Tag: Ashley Hutchings
Ashley Hutchings to open new series of concerts
Ashley Hutchings – the way it was
Eathorpe Village Hall Back To The Roots concert series will begin at the beginning
A new series of music events will begin at 7.30pm on Saturday 9 November in Eathorpe Village Hall. Appropriately for the start of Back To The Roots the village hall committee has invited Ashley Hutchings MBE, the founder of British folk rock band Fairport Convention, to perform 'The Beginnings Of Fairport' his spoken word and song tribute.
Accompanied by singer songwriter Becky Mills they will explore the sights and sounds of the 60s that influenced the legendary band. Ashley's stories from his extensive diaries of those early days, and songs that the band members were listening to, will both bring that era back to life and take the listener back in time.
'We are delighted our new concert series will start with one of the folk world's most renowned artists Ashley Hutchings' explains committee Chairman David Wray. He has been a huge musical influence throughout his long career, The Beginnings Of Fairport offers a glimpse into what it was like at the very start'.
Ashley is also very pleased to have been invited. 'Becky and I are looking forward to being the first guests for the beginning of this new musical venture in Eathorpe'. Music has always been a great way to bring communities together, at a local and an individual level. That shared love creates bonds and memories that can last a lifetime as I hope 'The Beginnings Of Fairport' shows'.
Two further concerts are confirmed for Back To The Roots over the forthcoming months. These include Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman on 23 January 2020 and Simon Mayor and Hilary James on 13 February 2020.
Tickets for The Beginnings Of Fairport (and future individual concerts) cost £12.50 from the box office 01926 632564 or 01926 6320830 Online bookings (including a special offer booking price of £35 for all three concerts):
http://www.w2hen.info/BacktotheRootsMusicseason4
Further information can be found on the village hall website:
'Time Will Show The Wiser' – way back then:
Posted on October 25, 2019 November 2, 2019 Author EditorCategories Press Releases, VideoTags Ashley Hutchings, Becky Mills, Eathorpe Village Hall, The Beginnings Of Fairport, Time Will Show The Wiser
BECKY MILLS – Tall Tales And Home Truths (Talking Elephant TECD414)
Formerly part of Waking The Witch as well as collaborating in duo or trio form with Ashley Hutchings and violinist Ruth Angell, the clear-voiced Yorkshire-born Mills released her solo debut back in 2013, so the follow-up has been long anticipated. Joined by both Hutchings and Angell and featuring Blair Dunlop's electric guitar on two tracks, this won't disappoint.
All self-penned with an ear for the tradition, it opens with 'My Brother's A Farmer', cello, concertina and violin colouring a slow waltzing song about her pheasant farmer brother and how the job leaves him no time for romance or a private life.
Featuring Dunlop with Angell on pump harmonium, there's a further family connection with the six-minute 'The Lady Of Ballantyne', sung in the voice of her storytelling grandmother Eve Mills (nee Ballantyne) recalling her family history and of a young girl taken from her land of black stone across the waters to marry an older man she'd never met, the story coming with a rare happy ending.
A sparse arrangement of just guitar, cello and wine glasses, the intimately sung, highly traditional sounding 'Crocuses' was written in memory of a family member and how, her grave unmarked for some time, Mills planted crocuses which now return each year in commemoration of her life.
Hutchings and Angell joining on in the backing vocals, her grandfather gets his turn in the songbook on breezy strummed swayalong 'The Gunsmith's Daughter', the old man a self-taught gunsmith who'd shoot at anything that flew, much to the consternation of his daughters, Then, hospitalised, he'd lie in bed watching the birds flying away, living their lives, and underwent sea change, never again shooting a living thing.
Mid-way in comes a brace of songs recorded live with Angell on violin and backing vocals at St. John's Church in the North Yorkshire village of Newton-upon-Rawcliffe, the first being the slow waltz 'No Tears For My Fisherman', the story of a comfortable-off widow from near Robin Hood's Bay who married a younger fisherman from Saltburn, thinking she'd be rescuing him from a life at the waves only to find their calling was stronger than that of the marriage bed, although she remained content to wait for his return, his third mistress after the sea and his boat.
The second is 'Last Look At Home', a jauntier fingerpicked melody serving a song about facing the uncertainty of days ahead with optimism and in the company of the one that matters to you most, assured in the knowledge that the sun will rise again.
Returning to the studio and family, the playful 'City In My Lungs' is sung in the voice of her great grandmother who, when she married a sailor, left the family grocery store in Wallsend where she worked to move in with the in-laws in North Yorkshire, only to become homesick for the noise and smoke of the docks, not comforted by her moody husband ("he sulks all day in his shed with his Dad/And in six long weeks I've only ever known him bath once") and unable to make friends on account of her strong accent.
The song, strummed in a lively 60s folk troubadour style and accompanied by acoustic bass, concertina and violin has her begging her folks to let her come back, laying out all her woes , swearing she'd even become a nun for "a great big drag of the city in my lungs". There is, however, a cute turnaround as he agrees to let her go, but says he'd miss her, and she decides "the city life was never much of a place for raising babies on".
