Folk Music ~ by Pete Morton

Folk songs came to me from an unexpected route and ended up

Young Pete Morton

colouring the songs I’ve tried to write from the day it happened. Because of them, I’ve aspired to bring something from them into what I’ve been doing ever since. 

I’m happy to be a troubadour passing through an age old minstrelsy, but I wouldn’t have reached that place if it wasn’t for the revved up complaint of Eddie and the Hot Rods driving out ‘Do anything you wanna do’ 40 years ago. 

Yes, very different in obvious ways, but it’s all part of a rich minstrelsy for me and the best way to explain is to remember Leadbelly’s answer when asked "What is folk music?" He replied by saying he’d never heard a horse sing. 

It's funny how things turn out. I never thought further down the line I’d be looking up at a traditional folk song and an Essex pub band song with such equal gratitude. But with regard to folk songs, it's like always wanting to capture something of its indescribable wonder. 

The way I feel now about many traditional songs is that they’re too good to touch by me most of the time - I like to leave them to others. And even though I’m always learning traditional songs, it’s the writing of songs with their influence that has made the creative engine tick for 30 odd years. 

It's the timelessness of recurring human life and love in song. Simple good songs that hold the treasure. This journey to trad began in a very different place with the new wave songwriters of the late 70’s. I loved the clever writing and the energy of Elvis Costello, The Undertones, Ian Dury and the Blockheads, The Boomtown Rats, Squeeze, and through to the wilder stuff -The Sex Pistols, Sham 69, The Ramones, and The Stranglers. That was what I was into up to leaving school at 16. It was perfect for one with a serious lack of concentration and excess of energy. 

Buffy St. Marie

Then, in the summer of 1980, I discovered the songs of Buffy St. Marie. It sort of happened by accident, but I was surely beginning to look for something else to continue my disaffection from a stayed, conservative, sleepy culture while becoming more aware of an unjust world. It wasn’t that conscious, but I was on the hunt for a different kind of social commentary. So, I came to folk songs through the American route. After coming across Buffy St Marie, this led to a wider discovery of the early 60’s protest revival and singers of the civil rights era. I can almost remember the order I got records out of the library . 

‘It’s my way’ , ‘Spin little wheel spin’, ‘Many a mile’ then a Dylan bootleg ‘Little white wonder.’ I was properly hooked.

More Dylan, Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, and lots of blues greats followed. I learned a lot of the songs from these albums. 

I was desperate to find places to play. Someone told me about Folk Clubs so I got a list from somewhere. Then off I did go. My first floor-spot was two Buffy songs and one Dylan. Not many people at the clubs were singing American songs. They were singing British isles stuff, mainly English, which was quite alien to my ears.

Nic Jones

Growing up, the only folk music I really heard was the Spinners and Jake Thackeray on the telly, but this stuff was different. I made friends and got affected. Does anybody ever forget the first time someone played them ‘Canade-i-o’ by Nic Jones? It was another momentous twist of fate. The intro, the understated delivery and the story blew me away. I began to understand what it was all about. 

I was soon learning songs from earlier Nic Jones’ albums. ‘The Noah’s Ark trap’ and ‘From a devil to a stranger’. My next call of traditional education was ‘Crown of Horn’ by Martin Carthy. Then onto Andy Irvine and Paul Brady. 

I was on a wonderful journey. I began listening to a lot of non-accompanied singers too. Old crackly Topic records of source singers. Murder ballads, love songs, or songs from defiant poachers and weavers. It was border ballads that gripped me next and since then this love of traditional folk songs has never gone away.

It’s important to me for something of the tradition to be in my song. It walks a line between avoiding pastiche, keeping the contemporary edge but never deviating too far from the tradition.

It feels like being part of carrying something on along this merry minstrelsy. But in the end it’s a kaleidoscope - 70's British pub rock owes so much to blues and rock’n’roll, as well as music hall. And music hall owed something to folk. Country and folk owe so much to blues...and I could carry on like this all day. 

Do anything you wanna do, until you hear a horse sing.

Pete Morton is a singer - songwriter in the folk tradition who lives in London.  He has recorded a number of solo albums as well as various collaborations. Besides his life as a singer, he also is a father, a yogi and keen walker. Please visit his  WEBSITE 

All photos used in this article are the property of Pete Morton and may not be reproduced or used without permission of owner.

