EATMT April Newsletter 2025 ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
April 2025 Newsletter Spring has Sprung and the temperature has rocketed and everything is looking green and lush. And with Mayday arriving we are getting ready for our Summer season  Remembering Ray Hubbard Over the coming months we will be remembering Ray Hubbard in various ways including releasing an interview video, so keep an eye out on our social media and Newsletters.Chris Holderness has kindly reviewed Norfolk Bred: ‘Following on from the recent death of retired horseman and consummate entertainer Ray Hubbard, it seems apposite to review the CD which was made of his music by John Howson and released by Veteran in 2007, a wonderful selection of the songs, tunes, tales and jokes which made him such a beloved performer for so many years’To read more please take a look at our website Exciting News: Announcing Traditional Music Day Artists  Nancy Kerr:Nancy is one of the most celebrated folk musicians of her generation, and has to date won 6 Folk Awards. A respected interpreter of traditional material, Nancy’s emergence as a writer of rare style has drawn comparisons to William Blake in her reawakening of a radical folk mythology as a backdrop for contemporary narratives about love and conflict, motherhood, migration, hardship and jubilation, and the tensions between rural and urban life. Macdara Yeates: Macdara is a folk singer from Dublin, self-described on his Instagram profile as a “singer of auld songs, doer of projects, and part to blame for ‘The Night Before Larry Got Stretched.” Folk scholars may recognise the latter as the name of an 18th-century execution ballad, but as Yeates explains, it hascome to mean something else: “It’s probably a bit of a mouthful in hindsight—most people just call it ‘Larry’—but it’s the name of our singingsession in The Cobblestone.”  Georgia Shakleton: Georgia takes great influence from the traditional singers of the East of England such as Harry Cox, Walter Pardon and Phoebe Smith. Traditional material she performs often stems from her native East Anglia and her own compositions are often inspired by stories from the region and the area’s unique, compelling landscape. Her solo album, ‘Harry’s Seagull’ is a celebration of East Anglian traditional music. The album is named after a tune she wrote and dedicated to Harry Cox, after the touching discovery that he kept a wounded seagull as a pet for a period of time. Georgia will be touring this material along with Aaren Bennett on guitar. More Announcements in next months newsletter TICKETS WILL BE ON SALE IN MAY East Anglian Dulcimers website News from Katie Howson Ten years ago John and I set up a website devoted to the dulcimer in East Anglia, documenting the many historic instruments, players and makers we had researched. The website was overdue a revamp, and that’s just what I’ve started doing in the last month. It’s a massive task, finding all the notes and photos from the old site and editing and revising the pages, but it’s a wonderful reminder to me of all the gorgeous instruments we came across, and the many people we met during more than forty years of research. There have probably been more dulcimer makers and players in East Anglia than in any other region of England. Locally this beautiful instrument was just known as a‘dulcimer’, not a ‘hammered dulcimer’ as it was called in America, where it was necessary to distinguish it from the ‘mountain’ or ‘Appalachian’ dulcimer,which is actually a completely different instrument, the only similarity being that it has a wooden sound-box and strings! Interest in the dulcimer was probably at its peak from around 1850 to 1930. The demand for instruments provided work for both skilled instrument makers and jobbing carpenters and also encouraged homemade creations. In East Anglia the old players used cane beaters, typically wound with wool. Many instruments were highly decorative and had an integrated hinged stand to enable them to be played whilst seated at a table. The website is full of photographs including comprehensive sections on design and tuning. It also functions as a directory of local players and makers across Norfolk,Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Essex. As you will see if you visit the site, it is not complete by any means yet, but there is still lots to browse through, including pages on our old friends Reg Reader and Billy Bennington as well as pages on the Cambridgeshire dynasty of makers, the Lawrence family. Players and makers are listed by county. There are some short sound clips and links to further recordings, where available.  Dulcimer owned and played by Harry Punt from Pulham St Mary, Norfolk (credit: John Halliday) If you are visit the site at a later date, you can always head for the News page first, which will tell you what the latest additions are. I can tell you that the next section is are vamped one on the top class Norwich maker, Mark Widdows, and the five superb dulcimers we have seen made by him. I hope that readers of this newsletter, in particular, will enjoy looking at this site,which is a significant resource for our local musical traditions and heritage.Anyone with a historic dulcimer is very welcome to get in touch with me via the website, as new items can be added in to extend our knowledge of this wonderful instrument. https://eastangliandulcimers.org.uk/ There is also a Facebook page – just search East Anglian Dulcimers, then please like and share!  Billy Bennington at home in Barford, Norfolk, demonstrating plucking with his fingernails, c.1984 (credit: John Howson) Events coming up:  Join Us for the Next Sunday Afternoon of Music, Song, and Dance!Following the success of our popular events this year and last year in Walsham le Willows and Garboldisham, we are thrilled to be running another event. The next event will be held on Sunday, June 15th at Wortwell Village Hall.This is a free event, but we kindly ask for donations at the door. You can also purchase a raffle ticket and enjoy some afternoon tea and cake. Whether you’d like to come and watch, listen, or even take part, we’d love to see you there!If you’d like to bring one of these events to your village, please get in touch – we’ll do our best to make it happen.Want to guarantee a performance spot? Or bake a cake? Help on the day? Email us at info@eatmt.org.uk 25th Anniversary Stepdancing Day  Dates for your Diary 25th May Denver Windmill Mini Folk and Acoustic Festival from 11am 15th June Wortwell – Afternoon of music, song and dance 1.30pm-4pm 11th-13th July – Ely Folk Festival 12th -13th July – Strumpshaw Tree Fair 27th July – Stepdancing Day – The Compass, Littley Green 15-17th August – Folk East 5-7th September – Bungay Folk Festival 27th September – Traditional Music Day – Stowmarket More News Instrument Hire: We’re at Capacity! We’re pleased to announce that we’re at capacity with some of our hire instruments, which is a fantastic position to be in! However, we’d love to increase our stock so that more people can experience and play traditional instruments. If you have a melodeon, concertina, or any other instrument you no longer use, we’d be thrilled to see it put to good use. Whether you’d like to donate it or discuss a long-term loan to the trust, please get in touch with us. Your generosity can make a real difference!Email: info@eatmt.org.uk CALLING ALL VOLUNTEERS! We’re always on the lookout for enthusiastic volunteers to join our team, whether for one-off events or ongoing roles within the trust. This year, we’re particularly seeking support for organising our Traditional Music Day and for volunteering as stewards on the day. In addition, we’re planning to have a presence at various local festivals, including the Suffolk Show, and need volunteers to attend and promote the Trust. Sign Up Please get in touch if you would like to support the trust by becoming a friend or if you have an article for our next newsletter info@eatmt.org.uk Copyright (C) 2025 East Anglian Traditional Music Trust. All rights reserved. |