News

Cambridge Folk Club returning to live music April 6, 2021 23:52

Thank you to all of you who have supported the Club through the last difficult year. The Cambridge Folk Club will be returning to live music. We will do this as soon as it is safe enough for our performers and audience to do so. This won’t be until the Autumn at the earliest. We hope to return to The Golden Hind, but if social distancing is still in place, this will restrict the size of our audience. So, for bigger names only, we may use the NCI Club, as has happened in the past. We are also considering keeping some of our gigs on line – perhaps one a month - so that we can maintain contact with all those audience members and musicians who have joined us from the States, Germany and France, as well as from further afield in the UK, during the last year of restrictions.

We anticipate that, to keep our venue Covid-safe, there will be additional tasks to be done, such as cleaning all the equipment, including the chairs, which we use each week. We may also have to keep Track and Trace informed. Therefore, we would be very grateful to hear from anyone who feels that they could help us out, either setting up beforehand and/or packing away after the event.

Please contact us on enquiries@cambridgefolkclub.co.uk


Tribute to Al Reed April 1, 2021 16:46

Al Reed, who used to be in the audience at the Cambridge Folk Club almost every week, died recently. Here is a tribute from Robin Mansfield:

It was with much sadness that I heard of the death of Al Reed who passed away in the early hours of Saturday morning. Al will be remembered as that cheery, slim, fit older chap, usually dressed in a white tee shirt and blue jeans and would get up and dance at the slightest hint of a beat. He was not really a folk fan but would come to the Golden Hind with his friend Derek for a good night out and to meet people for a laugh and a chat. This was most important to him during the time he was caring for his sick wife who for many year's struggled with dementia. After her passing Al did find love again and was very happy for a few short years but in the last few week's he was diagnosed with a disease that took him very quickly. We will miss seeing Al happily chatting and leaning against the back wall of the folk club but I'm sure there will be no stopping him, as we all know he will be in heaven dancing his socks off.


Friday 26th March: Virtual Showcase with Paul Walker and Karen Pfeiffer March 20, 2021 12:08

Friday 26th March: Virtual Showcase with Paul Walker and Karen Pfeiffer

 8pm (Meeting opens at 7:45pm)

 

Appearing this evening:

8:00pm Tony Tregidgo

8:30pm Penny McLaren Walker and Bryan Causton

9:00pm Karen Hart

9:30pm Paul Walker and Karen Pfeiffer

 

 

Paul Walker & Karen Pfeiffer
So, what is it that makes this internationally touring duo so irresistible? Could it be Karen’s German accent tinged with an oatcake-induced North Staffordshire dialect? Or Paul’s besotted gaze whenever she takes to the microphone? Or is it simply the exquisitely performed music and the happy, warm feeling everyone seems to get at their shows…

With their unique onstage-chemistry and their widely praised harmonies, the Anglo-German duo Paul Walker & Karen Pfeiffer entertain and engage their audiences “in a very likable, humorous style”. Combining their own beautifully written songs with a fine choice of folk favourites, Paul’s vocal and individual guitar style blended with Karen’s voice, clear and yet so powerful, leaves audiences mesmerised:
“I have never seen our audience so spellbound!” exclaimed a promoter recently while Graham Norton commented: “Great show!”

Karen adds with alto and tenor recorders, Irish flute and whistle - and not to mention the odd German ‘joke’ - to this fantastically entertaining performance.
A memorable time of great music and fun awaits. Definitely not to be missed!

www.paulwalkermusic.co.uk


 

 

 

 

Karen Hart
Karen Hart is a multi-award winning singer, guitarist, percussionist and songwriter from Los Angeles. She is the winner of the West Coast Songwriters’ ‘Song of the Year’; the Los Angeles Women-In-Music’s ‘Best of the Best’; the Barry Manilow Award for Lyric Writing and Music Connection Magazine’s ‘Top Performances That Have Moved Us’. Karen has been honored with three world premieres of her music at the Los Angeles Music Center. Her songs for motion pictures have been singled out by Variety, People and the L.A. Times as “the best parts of the movie.” In a wide-ranging career, Karen was the singing voice of Sigourney Weaver in the Showtime movie Snow White, wrote all the songs for the Divine cult classic motion picture comedy Lust In The Dust, and, at the other end of the spectrum, Karen she sang at the Vatican for Pope John Paul II. She has performed on numerous occasions with the Los Angeles Symphony, and her unique award-winning music for large choir and orchestra is performed and recorded worldwide.
"Wow! Karen’s music deserves to be heard” - Morten Lauridsen, National Medal of Arts.