My Musical Journey ~ by Tobiah Thomas

I was given my first guitar at the age of 14 and it felt like an old

Tobiah Thomas

friend. Songs flowed and I began performing then in local folk clubs in the North of England. University intervened and I began writing in earnest in my late twenties.

.

Love and loss have long been a theme of my music, born out of difficult personal circumstances that saw me grow up not knowing my birth father and losing my first husband, Julian, at the age of 26.  

I’ve found the creative process – both writing and performing – to be very healing because it allows me to connect and express my feelings with others who have shared similar experiences. I always knew that I was helped through that difficult time, but it was only recently, when I wrote the title track of my latest album, Are We Angels, that I made sense of it all. 

This song speaks of those small, random acts of kindness, often from complete strangers, which helped me so much through my

bereavement. I had been married to Julian, who was also a musician, at the age of 21, for six years and we moved to London from Plymouth to break into the music business. But an undiscovered congenital heart problem led to his sudden and devastating death. He died in my arms.

Julian always bought me a dress at Christmas. It was our tradition and I wanted to continue it the Christmas following his death. I collected the dress from the shop on Christmas Eve then realised as I walked away that I hadn’t paid. I rushed back but the shop owner ushered me out and wouldn’t take payment. As I walked away it began to snow, big flakes like confetti, just as it had snowed on the day my husband died. It was then that I realised the dress was a gift and I had a smile on my face through the tears.

I wrote a song about this called Golden Christmas Time which I often include in my concerts, and will be releasing this year as a Christmas single on December 4th.  

 Golden Christmas Time

My songs are very visual, about experiences in my life or a story that has caught my imagination. Lyrics are important – I could never write a song that didn’t move me. Quite often, a complete song will just ‘arrive’ in my head, which always amazes me, and I think, ‘Where did that come from?’ Sometimes a song will take time to fully emerge and a good example of this is Apples- the Long Goodbye. Originally about the seasons and cycles of the year, it became about waiting with my beautiful and inspiring Mother who is in the final stages of dementia. She gave me the love of singing and telling stories and Are We Angels is dedicated to her.

Shoulder to Shoulder courtesy of YouTube

During my career I was signed to Chrysalis Music, where one of my songs became the subject of a tussle between Janet Jackson and Will Smith: both wanted to record it. He rang to plead for the track and called me a “happening up babe” – which was ironic as 30 minutes before the call I had been up to my eyes in jelly, helping at the local school’s Christmas party!  

I was signed earlier to a top manager Brian Freshwater (Joss Stone, Foy Vance), and also worked with talented and influential musicians and producers, including Egyptian percussionist Hossam Ramzy, Rod Argent, Derek Bramble( David Bowie/American idol) and Robin Black (Cat Stevens, Paul McCartney, June Tabor)

Are We Angels, mixed by the afore-mentioned Robin Black,

features a group of celebrated musicians including the cellist Caroline Lavelle (Loreena Mckennitt/De Dannan), twice All-Ireland award-winning piano accordionist Colette O’Leary, Rowan Piggott on fiddle and Simon Callow on keyboards who also play with me live.

The opening track Kiss Kiss celebrates those fragile uplifting moments that should be treasured and recounts the legend of Native American mothers forced to march from Georgia to Oklahoma, a poignant and plaintive track that resonates strongly with my audiences. Coldest Night of the Year captures my own sufferings in my 20s. People really connect with my songs. We have all felt like the girl in Coldest, the loneliest person in a crowded room as we struggle with grief or sadness. 

I love all animals especially bears and all profits from the album are being donated to the charity Animals Asia, which is committed to ending cruelty to (Asian) animals, a cause close to my heart.  I never knew my birth father but treasure his one gift to me, a teddy bear. I first heard about the terrible treatment of the moon bears through a Wiltshire artist was holding a charity auction of her pictures for Animals Asia. I was so moved by their plight that I immediately wrote a song called Moon Bear, which I sang at that event.

It is so lovely that every track on Are We Angels has been played across the BBC and FM stations and has been featured in the press and on TV including, The Irish Post and London Live TV. A track is also featured on the prestigious FATEA 2019 Winter Showcase Sessions album:Adventure, which is free to download. CLICK HERE

I love playing in wonderfully diverse venues that include ancient churches, medieval halls and historic houses and was recently invited by the National Trust to the ancient site of Avebury, 500 years older than the neighbouring Stonehenge in Wiltshire, to give the first- ever concert in their restored Chapel. It would be a dream to include some special American dates on our 2020: Secret Places Tour so, if you’d like us to come, please get in contact!

