SOUTH WALES' FOLK RELATED GIG LIST
 SOUTH WALES' FOLK RELATED GIG LIST

Pontardawe VALLEY FOLK CLUB

 

VALLEY FOLK CLUB 

HAS RETURNED TO

PONTARDAWE

 

About (Pontardawe) VALLEY FOLK CLUB

Valley Folk Club usually meets on 1st. 3rd. and 5th Fridays with a few exceptions which are posted in the diary on the web page.

1st Fridays are usually Open Nights, 3rd Fridays Guest Nights and often a 50/50 Night on 5th Fridays featuring 2 acts.

 

On OPEN NIGHTS a warm welcome is extended to everyone to sing, play, recite or just enjoy. We sometimes allow a short set showcasing visiting performers. Please make contact to pre-arrange this. Open Nights are £2 to cover room hire.

 

GUEST NIGHTS Usually 2 x 40/45 min sets with floor spots before the 1st set. Usually £8

 

Evenings usually start at 8pm.

 

The club web page is www.casbar.co.uk/pontardawe-valley-folk-club/  which is updated regularly.

 

Email:- PontyVFC@casbar.co.uk

 

We are also on Facebook. See Pontardawe, Valley Folk Club

https://www.facebook.com/Pontardawe-Valley-Folk-Club-267787909911885/

 

For contacts please see the Folk Clubs page on this web site.

START TIME - 8pm   Guest Nights £ see below  Open Nights £2

All club nights are held in Pontardawe Heritage & Visitor Centre, The Old Stables, Herbert St.

Pontardawe SA8 4EB (Behind the Dillwyn Arms at the traffic lights.) There is ample parking in the town car parks. Free after 6pm. Bring Your Own Refreshments.

2024

50/50 NIGHT (2 GUESTS)   March 29th    £8

 

JONATHAN NICHOLAS & TED CROOK

&

OLD STRAFFORD

JONATHAN NICHOLAS

"Jonathan's style encompasses the various disciplines of pre-war acoustic blues from Robert Johnson & Son House to the styles of Blind Blake & Skip James. He performs on instruments of the era (1926 Gibson L1 & 1936 Kalamazoo KG14) enabling him to produce an authentic sound and feel, stripping the blues back to its roots"

"One of the most talented young delta blues musicians I have seen in years" - Andrew Smith (Author & Journalist)

"What a great guitarist!" - Blues Show Bob Williams

"Great Delta blues guitarist with a terrific vocal too. I`ve never heard anyone do Robert Johnson material better. Authentic sound from real period instruments". - Pokey Hole Blues Club

"This isn’t light gentle acoustic music, there’s a strength to the guitar playing and vocals that give it a power and feel that a lot of acoustic artists just don’t have." - SwanScene

TED CROOK.

One of the finest blues harmonica players in the UK who recently sat in on a few gigs with Grammy award winning Guy Davis.

OLD STRAFFORD

Always in danger of drowning in coffee while being weighed down by cake, the trio of Robert Strafford, Phil Andrew and David Jones meet regularly to further a repertoire of Blues, Folk, Gospel and Americana.  In fact they play anything which might pass for Roots Music and also a bit that would not.  Just as the repertoire expands so does Old Strafford's reputation for delivering a performance combining great music, harmony and some laughs.

OPEN NIGHT April 5th  £2

SEB STONE April 19th £8

SEB STONE engages his audience with the air of a storyteller far past his early twenties.

Seb Stone is a traditional singer and uilleann piper from the Peak District. In 2022 he won both the Future of Folk Award and the Shantyman of the Year Award at Bromyard Folk Festival, since when he has played at a multitude of festivals in the summer of 2023, appearing alongside Martin Carthy, Jim Mageean and The Wilson Family. He is an active part of the sessions circuit in Sheffield, as well as playing the occasional session in Manchester and his native Peaks.

 

Having won the Future of Folk Award at Bromyard Folk Festival in 2022, Seb Stone is a name that has been quietly creeping on to folk festival and folk club lineups across the country. He’s a traditional singer of mostly unaccompanied songs who also plays Uilleann pipes and whistles. Seb has a fine voice (he had singing lessons at the Royal Academy of Music, dontchaknow?), clear as a bell, and engages his audience with the air of a storyteller far past his early twenties – we’ve heard him sing some of his local Sheffield and Derbyshire carols with great aplomb. TRADFOLK

O'Farrell's Welcome To Limerick/Cherish The Ladies (youtube.com)

 

Whistle Daughter Whistle (Roud 1570) - Seb Stone (youtube.com)

 

ALISTAIR ANDERSON May 3rd  £8

ALISTAIR ANDERSON

 

As a touring soloist, with no less than 37 tours of the USA, 5 trips to Australia and countless European tours to his credit, Alistair Anderson is internationally acknowledged as the master of the English Concertina and a fine exponent of the Northumbrian Pipes. He delights audiences with traditional music from Northumberland and beyond, as well as his own music, which has grown out of his love of these traditions.

