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What WAS on at The Goose is Out!


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Alasdair Roberts

23 January and 30 October 2009

Alasdair Roberts

Alasdair has twice come down from Glasgow specially for the Goose. Last time DHFC was packed, and it was a very special evening. Alasdair said that he'd enjoyed it too!

He is one of those singers who just could not possibly be mistaken for anybody else, having his own very individual style.

Based in Scotland, he released his first solo album of traditional songs, "The Crook of my Arm", in 2001. His second album "Farewell Sorrow" was one of the Observer's top albums of the year (note - that's top albums, not top folk albums! Amazing for a folk album!), and consists of beautiful self-written songs which are totally personal yet clearly influenced by the folk tradition.

Alasdair's next album, "No Earthly Man", was a collection of traditional British ballads and his fourth, "The Amber Gatherers" was released in 2007. Alasdair is working on a new album, due for release in early 2009.

Click here to go to Alasdair Roberts' website

Click here to see Alasdair Roberts singing River Rhine

fRoots said of his latest album, released earlier this year: "Spoils is back to his unyieldingly scary best… it is a beautiful, disquieting, comic, twisted, bizarre, riveting masterpiece.”

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Alchemy

14 October 2011 - Upstairs at the Mag

Alchemy

If you were at our second singaround in March 2011, you are bound to remember the brilliant harmony trio who brought the whole pub to a complete standstill, even the non-folkies in the other bar!

That was Alchemy, who had come to East Dulwich all the way from the outer depths of Kent .... sorry about your strange pic, guys, we had trouble fitting the one you sent into our very wonderful Goose circle format :(

Friendship and a mutual love of unaccompanied singing have brought together these three fine voices. Mike Nicholson, Lesley Massey and Tony Petty have combined together as Alchemy to produce a unique blend of harmony with a full rich sound.

As accomplished performers, Mike has enjoyed a long and illustrious career as a singer and musician and continues to be much in demand on the folk club and festival circuit whilst Tony and Lesley remain busy in their separate careers while maintaining their smallholding in Kent and performing around the country as the very popular duo Capella.

Interpretation and musicality are central to the performance of a wonderfully varied repertoire which is drawn from the tradition, both old and new, and which is increasingly earning Alchemy a reputation as having one of the most distinctive vocal sounds to emerge in recent years.

Highlights of their first "proper" Goose gig were a version of A Blacksmith Courted Me about an accountant, and Come All you Maids Who Live At a Distance about trucking on the M25 ....... sadly I shall never be able to hear the original songs again without cracking up with laughter .....

They did a great mix of other things as well. They'll be back!

Oh and ooops, sorry guys, I forgot to include your website earlier - here it is:

Click here to go to Alchemy's website!

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Andrew McLeod

28 March 2008

Andrew McLeod

Andrew made his live debut at the age of seven singing Oom-Pah-Pah in an assembly at Eliot Bank primary school with his friend Neil Wallace. A classically trained cellist, Andrew spent much of his 20s singing and playing in a Brighton avant-garde grunge band. He got back into folk seriously about ten years ago when he started going to Sidmouth festival with his mum and sister. He is a regular floor singer in small venues and folk clubs. He currently sings with the indy-blues band The Pendletons and in an amateur choir in Hackney.

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Andy Hankdog

28 March 2008

Andy Hankdog

Andy needs no introduction to those of you who know and love his Easycome Acoustic Club, every Wednesday night at the Old Nun's Head on Nunhead Green. In the seventies, at its previous location at The Ivy House, the Easycome was one of the major South London venues - the Stones played there, and Pink Floyd had their first gig there.

From rock star in the seventies, Andy Hank Dog left the drugged up music scene and became a jewellery designer throughout the eighties, returning to his music career in the nineties. His band The Hank Dogs were signed to Joe Boyd's record company Ryko Music, and their second album Half Smile (on Spinney Records) got great reviews in the national press.

Andy has lived in Crystal Palace for ten years now, and has a recording studio there called Crystopolis, where he promotes young talent. He also curated the Tate's Floor Spot night in 2007. We are grateful to Andy for being so supportive of The Goose Is Out, and for being so tolerant of our talent-spotting amongst his Easycome singers!

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The Askew Sisters

The Askew Sisters

Friday 8 October 2010

We had an absolutely brilliant gig Upstairs at the Mag with Hazel and Emily Askew, though sadly we had to turn quite a few people away as we just couldn't get any more into the room.

Emily and Hazel Askew are a young duo making waves on the folk scene with their energetic brand of English folk music. Using fiddle and melodeon, they play and sing with an infectious enjoyment and love for the music, winning them fans wherever they go. From rhythmic foot stomping tunes to powerful interpretations of songs and ballads, their playing always guarantees to engage and inspire those who hear.

