Some news!
Tomorrow Wednesday 1 July, my Armchair Human Cargo show debuts at the Harwich Festival of the Arts. Join me online at 7.45pm or later on catch-up.
I'm co-hosting the Sidmouth Virtual Festival on 1 and 2 August. Plus I've offered a special Reward for the Sidmouth Crowdfunder Campaign.
Oh, and if you must, there are some Lockdown Larks you may enjoy...
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Armchair Human Cargo
Tomorrow Wednesday 1 July I was due to perform a special version of my Human Cargo show at the Harwich Festival. Now, I'm doing it online. It's on Facebook Live at 7.45pm, but you can also catch it later, whenever you wish. Just head to the Harwich Festival facebook page.
This 45 minute version of the show focuses on slavery, which feels important at the moment. It also features some fascinating local stories from Harwich. And being online, it enables interaction - I'll invite viewers to message migration headlines from their own family history, to build up a snapshot of provenance from this audience. Even if you've seen Human Cargo before, do join us for this new show.
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Sidmouth
Many will miss their annual bout of folk, fun and seaside as Sidmouth Folk Festival is cancelled this August. But hurrah! - there will be a two day Virtual Festival on 1 & 2 August. I'll be co-hosting from Sidmouth, as we connect up with performers from around the country. And I'll try to give you a flavour of what you're missing (so, on your behalf, I'll consume plenty of pasties, Otter Bitter and ice cream, while swimming in the sea, walking the front and dodging the seagulls, all at once).
Like most arts events, Sidmouth's future is in jeopardy. So the festival is running a crowdfunding campaign - with some great Rewards to buy. This went online this morning, and some of the initial offers - such as a Morris Morph from Peter Lord and a 1-to-1 workshop with guitar legend Martin Simpson - were snapped up fast. More Rewards will appear each day.
I've offered to write a special Human Cargo migration report based around your home locality (or any other UK location you choose). It will include research into slavery links (and the profits thereof) and stories of people migrating to or from the area. Plus a signed copy of Human Cargo. An unusual gift, I appreciate, but these local stories always seem to fascinate audiences at shows. I'm not sure when they will announce this Reward, so keep looking.
Oh and here's a great video about the campaign with Steve Knightley.
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Right, that's the serious stuff over. Time for some Lockdown Larks.
From Day 19 of Lockdown, here's that old Cowboy song, In the Jailhouse Now, featuring the little-performed Bass Yodel:
Then for Day 25 let's go Strolling Down the Strand - that old treat from Leslie Sarony:
Then a bit of Les Dawson from Day 30:
And on Day 56, a trip back to The Big Muddler, featuring a bit of smut with the great Jan North:
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More info at my website
That's it for now. I hope you are managing to stay safe, sane and solvent.
Matthew
PS If you've watched everything you want on Netflix, and have already twice seen that Bowie set at Glastonbury on the i-player, here's another small screen evening entertainment for you - The Transports beautifully filmed at Shrewsbury Festival in 2017.
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