Our March Concert
Jovan
Our March concert started with myself playing Triste Sourire and Black Mask Waltz. Graham Crow then played Love Letters In The Sand, Who’s Sorry Now, I Can’t Believe, All Of Me, Your Cheating Heart, Raining In My Heart and Pretend. It was now time for our guest artist Jovan Rnjak to start his first session of the evening. Jovan started his first half playing Quickly Fingers, and the audience quickly realised that they were in for a treat tonight. After a fantastic start, Jovan introduced himself and then continued with Two Guitars, Lorette, Take Five, Le Pasa Dubal Musette and Misty. I knew Jovan was being well received when I heard a few comments from members of the audience along the lines of “Anyone who didn’t turn up tonight has missed out!”. Jovan continued his first half with the accordion standard Montys Czardas, then went on to Jealousy, Drowsy Maggie, Summertime, Samba, Reine De Musette, Speak Softly Love, It Had To Be You, Magic Fingers and finally, to finish his first spot of the night, he played Spanish Gypsy Dance. After the break we started the second half of the night with Colin Ensor playing Please, Conquest Of Paradise and Charmaine. Our next player was Ann Parker playing Frog Chorus and Snow Waltz. Bernard Bamber was on next, with singing and playing. He sang 40 Shades Of Green and Galway Bay. Sara Daly played Ballin The Jack and Envikens Waltz. Myself and Rebecca then played Plaisir D’ Amour Duet. Jovan then returned to the stage and I played Oslo Waltz while he set up for the next half. I then left the stage and Jovan started his second spot of the evening singing Something Stupid, La Mer, Bring Me Sunshine, Singing In The Rain, Take Me Home Country Road, King Of The Road, Smile, When You’re Smiling, Pack Up Your Troubles, The Green Green Grass Of Home, Down Louisiana Way, Things, Walk Right Back, Besame Mucho, All I Have To Do Is Dream, The Wonder Of You, Crazy Rhythm, and, to finish a fantastic evening, Twilight Time.
David Batty
Wyre Club
The next meeting of the Wyre Club is on Wednesday 26th April 2017 at The North Euston Hotel on the Esplanade at Fleetwood, FY7 6BN. Further details tel. 01253 883681.
June Guest Artist
We have switched our May and June Concert evenings around, Instead of having a Guest Artist in May we will be having Julie Best and Jean Corrighan playing for us on 21st June.
Wirral Accordion club
This club is on every Tuesday at The Place In The Park, 109 Liscard Road, Wallasey CH44 9AE. The night starts at 7pm.
Stricter Busking Rules In St Albans
In the Summer of 2016 office workers in St Albans City Centre were unable to work as they would normally because the noise of buskers and their amplifiers were far too loud and could be heard thought offices, one managing director said they had no issue with acoustic buskers but when an amplifier is added to the mix and the same songs/tunes are repeated over a 6 hour period it became an nuisance. St Albans City Council are now considering a change to the rules on busking. In London there is already a Voluntary Buskers’ Code drawn up by performers, residents, businesses, councils, the police, Transport for London and Network Rail. It states sound should be just above background noise and music should not be repeated in the same location. In other areas of London performers require licenses to be able to busk. It’s important that buskers are able to perform but also that they respect the people working in the area where they are performing.
Our Android App
I have updated our Android application, if you have an android phone you will find it in Google Play Store, if you already have it installed then it will automatically update.
This Wednesday
This Wednesday is a local players concert featuring our local talent. Please make sure you bring your instrument, whether you know one tune, or thousands. We want to hear as many people as possible, every player inspires someone else to play something. The doors open on Wednesday night at 7.30pm for a prompt 8pm start. Please bring along your friends and anyone who might be interested in attending. If you see someone you don’t know then please say hello and make them welcome to the club.
