Kate Rusby confirmed for Folk By The Oak 2021
The thirteenth annual Folk by the Oak Festival has been postponed until Sunday 18th July 2021, with American Bluesman Seasick Steve and Folk favourite Kate Rusby already confirmed.
Since 2008 Hatfield House has welcomed a gathering of some of the world’s finest folk, roots and acoustic performers for a day of sublime music and family fun in the leafy surrounds of the Queen Elizabeth Oak Field. Over the years Folk by the Oak has gathered momentum and grown into the UK’s largest one-day folk festival, with a loyal following of music lovers and families seeking a fabulous festival day out.
Event Director Adam Slough says “Whilst it is with very heavy hearts that we bring you this news, we know that it is the right thing to do. We take our responsibility for our festival-goers, artists, crew, and wider community very seriously.
"The safety of our incredible Folk by the Oak family has been put in doubt by the uncertainty surrounding the Covid-19 outbreak, and we have therefore taken the decision not to stage the festival in 2020.”What 2020 ticket holders need to know: The 13th annual Folk by the Oak will now take place on Sunday 18 July 2021. “We were very excited about our 2020 line-up” says Adam, “and we are working hard to ensure that the programme will be replicated as far as possible in 2021. We are over the moon that headliner Seasick Steve and Folk by the Oak favourite Kate Rusby are already confirmed. Further details of the line-up will be announced as soon as we are able.”
If you have booked tickets for this year's festival the organisers will contact you via email. Your tickets will automatically be carried over to Folk by the Oak on Sunday 18th July 2021, or full refunds are also available until 1st September 2020. If you wish to carry your booking over to next year do not need to take any action now; you will automatically be sent new tickets in the autumn, and to show their gratitude the organisers will enter you into a VIP prize draw which includes a backstage tour, catering vouchers, a bottle of bubbly and a Folk by the Oak goody bag.
As well as asking customers to ensure Folk by the Oak is around for many more years to come by rolling their tickets over to next year, they are encouraging people to consider their long-term charity partner Willow, the only national charity working with seriously ill young adults aged 16 to 40 to fulfil uplifting and unforgettable Special Days. To date Folk by the Oak has raised £81,000 for their charity partner through ticket contributions and the generosity of the audience on the day of the festival. The festival team are asking those who would have attended the festival and donated to Willow to consider helping them to ride out the current crisis by making a donation at https://www.willowfoundation.org.uk/folk-oak-donate
In a final word to the audience Adam adds “We have such loyal and enthusiastic followers, and we know that you will all be as saddened by this announcement as we are. The summer really will be a lot less colourful without you, but we are already busy planning for 2021 and looking forward to welcoming you back for a much needed day of sublime music and festival fun.”
For further details, please visit www.folkbytheoak.com
Since 2008 Hatfield House has welcomed a gathering of some of the world’s finest folk, roots and acoustic performers for a day of sublime music and family fun in the leafy surrounds of the Queen Elizabeth Oak Field. Over the years Folk by the Oak has gathered momentum and grown into the UK’s largest one-day folk festival, with a loyal following of music lovers and families seeking a fabulous festival day out.
Event Director Adam Slough says “Whilst it is with very heavy hearts that we bring you this news, we know that it is the right thing to do. We take our responsibility for our festival-goers, artists, crew, and wider community very seriously.
"The safety of our incredible Folk by the Oak family has been put in doubt by the uncertainty surrounding the Covid-19 outbreak, and we have therefore taken the decision not to stage the festival in 2020.”What 2020 ticket holders need to know: The 13th annual Folk by the Oak will now take place on Sunday 18 July 2021. “We were very excited about our 2020 line-up” says Adam, “and we are working hard to ensure that the programme will be replicated as far as possible in 2021. We are over the moon that headliner Seasick Steve and Folk by the Oak favourite Kate Rusby are already confirmed. Further details of the line-up will be announced as soon as we are able.”