Are We Angels features nine original songs, written and produced by TOBIAH and recorded in her cottage studio overlooking the Sussex downs, with all profits going to charity.

Tobiah would love hearing from you. You may reach her at the links below.

WEBSITE

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

MUSIC

Musical Guests ~ Merry Hell

For those of you who do not know, which could be many of you, Merry Hell is an 8-piece folk-rock band, based in the UK’s North-West and currently having a fabulous time traveling around the country, enjoying the company of each other and people we meet as we go. My role in the ongoing shenanigans is as band manager or senior cat-herder, depending on your point of view.

Summer is a busy time, as we combine festival dates with normal gigs and so I am hoping to give you a little flavour of this via the medium of our most recent weekend, along with a smaller look forward to what is to come!

Friday: Finish day jobs at 5pm and head to a supermarket for

essential supplies, these being wine and beer, with an over-nighter at a hotel looming. The fuel tank is filled before picking up fiddle player, Neil, before a quick motorway jaunt to our rendezvous point, meet with other members and mix and match personnel and gear before heading south. 200 miles of good chat and classic music singalongs pass with Neil, bassist Nick, plus special guest Carole King, before we pull into a service area, surprisingly meeting singer, Virginia, and guitarist, John, who had traveled with the main load of gear via a different route. My task is to remember and secure 10 different coffees and to part with cash for the order.

Suitably refreshed, we travel on to our hotel – a budget Travelodge

of course, whereupon a serious satnav malfunction takes us sailing past, adding an extra 20-mile round trip.

Those with an appetite for (self) destruction congregate in keyboard maestro, Lee, and drummer, Andy’s room. Drink is taken, antics documented for ritual humiliation on Facebook, stories told, reflections made and gradually people drift off in anticipation of a ridiculously early start.

Saturday: 9AM, all 10 of the travelling party (8 band, myself and

Denise, wife of Andrew, our male lead singer) head into Chippenham, the nearest town, where we breakfast together – a tradition that we all enjoy – particularly our mandolin player Bob and Neil, both blessed with prodigious appetites and an annoying aversion to weight gain. Neil’s plate is noteworthy, especially with the addition of extra eggs from a vegan band member!

A 75-mile journey takes nearly 3 hours, due to traffic and thoroughly justifies our decision to travel most of the way the night before. We finally arrive in beautiful Sidmouth and all promptly get badly lost. Sidmouth Festival is huge, spread throughout the town, has a venerable history of more than 50 years and this is the first time we have been invited, excusing our lack of directional acumen.

The evening’s venue is a large marquee atop a hill on the outskirts of town. Once reunited, the band load gear in and soundcheck, from which I am excused, so I take the chance to sit in the sun with my laptop and catch up on chores. Helped by an unusually strong 4G signal, I’m able to book hotels for the next 3 gig weekends, confirm 2 bookings for 2020 and order a roll of red carpet for our upcoming Film Premiere – of which more later!

The technical proceedings are over quickly – the crew are ultra-efficient - we now have 4 hours to fill before showtime. Small groups assemble, change and reassemble as we chat between ourselves plus crew members, who ply us with hospitality. The break also sees the arrival of Julie and Michael, who operate the merchandising stall at gigs and have conveniently arranged a holiday 30-miles away!

As time passes, thoughts turn to the gig. As a first-time appearance nearly 300 miles from home, we wonder how many will turn up and nerves jangle slightly as the performance space is huge. At this point pangs of hunger interrupt. Vegans and veggies enjoy the provision of The Big Kebabski, a Dude themed, plant-based menu and omnivores head for the exotic burger truck, occupying 2 tables to avoid cross contamination!

On our return, with stomachs replete, hearts sink as, with an hour to showtime, there are but 8 people in an enormous space. Having been buoyed recently by ever increasing crowds, we face with a slap in the face and a degree of humiliation. The mood backstage is sombre. However, as we hear the audience respond to the support artist, we detect a swell in volume and organisers are at pains to tell us this is a regular phenomenon. 