David Batty
Foster and Allen on Pointless
Broadcast on the 8th April 2017, Foster and Allen appeared on the Celebrity Special of Pointless. The Presenters of Pointless Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman loved having the duo on the show they wished they could have them back every episode because of their banter. Mick Foster was up second answering questions… on the show he said “I’d rather be playing an accordion than answering these questions. I’m snookered as they say. I might as well be blindfolded and throwing darts at the board,”. “I haven’t the remotest idea of any of these questions so seeing as though I can’t go for not a clue, I have to say someone”. “The reason I put Tony on first is he knows something. I know nothing. There’s more brains in a hen’s head than mine and there’s only an inch between that and a hen’s ear.” The duo were knocked out in the first round, you can watch the episode of pointless on the BBC iplayer (Show Now Expired)
Manchester Folk Festival
It was announced recently that Manchester City Centre will host a new Folk Festival. The festival will take place at four venues around the city and at the moment features 26 different acts. The festival will span 3 days from Friday 19th – Sunday 22nd October 2017. Tickets are on sale with prices varying from £9 – £23 per show. To find out more and to buy tickets visit its website at:- www.manchesterfolkfestival.org.uk
Coastguard Station Open Day
The Coastguard Station at Knott End, Poulton Le Fylde have an open day on the 30th April 2017 from 10am – 4pm. This is an opportunity to look around the Coastguard station, and see the rescue equipment used by HM Coastguard, including rescue vehicle and Argocat. The coastguard station can be found at: Bourne May Road,
Knott End, Poulton Le Fylde , Lancashire, FY6 0AB.
Leyland Festival
This years theme for the festival is Film and Movies, the festival takes place on the 17th June 2017.
Hanger 42 Open Day
On 4th June 2017 from 10am – 3pm there is an open day by Hanger 42 based at Blackpool Airport. Hanger 42 is an original WW2 Hanger. There are three replica Spitfires and a Hawker Hurricane housed in the hanger, they are all currently being restored with original parts to a high standard. For a small fee of £5.00 you can sit in the cockpit of our Mark IX “Lucy” and have pictures taken. You can book some Spitfire Simulator flying hours, flying combat missions with instruction from experienced volunteers. You can view, sit in and learn about their rare fleet of RAF Airfield vehicles. There will also be talks on the exhibits and wartime history of the Fylde Coast and the locally recovered exhibits of WW2 aircraft crash wrecks, including a complete P51 Mustang Merlin Engine. Entry Fees are Adults £3.50, Children £2.50, under 10’s go Free visit their website at www.spitfiredisplayteam.co.uk for more information.
World Record Attempt
Accordionist Nikolai Ryskov is organizing an accordion world record attempt next year. Nikolai intentends to gather together accordionists to play an easy version of ‘Libertango’ by Astor Piazzolla. The world record attempt will take place on 11th March 2018 in a central London location, this date also coincides with Nikolai’s Birthday. Planned for the day will be a whole programme of music, dancing and accordion displays with food and drink available.
Nikolai will need to gather together more than 1,517 Accordionist in order to beat the current world record set in Tacheng, China on the 20th August 2016 at the First Tacheng Accordion Art Festival.
If you are interested in taking part or would like more information contact Nikolai Ryskov nryskov@gmail.com. Other accordion related world records are The Largest Accordion at 2.53 m (8 ft 3.5 in) tall, 1.9 m (6 ft 2.75 in) wide, 85 cm (2 ft 9.5 in) deep, and weighs approximately 200 kg (440 lb). Another record is for the Longest Marathon playing Accordion which lasted 31 hours 25 minutes where Anssi Laitinen played 536 different songs.
Chester Accordion Club
Chester Accordion Club’s next meeting is on Tuesday 25th April at The Groves Club, Chester Road (A5032), Whitby, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire. Telephone Barry Graham on 01978 760065.