"Karen writes everything you could hope for in a song. I am a huge fan” - Arthur Hamilton, ASCAP Board of Directors.

www.KarenHartMusic.com

https://www.facebook.com/karenhartmusic

https://open.spotify.com/artist/5TA7rnsIGOxB5AvkegTN2K?si=6xkdEkimQhamdNUxaURrJA


Any tips will be donated to the Cancer Support Community and the Camp deBenneville Music Camp: http://www.karenhartmusic.com/donate.html

 

 

 

 

Penni McLaren Walker and Bryan Causton
Penni and Bryan have very similar musical tastes, ideas and influences, and when they play together, their styles are not only complementary, but create a new and unique synergy. Their performances take the audience on a journey that encompasses a relaxed, friendly atmosphere with songs, tunes and their own brand of musical adventure. Their style is very much in the ‘new tradition’ with superb energy and musical synamism.

https://www.facebook.com/caustonandwalker

 

 

  

 

Tony Tregidgo
Tony has played as a guitarist and drummer in a number of bands over the years. A keen songwriter, he finally got around to performing his own songs in 2016. Tony enjoys playing traditional acoustic guitar as well as experimenting with electric guitar sounds.
His influences include blues, Americana, Indie and folk music. He has recently been trying to stay sane by participating in regular open mic nights.

https://tonytregidgo.bandcamp.com

This concert is free but please support the performers taking part in this Virtual Concert by buying merchandise or giving donations using their links above. Thank you.

If you would like to make a donation to a performer who doesn't have a suitable link on their website, you can now make a donation to the Cambridge Folk Club Tip Jar at https://paypal.me/cambridgefolkclub
When you make a donation, please add a note to let us know which performer or performers the donation is for. Any donations received without a note will be shared between all the performers in this concert.

Thank you to all who have made donations to the performers in our previous virtual concerts.

  

Anyone who would like to be in the audience is welcome. Joining  instructions will be emailed to those on the Cambridge Folk Club mailing list. If you would like to be in the Zoom audience and are not on our mailing list, please email enquiries@cambridgefolkclub.co.uk

This event will also be streamed live on the Cambridge Folk Club Facebook page from 8pm as an alternative to Zoom.


Daria Kulesh - Snowy Songs & Late Lullabies Wednesday 23rd December, 8pm December 22, 2020 23:33

Daria Kulesh - Snowy Songs & Late Lullabies

Wednesday 23rd December, 8pm 

Daria was due to appear in our Virtual Showcase on 18th December which unfortunately had to be cancelled. So that the Cambridge Folk Club audience do not miss her festive set of songs, Daria has kindly provided the link to her Zoom concert on 23rd December. 

Joining instructions have been emailed to those on the Cambridge Folk Club mailing list. If you would like to be in the Zoom audience and are not on our mailing list, please email enquiries@cambridgefolkclub.co.uk

 The concert is free with optional donations.


The Virtual Showcase this evening, 18th December, has been cancelled December 18, 2020 18:33

18th December 2020: Due to circumstances beyond our control we have had to cancel this evening's Virtual Showcase. We apologise for any inconvenience this has caused. 


We will feature the performers who would have played tonight, in our future programming.

Our next concert will be a Virtual Open Stage with special guest Dom Abrams on 8th January 2021.

Happy Christmas from everyone at the Cambridge Folk Club.


Late night Virtual Open Mics three times a week! July 10, 2020 01:13

The North Reading Community Coffeehouse are running Zoom Virtual Open Mics on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 6pm in Massachusetts which is 11pm in the UK . These events are also being streamed live on the North Reading Community Coffeehouse Facebook page. If you are interested please contact Art Grossman at NRCoffeehouse@gmail.com for more information and the Zoom ID and Password.

Save Radio Cambridgeshire’s Folk Show June 25, 2020 22:07

Save Radio Cambridgeshire’s Folk Show, which is about to be axed!


Since Lockdown, the 3 hour folk show, which went out from 7.00 - 10.00 on Radio Cambridgeshire on Monday evenings, has been reduced to a small slot in the middle of the evening’s music. This slot is long enough for 5 tracks and a short interview if you are lucky. We understand that, from the end of July, BBC Radio Cambridgeshire intends to cut the folk content entirely, except for a snippet of Cambridge Folk Festival news in August.


To save the show, please write personally to the head of BBC Radio Cambridgeshire, David Harvey, expressing disappointment at the cut back of the Monday folk show to a brief slot in the Monday evening music schedule, and request that the full 3 hour local folk show will soon be reinstated.