 

Anderson’s passionate belief that traditional music had an important place in contemporary society led him to find ways to excite a new generation of young musicians and draw them into playing, singing, dancing and making the tradition their own.  He founded ‘Folkworks’ an organisation that helped to change the face of folk music, with large numbers of young people discovering traditional music, song and dance through their summer schools, workshops and education projects.

 

“He is a treat to watch… His involvement and delight in the music are infectious… Beautiful music, played with skill, taste and affection.”   fRoots

 

The Daily Telegraph described his self-penned STEEL SKIES CD as follows: Anderson has achieved what many others have tried without success. He has composed work which, while remaining rooted deeply in the traditional music of his region of Britain, contains neither pastiche nor attempts to fuse irreconcilable elements. The melodic lines of songs without words give way to dance patterns enriched by unexpected harmonies and delightful combinations of instruments. It is a fluid living work, which will yield even more riches with successive performances.

 

“The pleasure comes chiefly from the excellence of the playing. The concertina emerges as a flexible and sensitive instrument; in the hands of a player of Anderson’s quality it is amazing what it can achieve.”  The Guardian

 

“He remains one of this country’s most majestic and inclusive instrumentalists”   Colin Irwin. 

OPEN NIGHT May 17th  £2

50/50 NIGHT (2 GUESTS)   May 31st    £8

BROADOAK + GREG ROWLANDS

 

BROADOAK

Broadoak are a trio based in Pembrokeshire. They have played together informally for decades, and have been Broadoak for five years. They have played in some interesting places (the Cropredy Festival fringe, a cruise liner and a nunnery spring to mind) and have supported some big names including Andy Cutting, Emily Portman and Rob Harbron, Jackie Oates and John Spiers

Their material is wonderfully eclectic, ranging from their arrangements of traditional songs to some carefully-chosen covers. Their own original material always features in their performances. This too is an eclectic mix, featuring such varied themes as the romance of finding ancient objects, the importance of a healthy self-image for geese, and sex under the table in a cafe in Vienna in 1910.

A Broadoak gig is predictable only for musicianship and variety. They are as likely to make you cry as to make you laugh, but they will always entertain you.

Broadoak are Chris Kay (voice, whistle), Wendy Lewis (fiddle, voice) and Peter Kay (voice, fretted instruments). Their website is
https://www.broadoakfolk.com/ , they have a Bandcamp page featuring their first album at https://broadoak1.bandcamp.com/album/hand-made-heart , and you will find them on YouTube if you search Broadoak folk Pembrokeshire.

GREG ROWLANDS

An experienced singer guitarist with a very broad repertoire from many genres. Greg thoroughly enjoys singing, meeting people and supporting live music. He has been singing for many years at folk clubs, in cabaret, and is involved with charity work. Greg sings story based quality songs with feeling. His voice has been described as mellifluous but not to worry, it’s not contagious.

 

Greg draws his inspiration from the more progressive and modern folk catalogue and includes songs from the writing of Ewan MacColl, Stan Rogers, Colum Sands, Steve Tilston and many more. His work is described by Tom Lewis as “driven by the song without complicated guitar work”. That said, his guitar accompaniment is sound and complements his singing admirably.

 

OPEN NIGHT June 7th  £2

GUEST TBA June  21st

July & August Folk Club Summer Break

FOLK SERVICE in GELLIONNEN CHAPEL

Mynnydd Gellionnen, on the mountain, above Pontardawe

AUGUST 18th 10.45am

Join members of the congregation and performers from Valley Folk Club for this much loved and well attended annual social event.

Service led by Marian Littlepage.

 

 

 

FOLLOWED IN THE AFTERNOON by a FREE

VALLEY FOLK CLUB SHOWCASE between 2 - 5pm in

PONTARDAWE HERITAGE AND VISITOR CENTRE,

The Old Stables, Herbert St. Pontardawe SA8 4EB

when a dozen or so of our regular performers will entertain you.

The venue is behind the Dillwyn Arms at the traffic lights. There is ample parking in the town. (Please don't use the pub car park.) BRING YOUR OWN REFRESHMENTS.

HALLOWE'EN SPECIAL  October 18th 

with ANDREW McKAY & CAROLE ETHERTON £8

XMAS PARTY with WHISKEY RIVER TRIO

December 13th