leigh folk festival 2013

I am totally chuffed to be playing at The Leigh Folk Festival this summer. I went along last year to see my disgustingly talented friend Tim Graham play and had an absolute blast.

It is the biggest free folk festival in Britain; a super fun long weekend by the sea with music taking over the whole of the town.

I will be playing at 11.55am on Sunday 30th June and be joined by at least two other brilliant musicians and maybe more if i am lucky.

folk weekend oxford

So Pedal Folk, the cycling music tour I am doing late April is now all sorted and we will be ending our two wheeled jaunt by performing at Folk Weekend Oxford which I am super excited about.

I will be playing with Tim Graham and Katie Stone Lonergan on Sunday 21st April at Cafe 1071 at 3pm. There may be bubbly to celebrate the end of the tour.

Cafe 1071, 45 Oxford Castle, Oxford, OX1 1AY

l’ll be good to the land

From a wood-engraving by Clare Leighton, courtesy of the artist’s Estate

 

On 5th April at Ye Olde Rose and Crown Theatre Pub in Walthamstow, I am putting on a show called ‘I’ll Be Good To The Land; A History Of Land Rights And Protest In Folk Song And Story’ as part of the Community Food Growers Network spring events series.

I will be joined on the evening by many friends and a special guest called Hugh Lupton as we unpick the people’s history of this fair isle.

Hugh is one of the most brilliant and widely respected story tellers in the country. You can catch a sneaky peak of him below on youtube.

 

my songs being used to help deaf people enjoy music

My songs are being used to help deaf people with cochlear implants get enjoyment from music again.

I am not sure how long this BBC video piece will be live but it is quite a fun 60 seconds… http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-19786914

A computer-based music rehabilitation programme has been launched to help deaf people hear music more clearly.

Developed at the University of Southampton it allows deaf people to pick out the individual sounds of musical instruments which they often find difficult.

The Institute of Sound and Vibration Research has spent two years working with patients from the South of England Cochlear Implant Centre to create the programme.