And a few hundred yards from the Royal Oak in Lewes you'll find the Lewes Saturday Folk Club
- not only a weekly folk club with guests, but all-day workshops as well. We stay open in August.

MAY 1            WELCOME IN THE MAY   (£3)
Bring songs & tunes for the season. Maids of Honour, a traditional May treat made with new cream, lemon, almonds, currants & pastry, will be served.

MAY 8            SO LAST CENTURY STRING BAND (£5)
http://www.myspace.com/solastcenturystringband
Michi Mathias (fiddle, bnajo, voice) Dan Edwards (banjo, voice) & Tim Wharton (guitar, voice) play American Old-Time with excursions into jug band & 1920s/30s music.

MAY 15         JOHN JOSEPH                      (£4)
Underwater cyclist, yodelling chicken sexer, contortionist, unfrocked nun & intergalactic whistler: John is none of these things, but he is amazingly inventive & funny. Wear hard hat if nervous of ballistic onions.

MAY 22
Lewes Saturday Folk Club Workshop No 130
JOE PENLAND: NORTH CAROLINA SONG & SOCIETY WORKSHOP
http://www.joepenlandmusic.com/
10.45 a.m.- 4.45 p.m. Places £25
Joe has inherited the song & storytelling traditions of the North Carolina Appalachians. He plays guitar & banjo. His account of life in the small village of Sodom Laurel is fascinating & often surprising. The workshop will cover 'Old Love Songs & Ballads from the Western North Carolina Mountains' & the oral tradition that preserved them. There will be plenty of opportunities to sing the songs. A work book with lyrics & information & a CD of field recordings will be provided for each participant.
IN THE EVENING JOE PENLAND PERFORMS AT THE ELEPHANT & CASTLE
Admission £5. Advance tickets from the club or website.

MAY 29         COME-ALL-YE   at The Black Horse, 55 Western Road, Lewes   (£3 including raffle tickets)

JUNE 5 (Saturday)
MIKE O'CONNOR & BARBARA GRIGGS
http://www.myspace.com/covath
CORNISH TUNES FROM MANUSCRIPTS for any instrument
Places £25 10.45 a.m.- 4.45 p.m.
             Mike (fiddle, Anglo concertina) and Barbara (harp) are experts in Cornish & early music. They are lively, enchanting performers. Mike has researched & published beautiful & unusual tunes from many important manuscripts (Ilow Kernow). He is also a fine songwriter, singer, storyteller & a bard of the Gorseth of Cornwall. Cornwall's musical history is complex, going back to the days of its Breton lords. The workshop will cover Cornish music from the Middle Ages onwards, with plenty of fascinating tunes to play & stories to hear. Non-playing listeners are welcome too.

IN THE EVENING MIKE O'CONNOR & BARBARA GRIGGS PERFORM AT THE ELEPHANT & CASTLE. Admission £6. Advance tickets from the club or website.

JUNE 6 (Sunday)
MIKE O'CONNOR: SONGWRITING IN THE TRADITION
http://www.lyngham.co.uk/mike_oconnor.html
Places £25 10.45 a.m.- 4.45 p.m.
            Mike (fiddle, Anglo concertina & voice) is a fine songwriter, singer, storyteller & a bard of the Gorseth of Cornwall. His style is distinctive but rooted firmly in the tradition. His songs (The White Shepherd, The Best of Autumn, Unite, Unite, etc) have been recorded by Martyn Wyndham-Read, Johnny Collins, Sarah Morgan, Mike Nicholson & many more. He produced & directed the iconic folk operas The Cry of Tin & Unsung Heroes & recently took part in the production Cornish Lads.
            The workshop will cover the art & craft of songwriting: the first reasons for writing, the tools & materials available for following a traditional style, & polishing & performing.

JUNE 12        DICK MILES         http://www.dickmiles.com/introduction.htm (£5)
Dick sings & plays mainly traditional songs & tunes on English concertina. A founder member of the New Mexborough English Concertina Quartet, he blends music from Suffolk, from SW Ireland, & from his own writing.

JUNE 19         BRYONY http://www.myspace.com/bryonysofar (£5)
Cathy, Ailsa & Alison: three voices in beautiful harmony.

JUNE 26        MARTIN & SHAN GRAEBE http://www.martinandshan.net/index.htm (£5)
Fine vocal harmony; Martin & Shan sing unusual versions of traditional songs from the West. Martin also writes in traditional style ('Harry The Hawker Is Dead').

JULY 3        THE RUDE MECHANICALS http://www.rudemechanicals.ukf.net/ (£5)
Roy Chandler & Barry Ruffell play British, American & written tunes on English concertina, banjo, flute, fiddle, Northumbrian pipes, mandolin, whistle & trombone. They sing US trad & blues & more.

JULY 10        Lewes Saturday Folk Club Workshop No 133
KAREN TWEED: O'CAROLAN'S MUSIC for any instrument
http://www.karentweed.com/
Places £25         10.45 a.m.- 4.45 p.m.
A brilliant piano accordionist, Karen is steeped in Irish music as a performer, tutor & scholar. She has performed with The Poozies, Kathryn Tickell Band & John Kirkpatrick. She teaches at the Universities of Newcastle, Helsinki & Limerick, & for Folkworks. The workshop will cover 3 of O'Carolan's works, arranged for ensemble, exploring arrangement ideas. For any player of intermediate standard & above. Notation / learning by ear will be used.
IN THE EVENING KAREN TWEED PERFORMS AT THE CLUB.
Admission £6. Advance tickets from the club or the website.

JULY 17         COME-ALL-YE with spotlight on CAROLE TAYLOR (£3)
A chance to hear more from a good friend of the club.

JULY 24        HECTOR GILCHRIST (£5)
Hector sings Scottish & Irish traditional & written songs with guitar. Steeped in the tradition, his style is warm & compelling.

JULY 31        JAN CREAYE & ROGER BRASIER: 'NO BETTER THAN SHE OUGHT TO BE' (£5)
Jan's fine singing & Roger's accomplished reading encompass high tragedy & raucous comedy.

        N.B THE CLUB STAYS OPEN THROUGHOUT AUGUST WITH COME-ALL-YEs.