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

Est: 1956

Map

Topic Newsletter Archive

TOPIC FOLK CLUB, BRADFORD

At Glyde House, Glydegate, Bradford BD5 0BQ

Newsletter No 202  - April 2019 

Hello all, 

Well, the lighter evenings are back with us at last. In darkness or in light, the Topic is there for you…..

4th   April:   Singers and musicians.  Free entry

11th April:   Stanley Accrington.  (CHANGE TO PUBLISHED PROGRAMME)

Stanley emerged from the dark days of the late 1970's and has been terrorising the cultural world ever since.

Now celebrating 40 years in the folk-biz with his “40 years sung” tour he shows no signs of slowing down. He still writes about 30 new songs a year, and has recently produced his 23rd album, a CD entitled "4-5-1 " (named after a football formation, not the burning point of paper). He has recently written some verse for a book commemorating his namesake football club's rise to League One. He sometimes can be seen in a weird band "Doc Harvey and the Philistans" of which he is the "stan". They play the lost songs of Lancashire to bewildered audiences.

Over 39 years, Stanley has drifted through the UK folk scene and beyond (including Hong Kong, USA and Castleford) with his eclectic mix of pastiche, parody, poems, and other p's but he cannot be pigeonholed because he won't fit in. Expect the silly, the very silly, the deadly serious and the miscellaneous, and of course a few apt anagrams. Current events will feature in traditional songs and vice versa. He has always liked Sheffield, even after the time in 1990 when, returning from a gig in the big S, he chose to drive back in a snowstorm over the Snake Pass.

He has performed at weddings, a black-pudding cookery demonstration, an anti-motorway demonstration, a theme night on “bees”, and a moorland restaurant’s Septic Tank Opening Night, to name but a few of the odd places he has ended up in.

He continues to write material in a range of styles. Some of his songs have been picked up and sung, and recorded, by other artists. What keeps him going is the compulsive urge to write songs, to incorporate new styles and, mainly, to have fun.

http://www.stanleyaccrington.me.uk/

(Cathryn Craig and Brian Willoughby have had to cancel all shows for the time being as Cathryn has been in hospital and has been ordered to have complete rest for a few weeks. We wish her a full speedy recovery and hope to see them back performing soon)

18th   April   : The Trials of Cato.

The Trials Of Cato, a band that arrived fully formed and functioning from Beirut in the winter of 2016, have since torn a shape very much their own into the canvas of the UK folk scene. Originally from North Wales and Yorkshire, whilst living in Lebanon they spent a year boiling down the roots of their sound into a hybrid of traditional influences that intrigued Lebanese audiences in the country’s biggest venues.

They moved back to the UK and have since been performing tirelessly up and down the country. Their musical development in the run up to their debut album proper has been swift and sure, winning much praise for their recently released CD Hide and Hair and receiving repeated national airplay on BBC Radio 2 and BBC 6 Music.

Praised for the diversity of their material and influences, The Trials of Cato live show “invariably stuns audience wherever they play.” Whether plying their trade busking, performing in front of thousands at festivals across Europe, or frequently selling out their own club shows, The Trials of Cato have the wind behind them.

The band’s live set includes both original and traditional material, featuring fretted instruments alone to achieve a musical presence not often heard on the modern folk scene. With tight instrumentation and rousing harmonies, the music is firmly rooted in the folk traditions of Ireland and Britain, yet the source material is decidedly contemporary.

One of the real discoveries on the folk circuit in recent times – Mark Radcliffe, BBC Radio 2

Fascinating stuff – Cerys Matthews, BBC 6 Music

https://thetrialsofcato.com

25th   April: Roisin Ban.

A predominantly Irish night with Róisín Bán, a band formed in the early months of 2013, now working as a 4 piece with the line up of Chris Dyson on fiddle, octave mandola & vocals, Steve Lacey on guitar, tenor guitar, tenor banjo, mandolin, bodhran & vocals, Paddy Heffron on melodeon, vocals & sean nos dancing , Gordon Tyrrall on flute, guitar, vocals. Bound to be good craic!

http://www.roisinban.co.uk

TOPIC STUFF 

IMPORTANT: We are considering sending out newsletters via  MailChimp. It's free and would make the job of sending so many emails at once much easier, especially when we have to send out urgent messages as we did last week when we had a very last-minute cancellation.

It would of course mean giving all the email addresses to the organisation, and some of you may not be happy about that. To help us judge the feeling would you please let me know if you have any objection and we'll give the matter our close attention. Nothing will be done without informing you, and no-one will miss out on the newsletters, even if it means that some end up being sent via MailChimp and some in the normal way.

MEMBERSHIP

If you would like to become a member of the Topic Folk club it still only costs only £5.00 for the year. Membership runs from 1st January and entitles you the lower ticket prices shown in this newsletter as well as the chance to become more involved in the workings of the club if you would like to. You can join or renew your membership on any club night. 

 For performers who may be thinking of approaching the club for a booking, please email: info4topic@gmail.com

If you’re visiting the club for the first time, be sure to come and say hello, and if anyone has any suggestions for the club, for example if you would like us to try to book a particular artist, we’d like to hear them.

The Topic runs on Thursdays at Glyde House, Glydegate, Little Horton Lane  BD5 0BQ, 8.00 pm start. Like all the clubs in the area, our aim is to provide good quality live entertainment to suit all tastes of those interested in folk music, and we thank you for your continued support.

Floor singers are always welcome, especially in the first half, though may be limited when we have a booked support act - please check. Please try to get there by 7.45 pm if you’d like a slot – it helps the MC to plan the evening.

To find the Topic on Facebook search for "Topic Fc".

Tony Charnock

Topic Newsletter Editor TOPIC STUFF