It still feels edgy and the camp is strangely quiet. As the band

emerge from backstage, thankfully, the crowd has assembled, with buses having arrived from town, along with campers emerging after evening meals. The gig is a fabulous shared experience, the re-energised band are on great form and so is the audience, who dance, swing, sway and wave their hands in the air with both vim and vigour and at all the right times.

Besides the performances, another delight of festivals is the time

allowed to meet friends, discover new music, such as singer-songwriter Jon Wilks, who provided astonishingly good support, as well as bumping into other musicians and chatting about the state of the universe. Tonight it was Simon Care, who many of you may know through his membership of The Albion Christmas Band, Edward II and the Red Hot Polkas and the project that had brought him to Sidmouth, current outfit Banter –also appearing at a multitude of venues!

After clearing the stage, thanking all involved, we head to our hotel, a 20 minute drive away, just enough time for some to work up a thirst and others to decide the exertions of the day and especially the evening, warrant early retirement.

Sunday: Back up and out at 9am. We say goodbye to 2 members of the band, Andy and Lee are heading home as today’s gig features the slimmed-down 6-piece acoustic band playing a seated venue as the organisers felt it more appropriate. The gig has a 4.30 stage time but as we are the headline act for the session, then we must soundcheck first. It’s a first-world band problem and we can cope.

Of course there is the ritual breakfast and we drive back to

Sidmouth, overcome the not inconsiderable problem of finding parking and select our café. The choice is right, the breakfast is good and spirits are high as we saunter to the venue through streets thronged with morris-dancing sides and buskers, along with other festival revellers. We (or more truthfully the band) are spotted by both friends and people who had seen last night’s gig and had come down to see the different show today – always happy to make new friends!

A quick look at the venue reveals it to be a rather large marquee,

seating over 1000 people, which is encouraging and daunting in equal prospect. We have a quick tour, including the merchandising facilities that will prove important later, before a quick load-in and easy soundcheck thanks to another great crew. This leaves 3 hours to tour the town, find the best coffee and cakes available, meet up in a pub for a quick drink, chat, decide on songs to include in the set and share bowls of chips, before strolling quickly back to the venue. Once again we bump into artists for the evening session, Steve Knightley from the mighty Show of Hands is the evening headliner, playing with the Sidmouth Town Brass band, as well as Phillip Henry and Hannah Martin, now known as Edgelarks, with whom we share a joke about following each other round and that we will see each other again soon at Shrewsbury Festival.

Once the band takes the stage, the atmosphere in the room is so

positive, the gig couldn’t be anything other than marvelous. We are told that there was both laughter and tears amongst the audience and the response suggests that they were in all the right places, with the audience singing lustily to the second song, Stand Down, crowd favourite, Bury Me Naked, resulted in massed swaying with arms aloft and is usually the case, I had nipped round to the back of the audience to capture some of this as photos. 

Merry Hell Courtesy of YouTube

Despite only being allocated an hour, the stage manager and compere agreed to an encore, meaning we were quite rushed to clear the stage so that the evening headliners could start setting up whilst the band walked round to meet audience members who had stayed to meet, chat and get CDs signed. A nice surprise was to be accosted by 2 radio DJs who were attending the festival and had thoroughly enjoyed the show, as well as organisers of folk clubs and festival who were keen to talk about potential bookings for 2020.

Finally the marquee crew encouraged people to leave as soundchecks were due and so we had the excellent entertainment of hearing Mr Knightley and the Town Band as we packed our gear away, headed off to claim something to eat and drink before bidding our fond farewells, along with thanks to the crew and heading off for the near 6-hour drive home.

A great weekend and one that will hopefully be repeated several times before the end of festival season. As I write, we are currently getting ready for 2 very different gigs – firstly we headline Wigan Pride, a hometown gig where our song ‘Loving The Skin You’re In’ has been adopted as their anthem and then to Oxfordshire to play the Cropredy Fringe Festival that accompanies the main Fairport Convention event.

If you have vaguely enjoyed this blog, then I shall return to the

theme of the red carpet. Our fiddle player Neil obtained a new video camera a year ago and started bringing it to gigs. This developed into a project where he filmed the band over a full year. He captured some brilliant events, such as us singing with the backing of a 210 piece choir, backstage and off guard scenes around the country and even beyond as we flew to Portugal for the wonderful Costa del Folk Festival. The aim of the resulting documentary is to give friends of the band a better insight into who we are, what we do and what life is like being Merry Hell. We are holding a premiere viewing on September 1st in our hometown of Wigan and you can’t have a premiere without a red carpet now can you?

