Wharf Bluegrass Weekend up next

This year’s Wharf Bluegrass Weekend is set for May 25th - 27th at the Stoke Prior Sports and Country Club near Bromsgrove.

The weekend will consist of picking sessions, workshops and slow jams, with concerts on Friday and Saturday evening.

The workshop line-up will be:
Banjo - Martin Blake
Guitar - Mansel Kedward
Mandolin - Roland Emmanuel
Fiddle - John Boston
Slow Jam - Roland Emmanuel
Sacred Harp and Shape Note Singing - Maria Wallace

Food and drink will be available on-site all weekend, with camping around the clubhouse. Tickets are £22 with no need to book in advance. Full details including directions to the site can be found at wharfbluegrass.com

John Dowling banjo workshop

John Dowling will be running a bluegrass banjo workshop on June 24th in London.

John has been playing banjo for 17 years and teaching for 15. He won the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award in 2000, and went on to become the only European to have won the USA National Bluegrass Banjo Championships in 2002.

The workshop is to be held at the Royal Academy of Music, Marylebone Road, London and “shall focus mainly on the techniques and methods required to play with others, but shall also cover general skills needed to forward your banjo playing ability, whilst serving as a fantastic platform to meet other like minded banjoists and gain valuable contacts.”

The day will include 5 hours of tuition as well as an evening concert featuring John’s band Doghouse Central. Full details and a booking form can be found in this PDF flyer.

Bluegrass in Weston-super-Mare

The Hog Ranch

The Weston Rock festival will be dedicating a whole day to bluegrass music on June 3rd.

The event will be held at the town’s rugby club, across four days from June 1st - 4th. The day of bluegrass will feature Flats and Sharps, The Hog Ranch (pictured), Chris Moreton and Roots and Galoots.

Camping will be available for the weekend, with bars, stalls and other amenities all on site.

Full details can be found at the Weston Rock website.

On tour with the Deadly Gentlemen

The Deadly Gentlemen

The Deadly Gentlemen toured the UK in March to promote their album Carry Me To Home.

The Boston-based band played across England and Scotland, including at the Celtic Connections Big Top festival on the Isle of Skye.

Maria Wallace attended many of the gigs and has written a report of the tour.

Read the article here.

Third Little Opry coming up

The third Little Opry will be on Saturday, May 26th.

The regular evening of music is hosted by Native Grass and this month will feature an open mic followed by headliner band Rattle On The Stovepipe.

It takes place at the Tom Thumb Theatre in Cliftonville, Kent with doors opening at 7.00pm and tickets costing £6.50.

Bands lined up for future dates include Biggin Hillbillies, One Tree Hillbillies and Allen Family Band.

More details at the Little Opry website.

Sore Fingers in action

A session featuring the teaching and tea staff at last month’s Sore Fingers Week was caught on camera by John Breese.

The video of Red Prairie Dawn shows Grant Gordy, Mike Witcher, Rex Preston, Laura Carrivick and Miranda Sykes playing in the grounds of Kingham Hill School.

In similar news, John’s popular documentary about bluegrass in the UK has been edited and re-released on YouTube.

Punch Brothers on the telly

In addition to last night’s gig in London, Punch Brothers will be appearing on BBC TV during their visit to the UK.

The band will perform on Later Live…with Jools Holland on BBC2 tonight (May 8th) at 10pm. They will also be on Friday’s (May 11th) Later…with Jools Holland on the same channel at 11.50pm.

Details for the upcoming shows can be found on the Later with Jools Holland website.

Summer starts at Orwell

The 2012 summer festival season kicks off on May 11th with the Orwell Bluegrass Festival.

The festival is now in its 6th year and will have concerts on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, an open mic and workshops. This year there will also be an extended programme for old-time music and dancing. Bands playing include New Essex Bluegrass Band, Home Territory, Beverly Smith and John Grimm and The Leon Hunt n-Tet.

The event will be held from May 11th - 13th at the Hallowtree campsite in Ipswich, and the site will be open to festival goers from midday on Thursday, May 10th.

Full details including ticket prices and downloadable programmes can be found at the Orwell Bluegrass Festival website.

A list of all the upcoming festivals and events can be found on our calendar.

Woodberrys win slot at Ely

The Woodberrys

Congratulations to The Woodberrys, who have been announced as the winners of the band competition for the Ely Folk Festival.

The band will be rewarded with the opening slot at the festival which runs from July 13th- 15th in Cambridgeshire.

Since forming last year for the Sore Fingers student concert, the five-piece band has gone from strength to strength. They have performed at a variety of events, festivals and venues, including last year’s Didmarton, Orwell and Gower bluegrass festivals as well as the Bristol Bluegrass Day in March 2012.

The group are best known for their three and four-part harmonies, singing mostly bluegrass and original material by Liz Taylor (guitar), Sue Pomeroy (mandolin, guitar), Heather Bristow (fiddle) and Roger Jackson (guitar, mandolin, vocals). Richard Embery’s sympathetic bass playing provides the glue that binds it all together. The band is named for Cambridge-based Liz Taylor’s house - Woodberry - where the band, with members based across the country, convenes for rehearsals.

For more information about the band visit www.woodberrys.co.uk.

The Wagon Tales with Krystle Warren

The Wagon Tales

The Wagon Tales will be backing and collaborating with American singer/songwriter Krystle Warren on her UK tour in May.

Warren, a member of Rufus Wainwright’s group and currently his featured support act, is a friend and colleague of The Wagon Tales’ Ben Somers, who says that “Krystle’s music has an extremely eclectic range of influences, but is deeply connected to roots music so having a group that can provide this criteria is essential.”

The Wagon Tales will be appearing with Krystle Warren on the following dates:

  • 22nd May at Dingwalls in Camden, London
  • 24th May at Brighton Festival, All Saint’s Church in Hove

The band will also be gigging in Sweden in May, and their recently recorded CD, comprised of entirely original material, will be released later in the year. More about the band can be found at www.wagontales.co.uk.

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