Shirley Collins, Cecil Sharp House, 30th October

Subject: Shirley Collins, CSH, 30th October
From: GUEST,John Miles of Smiles
Date: 02 Oct 10 - 08:31 AM

Hello,

I hope this doesn't come across as spam; I hope that the show in question will be of interest to Mudcat regulars. We're trying to produce bills that bring together artists and audiences from traditional and 'outsider' folk idioms. Details below!

* * * * *

Miles of Smiles present an autumn celebration of dissident folk, BY THE FRUITS, in conjunction with the English Folk Dance & Song Society at Cecil Sharp House.

For this inaugural extravaganza resurgent Grand Dame of English folk SHIRLEY COLLINS will draw from her deep knowledge of the music's history and traditions in her show 'A Most Sunshiny Day', which details the evolution of folk in South East England.

Support (albeit in the evening's headlining timeslot) comes from scholarly-yet-modernising Scottish troubadour ALASDAIR ROBERTS, comingling reclaimed murder ballads and self-penned Gnostic explorations as found on recent Drag City LP Spoils, and new Navigator album Too Long in This Condition.

Also appearing shall be Alex Neilson's electrified pastoral rock quartet TREMBLING BELLS, who are to be joined by special guests including the Incredible String Band's Mike Heron and unfettered modern morris trio The Bells of London City.

SHIRLEY COLLINS
ALASDAIR ROBERTS
TREMBLING BELLS

Saturday 30th October
Cecil Sharp House
2 Regents Park Road, Camden NW1 7AY
Doors 6.30pm / £14 adv
http://www.wegottickets.com/event/89270
http://www.efdss.org

Subject: RE: Shirley Collins, CSH, 30th October
From: Terry McDonald
Date: 02 Oct 10 - 08:41 AM

Subject: RE: Shirley Collins, CSH, 30th October
From: Terry McDonald
Date: 02 Oct 10 - 08:42 AM

Oops, sorry! Hit the 'send' by mistake.

Subject: RE: Shirley Collins, CSH, 30th October
From: GUEST
Date: 02 Oct 10 - 12:07 PM

Not to worry!

Subject: RE: Shirley Collins, CSH, 30th October
From: Tim Chesterton
Date: 02 Oct 10 - 01:38 PM

Any chance of making it a podcast??????

There are days when I wish Edmonton Alberta was a lot closer to London...

Subject: RE: Shirley Collins, CSH, 30th October
From: GUEST,John Miles of Smiles
Date: 03 Oct 10 - 07:00 PM

That's a very good question.

We've podcast a number of other shows in the past:

http://www.milesofsmiles.co.uk/podcasts.html

(the bottom three - Vetiver, Meg Baird and Festival - have been the only folk-ish ones so far)

Hoping to catch Shirley's America Over the Water set in Lewes on Friday, so we'll try and ask her then!

Subject: RE: Shirley Collins, CSH, 30th October
From: Vic Smith
Date: 04 Oct 10 - 02:15 PM

John Miles of Smiles wrote:-

Hoping to catch Shirley's America Over the Water set in Lewes on Friday, so we'll try and ask her then!

John - please introduce yourself on Friday. I will be the sound man.

.....thinks.... sound man?..... unsound man? .... one of the two.

Subject: RE: Shirley Collins, CSH, 30th October
From: Vic Smith
Date: 04 Oct 10 - 02:18 PM

Oh - I ought not to miss a chance to say that there are still some tickets left for Shirley's show on Friday:-

Fri 8th October 8pm
Multimedia Presentation
SHIRLEY COLLINS
with Pip Barnes
"AMERICA OVER THE WATER"
Sussex Downs College Hall
Mountfield Road,
Lewes
BN7 2XH
Advance tickets £8 Door £10

Tickets from http://www.lewesfolkfest.org/LFFtickets.php

Subject: RE: Shirley Collins, CSH, 30th October
From: GUEST,John Miles of Smiles
Date: 09 Oct 10 - 12:51 PM

Vic, this was brilliant last night - good to meet you, and thanks again for the splendid show that the four of you put together, and sterling work on reviving the Lewes festival in general.