If you have booked tickets for this year's festival the organisers will contact you via email. Your tickets will automatically be carried over to Folk by the Oak on Sunday 18th July 2021, or full refunds are also available until 1st September 2020. If you wish to carry your booking over to next year do not need to take any action now; you will automatically be sent new tickets in the autumn, and to show their gratitude the organisers will enter you into a VIP prize draw which includes a backstage tour, catering vouchers, a bottle of bubbly and a Folk by the Oak goody bag.
As well as asking customers to ensure Folk by the Oak is around for many more years to come by rolling their tickets over to next year, they are encouraging people to consider their long-term charity partner Willow, the only national charity working with seriously ill young adults aged 16 to 40 to fulfil uplifting and unforgettable Special Days. To date Folk by the Oak has raised £81,000 for their charity partner through ticket contributions and the generosity of the audience on the day of the festival. The festival team are asking those who would have attended the festival and donated to Willow to consider helping them to ride out the current crisis by making a donation at https://www.willowfoundation.org.uk/folk-oak-donate
In a final word to the audience Adam adds “We have such loyal and enthusiastic followers, and we know that you will all be as saddened by this announcement as we are. The summer really will be a lot less colourful without you, but we are already busy planning for 2021 and looking forward to welcoming you back for a much needed day of sublime music and festival fun.”
For further details, please visit www.folkbytheoak.com
Postcards & Pocketbooks: a unique record of Bella
With unflinching courage, Bella Hardy has explored and blurred musical boundaries in her search for meaning, releasing her first nine records in the space of just ten years.
Postcards & Pocketbooks (October 2019) is a double CD of Bella Hardy's most highly treasured works, with re-recordings of classic material, and some never heard before songs.
There is also a beautifully produced casebound book, available either with the CD or separately, which features lyrics to every song written or adapted from traditional music and recorded by Bella from 2007 - 2019.
BBC Folk Singer of the Year Bella Hardy found her first home in folk music through a childhood love for ballad books. A self-taught ‘fiddle singer’, she began performing at Cambridge and Sidmouth festivals from the age of thirteen.
Her debut album Night Visiting established her reputation as a talented songwriter when her first original composition Three Black Feathers earned a BBC Folk Award nomination. Since then, Bella has sung unaccompanied ballads at a sold-out Royal Albert Hall, taken a band of drums, brass and electronics to the National Concert Hall of Budapest, and learnt the songs of Chinese farmers during her time as British Council Musician in Residence in Yunnan Province.
She’s sat on the moors of her beloved Peak District with only her fiddle for company. She spent a year in Tennessee as a ranch hand, looking after horses, fiddle-singing in the diners, and immersing herself in the music culture of Nashville. With her mesmerising voice and ability to conjure and twist stories that call straight to the heart, Bella has beguiled audiences from Canada to Japan, from Spanish bars, to Castles, to Concert Halls.
From Bella's mastery of traditional music and the stripped back strings and concertina of her early days more than a decade ago, to the electric guitar and drums in the self-penned humanist hymns and feminist battle cries of Hey Sammy (2017), via the Derbyshire ballads of The Dark Peak & The White and ancient Chinese poetry of Eternal Spring, (an album of songs and poetry recorded in China), it's been a spellbinding journey. Her themes of displacement and home, lost and found love, heartache and joy, are delivered with her unique, disarming honesty, and, of course, the acclaimed crystalline voice that won her BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards Singer of the Year.
Postcards & Pockebooks reflects and records each moment of Bella's career, and is a must for all who appreciate skillful interpretations of traditional music, as well as the relevance of contemporary folk in the modern world. For more information, visit www.bellahardy.com
Postcards & Pocketbooks (October 2019) is a double CD of Bella Hardy's most highly treasured works, with re-recordings of classic material, and some never heard before songs.
There is also a beautifully produced casebound book, available either with the CD or separately, which features lyrics to every song written or adapted from traditional music and recorded by Bella from 2007 - 2019.
