LONDON based five peice The Hanging Stars are touring the UK to launch their latest album, On a Golden Shore, and stopping off at Southampton Joiners on 29th March and Bristol Hen and Chicken two days later. With sounds echoing classic Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers at their peak, they will make these evenings memorable,…
THE hard life of the North Sea herring fishermen was memorably captured in a 1929 documentary film which has been reissued with a new live score by the sound artist, nature beatboxer and composer Jason Singh. The film, Drifters, with Singh’s soundtrack and a new film is being shown at two Dorset venues on 15th…
THE Mowlem Theatre at Swanage, close to some of Purbeck’s ancient quarries, was the setting for a film and recording of a new song, Drop The Hammer, described as a “captivating ode to quarrying in Dorset,” written and performed by the West Country folk and shanty band, The Longest Johns. The song was commissioned by…
A CELEBRATION of the Dorset dialect poet, linguist and polymath William Barnes has become an annual fixture in the calendar of Dorset’s rural touring arts charity Artsreach and the Ridgeway Singers and Band. This year the event, Tea with William Barnes, will be at The Exchange at Sturminster Newton on Sunday 25th February at 3pm,…
ONE of this country’s most interesting and unusual festivals is reborn this year, with a new name and a new look, the Chalke History Festival – formerly Chalke Valley History Festival – returns this year, from 24th to 30th June. The changes follow the ending of the long-standing sponsorship by the Daily Mail, which saw the…
DRAWING on the heritage of folk music from the British Isles and beyond, acoustic folk-jazz quartet Counter’s Creek bring their original music – foot-tapping jigs and reels, heart-wrenching songs and 4-part harmonies, dance grooves from Eastern Europe and West Africa and a whole lot more –on 10th and 11th February to Winfrith Newburgh and Wootton…
WHATEVER the weather (currently unseasonably mild), Artsreach, Dorset’s rural touring arts charity, has a February half-term line-up of fantastic and fun theatre events for children of all ages, from deep-sea adventures and quests to deep, dark dungeons, puppetry, live music and more. Scarlet Oak Theatre comes to Sixpenny Handley village hall on Monday 12th and…
SPATS Langham and Hot Fingers are celebrating their 20th anniversary this year, and their birthday tour includes three dates with Artsreach in Dorset, starting at Langton Matravers village hall on Thursday 25th at 7.30pm. Join Hot Fingers on a musical journey, weaving together the history of songs and jazz from the 1920s and 30s, with…
SAY “Wassail” to most people in the West Country and they picture January-cold orchards, raining or even snowing, with a bunch of cider-fuelled people, many with leaves in their hair, gathered round a bonfire, celebrating the ancient heritage of cider. An event at Bruton’s At The Chapel on Saturday 20th January provides an introduction to…
BLUEGRASS quartet Old Baby Mackerel bring their high energy, foot-stomping sound to three Dorset villages on an Artsreach tour in January, from 11th to 13th January. The line-up of virtuoso musicians use the rhythmic sounds of banjo, guitar, mandolin, fiddle and double bass, to create blistering solos and gorgeous harmonies. Expect to be transported back in time 100 years or…