At: Hullabaloo, 41 Westgate, Shipley, BD18 3QX

Est: 1956

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Topic Newsletter Archive

TOPIC INFORMAL NEWSLETTER No 12, 10 December 2002

Website: http://www.topic-folk-club.org.uk Log On Now!

Greetings one and all.

FIRST, NEWS OF WHAT’S COMING UP

Thursday 12 December, and it is John Kirkpatrick. This man is a master performer on squeezeboxes indeed on anything you push and pull, including accordion, concertina and melodeon. He has been around the music scene for a long time, though started his solo musical career a mere 32 years ago. One of England’s greatest performers, with impressive energy and conviction. Featured Support will be provided by Eddie Lawler, a local singer/ songwriter/ composer with some very interesting original songs. There’ll still be room for a couple of floor spots, so come equipped!

Thursday 19 December we have the brilliant Banoffi. Don’t miss them, they are unique, talented, and enormous fun, with musicianship of an exceptionally high order (guitars, cittern, and a whole host of pipes, whistles and percussion). Plus lyrics to ponder. All sorts of influences: including Roma and eastern European. Featured Support (or disruption) will be provided by the traditional Holbeck Mummers. Anarchy and village hall theatre in equal measure. This is because the event also marks our official end-of-season party celebration.

26 December The Milestone Band. Come along by all means, but it won’t be a Topic night.

Thursday 2 January 2003 and it’s time for Instruments of Torture. A Cure for Hangovers is what they promise. IoT are a couple of great blokes from out Skipton way, providing Irish Music with Attitude. Uilleann Pipes and Bodhran, mostly (and if I’ve spelt both of those right it’s a miracle). The torture is theirs rather than ours (both instruments are difficult to keep in tune in cold weather, apparently). But they provide a delightful up-tempo Irish-ish sound. More details on their website: http://www.stafford.uklinux.net/iot/ This booking missed the official copydate for Tykes News, so do make a special effort to attend. Floor singers welcome.

Thursday 9 January sees our first proper Singers and Musicians evening of the new year. The theme: Knavery in all its forms: cheats, liars, skullduggery, tricks, jokes, double crossings, cuckoldry, that sort of thing. As with all singaround themes, it is there in case anyone wants inspiration, and to be ignored by anyone who wants to do something else.

Thursday 16 January and we welcome regular and popular friend Robb Johnson, appearing this evening with Miranda Sykes and Saskia Tomkins, on double bass and violin respectively. Robb is acknowledged as one of the finest writers and singers of contemporary songs; often, but not always, with a political edge. He’s also one of the most robust performers in the business. See his website: http://www.robbjohnson.co.uk/ . Featured support is provided by Emily Weygang and Ben Harker. Based in York, they perform traditional, self-written and contemporary songs with voice, guitar, fiddle and whistles. Over the past couple of years they have consolidated a strong reputation in the region, and now have their debut CD on release.

THE REST OF THE EARLY-2003 PROGRAMME

Jan 23 Risky Business Guitars, mandolins and luxurious vocal harmonies; this threesome perform mostly self-penned material

Jan 30 Singers and Musicians theme to be decided.

Feb 6 Gordon Tyrrall: multi-instrumentalist with a fine voice, and a habit of doing songs in 5/4 time - worth the door money for that alone. Featured support will be provided by local singer David Kidman, with a rich fund of traditional songs.

Feb 13 Singers and Musicians

Feb 20 Geoff Higginbottom Large, not to say stentorian, voice; sometimes accompanied by guitar and/or bodhran, singing mostly sea-shanty or sea-related songs (usually with booming choruses) accompanied by a series of sea-related jokes

Feb 27 Steve Tilston Ex-Fairport guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. You’ll have heard someone trying to cover his “Slipjigs and Reels” so now come and hear it as the writer intended. Featured support from Darren Poyzer, a quirky, individual entertainer, songwriter and musician from Manchester. This’ll be interesting . . .

Mar 6 Singers and Musicians

Mar 13 Tim Moon

Mar 20 Jon Harvison

Mar 27 Singers and Musicians

April 3 Paul Tiernan. Featured support from Martin Sumpton (the Hot Bread Brothers)

April 10 Vin Garbutt (tickets can be reserved in advance, ring Bfd 883412)

April 1 Singers and Musicians

More details of all of these to follow nearer the time, but you can always

check out their websites now all are accessible via the Topic website: www.topic-folk-club.org.uk

Any performers who'd like to give it a go, and who feel they meet the required standard are welcome to apply for Featured Support slots on any of these evenings, apart from Vin Garbutt and those already snaffled. Email me.

See you all soon!

John Waller
j.waller@bradford.ac.uk

THE TOPIC FOLK CLUB - The oldest Folk Club in the World - Founded 1956, still going strong. Meets every Thursday at the Melborn Hotel, White Abbey Road, Bradford, 8.30pm. The Melborn is a Real Ale pub, and the Club is proud to be a no-smoking venue. Floor singers welcome, but please arrive and sign up by 8.30pm if you want to perform on Guest Nights.

Website: http://www.topic-folk-club.org.uk Log On Now!

December 2002

PS - We don't normally do plugs for other venues, BUT: there is a great double gig of two Topic favourites on Wednesday 18 December at the New Roscoe, Leeds, 9.00pm. Duncan McFarlane and his band, plus Tom Bliss and his band Slide. Both on the bill for just £4 in. (Why are these two Topic favourites? Well, for one thing, both are quite happy to turn up at the Topic every now and then and do floorspots for free on other people's guest nights, and that is a real bonus.)