YOU don’t often hear the phrase “protest singer” these days, but the tradition – which stretches back for many years in unions and traditional working communities, and was reinvented by the folk singers of the 1960s – lives on in Reg Meuross, the Crewkerne-based singer-songwriter whose work has always championed the issues of the day,…
BIRDSONG has been an inspiration to composers and musicians for centuries, from the trills of Vivaldi’s Goldfinch Concerto to Beyonce’s cover of the Beatles’ Blackbird. Now, the Lark Music-Making Competition, launched this week in association with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, encourages today’s amateur instrumentalists to take flight with their own interpretations. Open to anyone over…
SOME people these days state their intention to work until they can retire at 45 and enjoy their houses, cars, children, pastimes and leisure while they are still comparatively young. And comparing them to Peggy Seeger, that’s sort of half-grown. The American-born singer-songwriter, half-sister of folk singer Pete Seeger, is still perhaps best known as…
ONE of the world’s greatest cabaret singers and a brilliant song arranger, Barb Jungr comes to Taunton Brewhouse on Thursday 8th May, and Bridport’s Electric Palace on Saturday 10th, with Hallelujah on Desolation Row, a celebration of the songs of Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen. This show features her best and award-winning interpretations of songs…
SINGERS from several Dorset choirs have been working with Anglo-Chilean band Quimantú on a project that ends on 15th, 20th and 22nd June with concerts at Sturminster Newton and at London’s “Actors Church”. The collaboration, organised by rural touring charity, Artsreach, has brought Misa de los Mineros (The Miners’ Mass) to audiences across the county….
IF you think you know Alice in Wonderland, you are in for a delightful musical surprise at Bridport Arts Centre on Friday 4th April, at 7.30pm, when Platform 4 come to town. A gig theatre journey … for the curious ,,, and the curiouser, Platform 4’s The Alice Project brings this classic tale to the…
A TRIO of multi-instrumentalists who have played with many of the West Country’s leading theatre companies come to Dorset for three dates with Artsreach, from 14th to 16th March. Jaclarabag perform heartfelt, eclectic folk songs from across the world, with a good dose of original material thrown in. Jim Carey (accordion, trombone, guitar) and Giles…
BONFIRE Radicals, described as a “proper folk melting pot,” bring their blend of Balkan, African, French, Scandinavian, Irish and British musical influences to the Somerset Take Art circuit. coming to Roadwater village hall on Friday 28th March and Caryford Community Hall at Castle Cary on Saturday 29th. With a front line of recorders, fiddle, clarinet…
THE Marine Theatre at Lyme Regis welcomes Brit pop singer songwriter John Power on Friday 28th March and Bristol MC and songwriter Gardna on Saturday 29th. The very musical month of March finishes with Jazz by the Sea with Opa Rosa (pictured, who play the music of the Balkans and Eastern Europe to the Dorset…
SINGER-songwriter Cole Stacey comes to St Michael & All Angels Church, Stockland in East Devon, on Friday 21st February, at 7pm, to launch his debut album, Postcards From Lost Places. The Dartmoor-based musician has a repertoire that ranges from British folk and 80s pop to spoken word and ambient electronics. With explorations into traditional song…