EDDIE WALKER GIG GUIDE
Hi there. Here are my dates for the next few months confirmed on March 31st 2008. More news to follow shortly about club and festival dates both solo and with Fraser Speirs. I said a little while back that there would only be dates here in future and that news would appear under ‘news’. But I hope I’m allowed to change my mind! This place where I live has been upside down with building works for well over 4 months now. We are seeing the end of it this week, getting back to some kind of normality and. I’ll get the news page sorted soon. In the meantime let me flag up a couple of important things. Please scroll down for the gigs if you don’t want to read the news just now! Firstly, the summer schools of last year that were a great success, especially Guitar and Instrumental Week (well he would say that!), are going to happen again! Let me say how pleased that makes me. My commitment to these summer schools run by Pete Heywood, Editor of Living Tradition, is not just as a tutor but as part of the management team and I’ll be doing the tutor organising and planning again on a day by day basis. I’ll be there for 3 weeks out of the 6 at least (see diary below) and can recommend the event without reservation. No-one went away last year disappointed no matter what disciplines they involved themselves with and we had a lot of fun too in a very social and musical way. The schools started out last time at the very fine location of Glaisnock House near Cumnock in Ayrshire. Serious issues beyond our own control forced us out of there prematurely but we found two good homes further south near to Dumfries in the shape of Friars Carse Hotel and the Peace Centre at Allanton where we were made very welcome. This year we are trying the Barons Craig Hotel at Rockcliffe near Dalbeattie at a beautiful coastal setting and trust me it will again be a fine time we’ll all have whatever the students choose to do. www.livingtradition.org.uk will get you more information. Secondly, and this is really quite a personal choice issue, you’ll notice that the gig list below is a little lighter with dates than in the past and some old haunts of mine have disappeared altogether! Well I’m happy doing less in quantity and more in quality now I’m an old bloke! The missing ones now are mainly the free entry pub gigs that I’ve chosen almost exclusively to stop doing! One that I enjoyed doing very much The Tap and Spile in Scarborough was not my choice. Sadly Ian the landlord who supported music there for best part of 10 years had to abandon ship such was the decline in his day-to-day business. But I find trying to push my usual repertoire in these situations is getting harder as so much indifference has crept into the attitude of people at these events and getting music for which they haven’t paid to hear. So many of the punters in these pubs well know the cost of the pint they are drinking but definitely not the value of the music! At times they treat it and the performers (not just me btw) with so much contempt that I feel it’s time to call it a day with these gigs. I know lots of folk singers and guitarists who would never go anywhere near this circuit of music pubs and indeed I always did try to be choosy myself and play the ones where I thought I’d get a fair listen. But it was important to me where I felt I could ‘do it’ with my repertoire to play these gigs but in the end you sometimes have to move on. And moving on with my new playing partner Fraser Speirs is where I’m going and how enjoyable and successful this is proving. The more gigs we do the better it seems to the both of us. So many good gigs last year in Scotland we moved into Northern England for the first time this February and return club dates, festivals and more new dates are in the diary already for the next 12 months. Have a look at Fraser’s website for an insight into his background and professional career as a top harmonica showman and