The same grandmother is the narrator for 'William', a low key, spare solo showcase for Mills that talks about how, in 1941, the ship on which her son was serving was torpedoed with only fourteen survivors, he not being among them. Her hair turned white overnight, but she refused to accept he was gone, everyone thinking she'd gone mad with grief. Just under four years later, at Christmas, he knocked on the front door.
Again featuring Dunlop and with Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne on melodeon, Mills returns to marriage for skittering 'The Wheeldale Crossing', or, more accurately, not marrying but living together, commonplace enough today but a rare thing in the late Georgian era, other than, of course, on the Moors where they make their own rules. `Not that this is a celebration of liberal sexual mores, but rather a tragic tale of how Jack drowned when he got caught in the crossing ("turning like a monkey on the wheel of chance") and was washed away, only for the locals to accuse her of being a witch when, in a ritual, she burns his clothes but leaves his boots at the churchyard gate for his ghost to retrieve.
The final credited track is the strummed 'Row Like Grace', Angell back on pump harmonium, which, as you might rightly assume, is about Grace Darling, one of Mills' heroines, her courageous actions here serving as a metaphor for her riding life's tempestuous waves for her other half if he needed her.
There remains a hidden bonus number, 'Barry Sheene', a robust strummed singalong tribute to the legendary 70s motorcycle rider and star of the Scarborough circuit (not to mention ladies man) with Dunlop on guitar, a violin solo from Angell and everyone piling in on backing vocals. Ride on indeed.
Artist's website:www.beckymillsgigs.co.uk
'No Tears For My Fisherman' with Ruth Angell:
Posted on April 22, 2019 December 22, 2019 Author EditorCategories CD Reviews, VideoTags Ashley Hutchings, Becky Mills, Blair Dunlop, Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne, Mike Davies, No Tears For My Fisherman, Ruth Angell, Tall Tales And Home Truths
Ashley Hutchings to play Lichfield Arts this month
Lauded by Bob Dylan, and every other folk musician of importance, Ashley Hutchings MBE has had a storied and eventful career in Folk and world music. From his time as a founding member of Fairport Convention, his career as a session musician and record producer, and involvement with such groups as Steeleye Span, The Albion Country Band, Morris On, Rainbow Chasers and the Lark Rise Band his devotion to English folk music knows no bounds.
He has put together a new and entertaining words and music show entitle, The Beginnings of Fairport Convention. As a leading founder member of Fairport back in 1967 he is in a great position to tell the story of the start of Britain's favourite folk-rock band.
Ashley teams up with Becky Mills to present the show which is informative, funny and full of wonderful music. Ashley has thrown in some great stories of the music scene in London in the late sixties. Stories which include Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan and The Beatles' Sergeant Pepper album, and much else besides.
A Lichfield Arts Spokesman said 'Ashley Hutchings has performed at the Guildhall many times, and his first hand stories of the music scene in 1960's London make you feel that you are experiencing that same excitement. Add the glorious voice of Becky Mills, and you will have an unmissable evening of music'.
Tickets for this intimate night of music and story-telling are £15.50, £13.95 for Friends of Lichfield Arts and £7.75 for under 16's. For further information and to book tickets visit www.lichfieldarts.org.uk, phone (01543) 262223, or call into the Lichfield Arts Box Office in Donegal House on Bore Street.
Posted on March 12, 2019 Author EditorCategories Press ReleasesTags Ashley Hutchings, Becky Mills, Lichfield Arts, The Beginnings of Fairport Convention
FAIRPORT CONVENTION – What We Did On Our Saturday (Matty Grooves MG2CD055)
If you've ever been to a Cropredy Festival you'll know exactly what they do on Saturday. They gather together a bunch of former band-mates and old friends and play a mammoth set long into the darkness (subject to health and safety restrictions, of course). These days, Fairport Convention don't need an excuse to mount a celebration but 2017 marked the band's fiftieth anniversary and so this was the perfect opportunity to tell the band's story in music – although not strictly in the right order. Thus we have What We Did On Our Saturday, packaged in an homage to their second album.
The album begins with their first album and (almost) their first line-up. For younger readers that was Ashley Hutchings, Simon Nicol, Richard Thompson, Iain Matthews and Judy Dyble now with Dave Mattacks on drums. They kick off with 'Time Will Show The Wiser' and 'Reno Nevada' and I was impressed at the way Richard played the sort of guitar lead appropriate to 1967. He couldn't help himself, of course, and went off on one but I don't suppose that anyone complained.
Chris While took over on lead vocals for 'Suzanne', a slightly less off-the-wall arrangement than the original. Chris does a very good Sandy Denny particularly on the rockier numbers but she's her own woman and the grace notes and decorations are all her own. Judy and Iain get time off and the others take it in turns so the current line-up doesn't actually appear until 'Crazy Man Michael' when Gerry Conway briefly wrestles the drum stool away from DM. The remainder of the first disc is taken up with selections from Liege & Lief and Full House and they keep 'Sloth' to under ten minutes.