Postal address David Harvey, BBC Radio Cambridgeshire, Cambridge Business Park, Cowley Road, Cambridge, CB4 0WZ
email: david.harvey@bbc.co.uk or cambs@bbc.co.uk FAO of David Harvey

Or complain via the on-line BBC complaints system.

The only way we'll stop the show being axed is by shouting very loudly NOW!

Thanks from all of us on the Cambridge Folk Club team.


Friday 24th April: Virtual Open Stage April 22, 2020 23:26

Friday 24th April: Virtual Open Stage

8pm (Meeting opens at 7:45pm)

Our first Virtual Open Stage evening using Zoom on Friday 17th April was so successful that we are going to have another Virtual Open Stage on Friday 24th April.

Our special guests for this Virtual Open Stage are Alan and Lynne Hempton.


The performance slots for this Virtual Open Stage are now full. We plan to have more Virtual Open Stages so please contact enquiries@cambridgefolkclub.co.uk if you would like to perform in the future.

Given the nature of the medium (there is half a second between you doing something and everyone else hearing it), performers for each slot will need to be at the same physical location, so slots will be limited to solo artists or people already isolating together. We cannot stress strongly enough that no-one should put themselves or others at risk just for the sake of performing. We'd much rather you stayed safe and came and played at the club when we are back up and running in the real world again.

Anyone who would like to be in the audience is also welcome. Joining instructions for both performers and audience will be emailed before the Virtual Open Stage to everybody on our mailing list. If you want to be in the audience and are not on our mailing list, please email enquiries@cambridgefolkclub.co.uk 


For more details see the Virtual Open Stage page.


Friday 17th April: Virtual Open Stage April 14, 2020 22:56

Friday 17th April: Virtual Open Stage
8pm (Meeting opens at 7:30pm)

Since we are unable to meet physically these days, we are going to experiment with a Virtual Open Stage evening using Zoom on Friday 17th April.

We have offered performance slots at this Virtual Open Stage to the performers who were going to perform at the cancelled Open Stage on 3rd April. There will also be a few performance slots available for other performers.

To make running the evening easier, we would ask people to pre-register for a performance slot and we will let you know your allocated time in advance. To register for a performance slot please email enquiries@cambridgefolkclub.co.uk or phone 01638 603986 or contact the Cambridge Folk Club on Facebook. If there are no more performance slots available for 17th April, we will offer you a slot at a future Virtual Open Stage instead.

Given the nature of the medium (there is half a second between you doing something and everyone else hearing it), performers for each slot will need to be at the same physical location, so slots will be limited to solo artists or people already isolating together. We cannot stress strongly enough that no-one should put themselves or others at risk just for the sake of performing. We'd much rather you stayed safe and came and played at the club when we are back up and running in the real world again.

Anyone who would like to be in the audience is also welcome. Joining instructions for both performers and audience will be emailed before the Virtual Open Stage to everybody on our mailing list. If you want to be in the audience and are not on our mailing list, please email enquiries@cambridgefolkclub.co.uk

Please bear with us and remember this is an experiment, so there may be some delays between performers.

For more details see the Virtual Open Stage page.


Goodbye Julie Felix, Britain’s “First Lady of Folk” March 27, 2020 22:28

It is with great sadness we learnt that folk legend Julie Felix died in her sleep on Sunday 22nd March, after a short illness. We were very fortunate to welcome Julie as our guest to Cambridge Folk Club three times in recent years, in 2007, 2012 and 2014. If anyone deserved the description “Forever Young”, she did… Her enthusiasm, love of folk song and commitment to her audience remained as strong as ever – and she could still do the famous high leg kick…

Support the musicians March 19, 2020 11:13

In these difficult times, we at Cambridge Folk Club are asking you to support the musicians who won’t be able to play for us while the Club is closed, by buying their CDs and other merchandise. This would go some way towards replacing their lost income, and would also show that we’re thinking of them. Stay safe and healthy, and enjoy listening to the music we all love so much.

Cambridge Folk Club closing due to threat from Coronavirus March 16, 2020 22:10

It is with great regret that we have decided to close the Cambridge Folk Club from today until further notice, in the light of the increasing threat from coronavirus COVID-19. We have a responsibility to protect the artists who perform for us, our audience members and our volunteers, and, taking into account the Club's general demographic, we are sure you will understand that our decision is in everyone's best interests.

At present, we are anticipating that we may have to remain closed until September. We are hoping to re-book the artists who were scheduled to appear at the Club at a later date.

We will, of course, keep you up to date about when the Club will reopen via our website and our mail out.

Don't forget about us, we will be back! In the meantime, stay safe and healthy, and enjoy listening to the music we all love so much.