We will definitely be asking them back to the Goose!

See Emily and Hazel sing Adieu to Old England

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Bella Hardy

23 September 2011 - DHFC

Bella Hardy

We were delighted to welcome Bella Hardy to the Goose for her first appearance there, accompanied by Anna Massie.

Unveiled, committed, uncontrived, persuasive, passionate, empowering and utterly wonderful." fRoots

"One of Britain's most expressive young singers." Mojo

Though only 25 years old, Bella has already been nominated three times in the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards and has been well known on the folk circuit for many years, playing fiddle in a variety of popular line-ups as a teenager and reaching the finals of the BBC Young Folk Awards in 2004.

Bella is from Edale in Derbyshire's Dark Peak and as a child was always singing. Edale was the ideal place to nurture this natural ability, with an abundance of communal song. Having played the fiddle a small amount at school, Bella attended a Folkworks Youth Summer School in Durham age 13. Motivated by the number of young people playing folk music, she was inspired to begin working on folk fiddle. She also met many of her great friends and musical companions.

Some of these new friends arranged to meet up again, and on New Year's Day a year later The Pack was formed. Initially The Pack was a way for this group of people to get free tickets to festivals. The spirited performances and complex arrangements of the 12 piece band proved a resounding success, and they went on to play many of the scene's greatest stages, including Cambridge Folk Festival main stage in 2003.

It was following the launch of her debut album Night Visiting in 2007 that Bella quickly rose to become one of the shining lights of the folk scene, famed for entwining her hypnotic voice with her own fiddle accompaniment to stunning effect. Night Visiting secured Bella a raft of rave reviews, and 2008 saw a packed year of gigs and festival appearances.

In July 2008, Bella was invited to perform in two concerts at London's Royal Albert Hall as part of the first ever Folk Prom. She was given the privileged but daunting task of opening the event with a set of unaccompanied traditional songs and met the challenge with remarkable composure, winning over a host of new admirers. The programme was broadcast simultaneously by BBC4 and Radio 3. She also appeared on BBC2 on Christmas Day, singing the Coventry Carol in Howard Goodall's 'The Truth about Carols.

Click here to go to Bella Hardy's website!

and

Click here to see her on YouTube!

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Bob Rafkin

25 September 2009

Bob Rafkin

Another great Goose night at Hooper's Bar!

Bob Rafkin came over from the States to do this gig for the Goose, and what an excellent night it was!

Bob is a premier acoustic guitarist, songwriter and performer. His roots go back to the late 60's music scene of New York's Greenwich Village, San Francisco and Los Angeles. He performed as a back up guitarist for many artists including; Joni Mitchell, Arlo Guthrie, Phil Ochs, The Everly Brothers and Eric Andersen. His song Lazy Waters was recorded by the Byrds.

On stage, as a solo performer, Rafkin's powerful guitar playing weaves magically through his poignant lyrical vocals. His delivery is spontaneous and strong. Bob has released seven CDs, including his latest, Songs Of Bob Rafkin.

You can find out more about Bob on his website

www.bobrafkin.com

and listen to some of Bob's music on

www.myspace.com/bobrafkin

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The Boycott Coca Cola Experience

28 March 2008

The Boycott Coca-Cola Experience

Backed by William Warren on toy drums and brass, Tim Siddall sings caustic, funny, surreal and mundane songs and has been described as "Mark E Smith meets Jake Thackray". Siddall has got something to say and he says it with wit and warmth whilst grappling with a demonic Mississippi-via-Peckham guitar.

The Goose thinks TBCCA is brilliant, and judging by the applause, so did you!

Find out more at

The Boycott Coca-Cola Experience's MySpace page

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Brass Monkey

Friday 15 May 2009

Brass Monkey

Well, if you were there you will know what a truly brilliant gig this was - one of the highlights of the Goose so far, and that's saying something!

We've had some great performers at the Goose since we tentatively tapped our way out of our egg in March 2008, but we can't believe we've actually had Brass Monkey at East Dulwich! We'd go (almost) to the ends of the earth to see them, and half of the Goose has The Doffing Mistress as the ringtone on her (clue) mobile. People do tend to look a bit startled on the bus....

Martin Carthy, John Kirkpatrick, Martin Brinsford, Roger Williams - and now with Paul Archibald on trumpet! What more do you need to know?

