Tag: Hurricane Promotions

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REVIEW: Paul Rhodes’s verdict on Sons Of Town Hall, Selby Town Hall, November 14  

Sons Of Town Hall become the Sons Of Selby Town Hall for one night only. All pictures: Paul Rhodes

LIKE a pair of salty stormcocks, the duo Sons Of Town Hall seem to like singing in a gale. Two years ago they sang in the snow in Robin Hood’s Bay. Last Friday, with Storm Claudia sheeting down outside, this well-travelled pair produced what must be one of the gigs of the year at this fine old venue where the sound is always immaculate.

Ben Parker and David Berkeley are frequent autumn visitors to these shores. Their act (it is far more than a set of 15 songs) combines wonderfully timed humour with thoughtful, varied songs that are part heartbreak and part brothel and tavern.

They talked and sang about their hardships on the sea and the land (a fair metaphor for any working musician in the 21st century), but time and time again they find their moment in the sun on stage.

Tall tales in Sons Of Town Hall’s concert at Selby Town Hall

While Sons Of Town Hall seem to operate largely under the commercial radar, they find their audience by word of mouth (and the behind-the-scenes efforts by promoters such as Hurricane Promotions’ James Duffy).

Parker and Berkeley are more business-savvy than they let on, of course, and they have crowd-funded a very popular podcast and produced an album made to the highest production standards.

Audiences love them: this pair are twinkle-toed heartbreakers. The boots and hats may be old, but the concept still feels fresh as a night breeze.

Sons Of Town Hall delivering “new jokes (finally!) and, even better, fresh songs, newer even than those on their latest record”

This concert had something for everyone. For the uninitiated, there was the camaraderie, the bromance, the vaudevillian humour and the tall tales and heart-stopping songs.

For those who have seen them before in different times, under different skies, there were new jokes (finally!) and, even better, fresh songs, newer even than those on their latest record (Of Ghosts And Gods, out this month, finally!).

These newer tunes seem to be pulling in a more commercial direction, Bossman being the pick (and better than the Gordon Lightfoot song of the same name).

“There was the camaraderie, the bromance, the vaudevillian humour and the tall tales and heart-stopping songs,” says reviewer Paul Rhodes of Sons Of Town Hall’s performance

Parker and Berkeley have jostled with the setlist since they played in Ripon in May. Antarctica, their “hit” from the 1910s, was present and timeless, and older tunes such as Poseidon made welcome returns.

While their close-knit harmonies are their trademark, their musicianship is also of the highest order. How To Build A Boat was a good example. With their interlocking, separate vocal lines and clever use of their guitar necks and bodies to mimic the build, they inject magic. They also work themselves into a lather, never better than on the old gospel number I Saw The Light

We ended as is their custom, without microphones and up close on Cobbler’s Hill, their voices reaching upwards into the storm.

Review by Paul Rhodes

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Folk singer Martha Tilston to play The Basement at City Screen on October 18

Martha Tilston: Booked into The Basement for October 18

FOLK singer-songwriter Martha Tilston will play The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, on October 18 at 7.30m.

Born in Bristol and now living in Cornwall, she has performed on prestigious stages and festival bills and toured internationally; gained a nomination for BBC Best Newcomer; appeared as a guest vocalist for Zero 7 and worked with Damien Rice, Nick Harper, Kae Tempest and Aztec Camera’s Roddy Frame.

Tilston, 49, has recorded the albums Rolling (2003); Bimbling (2004); Ropeswing (Martha Tilston and The Woods); Of Milkmaids And Architects (2007); ‘Til I Reach The Sea (2007); Lucy And The Wolves (2010); Machines Of Love And Grace (2012); The Sea (2014); Nomad (2017), The Tape (2021) and Luminous (2023).

The poster for Martha Tilston’s concert at The Basement

Tilston has ventured into the world of film making, gaining nominations for best arts film for 2018’s The Clifftop Sessions and releasing her first feature film The Tape,  with an accompanying soundtrack album, in 2021.

She performs in concert with long-time collaborators and musicians Matt Tweed and Matt Kelly, entwining raw vocals, sparkling melodies and thought-provoking lyrics with filmic movements and earthy basslines. Tickets for this Hurricane Promotions concert are on sale at marthatilston.co.uk.

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Barbara Dickson & Nick Holland add second night at All Saints Church, Pocklington

Barbara Dickson: Second night added at All Saints Church, Pocklington

AFTER their October 4 gig sold out in record time, Scottish folk singer Barbara Dickson and her pianist Nick Holland are adding a second acoustic performance at All Saints Church, Pocklington, on October 16.

On each night, they will explore her catalogue of songs in this intimate and historic setting, where the pair will let the words and melodies take centre stage as they draw on Dickson’s folk roots, contemporary greats and her classic hits, Answer Me, Another Suitcase In Another Hall, Caravan and the million-selling chart-topper I Know Him So Well. 

The shows are the second collaboration between All Saints and Pocklington-based Hurricane Promotions and follow on from a sold-out event in December with BBC Radio 2 Folk Award winners The Young’uns. Two further shows are due to be announced later this month. Watch this space.

Emerging from the late-Sixties’ Scottish folk scene, Dickson has become Scotland’s best-selling female album artist, earning six platinum, 11 gold and seven silver albums. Her stage career has included the roles of the original Mrs Johnstone in Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers and Viv Nicholson in Spend Spend Spend, both bringing her an Olivier Award for Best Actress. In 2002, she was awarded an OBE for her services to music and drama.

Holland joined her touring band in the 2000s, playing keyboards and adding vocals on her  September 2004 album Full Circle, the first to feature the style of music she now performs. 

Dickson and Holland work as a duo where she plays guitar and piano, her vocals being complemented by his keyboards and harmonies, whether in cathedrals, festivals or theatres.

 “It’s a different experience to working with the bigger band, but just as enjoyable, and gives the music breathing space,” says Dickson, 76.

All Saints Church is “always delighted to see the church used for community events”. “Churches historically have been the social hubs of their communities, bringing people together for fellowship, entertainment and the sharing of ideas and opinions,” says the church statement. “This concert wraps those three things up in one great package.”

Barbara Dickson & Nick Holland, All Saints Church, Pocklington, October 4 (sold out) and October 16, 7.30pm. Also: Leeds City Varieties Music Hall, October 20, 7.30pm. Box office: barbaradickson.net; Leeds, leedsheritagetheatres.com.