BBC’s The Repair Shop
At 6:30pm weekdays on BBC Two there has been a series called The Repair Shop, and as the name suggests, it is a repair shop, people take in their broken items… furniture, pottery, paintings and Accordions! The first episode broadcast on 27th March featured the repair of an accordion belonging to Iris Brialey who had given the accordion to her Granddaughter to play, but the accordion was in need of some TLC. In the Programme the Accordion was repaired by Roger Thomas (also known as Jolly Roger Accordions). Iris was unaware that the accordion was being repaired and was surprised with a performance of a little bit of “She’ll Be Coming Round The Mountain” played her granddaughter. The accordion has been in the family for nearly 80 years, Iris was handed an accordion by her mother in 1935 when she was 13, but on 1st September 1939 war arrived. At the Time Iris was performing in a band “We were rehearsing and they started daylight bombing so we had to give up. That really stopped everything for me. I had no life. I went to work and then straight to public shelters.” Sometimes Iris, then 18, and her mother would be in the shelter for hours on end, listening to the bombs above ground. To drown out the sound of destruction and lift spirits, Iris hatched a plan. “We could see the children that were there were fed up. They were only youngsters, they didn’t know what was going on.” From then on she brought the accordion to the air raid shelter to play music and spur sing-a-longs to tunes such as My Old Man’s A Dustman and She’ll Be Coming Round The Mountain. This encouraged others to bring their own instruments along too, including a violin, trumpet and a drum. “We got a little band going. The children used to come in and dance – it took their mind off what was happening. It was terrible sitting in those places with nothing to do.” After war ended Iris married, had two children and normal life resumed. The accordion slipped from view, coming out only at parties and New Year celebrations. “We used to cause hilarity,” she laughs. “Everyone thoroughly enjoyed it.” Following a stroke last year, and because of the loss of strength in her fingers, Iris has passed on the instrument to her granddaughter Sarah, a music student at Nottingham University. “My mother’s attitude, and now mine, is hang onto it, you never know, you might need it again,” says Iris. If you are interested in seeing this accordion being repaired visit (Show Now Expired) The Show expires on the 26th April 2017. Ps. It’s a great programme for watching the other items being restored, not just the accordion.
High Level Hornpipe and Blaydon Races
I have recently been working in Newcastle and on my travels learnt about the origins of The High Level Hornpipe which tends to be associated with Scottish accordionists, but I found out that the tune originates in the North East of England. The tune was written about the High Level Bridge which spans the River Tyne between Newcastle Upon Tyne and Gateshead. I was staying near the High Level Bridge and as it happened I was also next to the Scotswood Road which features in The Blaydon Races which was written in 1862 and published in 1891 by Geordie Ridley.
The Fureys in Liverpool
Thursday 11th May 2017 at 8pm The Fureys will playing at The Liverpool Philharmonic. For over 39 years, Ireland’s the Fureys have been selling out concerts worldwide. They return for another great night of Irish Music, Songs and stories. Hear them sing their timeless classics including ‘When you were sweet 16’, ‘I Will Love You’, ‘The Green Fields of France’, ‘The Old Man’, ‘Red Rose Café’, ‘From Clare to Here’, ‘Her Father didn’t like me anyway’, ‘Leaving Nancy’ and ‘Steal Away’ plus songs from their new CD The Times They Are A Changing. Tickets cost £21 and are available from www.liverpoolphil.com or tel: 0151 709 3789
Tram Sunday
16th July 2017 – Fleetwood Festival of Transport Also known as Tram Sunday, this one day event is a great day out for all the family. Over 200 different classic and vintage vehicles are on display along with fairground rides, stalls selling a wide assortment of goods, live performances and entertainment. It’s free admission. See a wide variety of vehicles including cars, motorbikes, vans, lorries, commercial vehicles, buses – as well as trams. Tram Sunday first took place in 1985 as a part of the celebrations for the anniversary of Blackpool trams and continued to develop over the years to include any form of transport: classic cars, motor bikes, buses and of course, not forgetting the trams. Its popularity has increased through the years with both transport enthusiasts and the local community in Fleetwood. There’s plenty of free parking with space for up to 2000 cars on Dock Street, and the souvenir programme is free this year too. www.tramsunday.co.uk