Jere's what Routes Music said: "Messrs Carthy and Kirkpatrick naturally lock into one another's playing with an ease and precision that can only come of playing together for over thirty years. Sharing the vocals, and sometimes singing together in unison, they bring the fruits of years of experience to this band with an explosive freshness that is clearly driven by the excitement they all feel by playing together. It is a rare treat to see masters of their art combine with such open hearted enthusiasm to reach such tremendous heights. Feel the power!"

You can find out more and hear some of their music at

xxx

http://www.routesmusic.co.uk/brassmonkey.php

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Bulgakov

25 April 2008

Bulgakov

Bulgakov is (are?) a seven-piece acapella vocal ensemble who have been singing with the wonderful London Bulgarian Choir for several years.

They are all still dedicated members of the Choir, but decided to form Bulgakov so that they could explore songs from beyond Bulgaria, for example from Georgia, and to bring this great form of 'open throat' singing to South London, where most of them are based.

They are completely smitten with the folk music of the Balkans, with its spine-tingling and often clashing harmonies, and powerfully evocative songs.

Where does their name come from? This is what they say: "We are named Bulgakov after the Russian author Mikhail Bulgakov, writer of the seminal 20th century novel ‘The Master and Margarita’. Why? Well, we love that book; his name conveniently contains the first five letters of ‘Bulgaria’; also the particular ‘open throat’ singing technique sometimes makes us cough!"

Click here to find out more about Bulgarian singing and the London Bulgarian Choir on utube

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Cheeseburger

23 May 2008

Cheeseburger

What can we say about Cheeseburger? Here's what some other people have said:

"Cheeseburger are maybe the oddest and best band you'll see this year"

"Like an apocalyptic fallout out by The Meteors with Nick Cave and Link Wray in attendance"

"Cheeseburger's appeal lies in their shambolic beauty and their knack for writing skewed, off kilter songs that would grace the soundtrack of a David Lynch road movie"

"Cheeseburger's songs collectively create a movie in the mind's eye -- a long-lost road movie of guilt-ridden men, nascent love, and go-go girls."

You can find out more about Cheeseburger and listen to some of their music on their website and MySpace page:

Click here to go to Cheeseburger's website

Click here to go to Cheeseburger's MySpace page

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Chris Foster - Upstairs at the Mag

Friday 11 June 2010

Chris Foster

We were very excited when Chris agreed to come to the Mag, as he is based in Iceland these days, so it was a bit of a long trip to East Dulwich!

Chris Foster is a master of his trade. Alongside Nic Jones, Dick Gaughan and June Tabor, he established himself in the 1970’s as one finest interpreters of the traditional ballads of the British Isles with tales of romance, magic, murder, liquor, love, adultery and cross dressing. Each song is a story. Shared experiences of the human condition, instantly recognisable to all audiences, crossing the boundaries of urban and rural experience, of past and present.

Chris has a distinctive voice, deep and clear with a faint overlay of his native Somerset, and a vocal style that incorporates a subtle use of decoration with an intricate and exciting sense of rhythmic patterns. He provides guitar accompaniments that range from fine filigree lines to beautifully paced punchy, rhythmic counterpoint harmony, weaving words and music together to complement the action of the story.Underpinning it all is his on-stage persona, with his urbane wit and engaging enthusiasm for his music that draws the audience into his performance.

‘As one who has witnessed the development of ‘English’ guitar accompaniment to traditional songs, I have always ranked Chris as one of our most exciting interpreters…. My old vinyl copies of his 2 Topic albums remain precious.Chris remains a consummate artist.’Graham Lobb – The Living Tradition.

‘His is one of the most distinctive voices in English folk music, totally sure and engaging, with some of the most accomplished and sensitive guitar accompaniments that you are likely to hear. A mesmeric performer.’ Vic Smith - The Folk Diary

Watch Chris Foster singing Geordie here!

Chris sang some songs with his wife, and the two of them together were just brilliant.

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Chris Parkinson

19 March 2010

Norma Waterson, Martin Carthy and Chris Parkinson

Chris appeared at the Goose with Norma Waterson and Martin Carthy.

Despite the fact that we have already had Martin at the Goose in various incarnations (solo, with Dave Swarbrick and as part of Brass Monkey), as soon as we saw these three live we knew we had to book them!

For more than 30 years Norma Waterson and Martin Carthy have been at the forefront of the English folk scene. Joined by their long time friend Chris Parkinson they perform fantastic traditional songs and music in a way only they know how.

Chris Parkinson has played music since the age of 5, starting with the harmonica and developing into a long career playing in various bands. Other instruments he has accomplished (I'm sure that's not the right word but hey, that's what it says here!) include the piano, guitar, concertina, tin whistle, melodeon, piano, accordion and keyboard - and he even finds time to play the fiddle. He has worked with a number of people from the folk scene and beyond, including Ralph Mactell, Steve Philips and Billy Connolly.

