All posts by Gavin Atkin

Traditional and old fashioned songs, dances and tunes in mid-Kent

Song workshops at Horsmonden

Maurice Rollinat (1846-1903) chantant au piano d'après une aquarelle de Gaston Béthune (1857-1897)
Maurice Rollinat singing, from a watercolour by Gaston Béthune. You’ll notice that his mouth is a nice big round shape!

A series of free workshops concentrating on traditional and old fashioned songs are being held on the first Tuesday of the month at The Gun and Spitroast, Horsmonden until the summer.

The aim is to help singers:

  • become more confident,
  • be heard,
  • ensure they make a musical sound when they open their mouths (and breathe at a suitable moment rather than gasp!),
  • put over the story of their story,
  • find, choose and learn songs

We’ll be working mainly with traditional songs, and intend to avoid accompanying with instruments, at least to begin with – after all, it’s how we sing the song that really matters. Once that’s working well, adding an accompaniment can follow. See the Song Workshops page for more information.

Traditional and old fashioned songs, dances and tunes in mid-Kent

Jo and Pip Ives at the Frittenden session, from 8pm on the 26th January

On Sunday night at The Bell and Jorrocks, Frittenden, session our featured visitors are Jo and Pip Ives.

Jo’s a talented flautist, and melodeon and anglo concertina player Pip Ives will need no introduction to local musicians (he works at Hobgoblin Canterbury for one thing) or to morris and sword dancers. Here’s a sample of Pip’s playing for those who need to be persuaded to come! Oh – and it’s a session so entry is free…

Peter Collins

Peter Collins sings at the end of December Frittenden session, 29th December

Peter Collins photographed by Jacqui Ross

We’re greatly looking forward to our session with Peter Collins on the evening of the 29th December.

The session is always a moment of sanity in the madness of the Christmas period, and we’re always pleased to welcome our old friend and session regular Peter to chip in with a well-considered selection of songs in line with a reflective time of year, in between the parties of Christmas and the New Year.

We’ll try not to let things get too conventionally Christmassy, but no doubt there will be the odd old carol – and we will have the Nonsuch Mummers along to entertain us. I expect high drama, costumes, a near fatality (and with perhaps a spot or two of corpsing, which is almost the same), and some spirited ad-libbing.

The sessions take place at the Bell & Jorrocks pub at Frittenden, Kent, and start at 8pm and continue until it’s time to sing Nellie Dean and say goodnight. They’re informal and free, with lots of old fashioned and traditional songs and tunes, and a big emphasis on variety, humour and entertainment generally – as we like to say, if you liked your pub the way it was before the telly and the computer came, this is the event for you.