Halsway Manor took a trip to Bury last week to present a Halsway Manor Showcase as part of the prestigious international folk music industry event English Folk Expo. The showcase took place on Friday 14 October at Ramsbottom Civic Hall, to an invited audience of over 150 delegates from across the UK and beyond – Flanders, Belgium, Poland, USA, Portugal, Australia, Isle of Man, Denmark, Canada, Germany, Estonia, China, Hungary, Malaysia, and France.
CEO Crispian Cook gave a short presentation about Halsway Manor and its activities, and three artists were selected to perform short sets:
- Faustus, Halsway Manor’s 2016 Artists in Residence, performed four songs drawn from Somerset folklorist Ruth Tongue’s manuscripts, which are held in the Halsway Manor archives. The songs all feature on a brand new album ‘Death and Other Animals’ (Westpark Music) which was recorded by the band at Halsway Manor earlier this year. www.faustusband.com
- Young Associate Artist Kitty Macfarlane continued the theme with an unaccompanied Ruth Tongue song, before performing two of her self-penned songs ‘Lamb’ and ‘Wrecking Days’ – both drawing upon Somerset landscape and stories for inspiration – wrapping-up with a beautiful interpretation of ‘Song to the Siren’ by Tim Buckley. www.kittymacfarlane.com
- Pagoda Project (Karen Wimhurst and Associate Artist Paul Hutchinson) completed the event with a diverse set of contemporary interpretations combining traditional folk, jazz, classical and even tango influences. www.pagodaproject.co.uk
English Folk Expo is an annual showcase aimed at making a positive difference to the worldwide distribution of the live performance, profile and careers of artists from the English folk, roots and acoustic genres by inspiring music promoters and programmers from the UK and abroad to include this music in their events and at their venues.