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Chris Sarjeant and Benedict Taylor

2009, 11 November 2011

Chris SarjeantBenedict Taylor

Chris Sarjeant & Benedict Taylor have been playing together now as a duo specialising mostly in English traditional material for over two years, performing in prestigious venues throughout the country and also for the nationwide Live Music Now organisation.

Chris & Benedict made their first appearance at The Goose Is Out! tonight Upstairs at the Mag in 2009, when they could happily have continued all night if we had let them - a great night and amazing performances!

"Impeccable fiddle and guitar work, one of the best voices ever........a very major addition to the British folk scene" - Tom McConville - Musician of the year, BBC Folk Awards.

And here's some blurb shamelessly nicked from The Magpie's Nest website- sorry Sam, feel free to nick any of ours!

Chris and Benedict have been friends for an awfully long time! They both attended the Royal Northern College of Music together before heading south to the bright lights of London. Chris originally studied the Piano and Benedict concentrated mainly on the Viola during their student years but after being bitten by a folky bug that had been lurking for some years underneath the fridge, they turned their attentions to something a little more rustic.

Not readily associated by those who know them as being in the vanguard of new technology, it has taken some time for these two to make an appearence on Myspace, though they now plan to stay.

Hmmm, the only Benedict Taylor we could find on MySpace appears to bear no resemblance to "ours" - however you can listen to Chris at

http://www.myspace.com/chris.sarjeant

And watch Chris on YouTube

here!

and

here!

Sadly for their second time at the Goose, Benedict was struck down with a hideous bug following a trip to India and couldn't be there, but we had another brilliant performance from Chris performing solo!

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Chris Wood

Friday 19 December 2008

Chris Wood

We had a great evening with Chris Wood in the week before Christmas, just after it was announced that he had five! nominations in the 2009 BBC Folk Awards.

Click here to see a video of Chris Wood singing plus an interview with Chris

Chris Wood has been called "The renaissance man of English folk". His first solo album "The Lark Descending" was Mojo's Folk Album of the Month on its release, and was Number One on both fRoots' playlist and Radio 3's World Roots playlist.

This album includes the BBC Folk Award winning song "One in A Million" (which still makes half the Goose cry whenever she (clue) hears it ..... cry in a good way though - it has a very happy ending :) )

Chris has performed on Verity Sharp's Late Junction on Radio 3, and was part of Simon Emerson's acclaimed Imagined Village project which also included Paul Weller, Billy Bragg, and Martin and Eliza Carthy on.

Of his album "Trespasser", the BBC said "If he continues to produce albums with the fragile beauty and profoundly human warmth of Trespasser, then (his) future should be very bright indeed.

The Lark Descending

Trespasser (with a couple of tracks you can listen to)

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Circulus

Wednesday 23 April 2008

Circulus

The Goose was delighted to welcome mediaeval/psychedelic band Circulus for our celebrations of Saint George's Day. We think it's unlikely East Dulwich had seen anything quite like Circulus before - except maybe in mediaeval times, of course ..... we don't think we've ever seen quite such an array of strange and unusual instruments!

Atmosphere was added to the evening with a football semi-final being screened in the adjacent bar - oh how appropriately very English! - as we were downstairs instead of upstairs as usual (this was when the Goose was in its original incarnation at the EDT). Hopefully everybody enjoyed the mix of English music to sing along to (though in retrospect perhaps Benny Hill's "Ernie" was a bit over the top - sorry, the Goose got carried away there ......)

The Guardian said this about Circulus' debut album:

"By turns preposterous, unsettling, tear-jerkingly beautiful and wonderfully refreshing: the one thing it is not is a concerted effort to storm the charts by sounding a bit like Coldplay or Franz Ferdinand, which may explain the flurry of critical excitement the band are currently generating."

Click here to see the full Guardian article

Click here to go to Circulus' MySpace page

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Coope, Boyes & Simpson

4 November 2011

Coope, Boyes & Simpson

Ooops, sorry, we were totally unable to reduce the huge photo to fit it into one of our Goose circles - Photoshop illiterate? Not us!

Coope, Boyes and Simpson are probably the best a cappella trio in the country, and we were delighted to be able to welcome them to the Goose for the first time. What a great evening it was!

"Magnificent harmonies" - The Guardian

Click here to listen to some of those magnificent harmonies!

Click here for CBS's website, to find out lots more!

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Cornrigs

25 April 2008

Cornrigs

The Cornrigs are Hannah Harris on vocals and Ian Granton on acoustic guitar. They are based in London.

