Angelicats Live@Newport

Another fabulous night of music at the Newport Bowls Club. 

The show kicked off with singer/songwriter Rose Eden, performing her first local gig.  Rose, who hails from Cairns via Brisbane, took us on a world tour of places she’s been that have inspired her to write her songs.  She sings passionately and writes insightfully about the cultures and experiences she has encountered, accompanying herself on guitar and uke.  Rose will be appearing at the Festival in July – keep an eye (and ear) out for her. 

After a short break and the sorting of some technical issues by our unflappable mixer, Alan (DI-why?) Davies, the Angelicats took to (well, overtook really) the stage.  Formed from some members of local a capella choir Willin Wimmin, together with other friends, the ‘cats have been treading the local tiles for a while now, and have built up a large and varied repertoire of songs ranging from folk to jazz to soul, to the Beatles ! 

Chris Phillips, their expressive and accomplished lead singer, was joined by Laura Sheridan (cello), sisters Fran (guitar) and Mary Callahan (banjo) and Lyn Dudley (percussion) with harmonies that warmed the whole room.  The instrument line up complemented the singing beautifully, and allowed for some imaginative and creative arrangements.  The ‘cats had us all singing heartily by the end of the night, and the encore was inevitable.  Go ‘cats !!!

Old Timey Workshop - Music By the Fire

This old Timey Workshop was conducted by Bruce Williams who had researched and planned his presentation extremely thoroughly. It ran from 1 pm through to 5 pm with several breaks for tea, coffee and an informal chat about the music.

We had a total of 11 participants for the workshop – 9 of whom were NF&FC members and 2 non-members.

Amongst the participants we had a good cross section of ‘old timey’ instruments –              5 guitars, 2 banjos, 3 fiddles – and one dexterous player who jumped between fiddle and guitar (Simon Leverton).

Bruce himself had a range of instruments set up and also moved between fiddle, guitar, mandolin and banjo to demonstrate various aspects of the tunes that were played. He had also gone to the trouble of preparing 3 different tune booklets for banjo / guitar / and fiddle - mandolin players which was appreciated by all.

Bruce commenced with a brief overview of the history and development of ‘Old Timey’ music and was able to demonstrate the beginnings of the genre by playing several tracks recorded in the 1920’s and 1930’s through his laptop computer. As the workshop progressed he broke the players into groups and they moved away to practice a particular tune and then return to play en masse. Playing through each tune slowly to begin with, the majority of players seemed to pick them up quickly and increase the tempo up to a reasonable playing speed – most of the players appeared to me to be well

In summary this was a well planned and interesting workshop enjoyed by all who attended – thanks to Bruce for all the time and effort he put into it – and thanks also the Ted for stoking the fire and keeping us warm throughout the afternoon.

Rick Sidgwick – Workshop Facilitator

Vale Terry Blacket

This week we received the sad news that club member Terry Blacket has passed away.
Terry was a regular at Club Nights and other NFFC events. Despite severe health problems over the last few years, he alway turned up when he could, and put in an apology when he could not.

Terry with NFFC Treasurer Sue Davies

Terry loved the Club Nights and as always, he wanted to 'give back' for the enjoyment he got from the music. Terry's way was to take charge of preparing the supper. At about 9pm he would be seen heading purposefully to the kitchen, tea-towel in hand. Only when the last dish was washed and put away would he return to his seat in the circle.

Terry's health had declined even further recently, and at the April Club Night he seemed to know it would be his last. His favourite song was The Parting Glass and we sang it specially for him that night, and then again in his memory last night.  We remember him fondly for his gentle sense of humour, his generosity of spirit and his calm courage in the face of adversity.

Terry's widow Moira says she will be back at the Club Nights soon, not to mention playing with the Ukulele Dolls on her very special new ukulele - a gift from Terry.

NBO Session 3 and 4 term 2 2012

These 2 sessions were used to learn two marches which we will be workshopping and performing at the NFFC Festival in July. We reverted back to the ear traning technique which worked well for most participants. The 2 tunes and audio will shortly be up on the BO tunes site accessed from the NFFC site.
participation was down  so we will cover those 2 tunes again next session. At this eseeion we need to get a photo for the Album. it will probably be of a pile of instruments unless someone can come up with an easy alternative.
attendees for session2  and 4 were;
7/5/12
Alasdair McCallum, Bruce Stanbury, Christine Hemphill, Greg O'Leary,
Helen Cahun, Kathryn Tomkins, Kerry Duke, Marilla Hawkins, Simon Levington, Trevor Hawksworth.