regularly sought studio session player. And such a great player he is too. If you’d like to se us in action right NOW! go to http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=phC7M74m-TQ filmed at the award winning Edinburgh Folk Club in January this year. 2008 April May 9 th CARLISLE Folk and Blues Club Sunset Suite at CUFC Brunton Park 01697473777 www.carlislefolk.org Fri. 23 rd BARONS CRAIG HOTEL Nr. Dalbeattie, Kircudbright. June 14 th SEDGEFIELD PROMS IN THE PARK around 5pm. CEDDESFELD 2008 with John Wrightson Band. Check out John’s link here for more info.http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=182656252&blogID=349375669 23 rd to 27 th Redcar and Cleveland Schools Folk Festival Week. Mon. 30 th GILLINGHAM The Barge at 9pm. 01634 850485 July Tues. 1 st NORTHAMPTON Great Knight Folk Club at the Old Black Lion at 8pm. Now meeting at The Malt Shovel Tavern www.maltshoveltavern.com next to Morrisons supermarket. http://www1.webng.com/gkfc/ or telephone 01604 766154 Wed. 2 nd DORKING Chanticlere Folk Club at Friends Provident Staff Social Club at 8.30pm. 07885484509 Sun. 20 th to Fri. 25 th LIVING TRADITION SUMMER SCHOOLS Guitar and Instrumental Week. BARONS CRAIG HOTEL Nr. Dalbeattie, Kircudbright. www.livingtradition.org.uk. e:admin@livingtradition.org.uk. tel. 01563 551408 August Sun. 3 rd to Fri.8 th COMMON GROUND SCOTLAND as part of Living Tradition Summer Schools see above for contact details. Sun. 10 th to Fri. 15 th LIVING TRADITION SUMMER SCHOOLS Music Technology and Performance Week. See above for contact details. Sun. 17 th EDINBURGH International Festival Fringe, FOLK at the OAK at The Royal Oak, 1 Infirmary St. at 8pm. For info and tickets tel. 0131 5572976 Wed. 20 th and Thurs. 21 st EDINBURGH International Festival Fringe, Caledonian Folk and Blues at The Guildford with the very wonderful YARD OF ALE as your resident hosts! A 10 day programme at Venue 107Guildford Arms, 1 West Register Street (off East End of Princes St) 0131 556 4312 Grid Ref: D5 www.guildfordarms.com Aug 14 – 23: 20.00 (to midnight) FREE (non ticketed) September Sat.13 th LINLITHGOW FOLK FESTIVAL with Eddie Walker and Fraser Speirs. Afternoon workshops from 2pm. How to arrange songs for harmonica and acoustic guitar. Blues harmonica styles. Fingerpicking and ragtime guitar styles for everyone to try and enjoy! Evening concert at the Academy Theatre Linlithgow, Braehead Rd. EH49 6EH at 7.30pm with full support.http://www.linlithgowfolk.com/festival.htm October Mon. 6 th GLENFARG Village Folk Club with Fraser Speirs at the Glenfarg Hotel at 8pm. www.glenfargfolkclub.co.uk Tues. 7 th PENICUIK Folk Club with Fraser Speirs at the Royal Hotel, 34 High Street, Penicuik, EH26 8HU at 8pm. www.penicuikfolkclub.org.uk Wed 15th EGGLESCLIFFE Pot and Glass Folk Club at 8.30pm. 01642 650466 Wed. 29 th to Mon Nov. 3 rd Eddie and Fraser together on tour in GERMANY. Confirmed dates and details to follow soon or contact ewald.schmitt@t-online.de . November December Wed. 15 th IRVINE Folk Club Xmas Party night with Fraser Speirs at Vineburgh Community Centre Quarry Rd. KA12 8TP at 8pm. 01294 551047 www.irvinefolkclub.co.uk 2009 January February Fri. 27 th ABINGDON, Oxon, Unicorn Theatre at 7pm Eddie Walker and Fraser Speirs present Beyond The Blues.www.abingdonabbey-unicorntheatre.org.uk … http://www.abingdonabbey-unicorntheatre.org.uk/eddie.html March Sun 1 st TWICKENHAM, Twickfolk at The Cabbage Patch with Fraser Speirs at 8pm. http://www.MySpace.com/TwickFolk Tues 3rd. DARTFORD Folk Club at The Workingmens Club with FraserSpeirs at 8pm. Wed. 4th ARUNDEL Willows Folk Club at the Footbal Club with Fraser Speirs at 8pm. April May June July Here are some recent gig links More information contact Eddie Walker, Ragged Records and Simon Music Publishing at 33 The Grove, Brookfield, Middlesbrough, TS5 8DT. Tel./Fax (+44) 01642 593780/ mobile 0790 563 8788 or e-mail me using the "contact me!" link in the menu. |