Our June Concert

Our June concert started with John Lennox playing Those Were The Days, Speak Softly Love (from The Godfather) Delilah, Under Paris Skies and La Vie En Rose. David Rigby was next to play, he gave us When Irish Eyes Are Smiling, Mountains Of Mourne, My Bonny, The Spinning Wheel, Snow Waltz, Amazing Grace, Highland Cathedral, Whispering Hope, I Love You Because, Good Old Summertime, and After The Ball Was Over. Colin Ensor then took to the stage playing a Scandalil Scott Wood accordion, he played Return To Me, Yellow Bird, Cruising Down The River, If I Had My Way, 5ft Two Eyes Of Blue, Alexanders Rag Time Band, I Love You Because, Happy Days and Lonely Nights and That Lovely Weekend. After the break we started with Albert Draper (pictured), Albert is 93 and during the war he played a curved Scott Wood accordion. On the stage tonight he enjoyed his trip down memory lane playing Colins Scandalli Scott Wood accordion. Albert started with the tune Accordeon which was followed by Amazing Grace, Edelweiss, He’ll Have to Go, Thinking Tonight Of My Blue Eyes and My Wild Irish Rose. Bernard Belshaw was up next on an accordion he borrowed from David Rigby a few minutes earlier. Bernard played Blaze Away, How Wonderful to Know, Malaguena, Overhead The Moon Is Shining, Funicule Funicula, Ecstasy and Jealousy. Our next player Rebecca Parker played Moon River and Home On The Range. After the break we started our second half with Ann Parker playingHappy Birthday for Rebecca, this was followed by Twenty One Today, Memories Are Made Of This and Beautiful Days. Sara Daly then played Walking My Baby Back Home, Pennies From Heaven and Father’s Waltz. It was now my turn to play, I just had time to play Black Mask Waltz before leaving the stage to Andrew Baker who finished the night with Oh What A Beautiful Morning, Red Sails In the Sunset, Phil The Fluter’s Ball, Softly Softly and Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines.

David Batty

 

This Wednesday

This Wednesday is our local players concert. As you know, this is a variety night of entertainment and a great chance to meet old friends and make new ones. Accordionists please remember to bring your accordions, we look forward to hearing you play. Please Remember to bring any friends or family for a good night out, it would be nice to increase the number of people enjoying our concerts. The Doors open at 7.30 for an 8pm start. If you get there early you can have a good chat with other people prior to the start of the club. If you see someone you haven’t met before then please say hello to them, they will probably be quite pleased that someone came over to speak to them. Remember, if you have an accordion, music or anything accordion related to sell then concert nights are an ideal night to bring them along and possibly make a sale. see you there…

 

Local Players Concert

This month we have a change from our normal guest artist concert, we are holding a Local Players Concert instead, please ensure you bring your accordions along and give us a tune.

The Savoy Family Cajun Band

The Savoy Family Cajun Band (Recently appeared in the BBC series The World Accordion To Phil), from Louisiana, USA, play Cajun music. Their leader Marc Savoy is one of the Cajun tradition’s best known accordionists, and also well known as an accordion manufacturer. The band consists of Marc and Ann Savoy who play the fiddle, their sons Joel who also plays the fiddle and Wilson who plays the accordion and piano. Their repertoire is chosen carefully: popular dancehall tunes interspersed with soulful ballads, fiddle and vocal duets, and blues. The band brings the raw energy of the dancehalls of southwest Louisiana to the stage, peppered with humorous and informative anecdotes about life in the Cajun heartland. Their tour dates are as follows: July 22nd – Cecil Sharp House, London July 23rd – Perth Concert Hall, Perth, Scotland July 24th, 5pm – The Sage, Gateshead July 25th – The Band Room, Farndale, North Yorkshire July 26th, 8pm – Norwich Arts Centre July 27th, 8pm – The Courtyard, Edgar St, Hereford HR4 9JR July 28th – Royal Oak Folk Club, The Royal Oak, Lewes, July 29th – Mick Jagger Centre, Dartford, Kent July 30th – Mac, Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham B12 9QH July 31st – WOMAD, Charlton Park, Tickets for the North Yorkshire Concert are £15 and can be bought online at www.thebandroom.com or telephone 01751 432900

 

Industrial Archaeology: The Preston Dock Estate

An illustrated talk by Collin Dickinson on Industrial Archaeology, The Preston Dock Estate.Takes place Saturday 30th July 2011 at 11am. at the South Ribble Musuem & Exhibition Centre. For any further information contact the Museum on 01772 422041.

