folk
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“Come follow me…” Hurstpierpoint Wassail 2025
A quick write-up of Saturday’s wassail in Hurstpierpoint, which was without a kernel of a doubt one of the most enjoyable wassails I’ve done. And I’ve done a lot of wassails. This one was organised by our choir leader and nearby-Hassock resident Jo Burke. It was very kind of her to schedule it for a… Read more
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Jeffrey Lewis & The Voltage + David Cronenberg’s Wife, The Crescent, York
This review first appeared in The Morning Star In a working men’s club turned community venue in Old York, indie kids young and old are out in force to see Jeffrey Lewis: New York’s finest, and possibly only, comic book artist, perma-touring troubadour, DIY garage-rock musician, and anti-folk songwriter. What is anti-folk? Tom, singer in… Read more
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Brighton Folk Choir End Of Term Show
Summer is Icumen In, and with it, my folk choir breaks up for the holidays. To celebrate, we had an end-of-term show, with any choir member invited up to sing a song, recite a poem, or dance a belly. I wish we’d do this more often. I love folk choir, and Jo is an amazing… Read more
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Promoting shows in our collapsing digital realm
I’ve got a show in Brighton next week! It’s being headlined by Jason out of Clearlake, who I interviewed here. I’ve booked some clowns and written some songs about the end of the world, it’s going to be good. Telling people about a thing is tricky nowadays, as far as the internet is concerned. Offline,… Read more
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All the shows I saw at Brighton Fringe 2024
Over on my newsletter I’ve posted links to all the Fringe, Spiegeltent, and Festival shows I went to this year. I’ve probably forgotten a couple, but this is how posterity shall remember it. I had a lovely time, and enjoyed excellent company throughout. Next year, I think I’ll take a few more risks and see… Read more
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Re-Enactment: The Diggers, Mark Thomas, Victoria Melody and the Brighton Folk Choir
“Your freedom to uphold / seeing Cavaliers of old / to kill you if they could / and rights from you withhold /Stand up now Diggers all!” Was it all just a fever dream? A sunny Saturday lunchtime, and my folk choir is singing a 17th century folk ballad in Whitehawk, encouraging gardeners with pitchforks… Read more
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Jack In The Green, Catalyst Club, and Mark Thomas: 3 Brighton Folk Choir gigs in one week
Ours is a seasonal choir, in which we learn old songs with a sense of time and place. Sometimes this can be bittersweet, especially when sing of trees and birds that are now rare or under threat, but it helps reconnect one with the cyclical nature of existence, and the importance of community, ritual, and… Read more
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Brighton Folk Choir: Apple Blossom Day, Stanmer Park
Last folk choir gig, we were still in wassail season: January, cold, mulled cider, and songs swathed in winter spirits and fear of darkness. Late April, and you would expect a different idiom. But it’s been a cold and damp spring, as befits our climate-uncertain times of underwater county cricket grounds and new-build estates on… Read more
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This Machine Kills Wasps with MJ Hibbett, The Highchurches, Jo Burke, Shelf, Selena Mersey, and Mikey Bligh Smith
I arrive early, and the sound guy is already there. Conveniently, his name is Guy. Guy, the sound guy. Sound guy Guy. Guy Guy sound. He is friendly, and Australian. We have a nice chat, and as he sets up the stage, I learn his interest in experimental rock, music theory, and production. This is… Read more
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