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The Atkinson's Autumn Season
is Folktastic!
SOME of the very best names on the folk
circuit have performed at The Atkinson since it reopened in April 2013 including
The Full English Project, 3 Daft Monkeys, Steeleye Span, Maddy Prior and
Dervish, to name but a few! The Atkinson though thinks autumn 2015
will be the perfect recipe for folk fans across the North West. We are
told that it will have the traditional, a splash of the alternative, a good glug of jiggy and
playful arrangements with the downright unusual that together make for a great
season of music and takes you all the way to Christmas.
Blowzabella on Saturday, 12 September 2015, is a genuinely unique band that makes an
inimitable, driving, drone based sound played with a fabulous sense of melody,
rhythmic expertise and sheer feeling. They compose their own music which is
influenced by English and European traditional dance music.
Featuring the talents of Andy Cutting; diatonic button accordion; Jo Freya;
vocals, saxophone, clarinet; Paul James; bagpipes, saxophones; Gregory Jolivet; hurdy gurdy; David Shepherd; violin; Barn Stradling; bass guitar and Jon
Swayne on bagpipes, saxophone.
This event is gig style with standing in the lower level and seating in the
balcony. Put on your dancing shoes for this event!
The Moulettes, on Wednesday, 16 September 2015, are 1 of UK's most unique touring Alt.Folk bands who have been influenced by Bjork & Kate Bush.
With strings, guitars, drums, bassoon and synths Moulettes' music weaves between
Indie Folk, Chamber Pop and Prog Rock to create an incomparable universe.
The event comes as part of Smaller Rooms Touring, a new collective of venues
promoting quality new music for audiences throughout the northwest.
The band contains all singing, multitasking, multi instrumentalists; All of whom
have shared the stage and studio with well known artists in Folk, Prog, pop and
Rock, including Mick Jagger, Nick Cave, Seasick Steve, Bonobo, Gentle Giant,
Dave Gilmour (Pink Floyd), Bellowhead, The Levellers and many more.
Chris While and Julie Matthews' musical partnership began in 1994 when they were
key members of influential folk super group The Albion Band. They left the band
to concentrate on their work as a duo which has seen them tour throughout the
world and gain an ever growing devoted fan base. Their songs have been covered
by a range of artists including Mary Black, Barbara Dickson, Christine Collister
and Fairport Convention.
Both multi-instrumentalists Julie plays guitar, piano, ukulele, bouzouki,
mandolin, harmonica and accordion and Chris plays guitar, bodhran, banjo,
dulcimer and percussion; but it is the union of their two voices and skill as
close harmony singers that continues to define their sound. You can see While
and
Matthews, on Thursday, 8 October 2015.
Martin Simpson and Don Flemons perform a brand new collaborative material rooted
in English and American folk traditions, on Friday, 16 October 2015.
This partnership of English musician Martin Simpson (1 of the finest acoustic
finger style and slide guitar players in the world) and American guitar and
banjo player Dom Flemons (from the Grammy award winning Carolina Chocolate
Drops) is the result of an English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS)
commission.
Both artists have been researching and exploring how folk songs travelled from
England to North America and vice versa, changing shape as they journeyed.
Having delved into archive collections in the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library
at Cecil Sharp House; including Cecil Sharp's landmark folk music fieldwork
notebooks and diaries from his collecting trips in the Appalachian Mountains;
this is a night of top class musicianship and shared histories.
Enjoy an uplifting evening of: blues, folk, jazz, african grooves and much more
from 2 outstanding guitarists John Etheridge (Solo) with special guest Kit
Holmes, on Saturday, 17 October 2015.
John Etheridge is 1 of the world's most respected guitarists and his music
spans a myriad of styles and influences. He was the guitarist for the celebrated
jazz violinist Stephane Grappelli and he has also performed with: Soft Machine,
Pat Metheny, Andy Summers, Dizzy Gillespie, Nigel Kennedy and is currently in a
duo with the eminent classical guitarist John Williams. This is a rare
opportunity to see John performing a solo concert, which features tracks from
his highly acclaimed album:- 'I Didn't Know.'
He performs with singer and musician Kit Holmes whose trademark sultry vocals
and virtuoso guitar playing have wowed audiences across the UK.
Every now and then a really unusual band comes around and blows away all your
critical senses with music so distinctive it really does leave you wondering how
they create such delights.
The Peatbog Faeries are such a band, they
conjure such a cross pollination of styles that it is hard to know where to
begin with a description. There is nothing in the slightest that is fey or fairy
about this crew, instead they're a glorious mash up of Scottish roots and just
about everything else you care to throw in the blender.
They've a new live album:- 'Peatbog Faeries Live' which is
aural fireworks from the moment you push play, but there can be no substitute
for getting out there and experiencing them 1st hand. You can do this on,
Thursday, 24 October 2015, with The Atkinson.
The theatre says it's final goodbyes to Stackridge, on Friday, 6 November 2016, as they perform, The
Final Bow Tour, after over 40 years of making eccentric, perfect,
quintessentially English music. Aided and abetted by long serving musicians
Glenn Tommey (Keyboards), Eddie John (Drums) and Clare Lindley (Violin and
Guitar) they embark on their last ever tour of the UK this autumn.
