Nic Burdett Death, Obituary – Nic Burdett’s Most influential Person on the Leicestershire folk scene sadly passed away. Nic gave up the ghost leaving family and friends heartbroken. The passing of Nic has brought sadness and left the family mourning and agonizing. Our thoughts and prayers are with loved ones of Nic. We learned about this death news through a user on social media, the statement reads below. Nic Burdett, one of the most influential people on the Leicestershire folk scene, sadly passed away on Saturday afternoon (16th July) following a long battle with Motor Neurone Disease (MND). Nic was passionate about everything to do with folk. He also had a keen interest in local history which helped him build up an extensive knowledge of local customs and song. He sang in the excellent harmony trio Burdett, Simpson and Young. Then when Rob Young’s job took him up north Jacky Lockley stepped in and the group reinvented themselves as “Young No More”. They performed in clubs and at festivals across the UK and even “toured” Australia. In more recent years Vic Simpson’s family commitments took him away from the group but Nic continued to sing in a duo with Jacky. For many years Nic ran the Ampersand Folk Club in Burbage which had some excellent guest nights; it set a standard to which many other local clubs aspired. Nic often used to get other people – friends – to run the club nights. Eventually he decided that his involvement with the club had run its course and the club closed soon after. Some years later Nic & Jacky started their monthly Saturday night “kitchen” sessions in Kilby. These proved to be popular with many of the local folk luminaries including the late, much lamented Steve Thomason. About 5 years ago shortly after he was diagnosed with MND Nic opened up his factory in Fleckney for a series of charity concerts that were presented under the “Folk at the Factory” banner. They featured local folkies who had made good such as Grace Petrie, Hannah James, Roger Wilson and James Patterson but they also provided a platform for many lesser known artists who perform week after week in the local folk clubs. All of the artists gave their services free of charge and the concerts raised thousands of pounds. Most of the money was donated to MND for research but the local charities LOROS and Rainbows were also beneficiaries. Nic was a complex man. On the one hand he could be very self opinionated (which didn’t endear him to everyone) but on the other hand he could be one of the kindest, most warm hearted and generous people that I knew. He was always willing to discuss and offer advice on the origins of songs; I’ve known him lend concertinas to aspiring players; he helped Graeme Miles and Robin Dale get their superb book “Songscapes” published and he was always there with words of encouragement for local clubs such as the Grand Union. Nic was a mover and shaker in the folk world and he will surely be missed. Our thoughts go out to Jacky and the rest of the family
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