pipes) and John McEvoy and John Kelly (fiddles) amongst others. What
a great night! Thanks Francy!
It's been a very busy summer for us. We had a great time playing
music at Bradfield Traditional Music Weekend, where we met some
superb musicians including Jody Kruskal from Brooklyn, USA. As
a result, we played a couple of concerts with Jody at Whitby Folk
Week.
Click here to hear
a sample of our playing together.
To hear more go to
Jody's website.
Earlier in the summer we played at the launch of Alnwick Brewery
Company's IPA at The Treehouse, Alnwick Garden. This led to
recording the 'Rum Reel', written by Addie Harper for Alnwick Rum.
You can hear the track on their website.
In August we travelled to Sweden (via Norway - what an adventure!)
to play at two festivals in Dalsland. We enjoyed playing with great
Swedish musicians, including new acquaintances, Pär
and Marianne Furå who are both riksspelman from the Stockholm area.
For
dates of future gigs, check our
events diary page.
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