 

Blue Badge Guide

On the 3rd August and 7th September 2011the Blue Badge Guide are doing a tour round Preston looking at the old churches and their history. “So many churches of every denomination flourished in our city centre in the 1800’s. Now many of them are car parks, or shopping arcades. Where are they? Why were they demolished? What evidence remains?” Meet in Jacson Street by the entrance to Harris Museum and Art Gallery. £4 Adults, £3 Concessions.Tel:07714 588068 / 07792 373033 Also on 12th October 2011They are holding their original city tour. This takes you along ancient thoroughfares to uncover a mixed history of agriculture and industry, poverty and wealth. Discover some of Preston’s hidden delights. Meet in Jacson Street by the entrance to Harris Museum and Art Gallery. £4 Adults, £3 Concessions. Telephone 07714 588068 or 07792 373033 for further details.

 

Fylde Folk Festival

The Fylde Folk Festival is to be held on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th of September. Weekend Tickets cost £70. A Saturday All Day ticket is £35 or Session tickets are from £7.50. Children under 11 are free and those aged 11 to 16 are half price. the Camping and Caravan site prices are Adults £10 per person for weekend (Weekend ticket holders only). Weekend ticket holders also get Free showers & Swimming, Free entry to Craft Fair and Free Festival Bus Service. For further details of the festival you can telephone The Marine Hall On 01253 887693 or visit their website www.fylde-folk-festival.com.

The Museum Of Lancashire

The Museum of Lancashire is set to reopen in November 2011, The museum closed to be redeveloped, He’s what they say about the redevelopment “Once re-opened, we’d like to invite you for your first taste of the Lancashire story, which will signpost you to the diverse heritage across the county. Seven interactive galleries along with new visitor facilities such as a shop, cafe and improved access for the disabled are just some of the new amenities that will be on offer when the renovation is finished in 2011.” The cost of tickets will be £3.00 for Adults, £2.00 for Concessions and Children get in free. For more info Telephone 01772 534075

 

Yann Tiersen UK Tour

French musician Yann Tiersen is touring the UK with five shows in October. Yann is aMulti-instrumentalist performer and composer mastermind behind the soundtrack for acclaimed movies such as ‘Amelie’ which features the Accordion quite a lot in the soundtrack. Yann is a big star in France, Yann’s live show sees him bound from one instrument to another as he plays violin, accordion, piano and many other (more unusual) sounds in his performance. He has been know to play more than one intrument at a time. Fri 21st October 2011 – Concorde 2, Brighton Sat 22nd October 2011 – Brudenell Social Club, Leeds Sun Oct 23 – The ABC 1, Glasgow Mon 24th October 2011 – Academy 2, Manchester Tue 25th October 2011 – O2 Academy2 Birmingham, Birmingham All the Tickets are £16 apart from the Glasgow concert which is £15. You can by tickets from Yann’s website www.yanntiersen.fr/tours

 

Forth Bridges Accordion Band STV

Scotland TV have produced a show in which a well know Scottish Comedian Bruce Devlin set about learning to play the accordion in one week to join forth Bridges Accordion Band in a March. The programme shows how hard Bruce found it to learn the Accordion, here is the programme description from STV “Marching bands in Scotland are as traditional as ceilidhs and haggis, but have you ever wondered how difficult it is to master the accordion? To find out, comedian Bruce Devlin decided to head to Bo’ness to learn with the Forth Bridges Accordion Band. He said: “Everyone that knows me knows that I love nothing better than marching and music. With that in mind, I’m here to join the Forth Bridges accordion band to rehearse to actually be in a march.” The group were busy rehearsing for a big performance in Linlithgow, at the local fair, and Bruce had a long way to go before he was ready. For starters, he had to learn how to play. With a few pointers from the experts, he headed home to practice throughout the week, but as his video diary progressed it became increasingly obvious that he was out of his depth. With only a few days left, how would he fare at the fair? Armed with his accordion and plenty of enthusiasm he dawned his uniform and got himself in to position. With the streets of Linlithgow full of cheering crowds, there was a lot of pressure.” There is a 7 minute video online that gives you a preview of the show. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Dyl2ZPtui0