Stewart Hardy's Newsletter, November 2016
FacebookWell, October was quite the month of highs and lows, to be sure. On the one hand Frank McLaughlin and I had a terrific time performing, recording and filming. On the other hand why did Frank’s partner, Gillian, express concern and sympathy for my wife and children whilst I was the one suffering, coughing and sneezing? Oh, the humiliation - man flu is a real thing you know! And a lack of sympathy only prolongs the agony, so the success or otherwise of November’s fun and games is in your hands!! All together now, repeat after me... “Aaaaaaahhhhh!”  If nothing else, it’s got to be good practice for the Panto Season!!!

November 2016

Bottle Bank Band Autumn Concert

Tues 1st Nov @ Embleton Village Hall, 7.30 pm



Many thanks to Margaret and Andy Watchorn for their help in setting up this gig. We are going to pop along to The Duchess’s Community High School, Alnwick in the afternoon to play a set for the students in their wonderful new building. Margaret has done fantastic work promoting folk music among the music students and wider school community. Then it’s off to Creighton Memorial Hall in Embleton for the only gig we are doing this side of Christmas. Please do come along and join us. It's pay at the door and together we’ll make this a fun and special night.

JSArts Fiddle Workshop

Fri 11th - Sun 13th November @ JSArts, Grantham

There is a distinctly English theme to this month’s JSArts fiddle workshop with three different kinds of hornpipe as well as jigs, marches and a homage to the ladies of Morpeth. The Morpeth Northumbrian Gathering will be celebrating its 50th anniversary next year the weekend after Easter - stick it in your diary and join in the festivities. Do keep an eye on the JSArts website for details of next year’s fiddle and mixed instrument workshops.

TFA - Allendale & Gateshead

Thurs 24th Nov - Annual Concert, St Mary's Heritage Centre, Gateshead, 7.30 pm
Sat 19th Nov - Allendale Community Choirs' Showcase, Allendale Village Hall, 4 pm


The Tyneside Fiddle Alliance will be performing their annual November concert in St Mary’s Heritage Centre, where we meet on the first and third Thursdays of the month between 6.30 and 8.30 pm. The group continues to go from strength to strength and is a wonderful example of community music making. In the concert this year we will be joined by Woolsington Strings, a smaller ensemble whose members are familiar faces from the region’s community music groups and who will be giving their debut performance. In addition, Tyneside Fiddle Alliance will once again be participating in the sharing concert at the end of the wonderful Community Choir day in Allendale.

Lee Maddison

Sun 27th Nov @ The Ship Inn, Low Newton, 4 pm

I’m really looking forward to this - it should be a very relaxed and joyous celebration of Lee’s fantastic song-writing, doubtless with one or two covers thrown in for good measure. Just the two of us this time, which is a bit like the calm before the storm as the next time we play together will be the album launch in January with a much augmented band (see below for more information). If you’ve not heard Lee’s songs before, this will be a terrific, informal environment in which to be introduced to them. If you know Lee and his songs already, come and say hi - it’s always goods to see familiar faces.

Exams and Auditions - 1:1 Tuition

I don’t often mention this side of my work in the newsletters, but with so many taking exams or auditioning for various music colleges/conservatoires, I thought I’d take this opportunity to wish you all the very best of luck. I count myself very fortunate to have such a fantastic cohort of motivated, diligent and friendly students who make this aspect of my work such a joy. Your hard work and camaraderie are very much appreciated. If anyone is interested in coming along for one to one tuition, you can find out more on the...

New Website

Yes, October saw the launch of a new (and yet, hauntingly familiar!) website - it’s lively, it’s active and there’s new things going onto it all the time. Go on, go on, go on! Have a cup of tea and take a look! www.stewarthardy.co.uk

Advance Notice

Maddison's Thread CD Launch Concerts

Fri 6th & Sat 7th Jan 2017 @ Hartlepool Cricket Club, Park Drive, Hartlepool. Doors 7 pm

The official launch of the new Maddison’s Thread CD, “Sixty Minutes an Hour” will happen over two nights in the cozy and intimate surroundings of the Hartlepool Cricket Club. The Saturday night is already sold out but tickets are still available for the Friday night on WeGotTickets.

We are very pleased with how the CD has turned out. Lee has some fantastic new songs and many of the guests who played and sang on the album will be there for the concerts, including a string quartet to play the string arrangements! Grab a ticket while there are still some left and join in the celebrations.