BBC Folk Singer of the Year Bella Hardy found her first home in folk music through a childhood love for ballad books. A self-taught ‘fiddle singer’, she began performing at Cambridge and Sidmouth festivals from the age of thirteen.
Her debut album Night Visiting established her reputation as a talented songwriter when her first original composition Three Black Feathers earned a BBC Folk Award nomination. Since then, Bella has sung unaccompanied ballads at a sold-out Royal Albert Hall, taken a band of drums, brass and electronics to the National Concert Hall of Budapest, and learnt the songs of Chinese farmers during her time as British Council Musician in Residence in Yunnan Province.
She’s sat on the moors of her beloved Peak District with only her fiddle for company. She spent a year in Tennessee as a ranch hand, looking after horses, fiddle-singing in the diners, and immersing herself in the music culture of Nashville. With her mesmerising voice and ability to conjure and twist stories that call straight to the heart, Bella has beguiled audiences from Canada to Japan, from Spanish bars, to Castles, to Concert Halls.
From Bella's mastery of traditional music and the stripped back strings and concertina of her early days more than a decade ago, to the electric guitar and drums in the self-penned humanist hymns and feminist battle cries of Hey Sammy (2017), via the Derbyshire ballads of The Dark Peak & The White and ancient Chinese poetry of Eternal Spring, (an album of songs and poetry recorded in China), it's been a spellbinding journey. Her themes of displacement and home, lost and found love, heartache and joy, are delivered with her unique, disarming honesty, and, of course, the acclaimed crystalline voice that won her BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards Singer of the Year.
Postcards & Pockebooks reflects and records each moment of Bella's career, and is a must for all who appreciate skillful interpretations of traditional music, as well as the relevance of contemporary folk in the modern world. For more information, visit www.bellahardy.com
Gate to Southwell and Cropredy Festivals postponed
The Gate to Southwell Festival, one of the highlights of the Midlands’ music calendar, has been cancelled following the government’s introduction of stricter social distancing measures over the coming weeks. Although the annual festival would not have taken place until early June, the festival committee was forced to make the difficult decision now in order to limit further expenditure and offer 100 per cent refunds to all ticket buyers and traders.
The fourteenth festival was to have been an international extravaganza of roots, acoustic, folk, blues, soul, ska, world and other music styles, set over four days near the lovely market town of Southwell in Nottinghamshire, featuring artists from the USA, Canada, Spain, Italy, France, Ireland and the UK.
"It’s been an incredibly difficult and painful decision for us," says the Festival Director Mike Kirrage. " We’ve built this festival from nothing over the past thirteen years and its grown into one of the most successful and best-loved music events in the Midlands and contributes hugely to the local economy. But given the government’s health and safety guidelines, we have little choice.”
A website statement, addressed to festival goers from the committee, explains: “we’ve read recommendations in the press and on social media that we should ‘hold our nerve’ and plough on. We could have taken this approach but it would have been your money being risked – you put your trust in us and we don’t want to betray that. We are a not-for-profit organisation and have only limited reserves. All ticket buyers will receive a full refund of the ticket price, as will traders who have paid us a deposit. Full details via www.gtsf.uk
Fairport Convention's Cropredy Fetival has also been postponed. The three-day event had been scheduled to take place on 13th-15th August this year. It will now be staged over 12th, 13th and 14th August 2021 (the equivalent weekend) on its usual farmland site in Oxfordshire.
The line-up of acts will be carried forward: artists booked to appear this year have agreed to switch to 2021. Highlights include Trevor Horn Band, Clannad, Steve Hackett – Genesis Revisited, Richard Thompson, Matthews Southern Comfort and host band Fairport Convention.
Festival Director Gareth Williams said: “We have no alternative but to postpone Cropredy until 2021. The safety of our festival-goers, performers, suppliers, crew and local residents must come first.”
Tickets purchased for Cropredy 2020 remain valid for the rescheduled festival and Fairport Convention hopes festival-goers will hang on to their tickets for Cropredy 2021. However, the organisers are of course offering refunds to those affected by the postponement.