To everyone else - if you weren't able to get to Lewes last night but can be in London on the Halloween Saturday, come down to CSH to catch something very special (although I would say that, I guess!)

Subject: RE: Shirley Collins, CSH, 30th October
From: Crow Sister (off with the fairies)
Date: 09 Oct 10 - 01:35 PM

This does look intriguing. Not too sure what this means though: "comingling reclaimed murder ballads and self-penned Gnostic explorations" Umm, what's a 'reclaimed murder ballad' and what's a 'self-penned Gnostic exploration'? Not trying to be funny, but some elucidation would be fab!

Subject: RE: Shirley Collins, CSH, 30th October
From: GUEST,John Miles of Smiles
Date: 10 Oct 10 - 07:34 AM

A very fair point, I've just re-produced the blurb from our own mailing list which is aimed at a very different audience in many regards (Wire magazine types, really).

Despite his family heritage, in Appendix Out Alasdair started out doing frayed transatlantic lo-fi influenced by Sebadoh, Pavement etc. His solo-records have obviously all had a heavy folk leaning, but have been increasingly focussed on faithful-but-modern presentations of traditional material, with a particular fascination with the darker, bloodthirsty side - the 'reclamation' comes from the treatment to which he subjects the material, and the contexts within which he tends to play (it's changed a lot recently but he generally plays for experimental promoters, for audiences lacking an automatic folk grounding or understanding).

In terms of his own lyrics, the use of 'gnostic' is a bit glib and hyperbolic but I was trying to quickly encapsulate his demonstrable interest in both pre-Christian systems of belief (pagan and hermetic) and post-enlightenment modes of enquiry - not wishing to over-state this, but that puts him in a continuum of artists like Blake, Yeats, etc. I think that that paradox of the savage ancient viewed through the purifying prism of the modern is the defining character of his work.

This is how I feel, but it is also embarrassingly pseudish to publicly state this - the bottom line is that he plays dramatic, beautiful, potent songs with a thoroughly gripping focus and sensitivity. He really has come into his own as a performer in the last 18 months, and we're hoping for something special from him on the 30th!

Subject: RE: Shirley Collins, CSH, 30th October
From: Crow Sister (off with the fairies)
Date: 10 Oct 10 - 09:21 AM

Sounds somewhat akin to what Andrew King is up to - alternative/experimental arrangements, non-folkie audience/venues, dark trad ballads and similar hermetic/pagan/romantic influences. If it wasn't for the singing I'd thoroughly dig it.
Anyhoo, I am quite tempted by this do at CSH so maybe I'll see if I can tempt along someone to join me.

Subject: RE: Shirley Collins, CSH, 30th October
From: Crow Sister (off with the fairies)
Date: 10 Oct 10 - 09:22 AM

EDIT: "If it wasn't for the singing" by which I mean AK as unfortunately I'm not a fan of his style.

Subject: RE: Shirley Collins, CSH, 30th October
From: GUEST,John Miles of Smiles
Date: 11 Oct 10 - 05:18 AM

I'm not familiar with Andrew King, so thanks for the tip - I shall check him out. I can't listen from work, but a couple of sources I trust seem to sing his praises so I'm intrigued.

I don't want to over-state the experimental edge of Alasdair's recent output - he is now, superficially, a traditional musician, but anyone with a knowledge of his past, an ear for the crystalline attack of his guitar work (which betrays a post-rock edge) or the time to contemplate his lyrical craft should recognise a thouroughly modern practitioner. There's a bit more discussion on the 'What is psych-folk...?' thread that might be of interest, too!

Subject: RE: Shirley Collins, CSH, 30th October
From: Crow Sister (off with the fairies)
Date: 11 Oct 10 - 01:16 PM

If you're interested in 'dissident' folk (to borrow from the psych thread) you shouldn't go far wrong in checking out King: his arrangements are impressive and innovative IMO. I don't dig his singing though (too derivative for my tastes) so despite other attractions and a real respect for his approach, for me his work is missing something too central to make me a full on fan.

Subject: RE: Shirley Collins, CSH, 30th October
From: GUEST
Date: 13 Oct 10 - 06:35 PM

Nice plug for the show in, of all places, the Financial Times' review of Monday night's secret Mumford & Sons set at CSH!

