At: Groove Pad, 48 Saltaire Road, Shipley BD18 3HN
Venue (not Club) Tel: 01274 586542

Est: 1956

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Topic Newsletter Archive

Newsletter No 257 - November 2023

_{Hello again all, here we are back with GMT already. Seems like only yesterday.....where do the years go??}

_{Our programme for the coming month is as follows (and lots else besides):}

_{2nd November:   Singers & Musicians  (£1 entry)}
 

_{9th November : Power of Three (formerly Phil Cockerham Trio)}  

_{Led by Phil Cockerham, The Power of Three have been playing together across the UK for some years and have developed a reputation for exciting and original music, delighting and pleasing audiences wherever they go. Their name The Power of Three was coined during 2020 when the band recorded the live CD Windy Park Bandstand. Dave Bowie Jnr plays double bass and Dickie Dixon plays percussion and harmonium, accompanying Philip Cockerham on bouzouki and guitar, supporting him in creating original songs and tunes and performing refreshing versions of other contemporary songs. Their music is full of humour and fun, often thought-provoking and always entertaining.}

_{Under their old name The Phil Cockerham Trio they have played the Topic three times - in 2014, 2017 and last in 2020, when they played a couple of months before the first Covid lockdown.      £7 (£6 members)}                

_{https://www.facebook.com/PhilipCockerham/}

_{16th  November: Singers & musicians    (£1 entry)}

_{23rd  November: Dave Ellis & Boo Howard}  

_{With regular appearances at festivals and folk clubs, Dave & Boo are now an integral part of the British acoustic folk scene and firm favourites with audiences up and down the land.}

_{Dave Ellis left Liverpool and headed to London with his guitar at the tender age of 18. He was soon headlining at major venues, getting rave reviews for his extraordinary guitar playing, duetting with Gordon Giltrap and touring with his hero Bert Jansch. Melody Maker listed him as “one of the 6 best guitarists in the world.”}

_{With the release of his solo album, radio and TV beckoned and after a spot on The Old Grey Whistle Test, Dave decided to form the Dave Ellis band. Boo joined as the bass player and soon became the main singer. The pair became a solid partnership renowned for their unusual blend of powerful songwriting, exquisite guitar playing and beautiful harmonies.  £7 (£6 members)}

_{Dave & Boo's latest album Time (2022) gets a 5-star review in Rock n Reel:}

_{Whenever I listen to a new album from Dave and Boo I invariably find myself staggered at the sheer quality of the songs and the wonderful way that the pair arrange and perform them. The vocals and musicianship are of a knock-your- socks off calibre...this is a master craftsman and craftswoman at work.}   

_{https://www.daveandboo.com/}
 

_{30th   November:  Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne}                   

_{Described in The Living Tradition as "captivating, bold and striking", Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne is at the forefront of his generation of English folk musicians as both a powerful and commanding singer and a masterful player of the Anglo concertina and melodeon. He burst onto the folk scene in his teens with the energetic and much-loved trio Granny’s Attic, along with schoolmates George Sansome and Lewis Wood, and in recent years has embarked on a solo career alongside this.}

_{Cohen is going to premiere a special show for us on this date.}

_{"The show is focused primarily on English folk songs that entered the African-American and Caribbean musical traditions, exploring a little known offshoot of the English folk tradition.}

_{“The subject is something I’ve been interested in for years. A research project in 2020 and 2021 supported by the EFDSS allowed me to explore this subject in some detail for the first time. The final product of that research was an educational resource aimed at secondary school teachers to incorporate in their curriculum. While the educational resource was well received it has a fairly limited audience, so the idea for this show is to present some of the material I discovered in my research project (much of which didn’t end up in the final resource) along with material that I’ve discovered since.}

_{"Of the songs I’ve discovered, I’ve probably performed half already, and these have been very well received, with many audience members asking more about the subject, which has made me consider the idea of putting them into a full show more seriously."}

_{"In terms of the format, I envisage it taking the form of two sets of around 40-45 minutes. Really it will follow the format of my usual folk club sets, just with quite a different repertoire and possibly slightly more speaking to outline some of the contextual details of the music (although these days I tend to do quite a bit of chat between songs about musical history anyway…)"    £7 (£6 members)}

_{https://cohenbk.com/}

_{Topic ZOOMS}

_{Joy Leach has submitted the following:}

_{This is an invitation to join the next Topic Zoom on Monday, November 20th in the comfort of your own home. Performers and audience members from far and near are welcome to join. As previously, doors will open at 7.30 for an 8pm start and the programme will run till 10pm.}

_{For future planning, we are continuing with the 3rd Monday in the month for the sessions. Singers, musicians and poets can all take part. For further enquiries about participating, pass codes for each evening etc, please email joy.utistugu.49.5.8@gmail.com or text 07947 747998.}
 

