Latest News from Wendy Arrowsmith - April 2011

""Life, Love & Chocolate" can only be described as the CD of the year" Terry Ferdinand, Bishop FM   Well, hello there! It's nearly 6 months since I last emailed so I don't think I can be accused of over-zealous unsolicited emails :-) Have a listen to what I've been hatching! ...http://www.wendyarrowsmith.com/page2.html (3 tracks from the new CD, but more on that later) I've had some wonderful gigs all over the place since I last updated you on my musical journey - Swindon, London, Grimsby, Nottingham and Bishop Stortford are just a few of the places I've travelled to and from. The more I travel around from Folk Club to Folk Club, the more I realise how privileged I am to experience such diverse music from such a variety of people. Each club has its own little quirks and delights - some have quite extroardinary raffles, others have none (I know! A folk club with no raffle...! They are fairly unusual, it must be said!) Some have highly polished floor singers, others have amazing instrumentalist, whilst others have pet dogs under chairs, or specific rituals of a certain song being sung at the start of the night, etc. One folk club may meet in a lavish hotel room, another might be in a slightly draughty side room off a noisy bar, or in a community centre under the glare of strip lighting or in a Working Men's Club to the somewhat bemused, but tolerant stares of the members propping up the bar. Whatever the venue, whatever the audience, the passion for live music be it traditional or contemporary, humorous or tragic is evident everywhere. How lucky I am to be part of this great movement that is "folk music." Those who scoff or judge it on the basis of a stereotyped image just don't know what they are missing! Upcoming Gigs/Festivals: (full details are always on my website) APRIL - Wednesday 6 April - Otley Folk Club, Korks Wine Bar, Otley - 8.30pm Saturday 9 April - Scarborough Seafest Fundraiser - Sea Cadets Hall, Scarborough - from 3pm (various acts) Wednesday 13 April - Baldock & Letchworth Folk Club, The Orange Tree, Baldock - 8.30pm Thursday 14 April - Windmill Folk Club, Farnham, Surrey - 8pm Friday 15 April - Fo'c'sle Folk Club, The Richmond Inn, Southampton - 8pm Friday 21 April - Lymm Folk Club, The Spread Eagle, Lymm - 8pm Saturday 30 April & Sunday 1 May - Filey Folk Festival (solo and with Blind Summat!)http://www.thestation-filey.com/fff/performances.html May - Fri-Sun 6 to 8 May - Holmfirth Festival of Folk http://www.thestation-filey.com/fff/performances.html  Friday 13 May - Robin Hood's Bay Folk Club - 8pm Saturday 14 May - Clennell Hall Folk Festival, Rothbury - 2pm Thursday 19 May - Cutty Wren Folk Club, Skelton - 8pm Friday 20 May - KFFC "Acoustic Icons" Series - support slot for Chris Wood, Kirkby Fleetham Village Hall - 7.30pm £10 (kffc@live.co.uk) Saturday 28 May - Cleethorpes Folk & Cider Weekend - (various acts) Monday 30 May - Ferry House Inn, Burton Stather, Lincs. - details tbc (trio with Gerry McNeice and Katriona Gilmore) Latest News on the new CD "Life, Love & Chocolate" on the new label, Wee Dog Records, is available for pre-order via the website , http://www.wendyarrowsmith.com, or you can order it at one of my gigs. It should be with me in the next 3 weeks, so people will be able to get it from me in person from May. (Pre-ordering at one of my gigs will save you your P&P!) It costs £10 and has 10 tracks plus an interesting bonus at the end. I am delighted to reveal that the artists performing on the CD are as follows: Will Pound (harmonica) - currently on BBC2's series on Saturday nights "Goldie's Band: by Royal Appointment" Katriona Gilmore (fiddle, viola, mandolin, vocals) - just returned from touring with Fairport Convention with her partner Jamie Roberts PJ Wright (slide guitar) - of Little Johnny England and the Dylan Project Sarah McQuaid (vocals) - who seems to be constantly touring the UK, Europe and North America Marjorie Paterson (cello) - half of the wonderful duo, Fyrish Harry Scurfield (concertina) - concertina maestro based in Otley John (pipes, whistles) & Caroline (harp) Bushby - a talented musical duo based in Newcastle, with whom I've got some gigs later in the year Malcolm Bushby (fiddle) - semi-finalist in BBC Radio 2's "Young Folk Musician of the Year" 2011 Jude Rees (soprano saxophone) - a third of the excellent Midlands-based band, Isambarde Roy Schneider (mandolin) - contributing delightful bluegrass mandolin from his home in the USA Paul Arrowsmith (banjo) - who he? (joking!!!!) Gerry McNeice (guitar, tenor guitar, double bass, vocals) - not only a contributor of musical stuff, but also my wonderful producer for this CD.   I have been so blessed to have all this marvellous talent taking part in this project, so I do hope you enjoy your copy when you get it. Hope to see some of you in the next couple of months on my travels. Bye for now, Wendy xxx PS - As ever, if you don't want to receive my occasional updates, please email me back and I'll take you off my mailing list. Equally, if you have friends or colleagues who might be interested  then please ask them and then forward me their email address. Thank you!   www.wendyarrowsmith.com www.myspace.com/wendyarrowsmith www.youtube.com/WendyARR1