“The postponement is a financial blow to Fairport Convention,” says Gareth Williams, “so we urge everyone to keep their tickets and join us for a great weekend of music in 2021.” For further details visit www.fairportconvention.com
The fourteenth festival was to have been an international extravaganza of roots, acoustic, folk, blues, soul, ska, world and other music styles, set over four days near the lovely market town of Southwell in Nottinghamshire, featuring artists from the USA, Canada, Spain, Italy, France, Ireland and the UK.
"It’s been an incredibly difficult and painful decision for us," says the Festival Director Mike Kirrage. " We’ve built this festival from nothing over the past thirteen years and its grown into one of the most successful and best-loved music events in the Midlands and contributes hugely to the local economy. But given the government’s health and safety guidelines, we have little choice.”
A website statement, addressed to festival goers from the committee, explains: “we’ve read recommendations in the press and on social media that we should ‘hold our nerve’ and plough on. We could have taken this approach but it would have been your money being risked – you put your trust in us and we don’t want to betray that. We are a not-for-profit organisation and have only limited reserves. All ticket buyers will receive a full refund of the ticket price, as will traders who have paid us a deposit. Full details via www.gtsf.uk
Fairport Convention's Cropredy Fetival has also been postponed. The three-day event had been scheduled to take place on 13th-15th August this year. It will now be staged over 12th, 13th and 14th August 2021 (the equivalent weekend) on its usual farmland site in Oxfordshire.
The line-up of acts will be carried forward: artists booked to appear this year have agreed to switch to 2021. Highlights include Trevor Horn Band, Clannad, Steve Hackett – Genesis Revisited, Richard Thompson, Matthews Southern Comfort and host band Fairport Convention.
Festival Director Gareth Williams said: “We have no alternative but to postpone Cropredy until 2021. The safety of our festival-goers, performers, suppliers, crew and local residents must come first.”
Tickets purchased for Cropredy 2020 remain valid for the rescheduled festival and Fairport Convention hopes festival-goers will hang on to their tickets for Cropredy 2021. However, the organisers are of course offering refunds to those affected by the postponement.
“The postponement is a financial blow to Fairport Convention,” says Gareth Williams, “so we urge everyone to keep their tickets and join us for a great weekend of music in 2021.” For further details visit www.fairportconvention.com
New trio line-up for Devon duo for Harbottle & Jonas
Devon folk act Harbottle & Jonas, one of the most exciting prospects on the folk circuit today,
have been putting their down time to good use: writing new material, rehearsing with other musicians, and recording a new live performance video of their track ‘Liverpool City’.
A rare personal love song in the duo’s output ‘Liverpool City’ was written by David for Freya and tells the story of how they first met in Liverpool whilst studying at university. The song has become a staple of their live shows and, in the course of 170 performances in 2019, Freya has had plenty of chances to consider what the song means to her:
“It’s wonderful! I think a song is probably the greatest gift you can give someone so it feels very special to have one written about you”, she says.
“When I sing it at gigs I feel quite proud… not of myself, but proud to be married, working and writing with such a wonderful and loving man. Cheesy maybe, but it’s true!”
The video also features Annie Baylis, adding her fiddle playing and close harmony singing to the duo’s compelling live signature sound as they perform as the Harbottle & Jonas Trio.
Looking back on the previous year of hard work which included returning to Dartington International Summer School in Devon, performing at the infamous Sidmouth Folk Week for the first time and being invited to Costa Del Folk festival in Portugal, Freya is grateful for the chance to take stock:
“We’ve been on the road solidly since the album launch last February” says Freya, “but we’ve really appreciated our rare times at home.”
David agrees: “Yes we need those spaces to sit and breathe and relax. Having said that we had our first day at home for ages yesterday and we wrote 4 new songs!” For more information, visit: harbottleandjonas.com/live
have been putting their down time to good use: writing new material, rehearsing with other musicians, and recording a new live performance video of their track ‘Liverpool City’.
