Dave Arthur and Dan Stewart sing & play American old-time songs & tunes on banjo, melodeon, guitar & harmonica. They both play with the excellent Rattle on the Stovepipe.

In the morning from 10.45 - 12.30 Dan Stewart leads a mixed-ability five-string banjo workshop. Places are £15. If you'd like to come, email me on valmaigoodyear@aol.com so that I can send you the advance music by email. The workshop is for US old-time claw-hammer 5-string banjo. Dan will teach a couple of straightforward tunes & move onto more advanced right-hand techniques for people to take away & apply to their own playing.

In the afternoon from 1.30 - 4.45 Dave Arthur leads a workshop on Magic, Superstition & The Supernatural in Folk Tale & Ballads.
Dave writes: 'There will be songs/ballads and stories from me, plus field recordings of traditional storytellers from around the British isles telling tales of witchcraft, the Devil, ghosts, & fairies. They are stories that I collected myself thirty or forty years ago, or have been given by other collectors, & material I used in various series in the 1970s & 1980s when I was working as a scriptwriter, researcher & presenter for BBC Radio 4 & TV. We'll look at the background to the modern Wicca phenomenon, how it relates to traditional witch beliefs, & how these are represented in traditional song in the British Isles. We'll also, given time, look at fairy and ghost belief in ballad and story & listen to traditional examples. And finally the Devil in song & story.' Places are £20. Email valmaigoodyear@aol.com to reserve a place and bring the right money in cash on the day. You are invited to nominate a song or story which you might contribute.

Valmai (Lewes)