All best wishes,
Damian for Merry Hell

My Finest Hour by Merry Hell from their acoustic album

Anthems to the Wind

If you'd like to reach out to Merry Hell, please do so by clicking below.

WEBSITE

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AWARD WINNERS:

Folking.com: Best Live Act 2018

Folking.com: Best Band 2018

FATEA Award: Best Group/Duo 2015

FolkWords Award: Best Album 2016: 'Bloodlines'

FATEA Award: Best Single/EP 2017:

'Come On, England!

All photos unless otherwise noted are property of Merry Hell and may not be used without permission.

(Musical) Life Begins At??? ~ by Greg Hancock, Antique Singer Songwriter from Devon, UK

     

There is no shortage of articles, blog posts and even whole websites dedicated to exploring the fact that the music industry is changing fast. Most concentrate on two things: the rise of technology and the demise of live music. Both of these are things I will mention later but I want to focus on a positive aspect to the rise of technology that is relatively new too...
     I got my first guitar when I was about ten, and after learning the usual four chords, soon lost all interest in doing things the “right” way, and in learning to play other people’s songs. This meant I was not the kind to lead a campfire singalong... in fact for most of my life the very idea has filled me with horror!
     No, I very soon discovered that making up my own songs was

much more fun and much more interesting. I had no idea what I was doing of course, but soon found that I could come up with words that fitted a chord sequence in a new way which gave me a lot of satisfaction. Since childhood then, I have never stopped this activity. What HAS been missing until relatively recently is recording, and performing in public.
     Looking back now, I think this was probably down to shyness and anxiousness that others might not think my songs were as brilliant as I did! In thirty years from the age of 20 to the age of 50, I think I performed my own songs in public no more than three or four times. Guitar playing and songwriting became very private activities for me and the knowledge that the songs would not be performed perhaps allowed me to explore depths of personal honesty and chord weirdness that would have been unthinkable if they were ever to be exposed to public scrutiny.
     So... my fiftieth year... was a strange one. In January 2012 I was living in Abu Dhabi where I had been for a decade. I was single. I had money, a respectable job, a lovely flat and two beautiful cats I had adopted in Saudi Arabia several years before. By December, I was living back in the UK, married, completely broke, jobless and living in a small rented flat with just one of the Saudi cats remaining. It took some adjusting!
     

One of the few advantages of the UK was the delicious warm brown ale that the English do best. My local pub was full of a very eclectic crowd of people, but I was pleased to see a wide age range and felt quite comfortable there. One evening it turned out there was an open mic night. My earlier instincts kicked in and I thought it would be dreadful... but it wasn’t. I was knocked sideways at the quality and variety of the performers. More surprising was the respect and appreciation shown to one or two of the musicians who were even older than me...and to be honest, not that great. My show-off attention-seeking gene suddenly kicked in and I resolved to come and show what I could do the following week. As the day approached I was amazed at how nervous I felt about it all. I practised for hours, and kept changing my mind about what to play. However, the evening came and I took my guitar and put my name on the list.
     I am sure it wasn’t a great performance! My fingers trembled and my voice wobbled, but I did manage to do three original songs and halfway through the second one became aware that people were actually listening and paying attention. Unexpectedly, this gave me confidence rather than greater self-consciousness and I actually started to enjoy myself.
     When I had finished, I found myself chatting and exchanging music gossip and ideas with a whole host of others who were there. People as young as 17 up to others in their 60s were equally interested and interesting. Several of the people I met that night have remained good friends, and I really felt I had tapped into a social network that I would find very satisfying.
     In less than a year, I felt able to try to get gigs on my own. Just corner-of-the-pub and restaurant gigs, and mainly requiring covers, but still letting me cut my teeth about performing in public – and actually paying just enough to be able to live a little more comfortably. I often felt a bit conscious that I was the oldest person in the venue... but again, I found that nobody else seemed to care about that if they liked the way I played, so I stopped worrying about it!
     When I recorded an EP of five songs, I could only afford three