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/5834f048-d619-11df-81f0-00144feabdc0.html

Subject: RE: Shirley Collins, CSH, 30th October
From: Dave MacKenzie
Date: 13 Oct 10 - 07:47 PM

Dammit. I'll be in London that weekend, but I already have tickets for WEmbley which won't finish till about eight!

Subject: RE: Shirley Collins, CSH, 30th October
From: Dave MacKenzie
Date: 13 Oct 10 - 07:49 PM

Sorry - having dinner with my daughter in Brick Lane. Still dammit.

Subject: RE: Shirley Collins, CSH, 30th October
From: GUEST,John Miles of Smiles
Date: 14 Oct 10 - 08:16 AM

Oh well, can't be helped! Keep an eye on Shirley's website for other opportunities to catch her, as America Over the Water was pretty marvellous and I hear similar things about this show too.

Subject: RE: Shirley Collins, CSH, 30th October
From: GUEST,John Miles of Smiles
Date: 15 Oct 10 - 07:19 AM

Just in case there is any remaining confusion - this is a multimedia presentation; I presume that most people know that Shirley sadly doesn't sing in public any longer, but I've had a few people asking so I thought it best to qualify! Shirley's talks, like her music, remain fascinating, joyous and very poignant. Here's the blurb from the South Bank Centre performance a few years ago:

Shirley Collins presents A Most Sunshiny Day, a fascinating and timely look at a remarkable part of English culture, the traditional music of the working people of her native Sussex. Illustrating the talk with genuine field recordings, and with many fascinating photographs and pictures, Shirley shows how essential the music and customs were to people's lives. She tells of the importance of the folksong collecting done by such people as Lucy Broadwood, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Bob Copper, and of the men and women of real character they found. Not only did this music influence the compositions of Vaughan Williams and Butterworth, it is also a source of inspiration for many young singers today, and a direct and important connection to our roots and social history. The talk is given with Shirley's blend of knowledge, compassion and humour, and she is joined by actor Pip Barnes for some of the readings.

Subject: RE: Shirley Collins, CSH, 30th October
From: GUEST,John Miles of Smiles
Date: 18 Oct 10 - 08:21 AM

Crazy that Shirley, Peggy Seeger and Norma Waterson should all have shows within a nine-day stretch... I wonder how how people will see all three performances? Would anyone care to share thoughts from having seen any of them in the past?

Subject: RE: Shirley Collins, CSH, 30th October
From: Sailor Ron
Date: 18 Oct 10 - 09:21 AM

It was my joy to introduce Shirley [& Co] at Fylde a couple of years ago. They presented 'A most sunshiny day', and 'America over the water'. They were the highlights of the whole festival and a packed audience gave a standing ovation that lasted near 5 minutes, how often do you get that at a folk festival!?!
p.s. I'm madly in love with Shirley, have been for 30 years, not that she knows [unless she reads this thread!]

Subject: RE: Shirley Collins, CSH, 30th October
From: GUEST,John Miles of Smiles
Date: 20 Oct 10 - 07:30 AM

Splendid, I'm very excited! There are still tickets for this, great if people can make it down.

Subject: RE: Shirley Collins, CSH, 30th October
From: GUEST,John Miles of Smiles
Date: 23 Oct 10 - 06:45 AM

This show is a week today! There are still tickets remaining but fewer by the day, so of course I'd recommed booking sooner rather than later if you'd like to come along. Look forward to seeing you there!

Subject: RE: Shirley Collins, CSH, 30th October
From: GUEST,John Miles of Smiles
Date: 28 Oct 10 - 04:52 AM

Sorry to resort to just bumping a thread to the top. This is on Saturday, it's still possible to book in advance and we expect there will be a few tickets on the door but if you're keen to come we recommend picking up a ticket before the day itself. Hope to see you there!

Subject: RE: Shirley Collins, CSH, 30th October
From: GUEST,John Miles of Smiles
Date: 29 Oct 10 - 07:36 PM

There will be tickets on the door for this, should anyone fancy it on the spur! Running times roughly:
Doors 6.30
Trembling Bells 7.15
Shirley Collins 8.15
Alasdair Roberts 10-11.15

Hope to see you there, say hello if you make it down!