A rare personal love song in the duo’s output ‘Liverpool City’ was written by David for Freya and tells the story of how they first met in Liverpool whilst studying at university. The song has become a staple of their live shows and, in the course of 170 performances in 2019, Freya has had plenty of chances to consider what the song means to her:
“It’s wonderful! I think a song is probably the greatest gift you can give someone so it feels very special to have one written about you”, she says.
“When I sing it at gigs I feel quite proud… not of myself, but proud to be married, working and writing with such a wonderful and loving man. Cheesy maybe, but it’s true!”
The video also features Annie Baylis, adding her fiddle playing and close harmony singing to the duo’s compelling live signature sound as they perform as the Harbottle & Jonas Trio.
Looking back on the previous year of hard work which included returning to Dartington International Summer School in Devon, performing at the infamous Sidmouth Folk Week for the first time and being invited to Costa Del Folk festival in Portugal, Freya is grateful for the chance to take stock:
“We’ve been on the road solidly since the album launch last February” says Freya, “but we’ve really appreciated our rare times at home.”
David agrees: “Yes we need those spaces to sit and breathe and relax. Having said that we had our first day at home for ages yesterday and we wrote 4 new songs!” For more information, visit: harbottleandjonas.com/live
Every face turns Clive Gregson's way
2020 is Clive Gregson’s 40th year as a professional musician, but it will also be his last on the road.
He is planning to release a different CD each month, and April's offering is now available.
It's called Every Face Is Turned My Way and it's a collection of songs loosely describing Clive's fabulous life in showbusiness. "If you want to learn about what it's like to be an unpopular popular musician, there's plenty of data on this CD," said Clive.
January’s release was One Year, an almanac of songs about each month of the year. February will saw an electric rock ‘n’ roll record, Raggedy Arse and March an album of acoustic guitar instrumentals, Eighteen Strings. All are still available via Clive's website.
Born and raised in Manchester, Clive took his cult band Any Trouble around the world in support of five critically acclaimed albums and a number of singles that became radio hits before the group disbanded in 1984. Fondly remembered and greatly missed, the band have occasionally reformed since 2007, recording two brand new albums: Life in Reverse (2007) and Present Tense (2015). The band toured to support these releases and the three CD box set of The Complete Stiff Recordings 1980-1981 (2013). Grown men cried!
Between 1985 and 1992, Clive formed a partnership with Christine Collister that Rolling Stone called "The state of the art in British folk-rock". Having released five albums and toured the world to much acclaim, their decision to call it a day left a huge gap in the roots music scene. The entire Gregson & Collister catalogue plus a “Best Of…” compilation were re-issued in 2009.
In 1985, Clive released his first solo album and he has maintained a solo profile ever since. His solo recordings and tours have been one of the main outlets for his prolific song writing. The albums feature an eclectic mix of pop and folk styles, ranging from a stripped down one man and his acoustic intimacy to a full electric band approach.
Clive was planning to mark his 'retirement' with a year long tour of the UK, but due to the current situation, all previously announced tour dates up to September 2020 have either been cancelled or rescheduled.
"We've tried very hard to reschedule dates for later this year.... but many simply could not be re-arranged until 2021. Since I've already announced my retirement from touring at the end of 2020, I'm not in a position to commit to live dates after that," said Clive.
"My sincere apologies if a show you had planned to attend has disappeared from the schedule completely... and do keep an eye on my tour dates page for the latest info. Obviously, it's impossible to say at this stage what may or not happen to live music venues as things progress. We'll do our best to keep you posted... thanks for understanding. Unprecedented times..."
For details of all dates and releases, visit clivegregson.com
He is planning to release a different CD each month, and April's offering is now available.
It's called Every Face Is Turned My Way and it's a collection of songs loosely describing Clive's fabulous life in showbusiness. "If you want to learn about what it's like to be an unpopular popular musician, there's plenty of data on this CD," said Clive.
