Author: George Hoyle

Saturnalia At Atlantis Bookshop

The Atlantis Bookshop on Museum Street, a stone’s throw from the British Museum is the venue for the next Cunning Folk event! Having taken a well earned break after the Bermondsey Folk Festival, Cunning Folk are gearing up for Saturnalia, the Roman festival of Saturn & precursor to Christmas.

The lovely folk at Atlantis are hosting us in the shop with poetry, music, storytelling & morris dancing from Wolfshead & Vixen Morris. Obviously the dancing will not take place inside the shop.

So put 11th December 6.30ish in the diary for a wonderful free event! More details very soon…

Bermondsey Folk Festival: Full line-up!

Bermondsey Folk Festival: a week of free folk music in the heart of South East London.

Southwark Park Road is a stone’s throw away from Bermondsey Underground Station. On the first week of September there is a programme of free folk music from established performers in & around Southwark Park Road.

Featured performers include acclaimed Irish Traveller singer & storyteller Thomas McCarthy, much loved old time American player & singer Tom Paley, veteran folk & blues player Wizz Jones & the excellent Steve Tilston.

Here is the full line-up & schedule with links to more details:

TUESDAY 1/9/2015 At The Queen Victoria,

148 Southwark Park Rd, London SE16 3RP

8pm

RATTLE ON THE STOVEPIPE

WEDNESDAY 2/9/2015 At The Old Bank

239 Southwark Park Road, London SE16 3TT

8pm

THOMAS MCCARTHY, GEMMA KHAWAJA, FRAN FOOTE

THURSDAY 3/9/2015 At The Blue Anchor,

251 Southwark Park Rd, London SE16 3TS

8pm

SIMON PRAGER & DOC ROWE, THE LUCKY DANDY & THE KNOWN ASSOCIATE

FRIDAY 4/9/2015 At The Ancient Foresters

282 Southwark Park Rd, London SE16 2HB

STUART FORESTER, GENTLEFOLK

SATURDAY 5/9/2015 At The Blue Market,

Market Place, Bermondsey, London SE16 3UQ

SATURDAY FOLK STAGE from 12.30pm

12:30-1 DULWICH FOLK CHOIR

1:10-1:40 NIALL KELLY

1:50-2:10 FORBES MONCRIEFF

2:20-2:50 BLACK SCARR

3-3:30 STUART FORRESTER

3:40-4:20 KATY CARR

4:30-5:10 WIZZ JONES

5:20-6 UMBRELLABIRDS

SUNDAY 6/9/2015 At The Biscuit Factory

100 Clements Road, London, SE16 4DG

SUNDAY FOLK STAGE

12:30-1:10 BARA BARA BAND

1.20-2 LORDS OF THYME

2:20-3 TOM PALEY

4-4:20 HANK DOG

4:30-5:10 MISHAPED PEARLS

5:20-6 STEVE TILSTON

Bermondsey Folk Festival is in 3 weeks time!

“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 Folk Festival

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!

Wizz Jones at Sutton House

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…

Wonderful times at Sutton House

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!

Good Tides on Deptford Creek & More Folk in a Tudor House

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 Conversation With Thomas McCarthy

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!

Cunning Folk At Sutton House: Friday February 20th

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.