hours of studio time, so I asked two friends who were much more experienced musicians than I was to learn the songs, and we recorded everything in one afternoon. I really didn’t know what to do with the finished EP but having asked around I did send it off for local radio play and review. The response was amazing to me. Hearing my music on the radio was very encouraging and gave a new confidence to go further. As a songwriter, I think I was always able to fit clever sounding words to a tune. What I lacked was anything interesting to say, and so fell back on the clichéd themes of love and loss of love that is the norm. I never really believed in that stuff though, and my efforts sounded horribly insincere to me. It really wasn’t until I was in my forties that I started to think I might have something to say about things that might be of interest to others. I learnt to comment but not explain. I avoided the pronoun “I” and told stories in the third person even when they were in fact very personal. I think both these tricks can lead to a more comfortable listening experience for the audience. Self-confessional music can be wonderful when done by the likes of Joni Mitchell, but can also be slight squirm-inducing and tedious when lesser artists try it. Especially perhaps when they are older.
     

So this is where I come on to my main theme. One of the things blamed for the decline in the music industry is the developments in technology that have been so extraordinary in the last fifteen years or so. As it became possible to listen to music on the internet without paying for it, the listening habits of many also started to change. However, it is this same technology that has made it possible for many artists to get their music heard. Simple home studios can be set up very cheaply and the resulting recordings can easily be good enough to be presented to radio stations and so on. Neil King who runs FATEA in the UK, often mentions that his mail bag is filled with new music from people who in previous years would rarely have considered sending it in: older people, family people and people from diverse backgrounds.
     Now, the decline in live music as a mainstream activity for the majority of younger people is undeniable. It is increasingly a niche activity. Music no longer defines youth “tribes” as it did from the 50s to the 80s. The stars of today and the future are not musicians or even DJs – but online playlist curators. Social media interaction and online gaming are what many young people use to define themselves as different from their parents’ generation, and those are the places they will receive their main influences from. It’s true that some young people are as obsessed with music as my generation was, but they are more likely to be musicians themselves and to be actively making music. A large audience made up simply of interested listeners and fans is becoming increasingly hard to find. People just don’t go out so much – for various reasons – and spend less when they do. It is very noticeable that the majority of people involved in the world of acoustic folk, blues and roots music are middle aged or older. These days, when performing, at 56 I am sometimes amongst the younger people at the venue! The quality and skills of some of the younger musicians coming through is utterly mind-blowing, but they too are having difficulty finding opportunities to play to their contemporaries, relying on the old codgers who will still buy tickets and CDs to provide some sort of income. 
     As a case in point, just this week I attended a sell-out gig by a local band who are all extraordinary musicians and are doing some very original but upbeat and quite poppy material. The age range in the band is 24 – 28 years old. Two of the band are teachers at a music academy and about a third of the audience was their students. The other two thirds probably averaged between 38 and 45, with many my age and older. The reflections from the light show on the large number of bald heads was dazzling!
     The result I think will be a severe decline in the number of musicians who can actually become professional and not rely on other paid work to make a living. Maybe for a few years when very young, it is fun to live in a van and have only enough money to survive each day...but it really isn’t fun when you’re older – I’ve tried it. Even some of the most popular and in-demand musicians lead a precarious hand-to-mouth existence today.
     This is where technology comes in again to assist. I have decided that I am far too old for a full time career in music. My life is too complicated with other commitments, and I like online shopping too much! However, this no longer means that I can’t get my work heard. I can be part of a large community of like-minded people of all ages, and all around the world. Many of the people I have got to know online, through following their music, or through radio chat threads etc have become real friends in the analogue world too. I can have regular interactions with some of the musicians I admire and respect the most... and have also been able to form real friendships with some of them too.
     I can record and get my recordings out there to people more

easily than was ever the case in the past. I can also have total control over what I record. I curl up on my sofa with a cat or two and network mercilessly online, constantly on the lookout for opportunities. I keep up to date with what other musicians in my field are doing, and can use the reactions of others to what they are doing as a guide to what to encourage and what to avoid in my own music. I have never written with an audience in mind. I continue to write for myself, but it’s very satisfying in middle age to find that there are others who “get” me and like what I do....and they’re not all the same age as me!
     Technology means that it is much easier now for older- and perhaps less photogenic – artists to be active in the music world. There is no longer an urgent need to get a record label deal, an agent or a manager.
     (Although if anyone fancies it, I’d would love to have all three!)

