This month’s headliners found their sound when the world fell silent. In 2020, these three singer-songwriters were selected to take part in a virtual global music sharing experiment called Global Music Match. Teamed up together, they spent several lockdowns turning their stories into soft harmonies and intricate melodies.
This year, WARD KNÚTUR TOWNES cashed in their stagnant travel points and started recording new material in Iceland.
Lucy Ward, from Derbyshire, is an acclaimed singer-songwriter and powerhouse performer with a unique ability to inhabit the heart of each song she sings. A BBC Radio 2 Folk Award winner, her songs are a mixture of evocative imagery, quiet beauty, passion, protest and tradition all rolled into one.
Iceland’s Svavar Knútur is a gentle but coarse, decadent troubadour. He summons his inner demons and outer storms to reflect upon the existential crises and frolicking joys of modern day rustic fjord dwelling folk. Recipient of the Anna Pálína Árnadóttir memorial award for folk music excellence in Iceland, Knútur is a humorous storyteller and avid diver into the murky waters of the human condition; a fitting mixture of art and entertainment.
Adyn Townes, who hails from New Brunswick in Canada, is an award-winning alternative folk artist who uses self-deprecating banter and heartfelt lyrics to disarm any audience. A five times International Songwriting Competition finalist, Townes’ unique voice and honest songwriting set the stage for a show that is high energy yet intimate, beautiful yet clever.
With more than a dozen albums between them, Ward Knútur Townes are touring their highly-anticipated debut album, Unanswered.
Opening the evening will be BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award winner MADDIE MORRIS, who is an artist who strives to make a difference in the world. Bold, insightful and refreshingly unique, she takes traditional song in new directions to shine a light on contemporary issues.
Folk songs have always told stories, but how Maddie makes her mark is by turning this storytelling into action. Described by our Patron Jim Moray as “leading the next generation of socially conscious songwriters”, she uses her work to highlight inequality, challenge viewpoints and provide an inclusive space for shared experiences.
Whether she’s turning a centuries-old ballad on its head or writing something new, Maddie places her focus on drawing out true meaning rather than being true to tradition. Her first studio release, Upstream, a beautifully crafted collection of songs which amplifies the stories of those often marginalised by society. Passionately political, yet gently understated, this is music that deftly treads the path between art and activism.
Tickets for the concert, which takes place at CHRIST CHURCH DOWNEND on Friday 17 November 2023, are available online at downendfolkandroots.com and from MELANIE'S KITCHEN in Downend (cash only). They are priced at £14 each in advance or £16 on the door. Doors open at 7.30pm and the entertainment starts around 7.45pm.
There will be a bar, stocking cider, soft drinks, wine, hot drinks and real ale from locally-based HOP UNION BREWERY. Audience members are encouraged to bring their own glass/mug/tankard, as well as reusable bottles for water, as part of the drive to be more environmentally aware; there is a 50p discount for those that do. There will also be sweet treats available at the bar courtesy of Radstock-based THE GREAT CAKE COMPANY, as well as a prize draw, which helps to fund the support artists for each concert. For further information, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
BUY TICKETS
+++
The sub-title of HANNAH SANDERS & BEN SAVAGE's latest album, Ink of the Rosy Morning, is "a sampling of folk songs from Britain and North America" and this, together with songs from their previous two albums, provided the large gathering at Downend Folk & Roots with an evening of sublime, heart-warming music.
Facing each other over a single old-style microphone, and back at Downend for the first time in five years as a duo, their warmth immediately draws us all in towards them. They begin with their version of Tim Hardin’s If I were a Carpenter. The purity of Hannah’s voice, Ben’s intricate guitar playing and harmonies get us off to a wonderful start to the evening. "We’re only three shows into the run," says Ben, "we’re still excited. We played Tim Hardin at the start to make sure we didn’t do anything stupid!”
The more bluesy, Polly O Polly is followed by some more good ol' blues, A Winter’s Night. Hannah tells us this was one was one of their avant-garde videos, set in front of a log fire! The mellow version of Way Over Yonder in a Minor Key (via Woody Guthrie/Billy Bragg), sets the bar high and includes the line "ain’t nobody can sing like me”. It certainly feels like it tonight!
