Fo'c'sle Programme March 2002

1 March Hares' Anything Goes

8 Anything Goes
with
Feature Spot from Mike Preston & Simon Sprott

Mike (guitar, banjo, dulcimer, vocals) is well-known to Fo'c'sle audiences for his part in the former Same Train Different Teapot and Simon (guitar, fiddle, vocals) as a luminary of the British Bluegrass Music Association. Together they perform much of the 'STDT' repertoire with a current and particular emphasis on 19^th century music hall-based Anglo-American items.

15 Belshazzar's Feast

Paul Sartin - Oboe, Violin and Vocals

Paul Hutchinson - Accordion

Paul works with a number of other ensembles and is in demand as a session musician and record producer. As composer, arranger and musical director he has bcen involved in various stage productions, including the School for Scandal and the Beggar's Opera, as well as two albums of Victorian music with the Seven Dials Band. He is a former member of Oxford Performing Arts, a production company specialising in opera. and is co-presenter of the Roots Radio Show on Oxygène FM. Paul's principal commitment is with the Cathedral Choir of Christ Church. Oxford. featured in Channel 4's documentary 'The Choir' . and on the soundtracks of 'Mr.Bean' and 'Thc Vicar of Dibley'.

A virtuoso accordion player, Paul's folk career started in Bournemouth's celebrated Old Pull & Push, playing at many of the premier festivals in the UK. He later formed Irish Folk/Rock band lQ40. From 1995-1998 he was a member of Fieldwork Productions whose last opera, Mick Ryan's 'A Day's Work' enjoyed success at festivals in England and Ireland. Paul's busy schedule includes playing with Hoover the Dog and recording with a number of artists in the UK and abroad. In 1997 he joined the highly acclaimed Country Rock band Ida Red.

Paul Hutchinson and Paul Sartin formed Belshazzar's Feast in the Autumn of 1995 after meeting in the now-defunct Life of Reilly. Their eclectic tastes and influences combined with high standards of musicianship are brought to bear on material ranging from Playford tunes from the 18th Century to Scandanavian waltzes, Music Hall songs to their own compositions. Together they have performed on radio and television, at concert venues - notably at the South Bank in November 1997 - clubs, festivals and village halls both in the UK and abroad. Belshazzar's Feast have released several albums including One Too Many, Drop the Reed and more recently John Playford's Secret Ball and Mr Kynaston's Famous Dance all from Wildgoose Records.

22 Martyn Wyndham-Read

"I believe firmly that old songs keep new songs alive and new songs keep old songs alive, which is why, on Sunlit Plains, I have, in many cases, put my own tunes to the word of the old Bush poets, in order to continue the recycling process (a bit like putting old wine into new bottles).

On one occasion after I sang one such song, Where Silence Reigns on the radio in Alice Springs, the presenter turned to me and said, "Jesus, if only your ancestors had been transported here, we could have claimed you as being an Australian", and I took this as the highest possible compliment whether it was or not! My involvement with Australia started with my arrival from England to work on a sheep station, "Emu Springs" in 1960, and has been an on-going affair ever since. You will find my affection for Australia reflected in many of these songs, although the contents and themes are not restricted solely to the southern hemisphere. Above all I sing these songs because I like them".

- From Martyn's introduction to the CD Sunlit Plains Fellside FECD102. Martyn's more than 20 recordings, all considered classics, include Mussels on a Tree, Undiscovered Australia and (with No Man's Band) Beneath A Southern Sky and Maypoles To Mistletoe.

29 Good Friday Anything Goes

Submitted by Trevor Gilson

Back to Fo'c'sle 2001-2002 Programme Summary