Left: Mike Preston, Richard Hampton and Simon Sprott at the Fo'c'sle 40th Birthday Party
Folk music and storytelling are the history of home entertainment, which means of the human race. You can see what we do by browsing these pages - one week we get together and entertain each other (but you are always welcome to come along and just listen), another week we invite some talent in from outside (and pay them - yes, they're that good). We listen, which is what distinguishes us from the pub scene and means that we have no use for amplification in our smaller venues - contrary to the opinion of the ‘music industry' which sees universal provision of PA and drumkits in Village Halls as a way of getting youngsters involved (a scenario we view with horror - if you can't make music without that paraphernalia you're not a musician).
You can only find out by coming along - we don't bite. You can also find out what kind of music you might meet in a Folk Club by browsing the pages linked below and downloading some of the tracks on offer - but don't take the first one you find as typical because there is no such thing as typical! What you will find is as much English music as you will Scots or Irish, and if you don't know about real English traditional music your education has been sadly lacking.
What we are among other things is the first rung of the music ladder. You won't get a better grounding in demotic music that you can get with us. Move on to a degree course by all means (yes, there are several in traditional music as well as traditional modules in most other music degrees), but we're where it all starts.
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Some associated pages with mp3 music tracks:
Left: Mike Preston, Richard Hampton and Simon Sprott at the Fo'c'sle 40th Birthday Party |