Ben takes the lead on vocals with their working of the Cape Breton ballad, When I First Came to Caledonia... he tells us he has steadily fallen out of favour with the male protagonist, but the song does promote the delights of tea! An American version of the love song, I Gave My Love a Cherry, with Ben playing dobro, and then a version of Ribbons and Bows by US old-time banjo player, Richie Stearns, brings the first half to a close.
The English folk ballad Earl Richard starts the second half, and contains on of Hannah’s favourite lines from a female protagonist: "I have a dead man in my bower. I wish he were a way". Two moving love songs follow; The Fall, featuring Hannah’ plaintive vocals, and Ben leading on What’s it Tonight My Love. After Fairport Convention’s Reynardine (a cautionary tale to women), we are treated to A Life A Lie, a song that Hannah wrote for those left behind after others have left, and we are invited to sing along to Ben's song of hope, A Thousand New Moons, with the words "for love, for love" .
The soulful blues of John Martyn’s Hurt in Your Heart, leads us to the 'last' song, River Don’t Run, a romance played out against a demolished area of London in 1886. But, of course, it’s not the last song! Ben & Hannah return for two more. Leadbelly’s sing-a-long blues I Will Be So Glad When I Get Home, and another bluesy song of hope, Trouble in Mind.
Opening the evening was LAUREN SOUTH, who gave us another stunning vocal performance as she accompanied her songs with a variety of instruments. She opened with The Mermaid and the Swimming Lad whilst playing a shruti box. Lauren tells us that her daughters were disappointed at the fate of the Swimming Lad! The title track of her album Tiny Boat, is a lyrical ballad backed by deft guitar playing. Next were two tunes, Glenfarg Waltz and Time Wasters, including lilting violin via a hands-free kit! In the thoughtful The Blue, Lauren asks “where the sky meets the sea, where does the blue end and begin?”. Jessica finished the set, a song about not looking back.
But the evening rightly belonged to Hannah & Ben, whose latest album came from songs that were not originally meant to be recorded or played in public. Tonight we were treated to the very best in harmonious vocals and intricate guitar playing. We are so glad they did!
Words: Paul Duckett
Photos: Alan Cole
We welcome one of the most innovative duos on the UK folk scene as our Autumn/Winter programme keeps on delivering top-class artists to the area.
Since emerging in 2016, HANNAH SANDERS & BEN SAVAGE have been defying all conventions of style, genre and compartmentalisation. A touch of Americana, yet quintessentially English. Traditional, yet contemporary, with their individual writing style. Playful and instinctive, they constantly do the unexpected; yet they do it with such panache and natural chemistry it makes perfect sense.
Hannah Sanders has an alluring mystique and a voice of disarming purity that massages your senses. Ben Savage is a bubbling ferment of energy and infectious enthusiasm, seemingly able to play any instrument you put in front of him with grace and favour.
They have recorded three studio albums to date, Before the Sun (2016), Awake (2018) and Ink of the Rosy Morning (2022), and have captivated audiences at shows and on festival stages alongside Americana and folk luminaries such as Sarah Jarosz, Martin Simpson, Seth Lakeman and Oh Susanna. They are true originals, that’s all there is to it. Distinctive. Innovative. Ground-breaking. Unique.
Opening the evening, before Ben and Hannah take to the stage, will be LAUREN SOUTH. Residing in Rugby, Lauren is an accomplished singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist renowned within Warwickshire for her original compositions and traditional melodies, establishing herself as a prominent figure in the folk music scene. With the accompaniment of tenor guitar, fiddle, and shruti box, her songs exude heartfelt emotion and vivid imagery, drawing inspiration from her passion for the nocturnal heavens, the natural world, and her journey through motherhood.
Tickets for the concert, which takes place at CHRIST CHURCH DOWNEND on Friday 20 October 2023, are available online HERE and from MELANIE'S KITCHEN in Downend (cash only). They are priced at £14 each in advance or £16 on the door. Doors open at 7.30pm and the music starts around 7.45pm.
There will be a bar, stocking cider, soft drinks, wine, hot drinks and real ale from locally-based HOP UNION BREWERY. Audience members are encouraged to bring their own glass/mug/tankard, as well as reusable bottles for water, as part of the drive to be more environmentally aware; there is a 50p discount for those that do. There will also be sweet treats available at the bar courtesy of Radstock-based THE GREAT CAKE COMPANY, as well as a prize draw, which helps to fund the support artists for each concert. For further information, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
BUY TICKETS
+++
Page 6 of 104