 To get in touch with Greg, click on WEBSITE

Josie Dear...Why I Decided to set up my own Charity ~ by Minnie Birch

     

     Over the years I have done lots of voluntary work and a lot of that has been in prison settings working on projects that reflect two of my biggest passions: Stories and Music. (I must say I have also had the great opportunity of being employed at different times by wonderful charities and organisations who have paid me to do this work!)
     During these years of working and volunteering, I've had moments where I have had ideas of things we could be doing to contribute to the rehabilitative culture of prisons. I haven’t always been able to action them very easily, or at all, because of lack of funding, or once I get the funding, there are major processes for getting that money cleared and to a point where I can action it.
     When I went to apply for funding, many of my ideas didn’t fall neatly under one bracket. Was it an arts project? A literacy project? Something for local people? My ideas didn’t fit neatly and so this shut me out of being able to apply a lot of the time. My ideas were simply about trying to bring joy to people in challenging times.
     So, I launched my own charity, Josie Dear, and we set about our first campaign. Here are the details of that campaign…
     I have had some great success over the last year bringing performers into prison settings to share their music and their life stories. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive with comments such as:
     “For an evening I was removed from my stress and worries.”
     “Someone like Joe giving their time to come in and perform for us is really nice. It reminds you there are people who will still do something for you even now.”
     “Music brought us all together. I felt unity here with everyone.”
     Most musicians are willing to come to us for free or for a very reduced fee, but I would love to be able to offer people travel expenses and buy them dinner or lunch at the very least.
     So far my campaign has raised over £400 which allows me to keep putting on events and bringing musicians into prison settings to share their passions and their stories.
     Why did I call the charity Josie Dear?

     “I know you love me, Josie, dear. Your heart was ever fond and true.” These were the adapted words to “I will take you home again Kathleen,” which I had the honour of singing at my Grandma’s funeral, chosen by my Granpa as the perfect way to say goodbye to his little Irish sweetheart of 60+ years.
     My Granma was full of love and joy. If I told you I had a little Irish Nanna who was full of joy and sometimes very naughty, then whatever stereotypes you are conjuring up in your mind, that was my Granma.
     She would dance and sing and make naughty jokes with the lightest heart and this little Irish lilt that never seemed to fade, no matter how long she lived away from the Emerald Isles.
   

 She also wasn’t someone who took any BS. She was forward speaking. You knew if she disliked you and she didn’t have much time for nonsense.
     So, if I wanted to do more to spread some joy but didn’t want to deal with some of the barriers that were in my way, to set up on my own and start making a difference…well Josie, my Granma, seemed the perfect person to do that in honour of.

Spread a little Joy. Cut out the nonsense 😊

Minnie Birch is a singer/songwriter from the UK and a regular contributor to Originality by Design. If you are interested in learning more about Minnie's charity, click JOSIE DEAR.
 

Stories From a Different Viewpoint ~ by Minnie Birch

Sharing stories has always been a big part of my life: from being read to as a child, weekly visits to Abbots Langley Library with my mum, collecting Saddle Club books in my early pre-teens, to working part time in a book shop, studying children’s literature at University, and then landing my dream job as a Young People’s Librarian. Alongside this, I also grew a passion for sharing stories in song and have been performing in bands and then as a solo artist since I was 13. 

When I was 21, I heard about the Charity ‘Storybook Dads’. The charity helps to keep imprisoned parents in touch with their children through the magic of Storytelling. I wanted to get involved and contacted my local prison to volunteer my services. 

The then Librarian, Sue Rickard, said they didn’t have a Storybook Dads project but if I wanted, I could set one up. I hadn’t been in a prison before and I hadn’t set up a small charity project before but I said yes. (I think that’s one of the great things about being 21! Not really questioning how sensible a choice is, or if you really have the time and capacity for something and just saying ‘yes’ and hoping it will work out.) With a lot of help from Sue, I was able to get the project up and running and we’ve now been going for over 10 years! 

So, what do we do? Well, we help parents in prison record bedtime stories and messages for their children. We help men choose stories, support them with their reading where needed, edit the recordings by taking out any mistakes and background noises, and adding some fun sound effects. 

For many families, these CDs are a lifeline that help heal rifts and build vital family relationships. It shows the children they are loved and missed. It helps prisoners feel valued as parents and gives them the opportunity to have a positive impact on their children’s lives.

The project is currently run by myself and is supported by an amazing volunteer named Chris, who comes in weekly to work with the men and another volunteer, Matt, who visits us once a month to help us with the back log of editing. 

