With a family background of music hall and Surrey/Sussex border traditional singers, Ken (voice, concertina, button-accordion, spoons!) sang and played at the Balladeer (Fo'c'sle predecessor) and then in the Fo'c'sle before moving to Liverpool in the early 1960s. Returning south 10 years later, Ken was part of the trio ‘Bosun's Call' for a time as well as going out solo. In recent years, he has spent less time in folk clubs and more as a community musician, performing on historic Warships, in village halls and social clubs and at private functions. Also at Sea Festivals all round the UK and over in Holland, Norway, France, Poland and the USA - and he sometimes plays for the Morris as well. Fiona (fine voice, guitar, whistles) did some choir singing as a child, but didn't really ‘find her voice' until encouraged by John Murfitt with whom she performed in ‘Spindrift' for many years. Their material is a glorious mixture of self-penned songs (Ken), traditional songs, heritage seasongs, ballads and lively tunes from all over - they also have a CD "Patterns on the Tide".
See also http://www.chanteycabin.co.uk/John%20Connolly/Connolly.htm for a selection of his CDs
16 Anything Goes
Play or Sing, read a Poem, tell a Story, listen, fetch the beer, anything
23 Anything Goes
30 John Conolly
A Grimsby lad whose grandfather and great-grandfather were boatbuilders on the banks of the Humber, John (voice, guitar, melodeon, tin whistle) is an internationally-respected songwriter with an inherited and deep-rooted grounding in the folk tradition. His best-known song, the classic "Fiddler's Green" has often been announced as ‘traditional', but he's written many other finely-crafted, much-loved songs about all the aspects of the human condition from heart-rending to outrageously funny - many are sung and recorded by well-known artistes like ‘Malinky, The Dubliners, Roy Bailey, The Yetties to name just a few, but there's a special buzz to hearing him sing them himself! As well as performing in all sizes of venue all over Britain, John has toured the USA, Germany and the Netherlands and appeared in many major Festivals in England, Ireland, Brittany and Poland. He's also written songs for radio, TV and the stage, including the highly-acclaimed play ‘The Northern Trawl' performed throughout the UK (and in Iceland and Scandinavia) and he featured in the Yorkshire TV mini-series ‘Lincolnshire Legends'. Last seen at 2008 Whitby Folk Week in his side-splitting show ‘The Grumpy Old Men of Old England', he's worth catching wherever you can - he has several CDs (and a Book ‘The Singing River' with Bill Meek, hopefully still available).
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