_{TOPIC-ISH STUFF}

_{For those of you who came to our double -header last week (26th October) , you might be interested to know that  Johnny Campbell  is working on an album of traditional songs from each Northern English County, field recorded on the summits of each respective county.} 

_{The album is entitled TrueNorth: for which he has launched a crowdfunding appeal. This is the link, should you wish to help him achieve his aim : https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/johnnycampbell/true-north-0, which will also give you more information about this highly original project.}

_{NON-TOPIC STUFF}

_{On Monday November 6th 2023, Liz Narey's First Monday Folk welcomes Ben Greenwell, noted  singer/songwriter. Venue: The Ryshworth Club, Keighley Road,Crossflatts, BD16 2HB.}

_{Free entry. Doors 7 pm Raffle/donation appreciated.}

_{Local Topic favourites Plumhall are joining forces with the amazing Ranagri in a concert at Silsden Town Hall on Saturday 25th November, 7.30pm - 10.30pm. (Doors 6.30pm). For more information, visit https://www.silsden.live/}

_{SONGS FOR PEACE - 12TH NOVEMBER}

_{All are welcome to this annual peace event hosted by Yorkshire CND. Featuring songs sung by local choirs and a free soup to warm us up afterwards at Josef K café.}

_{Meet at the Bradford Cenotaph at 1pm on Sunday 12th November, outside the Alhambra in Bradford city centre. White poppies will be available for sale on the day, and prior via Yorkshire CND.}

_{Please contact Yorkshire CND (info@yorkshirecnd.org.uk) if you would like to lay a wreath, say a few words, or have any questions.}

_{Still with CND, their annual Peace & Crafts Fair will take place at Victoria Hall, Saltaire on Saturday 25th November 10am - 4 pm. Lots of stalls, live music, food: it's always a grand event.}
 

_{OTHER NEWS FROM ROUND AND ABOUT:} 

_{Buck Inn: Muppett's Buck Inn session is on 12th November, 1 pm- 4pm., it's timed so that session can be accessed by the Dales Bus; DalesBus Timetable Booklet. See the previous newsletter or visit https://dales-music-and-dance-collective.org.uk/}

_{Bradford Music Month kicks off  today: all during November there will be events taking place to celebrate and promote the rich and diverse music scenes in and around our city.} 

 _{Too many details to go into here: see} 

_{https://www.musicmonth.co.uk/ and https://www.musicmonth.co.uk/performers}

_{There will also be plenty of information about BMM on social media.}

_{TOPIC STUFF}

_{IMPORTANT STUFF - THE TOPIC AGM!}

_{Yep, it's that time again: the AGM will be held on 7th December at 7.15 pm at Groove Pad, preceding the scheduled singers and musicians night. Further details will be formally circulated later, in accordance with the requirements of the constitution. A reminder that the AGM business will be for Topic members only: non-members coming to the singers night will be welcome to observe, but will not be able to vote on any matters, as is normal.}

_{Forms for the election of committee members will be available on club nights prior to the date of the AGM. Nomination forms must include a proposer, seconder and the nominee's agreement to stand for election.}

_{Please consider putting your name forward for the committee: it's not too onerous a task, 4 meetings a year and it's always helpful to have new people being involved, new ideas and so forth, it keeps the club moving forward.}

_{AGM's and matters of constitution are tedious but necessary: they give members a chance to let the committee know what they want, and the committee members to explain the whys and wherefores of their running of the club if necessary. Above all they make for transparency in terms of financial matters, providing a proper record of the accounts of the club. So hopefully we will get enough people along and deal with the business quickly and efficiently so we can get on with the main business of the evening, the music.}

                                                                      _{----------------------------------------------------}

_{As I'm sure you're now aware, guest nights as well as singers & musicians  nights are now held in the downstairs bar. Please note that doors will now open at 7 pm to enable the seating arrangements to be completed for the evening.}

_{For those of you wishing to partake of drinks that are only available from the upstairs bar, would you please go upstairs to purchase them, as the bar staff are not able to leave their bar area. When doing so, it would be much appreciated if you would try to leave and come back between songs, as is normal folk club etiquette.}

_{Remember that we now accept (indeed prefer) payment by card, but you can of course pay by cash if that suits you better.}

_MEMBERSHIP 

_{Membership of the Topic Folk Club - still only £5 - 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 Groove Pad, 48 Saltaire Road, Shipley BD18 3HN, doors will open at 7 pm with a 7.30 pm start and a target time of 10pm to finish. 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 are hoping we can count on you for your continued support.}

_{Floor singers are always welcome (though may be limited if we have a booked support act - please check). Please arrive by 7.15 pm if you’d like a slot – it helps the MC to plan the evening.} 

_{Covid is still very much around, in fact it seems to be on the increase again with the new variant: please continue to take precautions when visiting the club.}

_{Phew, hope I haven't forgotten anything!}

_{Best wishes}

_{Tony Charnock}

_{Topic Folk Club}