Fans of folk can also enjoy An Evening with Mike Harding, on Thursday, 19
November 2015. He is back on the road for a short theatre tour to mark the
publication of his autobiography, The Adventures of the Crumpsall Kid.
Spend an evening in the company of the multi talented Mike as he talks about
growing up in Crumpsall in the 1950's in the shadow of a dark satanic cream
cracker factory and tells a shedload of hilarious tales from his early life.
The recently crowned BBC Folk Singer of the Year 2015 Nancy Kerr and The Sweet
Visitor Band perform music from her eagerly anticipated solo debut, Sweet
Visitor, on Friday, 20 November 2015.
Nancy is joined on stage by James Fagan (Cara Dillon, The James Bros, and
co-winner with Nancy of the BBC Radio 2 Folk Award for Best Duo), Tom Wright
(Albion band, Park Bench Social Club, Eliza Carthy), Tim Yates (Blackbeard's Tea
Party, Albion Band) and Rowan Rheingans (Lady Maisery). An evening of beautiful
music is ahead!
The Bell That Never Rang is the hugely anticipated new album and tour from the
U.K's most musically revered and celebrated folk trio Lau, which we are
delighted is heading to The Atkinson, on Thursday, 26 November 2015.
Since their debut album in 2007 Lau have picked up four awards for 'Best
Group' at the BBC Radio 2 Folk awards and the individual members have all won multiple
awards and recognition for their acclaimed solo works.
The festive month begins with a real party, as we welcome Blackbeard's Tea Party
to The Atkinson, on Friday, 4 December 2015. Voted best band at last year's Cropredy
Convention, and named THE band to see at Glastonbury by the Huffington Post,
Blackbeard's Tea Party are quickly growing to be one of the most in demand bands
on the folk circuit.
Traditional songs and folk tunes are given a heavy rock edge with playful
arrangements and driving dance rhythms. This is all mixed up in an engaging,
high octane stage show that frequently leaves audiences cheering for more.
Prepare for a real super group featuring 4 of the major stars of British
music today:- Eliza Carthy, Jackie Oates, Lucy Farrell and Kate Young, on Sunday, 6
December 2015.
Carthy, Oates, Farrell AND Young is a unique band. Each a brilliant and
distinctive singer, they form a stunning vocal quartet. Each also a master
fiddle player, they are a mighty string ensemble. Performing material from Laylam, the album recorded with Bella Hardy as Carthy, Hardy, Farrell and Young,
as well as solo numbers, their set is a brilliant and inspiring measure of the
quality of British roots music.
Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without The Albion Christmas Band on Friday, 11
December 2015. This year's tour, 'One For The Road' coincides with the release
of the band's live album of the same name.
The Albion Christmas features the combined talents of Simon Nicol (founder
member of Fairport Convention) on acoustic guitar and vocals, Kellie While
(Albion Band), acoustic guitar, vocals and percussion, Simon Care (Edward II),
melodeons, and the Guv'nor himself, Ashley Hutchings (founder of Fairport
Convention, Albion Band, and Steeleye Span) on bass guitar and vocals.
The Young'uns are a force of nature on stage. Their irrepressible humour,
infectious love for harmony singing, passion for storytelling and commitment to
maintaining the tradition of social commentary have quickly made them one of the
most sought after acts on the English folk scene with the rare ability to make
audiences laugh and cry in equal measure.
2015 sees the release of their 4th album and a major tour to celebrate their
30th birthdays; come along and celebrate with the Atkinson, on Sunday, 13 December
2015.
Looking ahead to 2016...and on sale now!
Oysters3 is Oysterband as you don't know them up close and personal. John
Jones, Alan Prosser and Ian Telfer, the three founder members and creative heart
of folk rock legends Oysterband, invite you to an evening of fresh acoustic
performance and not entirely discreet stories; an insight into their history,
sometimes turbulent, often funny, with great songs from every era of a unique
career. Come and get up close and personal, on Wednesday, 20 January 2016, tickets are
on sale now
The originators of British folk rock music, Fairport Convention return on
Saturday, 30 January 2016. One of Britain's best loved bands for nearly 50 years,
they launched in 1967's 'summer of love', former members include Richard
Thompson, Dave Swarbrick and the late Sandy Denny.
On Friday, 5 February 2016, Gretchen Peters brings her 20th Anniversary UK Tour to The
Atkinson. Since the release of her "career album" (NPR), 2012's Hello Cruel
World, the 2 time Grammy nominee has been in near constant motion, touring for
the past 2 years and releasing a live DVD and CD, Woman On The Wheel, in early
2013
Emma Lloyd, Principal Manager: Programmes, Audience Development & Enterprise
said:- "Autumn is always a big music season for us especially for our folk
and roots programme. We are bringing some of the best names on the circuit to
Southport so we hope that fans of the music will support us so we can continue
doing so into the future."
Tickets for all our folk and roots events and more are available online at
theatkinson.co.uk or by calling the Box Office on:- 01704 533333.
They are also
available over the counter during The Atkinson opening hours. |