14/5/12 (didn't take a role, sorry, done by memory, hope I havn't missed too many people)

Alasdair McCallum, Bruce Stanbury, Bruce Williams,  Christine Hemphill, Greg O'Leary,
Kerry Duke, Mira Madzunarov, Rob Richmond, Simon Levington, Wendy Love, Trevor Hawksworth.
 thanks to christine for keeping tabs on the roll.
greg

Photos from The Canterbury Tales Book Club Project

 Well .. I like 'creative collisions'.

In a nut shell - the story behind this big bang ...

... the Newport Fiddle and Folk Club brings people with all kinds of talents together. Our community, Hobsons Bay, is rich with cultural events and in May every year we celebrate books and writing with the Williamstown Literary Festival. A collection of folk from the Club pitched the idea of an event featuring the Canterbury Tales to the Literary  Festival Committee. The rest is history. These Tales are a perfect vehicle for dancers, singers, artists, thinkers and storytellers to share their craft.

Please enjoy some of the best pics of the day.

At the top is Bernard Caleo. A comic book artists and storyteller, Bernard presented the Nun's Priest's tale as a Japanese kamishibai. The stage, a little hard to see in this photo, was made by NFFC guitar finger picker, Ted Smith.

At the lectern is Catherine Ryan and then Claire Saxby. Catherine has been a supporter of the Club for years in her capacity as a restaurateur but at last she has stepped into the light.  Claire is one of the founding members of the Newport Choir (alto girl!) not to mention author, poet and the best MC to boot!

 

Here is Danny O'Connell is full flight as 'The Miller'. He will say that he was forced to take on a bawdy tale but I don't remember him putting up an argument!

And then there is me as 'The Pardoner'. Yes, I know he is a man but a little gender bender-ing never hurt Chaucer!

Finally ... here's  a pic of our MD, Simon Leverton. Simon not only provided the music for us but arrived with a troupe of Morris Dancers, The 'Red Ravens'.

So what plans for next year?

Thinking caps are on ...


Jackie Kerin, storyteller, author, ukulele wannabe and Newport Choir soprano.

Chaucer for All!

Congratulations to Jackie Kerin and her troupe of actors, musicians and storytellers who brought the works of Geoffrey Chaucher to life yesterday at the Williamstown Writers Festival.  This was a very intelligently devised piece that seamlessly blended the elements of history, bawdiness, music, morris dancing, morality, kamichibai and even audience participation - all of these came together for what was a performance of some lenght (over 2 hours) that held the audience from start to finish. Chaucher himself would have approved of the rhythms and cadences of the afternoon, lilting from one act to the next.  Bravo Jackie and congratulations to your team: (Lots of NFFC'ers)

 

Daniel O’Connell (actor/singer Newport Fiddle and Folk Club) The Miller’s Tale. Very rude!

Bernard Caleo (storyteller/artist/comic book maker) The Nun’s Priest’s Tale – told as a Japanese Kamishibai… and why not?

Simon Leverton (Eco warrior/Newport Fiddle and Folk/musician) Please ride your bike, clap along and join in the chorus! Yes, Simon is bringing Morris Dancers.

Catherine Ryan (teacher/writer/resaurateur) Power Chaucer 101 so sit up and take notes or no dessert!

Claire Saxby (award winning writer) MC extraordinaire – so don’t try and interrupt when others are having their say.

Jackie Kerin (actress/storyteller/writer/ Newport Folk Club/Storytelling Australia Vic). The Pardoner’s Tale. ‘Radix malorum est cupiditas’. She likes to throw in a bit of Latin.

 

      Special Middle English speaking guest: Adrian Francis K. Clarke.

Newport BO Session 2 term 2 2012

I neglected to post last week so I'll confine my self to this weeks activiites.
We listened to the partially mixed takes of our CD and I took the advice of those present as to whether they made the cut. They all did. We can now ask steve to lay down a bass track and posibly add a few other bits and pieces to round it off. We need a picture for the cover . marilla had a great idea which we might try next session. attendances have been up since we started this project, which is gratifying but it is not over yet so keep coming. I sent an email re our festival activities and we will discuss it further  at the next session. Mike and i are rather excited with what might transpire  as it will include a lot of people and give everybody a chance to play well.
Attended on 23/4
Alasdair McCallum, Anette Johansson, Bruce Stanbury, Bruce Williams, Chris Knoop, Christine Hemphill, David Isom, Greg O'Leary,
Helen Cahun, Julie Rees, Kathryn Tomkins, Kerry Duke, Michael de Valle, Rob Richmond, Wendy Love, Trevor Hawksworth.

this weekAlasdair McCallum,  Bruce Stanbury, Bruce Williams, Christine Hemphill, David Isom, Greg O'Leary, Julie Rees, Kerry Duke,  Rob Richmond, Wendy Love, Trever Hawksworth. and Ian