January’s release was One Year, an almanac of songs about each month of the year. February will saw an electric rock ‘n’ roll record, Raggedy Arse and March an album of acoustic guitar instrumentals, Eighteen Strings. All are still available via Clive's website.
Born and raised in Manchester, Clive took his cult band Any Trouble around the world in support of five critically acclaimed albums and a number of singles that became radio hits before the group disbanded in 1984. Fondly remembered and greatly missed, the band have occasionally reformed since 2007, recording two brand new albums: Life in Reverse (2007) and Present Tense (2015). The band toured to support these releases and the three CD box set of The Complete Stiff Recordings 1980-1981 (2013). Grown men cried!
Between 1985 and 1992, Clive formed a partnership with Christine Collister that Rolling Stone called "The state of the art in British folk-rock". Having released five albums and toured the world to much acclaim, their decision to call it a day left a huge gap in the roots music scene. The entire Gregson & Collister catalogue plus a “Best Of…” compilation were re-issued in 2009.
In 1985, Clive released his first solo album and he has maintained a solo profile ever since. His solo recordings and tours have been one of the main outlets for his prolific song writing. The albums feature an eclectic mix of pop and folk styles, ranging from a stripped down one man and his acoustic intimacy to a full electric band approach.
Clive was planning to mark his 'retirement' with a year long tour of the UK, but due to the current situation, all previously announced tour dates up to September 2020 have either been cancelled or rescheduled.
"We've tried very hard to reschedule dates for later this year.... but many simply could not be re-arranged until 2021. Since I've already announced my retirement from touring at the end of 2020, I'm not in a position to commit to live dates after that," said Clive.
"My sincere apologies if a show you had planned to attend has disappeared from the schedule completely... and do keep an eye on my tour dates page for the latest info. Obviously, it's impossible to say at this stage what may or not happen to live music venues as things progress. We'll do our best to keep you posted... thanks for understanding. Unprecedented times..."
For details of all dates and releases, visit clivegregson.com
Summer season postponed, but online shows continue
Bristol's ever-popular Downend Folk Club has announced its programme for the Summer of 2020.
Following a meeting of the Downend Folk Club committee last night, we are able to announce that, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we have taken the decision to cancel our concerts in June and July.
Club Chairman Ant Miles comeented: "We will contact all ticket holders, and refunds will be issued. We are in touch with both artists, and we hope to be able to find a date for them to perform for us in the future.
"We continue to monitor the advice from the Government, and remain committed to resuming our programme as soon as it is legal and safe to do so. For now, we plan to restart in September, but we recognise that there is a high chance that we will not be able to do so.
"For that reason we have not announced the programme as yet, but we do have acts booked for the third Friday in September, October, November and December.
"In the meantime, we hope you are enjoying our “an hour or so” series on Friday evenings. Do tune in each week at 8.00pm. We look forward to enjoying live music with you again, as soon as we are able. Stay safe." Artists featured in the series so far include Nick Hart, LuKas Drinkwater, Lucy Ward (pictured) and Sam Carter.
For further information, visit www.downendfolkclub.co.uk
Following a meeting of the Downend Folk Club committee last night, we are able to announce that, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we have taken the decision to cancel our concerts in June and July.
Club Chairman Ant Miles comeented: "We will contact all ticket holders, and refunds will be issued. We are in touch with both artists, and we hope to be able to find a date for them to perform for us in the future.
"We continue to monitor the advice from the Government, and remain committed to resuming our programme as soon as it is legal and safe to do so. For now, we plan to restart in September, but we recognise that there is a high chance that we will not be able to do so.
"For that reason we have not announced the programme as yet, but we do have acts booked for the third Friday in September, October, November and December.
"In the meantime, we hope you are enjoying our “an hour or so” series on Friday evenings. Do tune in each week at 8.00pm. We look forward to enjoying live music with you again, as soon as we are able. Stay safe." Artists featured in the series so far include Nick Hart, LuKas Drinkwater, Lucy Ward (pictured) and Sam Carter.
For further information, visit www.downendfolkclub.co.uk