These two are a lifeline to the project, kindly giving of their free time, and I am very fortunate to have them on board – it is not always an easy place to work and their flexibility and enthusiasm is vital to keeping things going.

Every year in the UK, 200,000 children experience the imprisonment of a parent. It often leads to shame, guilt, and isolation, resulting in failure at school. These children are three times more prone to mental health problems than their peers. Keeping in contact can be difficult from behind bars; prisoners may be held long distances from their families. Those that maintain contact are up to 6 times less likely to re-offend.

In 2018, 116 men took part in our project. That is something I am incredibly proud of because it has been achieved in a landscape where resources to get things done in prisons are extremely low and, in truth, we have struggled to keep ourselves going. We receive some lovely feedback from the families involved and that’s the incentive to keep trying to find new ways to make this work. We are looking forward to delivering more sessions in 2019. 

If you are interested in listening to one of the recorded stories, please click HERE

To find out more about the charity click HERE

Of course, as a musician when I heard there was a music class taking place in the prison I went to have a nose around…fast forward a few years and I am now also involved in music sessions and music tech classes…but that’s perhaps a story for another blog.

 Glitter courtesy of YouTube

Minnie writes dark, plaintive, beautiful music about life, love, adventures, and fairy tales. Following slots supporting Joan Armatrading and a stint at Edinburgh fringe, Minnie has been wooing audiences all over the place with tours in Iceland, America, Europe, and all over the U.K under her belt. Her debut album received national airplay on BBC Radio 2, BBC 6 Music, and on BBC Radio 1 as Huw Stephen’s Introducing Artist of the Week.

"Her riveting and sometimes shocking lyrics are getting the recognition they deserve."  --Time Out Magazine

"Minnie is quite the wordsmith, knowing not just when to sing, but when to leave phrases hanging to concentrate on the meaning. Silence can say so much and Minnie knows how to use it, almost as an instrument to contrast against not only what is being sung, but what is being played."   --FATEA Magazine

                                                                                                           

 

Musical Guests Oka Vanga #originalitybydesign

photo: indiacsr

Our guests today are Will and Angie...the UK duo OKA VANGA. Welcome to Originality by Design!

Oka Vanga are Angela Meyer & William Cox, an award-winning Folk & Roots duo. Whether singing, playing guitar, ukulele or mandolin, their relaxed banter and gift for storytelling makes their live performances both interesting and memorable.

Originally from Cape Town in South Africa, Angie is the creative driving force in the partnership and has been described as having “considerable vocal and songwriting talents” by fRoots. She formed Oka Vanga with husband and multi-instrumentalist, William Cox. 

They soon caught the attention of the international guitar community performing at acoustic clubs and festivals. 

In 2013 they were invited to represent the UK at the International Madame Guitar Festival in Italy alongside guitar luminaries such as Ralph Towner (USA) and Clive Carroll (UK). Shortly thereafter they released their debut album PILGRIM to critical acclaim. Described by Songlines as “beautifully pure,” it was awarded Best Instrumental Album by FATEA magazine. 

A short EP, Tales of Eyam, followed in 2015 to great reviews and critical acclaim. Described as “a beautiful E.P with great musicianship and really fine songs" by Mike Harding and "perfect folk Fayre” by Mike Ainscoe, (Bright Young Folk), it showcased Angie's hidden singing voice for the first time. 

Courtesy of YouTube

Described as a “gem bright” by RnR, it also brought Will's considerable talents as a talented multi-instrumentalist to the forefront. Despite only being an E.P, it was nominated for Best Album by a Duo by FolkWords and captured the imagination of the Folk community.


Their much anticipated second album, Dance of the Copper Trail, has been hailed as their best work yet. Released in 2017 on Crazy Bird Records, it is described by Songlines as “profound, concise and meticulous” with Angela’s lyrics “displaying a talent for conveying emotion and joy.” 

Courtesy of YouTube

Songs of faith and superstition, love and loss, death and everlasting hope are all seamlessly woven together and showcase all the manner of musical influences. Described by fRoots as “distinctly classy” and an album of “serious accomplishment and musicality,” it has secured Angie and Will a place in the hearts and minds of many fans with what RnR describe as its "up-beat feel”  and “Celtic-deep universality.”  

Will & Angie would love hearing from you!
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