The Songs of Robert Tannahill, Vol. IV - Launch Concert @ Celtic Connections

Fri 20th Jan 2017 @ Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, 8 pm

The wonderful Dr Fred Freeman is launching the penultimate CD in his landmark recording series “The Complete Songs of Robert Tannahill.” Frank McLaughlin and I were delighted and honoured to be involved with this project, which was also engineered by our good friend, Richard Werner. It features some of Scotland’s finest singers and instrumentalists. You can read about the concert and, indeed, book tickets on the Celtic Connections website. Have a look at the cast list - it’s not often you get a chance to see such a line up in one concert!

Recent Events

Cathryn Craig & Brian Willoughby @ Cramlington Folk Club

This was an unexpected and decidedly joyous extra. I’d bumped into Cathryn and Brian at Sedgefield Folk Festival in September and they were kind enough to invite me to sit in on a couple of songs at Cramlington Folk Club, which is only ten minutes from where I live. I’ve heard so many positive things about these guys over the years but had never run into them before Sedgefield. To be honest with you, first impressions were not good as Cathryn was making distinctly threatening moves on a particularly tasty piece of strawberry cream cake I’d picked up in the village. Having manfully beaten her back, I then discovered who she was... but it was too late - the cake was utterly consumed! Fortunately, they proved to be better human beings than I and did not hold a grudge (I think). We ended up jamming for most of the second half of their performance. Rarely have I come across two such generous musicians and I hope the audience didn’t mind the intrusion, but for me it was both an education and a delight. Many thanks guys - hope we can do it again some time.

Stewart Hardy & Frank McLaughlin
October Activities


Frank and I carved out some time last month to concentrate on our duo material in rehearsal and performance as well as attempting to record and film some of our tunes. A big thank you to Susan Craven and the Northumbrian Pipers, Corrie Schrijver, Nicola Shaw and finally to Sandy, Fiona and all the folks at Kirkcaldy Acoustic Music Club for providing a handful of gigs for us to try out the new material. Thanks as well to those good folks who turned out to listen and make the concerts such a pleasure to do, despite both Frank and I being in the clutches of a diabolical dose of man-flu (not that there was much sympathy coming from any angle on that score - not complaining... just observing).

Poor old sound engineer, Richard Werner -  in addition to sharing our infirmity he had endured a few sleepless nights on account of his incredibly gorgeous baby girl deciding to put in some overtime demonstrating her incredible tolerance to attention from her parents. Even so, he manfully stepped up to the plate and succeeded in coaxing performances of three new pieces from Frank and myself of which we are surprisingly proud. Many thanks, Richard. You are a true pro of heroic proportions and always a pleasure to work with. We don’t know what we’re going to do with these recordings yet. They might constitute the beginnings of another live/acoustic CD in the vein of Root2 or perhaps something else. We’ll keep you posted.

In health terms, the fittest person we came across was ace photographer and cameraman, Andy Craig. He was positively glowing with muscular good health which, to be honest, both Frank and I found initially quite intimidating, being sensitive artists and not very well (have I mentioned the man-flu?). Andy is another master of his craft, however, and is responsible for many of the publicity photos you might have come across of projects I’m involved with as well as the videos on YouTube. He did us proud once again, wasting no time in putting us at our ease and, through a combination of well-placed lights and software wizardry, removing all trace of our Herculean suffering. I’m very pleased to share the fruits of his labours over the next couple of newsletters beginning this month with Joy Together.
Joy Together by Stewart Hardy & Frank McLaughlin
12th October 2016, Gallery 45, Felton
Recorded by Andy Craig Photography

Upcoming Events

Tues 1st Nov: Bottle Bank Band @ Creighton Memorial Hall, Embleton, 7.30 pm

Fri 11th - Sun 13th Nov: Fiddle Technique Workshop, JSArts @ Grantham

Sat 19th Nov: Tyneside Fiddle Alliance, Community Choirs Showcase @ Allendale, 4 pm

Thurs 24th Nov: Tyneside Fiddle Alliance, Annual Concert @ St Mary's, Gateshead, 7.30 pm

Sun 27th Nov: Lee Maddison & Stewart Hardy @ The Ship Inn, Low Newton, 4 pm
 
Advance Notice

Fri 6th & Sat 7th Jan 2017: Maddison's Thread - Album Launch Concerts @ Hartlepool Cricket Club, 7 pm

Fri 20th Jan 2017: Songs of Robert Tannahill Vol. IV at Celtic Connections @ Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, 8 pm


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Copyright © 2016 Stewart Hardy, All rights reserved.
stewart@stewarthardy.co.uk
Newsletter edited by Ali Say (music@stewarthardy.co.uk)



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