Folk and Roots - The Guide to the Folk, Roots and Acoustic Scene

Folk and Roots presents MondayMonday, a night of the best of the folk and roots scene which will be held on the first and third Mondays of the month in central London.

Our next night will be held on Monday 6th September with The Askew Sisters and support from Laura Victoria at The Green Note, Camden

Emily and Hazel Askew are a young duo making waves on the folk scene with their energetic brand of English folk music. Using fiddle and melodeon, they play and sing with an infectious enjoyment and love for the music, winning them fans wherever they go.
From rhythmic foot stomping tunes to powerful interpretations of songs and ballads, their playing always guarantees to engage and inspire those who hear.
Laura Victoria - A voice and a cello: Songs of love affairs, shipwrecks, imaginary worlds and cups of tea brought to life by cello playing that veers between moving melancholy airs, punchy rock riffing and slap bass.
See www.folkonmonday.co.uk for further details and join the facebook group to keep in touch with whats happening and make a note in your diary

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Folk and Roots provides a monthly guide to whats happening around the Folk, Roots and Acoustic Scene, click on the Calendar above for details.

Fay Hield has been singing traditional songs from an alarmingly early age. She was active in the lively music scene centred around the Famous Bacca Pipes Folk Club in Keighley, was instrumental in launching the Haworth Arts Festival and the Three’s Company folk agency and promotions organisation, and was part of a highly-regarded duo with Damien Barber.
During her time at Newcastle she helped form the female a capella quartet The Witches Of Elswick. The Witches recorded two acclaimed CDs — Out Of Bed, (Fellside) and Hell’s Belles (Selwyn Music) — in their four years together, as well as clocking up numerous radio broadcasts (including a spot on Woman’s Hour). Their true habitat, however, was in live performance, and they blazed their progress around the folk club and festival circuits.
After a year or two off the folk radar, during which she researched her PhD thesis and discovered motherhood (one of each) and self-sufficiency (an allotment), Fay returned to public view via occasional performances with partner Jon Boden. By this time she and Jon had fetched up on the moorland fringes of Sheffield. In 2009 a new concert line-up with Rob Harbron (English Acoustic Collective) and Sam Sweeney (Bellowhead) came into being, built around a striking repertoire of often obscure material drawn from rarely-thumbed collections. This spicy stew of songs and ballads, catches and caprices is showcased on her debut solo CD - Looking Glass, due for release in 2010 on the prestigious Topic Records.

Fay Hield is touring during September and beyond to promote the release of 'Looking Glass' - see www.fayhield.com for dates and details.

Recently nominated for the Horizon Award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards Hannah James and Sam Sweeney are clearly a duo on the rise. But they are no strangers to each other having performed together since their teens in established four-piece Kerfuffle.
In 2009 they quickly cemented their reputation as rising stars with debut album Catches and Glees which was released in August of that year and led to the folk award nomination.
‘Catches and Glees is a dynamic, varied album that treats its traditional material simultaneously with respect and modernity.’ Sophie Parkes, EDS Magazine
Sam and Hannah are touring during September, see www.hannahandsam.co.uk for details.

She’Koyokh is London’s award-winning klezmer ensemble performing Ashkenazi Jewish, Eastern European, Balkan and Turkish folk music at international festivals and concert halls, while keeping it real at weddings, other special occasions, and on the streets. .
The infectious sounds of She’koyokh’s extensive repertoire have stopped people in their tracks on the streets of London since 2001. Graduating from street corners to international festival and concert stages, playing wild dance parties, weddings and collaborating with Gypsy and Balkan musicians on their travels, She’koyokh touches audiences of all ages from all walks of life. Exhilarating solos, innovative compositions, and stunning new arrangements bring Jewish roots music alive, and embrace the rich variety of musical styles found throughout the Balkans.

“The band’s personality shines through in the sophisticated arrangements, interplay and solos.” Songlines

She’Koyokh are on touring throughout August and beyond - See www.shekoyokh.co.uk for more details...

Wendy Arrowsmith's new CD, "Seeds of Fools" was released on 1 August 2009, just in time for the Saltburn Folk Festival (14-16 August) where she performed, and for her tour of the North East of Scotland later that month. The CD features 14 tracks and is a mixture of traditional material and self-penned including "Sleep Well 'till Morning" (Winner - Song for the Sea Competition, Scarborough Seafest 2008) and "Hearth Song" (Winner - Ryedale Folk Weekend Songwriting Competition 2009). Wendy has collaborated with several musicians including the Hartlepool based trio, The Young 'Uns, and members of her own band, Blind Summat!, to give a rich and diverse musical sound throughout.
"Seeds of Fools" costs £10 (+ p&p)and will be available to purchase online from www.wendyarrowsmith.com, (plus other online retail outlets) or at her gigs. To hear some of the new tracks featured on the CD, why not visit myspace.com/wendyarrowsmith

"The Kittiwakes are Kate Denny on vocals and violin, Chris Harrison on accordion and Jill Cumberbatch on violin, mandolin, and guitar. Their debut album 'Lofoten Calling'’ is being released by Midwich Records, and is original music based around the people, landscape, folklore and history of the Lofoten Islands, - an area above the Arctic Circle in Norway.
The music is song based, and influenced by traditional British Isles and Norwegian folk music."
The Kittiwakes have a number of dates in support of their first CD release see http://www.myspace.com/kittiwakes for more details.

"The greatest Celtic harper of our age" (Live Ireland) and TG4 Irish Traditional Musician of the Year 2001 with "one of the UK's most staggering and influential acoustic guitarists" (fRoots)
"When it comes to virtuoso work on this ancient and delicate instrument, Maire Ni Chathasaigh is in a class of her own" The Guardian
"An eclecticism and spirit of adventure that is quite thrilling... Virtuoso playing... bewitching string fantasies and a wonderfully "Brilliant, innovative harping and guitar-playing of astonishing virtuosity and versatility" Songlines "A gorgeously complex mix of the lovely and lyrical and the positively jubilant by two top-notch players. A real treasure" Dirty Linen (USA)
Máire Ní Chathasaigh & Chris Newman are touring at the moment, see www.oldbridgemusic.com for details.

"Acoustic chill-out band MuHa is a part of new musical migration movement in the UK known as New Roots from Eastern Europe. It was formed in 2004, when Iryna Muha, Ukrainian born singer and songwriter, moved from New York, settled in Lincolnshire and met Dmitry Fedotov, a Latvian rock legend. They play a mix of Russian/ Ukrainian folklore and the original material influenced by Slavonic traditions. The diverse backgrounds of the band members enrich the experience of their music by Brazilian sounds, Indian rhythms, Irish influences and Cuban elements.
The band features 2 acoustic guitars, harmonica, violin, variety of percussion (bodhran, berimbau, cajon, bongos), jews harp and kathak ghungroos.", MuHa play often around the Midlands area see www.muha.co.uk for details.