So there was June - been and gone in a flurry of activity that could take me a month to get over. And in the middle of it all, the world went crazy - it’ll take more than a month to recover from that! I’ll be taking some time out with my family at the end of July and the beginning of August, so two months in one newsletter this time. A huge thank you to all those people who supported the various events last month. It was great catching up with folks I haven’t seen for years. The summer will see us putting the final touches to the new Maddison’s Thread CD and there are plenty of gigs, workshops and and Summer Schools to tempt you with. Hope to see you at some point!
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JSArts James Hill Workshop
Fri 8th - Sun 10th July @ JSArts, Grantham
 July begins with another enjoyable trip to Gratham to spend the weekend with Jo & Jimmy Smith. This is the second time we’ve run a weekend devoted to the music of James Hill, exploring some of the many fantastic tunes he composed and played. Last year was terrific and we’ll do our best to maintain standards this time. I’ve just heard that this workshop is now sold out, so do get in touch with Jimmy and Jo if you are interested for next year. Look out for more courses running in the autumn, both mixed instrument and fiddle technique - book now to avoid disappointment! jsarts.co.uk
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Maddison's Thread
 We have had many more enjoyable recording sessions with Lee at The Cluny Studios under the expert supervision of Tony Davis. The tracks are coming along nicely and we have now started putting down Lee's vocals. This summer should see much of the recording completed and we will be mastering and finishing off the album.
Maddison's Thread also have two confirmed gigs this summer. Firstly, we'll be at Holy Trinity Church in York on Saturday 13th August - a beautiful building, lit only by candlelight. Then we'll be at the Quaker House in Darlington on Sunday 21st August.
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Stewart Hardy & Frank McLaughlin
At the Fringes!!
Wed 24th August @ Whitby Yacht Club
Sat 27th Aug @ Wee Folk Club, Edinburgh
Frank and I will be busy having a  good time at these two events and would be delighted to share the fun with whoever can make it. We try to play the Wee Folk Club every year as Paddy Bort, who runs this venue during The Fringe, is one of the staunchest advocates of the Edinburgh Folk scene. N.B. this venue really is wee! Thirty people and we’re practically sitting on each other’s laps!! Tickets are only available on the door so do arrive in good time.
In Whitby we are planning to turn up on Wednesday afternoon for the popular Euro session in the Yacht Club and then stay on to perform a 60 minute set starting at 8.00 p.m. Once that is finished, I believe the plan is to have yet another session so do bring an instrument. Tickets for the evening events are £7. As the previous weekend will have been Whitby Regatta, we have decided together with the Yacht Club to make a donation of £2 per ticket to the RNLI.
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Rothbury Traditional Music Festival
Sat 16th July @ Rothbury
 Beginning on the Friday night with a ceilidh and sessions galore, the Rothbury Traditional Music Festival moves into competition mode on Saturday. Tyneside Fiddle Alliance will be heading up to enter the Ceilidh Band competition and have been rehearsing their set in preparation. As always we are hoping for more individual competitors to support the festival, so do consider putting a set together and having a go! All the programme details can be found on rothburymusicfestival.co.uk and it will be lovely to see the Andy May Trio, alongside other exciting musical acts, at the festival.
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Historically Informed Summer School
15th - 19th Aug 2016 @ Scarborough
Booking is still open for this fabulous week of workshops and musical activities ranging from the daft to the sublime. I’ll be working in collaboration with other tutors on Grounds with a Shakespearean connection in which we’ll be improvising and writing tunes, arranging in small ensembles in which we will explore Shakespearean Folk Ballads and, finally, comparing the stylistic approaches of fiddlers and violinists to the traditional Airs which feature in Geminiani’s Trio  Sonatas. By myself (well... hopefully with some summer school participants) I’ll be working on using pentatonic scales as a tool to begin and develop improvisation skills. I hope to see some of you in sunny Scarborough.
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Folk Summer School @ Halsway Manor
Aug 30th - Sept 1st 2016
By the end of August it will be all systems go for another fantastic Folk Summer School at Halsway Manor. Join me and this amazing collection of tutors for a fun-packed week! Full details and booking information can be found on the Summer School web page.
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Bottle Bank Band
CD Launch Concerts in June
The Bottle Bank Band CD is now officially launched and what a send off it was given! Chloe, David, Sophy and I would like to say thank you very much to all those people who came along to support the gigs, filling the halls and buying CDs. Thanks as well to Ednie and the team at Gateshead Arts, to Larry and Carrie in Allendale and to Mary and Jane in Felton for providing such excellent venues and for all their hard work helping us to put the gigs together. A special thank you to Mary, Liz and the Terry Conway Memorial Fund for making the whole thing possible in the first place. The band will be out and about again at the end of October and beginning of November and we hope to catch up with some of you then.
The CD is available to purchase online for £12 which includes postage and packing to the UK. See Bottle Bank Band's website for all of the details.
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Northumbrian Minstrelsy Concert
We had a great time sharing the delights of manuscripts and publications both dusty and pristine from the vaults of The Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle Upon Tyne with an appreciate audience in Hall Two of The Sage at the end of June. It was a privilege to share a stage with such outstanding musicians - here we are, caught on camera backstage!
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Maddison's Thread @ Beverley
Lee has finally been introduced to the crazy world of folk festivals. He could not have had a better introduction than Beverley where we played to a very enthusiastic and supportive crowd. The festival organizers, stage crew and sound crew all did an amazing job of making our life as easy as possible and making this first foray a truly positive experience. Many thanks to all those who talked to us after the set and for their kind words. Below is a video of Night Circus, one of Lee's great songs, recorded live in the Big Top Marquee.
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Night Circus, Maddison's Thread.
Beverley Folk Festival, 19th June 2016
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