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| Cecil Sharp's People.org.uk A one-stop website for all the singers, musicians and dancers who met Cecil Sharp, as he travelled around England collecting folk music and dance between 1903-23. You can read about their lives. Over 650 individuals in hundreds of locations. They were working people – agricultural labourers, glovers, laundresses, sailors, shoemakers etc. Their stories should be told! Go to website |
Why Dance? “Some great new dances here” “The two CDs alone must have cost more to produce” “I’m trying to encourage some more people to do calling, this is just the right package” If you would like a copy, just email Pat King your address and she will pop one in the post for you, you can send a cheque by return. Why Dance? 10th Anniversary offer only £7.50 inc p& p!! First published in 2009, with foreword by Shirley Collins MBE, this popular, complete, easy to use (and understand) dance pack contains:- A4 book with 64 differentiated dances A great resource for callers or anyone wishing to put on a ceilidh or barn dance just email |
This book is the last part of project that, as the author has said, has been thirty-five years in the waiting and four years in the making. The Short Sharp Shanties project has been all about one particular 19th Century merchant sailor and his world. His name was John Short, and his local nickname was Yankee Jack – possibly because he had been sailing on North American ships during the American Civil War. He was born in Watchet in Somerset in 1839 and died in 1933 in his ninety-fifth year. He earned his living not just as sailor but as a shantyman. In 1914 he was visited by the folk-song collector Cecil Sharp to whom he sang nearly sixty early versions of deep water shanties. It was the national publication of his songs and John’s local celebrity, which resulted in various contemporary articles and these, together with the detailed records that the government insisted should be kept by the merchant service – ‘lest the wars should rise again’ - that gave the author the resources to trace his life story, ship by ship, voyage by voyage: guano from the Chincha Islands, sugar from Mauritius, emigrants to Australia, troops to and from India, copper ore, timber, and much more. The book takes one deep into the actuality of a 19th Century merchant sailor’s life, quoting from ships’ log books, newspaper articles, details of the legislation (or lack of it) that affected conditions, etc. Apart from John Short’s life story - from Australia to Valparaiso, from coastal ketches to deep-sea clippers - the book includes the shanties he sang and the history of each of the ships he sailed in. Scattered throughout the text are verses of many traditional songs that fit the story, as well as several illustrative pictures. Altogether, the book gives a rare and detailed window into the life of a merchant mariner from the great days of sail. The Author: Tom Brown holds a Doctorate in Arts Policy and Management from City University, London. He is a folklorist and researcher of English tradition, custom, story, song and lore. He and his wife are performers of the vernacular arts – both sing, and Tom also plays a variety of instruments. They live in Combe Martin, North Devon, but tour nationwide, specialising in material from the West Country and in particular of Exmoor. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: S&A Projects Apart from the 4-year Short Sharp Shanties Project, S&A Projects has recorded and produced a CD from the repertoire of Northamptonshire farmer Jeff Wesley, supported the Doc Rowe Archive, and digitised various recordings of traditional performances from mid-20th Century Cornwall. Current projects include work on song manuscripts from Brendon in the heart of Exmoor, and the editing of recordings of the remarkable singer Cyril Piggott.
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| Mick Bramich Concertina Tutors The Irish Concertina 1996 saw the publication of Mick Bramich's tutor for the Anglo Concertina. The Irish Concertina by Dave Mallison Publications. This book is an advanced manual for the instrument and has given Mick the opportunity to run workshops at many national festivals. The book is beginning to penetrate the U.S.A. and a workshop tour is envisaged. £14.95 + £1.00 p&p in the UK - CD £10.99 + £1.00 p&p in the UK. Trade prices supplied on request. Absolute Beginners Concertina This manual follows on from Mick's first tutor - The Irish Concertina. The book explores the mine field which awaits the prospective Anglo player, and by using the same format tablature as in his previous book, opens up the little box of tricks to the willing learner. A range of easy to follow diagrams, tips on maintenance and buying concertinas plus a potted history of the makers all add up to a well designed and planned tutor with a set of exercises which both challenge and give instant results to the beginner. The method has been "road tested" on new students of the instrument and they attest to the value of the teaching system. Price £6.95 plus £1 p&p in the UK In-between Anglo  A range of exercises for the improver on Anglo concertina. All the music in the book appears in both staff notation and tablature for the instrument. Suitable for the twenty key Anglo but aimed at the thirty key instrument. 40 pages of lessons and tunes. £8.95. Add £1.00 p&p in the UK. Review: Bob Taberner The Folk Mag "This book aims to bridge the gap between Mick's other two books, 'Absolute Beginners' Concertina' and 'The Irish Concertina'. The Anglo concertina is a much-maligned member of the concertina family because the majority of players don't feel comfortable playing in keys other than those of the two main rows of buttons. For the majority of Anglos, this means the keys of C and G, where the G row is an octave higher than you'd like it to be. Hence the demand for Anglos in G and D to fit in with melodeons and fiddles. Mick's book demonstrates that it is possible to play in other keys - D major, A minor, E minor - on a 30 key C-G Anglo as well as tackling the key of G by picking out the majority of notes on the C row. The exercises are well thought out and the tunes are all interesting and well chosen. You don't need to be a music reader because all the tunes are presented in an easy form of tablature, while different time signatures are clearly explained. The book is very much aimed at the player of tunes. Maybe song accompaniment is a subject for a future book. One slight disappointment for me was that Mick sticks to single note playing and doesn't include a few harmonising notes. I found myself adding them, anyway. There are a surprising number of tunes in B flat in the English tradition and Mick's book shows you how to play in that key on a C-G Anglo. Which is certainly a lot cheaper than the alternative solution of buying a B flat - F box." Order To order any of these publications contact Mick Bramich at: 18 Heather Park, South Brent, TQ10 9PU, Devon. 01364 649339 eMail. Visit Mick's website More information about Mick Bramich on Flaxey Green |
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