Newsletter No 266 - August 2024

_{Hello again everyone, and a Happy Yorkshire Day to one and all!}

_{Just a brief note to remind you that although we don't usually have guest nights in August, there will be a singers and musicians night on each of the Thursdays, ie, 1st, 8th, 15th and 22nd starting at 7.30 pm, entry £1. There will be an MC each week: the sessions are very informal, so feel free to come down and sing a song, play a tune, read a poem, tell a story,or just listen.}

_{HOWEVER: as there are so many Thursdays in August this year, we do have a guest on the last Thursday of the month, 29th.} 

_{29th August Caffrey McGurk & Madge.}

_{Nick Caffrey, Ed McGurk and Robin Madge are well-seasoned performers of traditional, original and contemporary folksong. They know how to pick a song for the occasion, they know when to play it straight and they know when to give it a unique and modern twist. But however they interpret and craft each song, you know their vocal and musical arrangements are going to delight the audience and you know that you will have to join in.}

_{Their first CD as a trio (Like Minds) was released in 2017 and has had a great reception both in the UK and in the USA with many of the tracks being broadcast by a number of radio stations in the UK and abroad. With their informed understanding of their songs, fabulous harmonies, musicality, youthful exuberance and humour, they have been described as one of the most accomplished and entertaining acts currently on the folk circuit.}

_{They were fabulous! Sarah Cockburn-Price. The Moorcock Acoustic Music Night}

_{True English Folk singing, in my humble opinion, doesn’t come much better than this – Keith Kendrick.}

_{https://www.caffreymcgurkmadge.com/}

_{Support: Pete Dunne}

_{Pete Dunne was born and raised in Bradford. He was an occasional floor singer at the Topic, and other similar venues around the West Riding in the second half of the 60s. Like others of the time he served an apprenticeship in the songs and music of the likes of Tom Paley, Mike Seeger, Mike Heron, Tom Paxton, Bert Jansch etc. In the following decade he was drawn into a state of wage slavery in Lancashire and remained in that condition under a lifetime sentence. In 2014 he was released back into the wild and decided to take his revenge by singing again. He is now a semi-confused little old man who plays ragtimey fingerstyle guitar and sings made-up songs about thisery, thatery and inconsequential sideways glances on life that make him giggle a bit. He has recently been exposed at the Lancaster Folk Festival, the Lancaster Music Festival and plays at venues around Lancashire and the South Lakes.}

_{https://www.wegottickets.com/event/609637}

_{THE TOPIC AND BRADFORD CITY OF CULTURE 2025}

_{The now usual reminder that we are involved in one of the cultural events in the run up to Bradford City of Culture 2025.}

_{Please see the attached updated flyer Songs with a Bradford Accent (which replaces Folk Songs for Bradford District - Person and Place: Creating Songs about People and Places of Bradford District.)}

_{This ambitious project is by no means limited to the usual participants in the acoustic music scene: if you know of anyone outside our orbit who might be interested in being involved, please let them know about it, nay, encourage them.}

_{Further activities in respect of this project are being planned.}

_{Topic ZOOMS}

_{A reminder that there won't be a Zoom session this month. They will re-start on September 16th. Watch this space...}

_{A reminder too that the Topic now runs on Thursdays at Hullabaloo, 41 Westgate, Shipley, BD18 3QX. Doors will open at 7 pm with a 7.30 pm start and a target time of 10pm to finish.}

_{You will be advised as soon as the issue of the downstairs toilet has been resolved.}

_{Please continue to take Covid precautions when visiting the club: it's still very much out there.}

_{Hope to see you in September, if not before. In the meantime have a good summer, whatever you're doing.}

_{Tony Charnock}

_{Topic Folk Club}