BARING-GOULD FOLK FESTIVAL
OKEHAMPTON, DEVON
Friday 22nd – Sunday 24th October 2010
As a true ‘fishing widow’ I strive to find other things to fill my life whilst Keith, son Lee and friends are fishing and just a couple of years ago, much to my joy, I rediscovered the world of folk music and there began a rekindled love affair.
My latest foray began with a visit to the Fountain Inn in Okehampton on Saturday, 23rd October, day two of the Baring-Gould Folk Festival. There I met new and old friends, and listened to some of the best guitar playing I’ve heard in a long time from Phil Bird, MA accompanied at times by his lovely artist wife Anna on the flute.
Tom and Barbara Brown hosted a ‘sing-around’ and the highlight of the day for me was hearing ‘Mariners Away’ singing sea shanties with a harmony and gusto to rival that of the well-known group from Cornwall, Fisherman’s Friends. I’ll be following their progress with great interest.
On the workshop front, Chris Coe used her talents to the full and coached a group of us to sing three songs, ‘Bold William Taylor,’ ‘Souling Song,’ and my favourite, ‘July Wakes’ which the newly-formed choir sang publicly for the first time at the farewell concert on Sunday evening. Shan and Martin Graebe performed harmoniously, together with their newly formed ‘G & T’ (a happy marriage of the voices of Martin & Shan Graebe and Ron & Maddy Taylor).
Local Torrington folk heroes Nick Wyke and Becki Driscoll delighted the audience with their newly-coached folk orchestra, and then on stage were Sarah Owen, Nick Janaway, David Faulkner, Lauren McCormick (once a member of The Devil’s Interval) and the award-winning Scottish singer-songwriter, Mairi Campbell. Their delightful performances brought the festival to a close but began what was for me, the icing on the cake – the Baring-Gould Song School which ran from 25th October to the 28th and what a week it was.
BARING-GOULD SONG SCHOOL
BRIDESTOWE, DEVON
Monday 25th October – Friday 29th October
Located in the charming village of Bridestowe, I decided to stay for the entire five days as I missed so much last year by returning home most evenings, so I booked into one of the best B & B’s in the area, Stephen and Daphne Dale’s immaculate home, Royal Oak House, a listed former village pub and what a treat that was (I’ve already booked for next year!). But - back to Song School.
Organisers of this special event were Paul Wilson, Music Director of Wren Music and Marilyn Tucker, Artistic Director, ably assisted by Melanie Smith, Devon Tradition Project Co-ordinator, who’s done some great work with Martin Graebe on the Baring-Gould archive.
The song school was located in Bridestowe Chapel (ideal for acoustics) and on Monday morning, a group of around 20 people met, most for the first time. Understandably, some of us were more than a little nervous! At last year’s school, my nerves crippled my voice and I wouldn’t sing so this year, I was back on a mission and I managed it – yeah!!! With lots of encouragement from tutors and new friends, especially Chris Howell, I wobbled my way through a few songs and joined in with our project for the week from the Baring-Gould library, ‘The Golden Vanity’ which was great fun.
Happily, there were some familiar friendly faces from 2009; Jo & Ray, Chris, Jan and the lovely and highly entertaining Sally, who put me at my ease – it was like being welcomed back into an extended family.
Each day began with warm-up exercises designed to relax the body, mind and voice in preparation for singing. One aspect of the school that I really like is the freedom to choose activities which range from ‘friendly circle’ to ornamentation, to one-to-one tuition with professional voice practitioners and musicians, and plenty of time to explore the extensive Baring-Gould collection in the school’s library. We explored ‘Folk Song in England’ with Steve Roud, author, researcher and folksong scholar and delighted to the singing, and history of the Child ballads with Brian Peters who is “A singer, guitarist and melodeon player of rare ability” [Dirty Linen, USA].
Another highlight was to hear the crystal clear voice of Sarah Owen, composer and singer and the guitar and warm tones of Nick Janaway as they explored voice and sound using modern technology, with amazing results. I just closed my eyes and enjoyed the extraordinary experience they achieved as ‘Solarference’ and Paulo was on hand to record the event so that it’s not lost in the mists of time.
We also visited the former family seat of Sabine Baring-Gould and his large family, now the luxurious Lewtrenchard Manor Hotel where leading Baring-Gould expert, singer/songwriter Martin Graebe gave a fascinating illustrated talk entitled: ‘A Devonshire Man Goes North’ in which he explored Baring-Gould’s quest for folk-lore in Yorkshire, and included recently discovered material. All of this was presented in the sumptuous ballroom with tea and scrumptious biscuits before proceeding to St. Peter’s Church where we sang a hymn and listened to Martin & Shan singing ‘My coffin shall be black’ from the Baring-Gould archive.
Evenings were spent at well-chosen local hostelries where each person contributed a song to the evening’s entertainment. Except for me that is; the most I could manage was one verse from ‘The Silver Dagger’ but at least I added one more verse each evening as the week progressed, finally completing the song on the last night. My school report cards always stated: ‘could do better’ and I like to believe I could have but on a positive note, I had made progress from 2009 and my confidence is steadily growing with the support of my peers.
All in all, it was an action-packed week, shared with a group of individuals who each contributed some part of themselves which enriched the entire experience.
Places are limited at the song school so do book early if you’d like to be a part of something very special and in the words of Paul Wilson and Marilyn Tucker who wrote 'So We Sing' for the Caedmon Folk Choir in 1995 (a round for up to 16 voices and set to music by Paul Wilson):
‘Singing sets my spirit free and brings me joy and pleasure
Singing is so good a thing and so we sing
Singing helps the world to turn to love and peace and freedom
Singing is so good a thing and so we sing.’
And I couldn’t agree more.
Sandy Armishaw
www.riverreads.co.uk
www.anglingheritage.org
If you would like to support the work of Wren Music by becoming a friend or volunteer, visit their website at www.wrenmusic.co.uk
PS: I've just been alerted by Trevor that you can help raise money for Wren Music, which is a registered charity by clicking onto their link when buying goods through Amazon. They then receive 5% from each purchase. Sounds good to me and with the festive season nearly upon us, give it a go and support the amazing work that they do.
Contacts: Stephen & Daphne Dale, Royal Oak House B & B
www.royaloakhousebandb.co.uk
Phil Bird M.A. Painter, Poet, Singer/songwriter, Musician email: stormgold@hotmail.co.uk
Photographs courtesy of singer/songwriter: Jo Eden.
Visit the website of Sarah Owen and Nick Janaway at:
www.solarference.com
PPS:
2010 dates for Cornwall-based Martin Cole, guitar-maker, tutor/singer/songwriter and friends (Celtic/acoustic open sessions) are:
3.12 New Inn, Kilkhampton
4.12 Bush Inn, Morwenstow
6.12 Red Lion, Clovelly
20.12 Olde Smithy, Welcombe
Hope to see you there.
Sandy