The second disc opens with 'Now Be Thankful', a song which Chris Leslie is rapidly making his own, even though Richard elbows him off the mic on this occasion. It's worth noting that Chris doesn't get a break after the third track until the Fotheringay homage of 'Ned Kelly' and 'Rising For The Moon' which feature Sally Barker and PJ Wright and introduce Maartin Allcock to the stage. The latter is a feature of the revamped Fotheringay's set but sadly, of course, Jerry Donahue isn't available. I have to say, in passing, that Simon does a wonderful job with 'Fotheringay'. Maart gets to lead 'A Surfeit Of Lampreys' and Ralph McTell takes centre stage for 'White Dress' but Simon keeps 'The Hiring Fair' for himself.
There is only one song that originates with the current line-up and that's Chris Leslie's 'Our Bus Rolls On' and now we're on the downhill run. You know how it ends: 'Matty Groves' – with both drummers – and 'Meet On The Ledge' with everyone back on stage.
As you might imagine, I own a lot of Cropredy recordings and all have their own attractions. For me the 25th anniversary set stands out while the earlier ones: A.T.2 and The Boot have the particular ramshackle charm that we used to associate with Fairport Convention thirty-odd years ago. What We Did On Our Saturday is tight and slick without much in the way of stage chatter – an appropriately serious set to go with such a milestone in Fairport's history. Exemplary performances as we've come to expect, of course, but sometimes I do miss Simon playing rhythm viola!
Artists' website: www.fairportconvention.com
'Meet On The Ledge' – what else?
Posted on June 6, 2018 January 27, 2019 Author EditorCategories CD Reviews, VideoTags Ashley Hutchings, Chris Leslie, Chris While, Cropredy, Dai Jeffries, Dave Mattacks, Dave Pegg, Fairport Convention, Gerry Conway, Iain Matthews, Judy Dyble, Maartin Allcock, Meet On The Ledge, PJ Wright, Ralph McTell, Ric Sanders, Richard Thompson, Sally Barker, Simon Nicol, What We Did On Our Saturday
Fairport Convention: Folk Heroes will be broadcast this month
Sky Arts is to broadcast a major television documentary to mark the fiftieth anniversary of legendary folk rock band Fairport Convention. Titled Fairport Convention: Folk Heroes, the 70-minute film will be transmitted at 9pm on Saturday 25 November 2017.
The film tells how five young musicians in North London formed Fairport Convention during 1967's 'summer of love'. The band went on to shake English folk music to its roots by fusing it with rock, an approach which outraged some purists but delighted a new and devoted audience.
In the subsequent five decades, Fairport Convention has attracted widespread critical acclaim, won a coveted BBC Lifetime Achievement Award, and Radio 2 listeners voted Fairport's groundbreaking album Liege & Lief 'The Most Influential Folk Album of All Time'.
The documentary has been made by London-based independent producer Special Treats Productions. The company's previous television music documentaries include XTC: This Is Pop, I'm Not In Love: The Story Of 10cc and the award-winning film UB40: Promises And Lies.
The film features rare archive interviews and footage as well as newly-filmed interviews with the current Fairport members and, among others, Ashley Hutchings, Richard Thompson, Iain Matthews, Judy Dyble, Joe Boyd, Ralph McTell, Maddy Prior, Bob Harris, Suggs, Rick Wakeman, Steve Winwood, and Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull.
Through these interviews, the film examines Fairport's first five years in detail, including the tragic motorway crash which killed drummer Martin Lamble. It goes on to explain Fairport's pivotal role in the evolution of British folk-rock; how the band fostered major talents such as Sandy Denny, Richard Thompson and Dave Swarbrick and spawned other notable bands including Matthews Southern Comfort, Steeleye Span, and Fotheringay.
The story is brought up to date with contemporary material filmed at Fairport's annual 'own brand' music festival held at Cropredy in Oxfordshire. The closing sequence features the band's 2017 festival performance when virtually all the surviving former members joined the current line-up on stage.
Producer/Director Charlie Thomas has been working closely with Fairport for over a year. He says: "Our aim is to explain how important Fairport's influence has been and continues to be – in other words, why the band matters.
"We have not set out to make a comprehensive, year-by-year history of Fairport; that has been done before. The film concentrates on two periods – the first five years and the band today. The result is a celebration of a very British institution and an assertion of Fairport's continuing relevance."
Posted on November 6, 2017 Author EditorCategories Press ReleasesTags Ashley Hutchings, Bob Harris, Fairport Convention: Folk Heroes, Iain Matthews, Ian Anderson, Joe Boyd, Judy Dyble, Maddy Prior, Ralph McTell, Richard Thompson, Rick Wakeman, Steve Winwood, Suggs