“A free folk festival in Bermondsey on the first week of September?” we hear you ask.
Yes indeed; Cunning Folk, in association with Blue Bermondsey Bid & Grosvenor, is delighted to present the first Bermondsey Folk Festival.
An incredible calibre of folk performers playing for free in locations a stone’s throw from Bermondsey tube station.
If you like folk music & are in London on the first week of September this is the place to be.
Expect more details very soon….
Bermondsey is a fantastic corner of London. Historic & vibrant, good eating, excellent pubs, great markets & all a stones throw from the tube.
Cunning Folk is delighted to announce that, together with the Southwark Park Road BID team, we will be organizing the first Bermondsey Folk Festival on the Weekend of the 5th/6th September with gigs in the local pubs in the week before.
Confirmed acts so far include Wizz Jones, Steve Tilston, Lords Of Thyme, Bara Bara Band with more to be announced very soon.
So if you want to go to a FREE folk festival in the heart of South East London with great bands & food & real ale you know where you are going to be on the 5th & 6th of September!
Behind the door of the Tudor Pile on the evening of April 17th was magic
Vanessa Woolf told a chiller of treasure & an ill favoured tongue
GentleFolk trod the old boards & sang about the ancient woodlands
Then Wizz Jones gave a masterclass in what it is to be a lifelong Troubador
If you were there you know how good this night was.
Cunning Folk will no doubt return to Sutton House soon.
In the meantime a season of talks about aspects of folk, world & roots music are being scheduled so watch this space.
Also Cunning Folk is putting on a guided walk of South East London with a difference on July 4th. Follow the link for more details…
Sutton House, on Homerton High Street, is wonderful. It’s a Tudor house looked after by the National Trust a stone’s throw away from Hackney Central. It’s the oldest house in the East End & venue for Cunning Folk. On Friday we had a lovely evening of folk music & storytelling.
Laura Smythe & Ted Kemp from Nigel Of Bermondsey on Vimeo.
Laura Smythe & Ted Kemp sang beautiful traditional songs accompanied with cello, banjo, guitar & squeezebox.
GentleFolk sang songs of the Greenwood & told tales of Herne The Hunter
.
The evening was topped off with a stellar tell from the wonderful Sarah Rundle. Tales of food & cunning washed down with bread & butter, pistachio flavoured turkish delight & cake!
Folk on the Water on the Minesweeper in Deptford Creek was pretty special. Fantastic singing from the floor & amazing feature spots from Ian Kennedy & Sarah Lloyd, & for Molly Carroll (joined by her friends Jess & Ed).
Here Jess is dancing while Ed plays gourd banjo & Molly plays ukulele.
Thomas was amazing: folk tales & folk singing of the highest order. He is worth seeing if you haven’t yet, do!
Here is Thomas performing Johnny Barton.
Coming up on Friday is another Cunning Folk at Sutton House which promises to be an excellent affair. We have the wonderful Laura Smyth & Ted Kemp performing a set of traditional songs.
Here is a chat that Nigel from GentleFolk, the other musical cat on the bill, had with them earlier on this month.
& here is what they sound like.
GentleFolk will be playing a set too.
GentleFolk have been described by the comedian Stewart Lee as “Good” & by the folk band Stick In The Wheel as “a psychedelic folk Steely Dan”.
There will also be stories of food & cunning from the storyteller, Sarah Rundle.
Wonderful!
In advance of his performance in Deptford on the 14th March, Thomas McCarthy, the amazing Irish Traveller folksinger & tale-teller, popped over to Cunning Folk for a chat.
Over a nice lunch of bangers & mash we talked about Britain’s Celtic heritage, how he likes to record, changing London & Puck Fair
Here is Thomas talking about Puck Fair before the conversation meanders to New Years Day, the River Westborne, then Thomas tells a tale to finish.
After our chat we had a surf on YouTube & Thomas picked a few tracks.
Ralph Stanley
Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Folk On The Water on the 14th promises to be a belter!
A magical evening was had at Sutton House on Friday. Some GentleFolk to commence the affair & then upstairs to the panelled room where Forbes-Moncrieff wove a spell.
In the dark they appeared to glow.
Traditional songs of Somerset, Liverpool, the Antipodes, songs collected by Ruth L.Tongue in the fantastic “Chime Child”
We took some cine of the affair.
& then tales were told by Olivia Armstrong; of giants & of villains.
Cunning Folk: we’ll charm you.
Harry Harris is a great singer-songwriter from Wales, presently resident in London, who has just released a great album called “Songs About Other People”. Here is a link to a review which came out the other week in the Telegraph. Cunning Folk really like Harry & are delighted that he will be playing the very first Marylebone Folk & Roots Club on the 24th. Here is a nice chat with the man & a song to boot..
Cunning Folk spent a fine hour on Saturday 24th January in the Refectory of Southwark Cathedral with Cas & Ste, AKA Forbes-Moncrieff in advance of their performance at Sutton House on the 20th February. Fine coffee & tea was drunk and we chatted… Cas was just getting ready for a trip to Canberra where she grew up, so first we established where Canberra was (about 3 hours drive from Sydney) & that Canberra is the capital of Australia (I did not know that.) Cas’s Mum is English & was a singing teacher & taught her folk songs from an early age.
Cas & Ste have been playing & singing folk music for 5 years now & their 2014 album The Green Lady is a real treat. The title track is inspired by the excellent book The Chime Child by Ruth L. Tongue, which Cunning Folk have on the folklore shelf of the library. They recorded the record in Wild Goose studios in Hampshire, a fine experience punctuated with libations of gin & assorted refreshment.
Cas & Ste are currently researching & writing new material with an aim to record late summer. They are looking at bringing in more storytelling into a show arc. We join the conversation as we start talking about storytelling in song & ramble on from there. Please excuse the sound quality; next chat will involve some kind of production value.
(Interview by Nigel Of Bermondsey)
Cunning Folk 