***Sunday 15th October***

Event 21   5-6.00 pm    £10
The Westgate Chapel, High Street BN7 1XH

AN HOUR WITH SHIRLEY COLLINS & IAN KEAREY

Shirley Collins has been the our festival patron since it was re-formed in 2010 and this Lewes resident has contributed to it in many ways, but previously, she has never sung for us! The story of this iconic figure's return to singing after a gap of nearly thirty years has been of enormous interest to the British folk scene. In recent years her vast contribution has been widely recognised with awards like the M.B.E. an honorary doctorate from Sussex University, the presidency of the E.F.D.S.S as well being as a recipient of that society's Gold Badge and The BBC Folk Awards "Good Tradition" award. All these are in recognition of a multiplicity of important involvements over six decades.
The same weekend as the festival there will be the World Premiere of a film about her life, "The Ballad of Shirley Collins" at the London Film Festival. Her hugely successful new album "Lodestar" was produced by the man who will accompany her at her concert at the Westgate Chapel. Ian Kearey is a talented and inventive multi-instrumentalist and singer with a deep love and understanding of traditional and roots music. He first came to prominence as a member of the almost interchangeable bands, Fiddler's Dram and The Oyster Band. After many years as a full-time musician, his move to Brighton coincided with his leaving the Oysters. He became a founder member of the popular local folk dance band, the Sussex Pistols which he still plays with nearly 30 years later. He has played with a large number of other bands, most recently with the exciting Pigeon Swing.