Hannah and Ian met several years ago when they were both in a band called "Telophase". They formed the Cornrigs in 2006, taking their name from a song in the movie "The Wicker Man", and have been been writing original music since 2007.

Their influences are wide ranging and include Nick Drake, John Martyn, Robert Johnson, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Joni Mitchell, Ravel, Vaughan Williams, Miles Davis and - er - Doris Day. And many more!

They say "We are very interested in the tone of the guitar and voice and have tried to write uncluttered music that emphasises the melody and allows the songs to breathe"

The Cornrigs have released an album, A Kinder Fayre.

Click here to see some video clips of Cornrigs

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Crownstreet

17 June 2011

Crownstreet

We came across Crownstreet when they sent us a demo CD which we really liked. However when we saw that between the four of them they play sixteen different instruments, including musical saw, cittern and bagpipes, we were a bit concerned that our sound guy Davide would have a heart attack if we booked them!

We are pleased to say that for their half hour spot supporting Dick Gaughanthey were able to use fewer instruments and so Davide may continue in excellent health (we were hoping that the musical saw would still make an appearance, but sadly it was not to be ......).

You can find out more about them from:

Crownstreet's website

and

Crownstreet's MySpace page

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Dan Maitland

28 March 2008

Dan Maitland

A great singer, songwriter and musician, our very own local lad Dan Maitland released an unashamedly reflective album of acoustic songs on Folkwitt records in Spring 2008, entitled ‘Rumours Of A Nice Day’.

Read more about him and listen to his music on www.myspace.com/danielmaitland.

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Danny and the Champions of the World

Friday 27 March 2009

Danny and the Champions

Wow what a good evening this was!

We're sure we will be inviting the Champs back to the Goose, but meanwhile find out more about them from their website

http://www.thechampionsoftheworld.org/

and listen to some of their music at

http://www.myspace.com/dannyandthechampionsoftheworld1/

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Dan Raza

Friday 4 March 2011

Dan Raza

Dan Raza supported The Jackie Oates Band at DHFC in 2011.

Dan is a 26-year-old English roots songwriter. He has toured Europe supporting Grammy Award singer Joan Armatrading, as well as touring the USA and the UK in his own right.

Maverick Magazine said "Truly spellbinding, stunning .... if there is any justice in this world, it won't be long before Dan Raza is headlining in a town near you. Take my advice and go and see him live, highly recommended."

Judging by his performance at DHFC, we certainly agree!

To find out more, visit

Dan's MySpace page

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Darren Black

Friday 25 February 2011

Darren Black

Darren Black supported The Fay Hield Trio in 2011.

Darren is a musician with a rapidly growing profile on the folk/acoustic scene. Described by Rock 'n' Reel magazine as 'a name to note', he hails from a quiet corner of the Welsh valleys and carries a heart-felt honesty in his music. With voice, guitar and fiddle, he performs his own thought-provoking songs and tunes, and 'has an incisive flair for blurring the boundaries between the traditional and contemporary'.

2007 saw the release of Darren's debut album, the acclaimed 'Silent Poetry'. After opening several shows for Dave Swarbrick & Martin Carthy, he was invited to record it at Swarb's home studio. The follow-up 'Thinkers & fools', was released in Autumn 2008, this time with an array of instrumental arrangements, and featuring guest musicians including Joe Broughton (who also produced it), Kevin Dempsey and Dave Swarbrick.

Aside from his solo work, he also performs with ex-Blue Horses fiddle-player Deborah Peake, as the duo 'Black Peak'. Their debut EP 'Tales we might know' was released in Autumn 2009, and they are currently writing material for their debut album, to be recorded in 2011. He also occasionally plays as a trio with Kevin Dempsey and The Old Dance School's Helen Lancaster, and plays fiddle with Naomi Bedford alongside The Men They Couldn't Hang's Paul Simmonds.

Great set, Darren, thanks!

Listen to Darren Black on his MySpace page here!

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Dave Swarbrick

28 March 2008 and 23 April 2010

Dave Swarbrick

Swarb was the very first artist to appear at the Goose, over two years ago now, and our opening night was a sellout!

We were also delighted that he was able to do a solo gig for us two years later at very short notice, after James Yorkston had to pull out for unavoidable reasons. That was on St George's Day, and the gig was a Folk Against Fascism awareness-raising gig, as part of the national Folk Against Fascism Week.

Folk legend extraordinaire, brilliant fiddler and mandolinist, ex Fairport Convention, but maybe best known for his amazing gigs/albums with Martin Carthy. Possibly the only folk musician (or indeed anyone) to have had an obituary printed in the Daily Telegraph whilst, erm, not actually being dead......

You can see some pictures of our opening night in our gallery

Links to more information and music: