8th Traditional Music Day at M.E.A.L.
On Saturday 5th September, the East Anglian Traditional Music Trust and the Museum of East Anglian Life host the eighth annual Traditional Music Day, with an eclectic line-up of events and guests at the 70-acre museum site in the centre of Stowmarket.
This year’s programme features plenty of local talent alongside guests from the top drawer of traditional folk music. The annual event has become extremely popular with many musicians, singers and dancers who would normally be found on the guest list of other festivals around the country, so you never know quite who else is going to appear during the day.
Guests appearing this year include:
• Michael Wright, a passionate and exciting player of the Jew’s Harp – a very ancient instrument – and has an unparalleled knowledge of the instrument’s history. Appearing with Michael are his brother David and niece Lucy, in a unique trio of jew’s harps.
• JigJaw combine four impressive talents in percussive dancing and vocal harmonies. Their distinctive performances draw on mouth music, nonsense rhymes and dances from Britain and beyond.
• Sam Lee, “the most accomplished and authentic interpreter of traditional English song to emerge in years†as one national review put it recently. Sam is a young singer with a compelling style and unusual repertoire, and brings with him Dogan Mehmet, a young performer equally at home in the Turkish tradition as the English one, from his band Sam Lee and the Gillie Boys.
• Wall Star Village Band are from the far north-east of England – just south of Hadrian’s Wall – and play the rants and reels of their local area on Northumbrian smallpipes and concertina, fiddle and piano. They’ll be providing lively music for the afternoon ceilidh, with caller Dave Hunt leading you through the moves with his infectious sense of humour.
• The Boat Band bring the little-known music of the Lakeland area to life with skill and pzazz on melodeon, fiddle, banjo and guitar.
• Jim Ward & Will Duke both hail from Sussex and are greatly influenced by their local traditions. Will returns to Traditional Music Day with more gems from his store of wonderful tunes and songs, whilst Jim is a newcomer to the event and specialises in Music Hall songs and monologues.
• Old Hat Concert Party – this informal group of East Anglian musicians, stepdancers, singers and story-tellers has been going for nearly 30 years and still comes together for a celebration every Traditional Music Day!
A one-off programme of special events, ‘Mouth Music’, features mouthorgan-players, whistles and “diddling†– singing for dancing as well as a lecture on the history of the jew’s harp by Michael Wright.
The day also features a chance to see the unique Museum of British Folklore on its only visit to Suffolk. Curator Simon Costin has put together a quirky exhibition of artefacts and artworks illustrating British traditions and is touring it in a caravan during this summer to raise interest in his proposal to establish a permanent national museum of folklore. There are also photographic exhibitions from Suffolk County Council’s Traveller Education Service – “Romany Roots†and from the East Anglian Traditional Music Trust – “Blaxhall Traditionsâ€.
The event is very family-friendly, with all the attractions of the museum, including a play area and nature trail, as well as craft, dance and musical activities for children.
Events run from 11am to 5.30pm and include:
• Stepdance Special – the biggest annual gathering of stepdancers, featuring
many from East Anglia, including a number from Gypsy families. Stepdancing is a lively informal version of tap dancing, and is now attracting a lot of interest from younger people.
• Concert programme throughout the day featuring special guests (due to limited space,
concerts are accessible only to advance ticket-holders)
• Singing sessions for all to join in with, or listen
• Big music session featuring fiddles, concertinas, melodeons and dulcimers
• Ceilidh (barn dance) with Northumbrian band “Wall Star Village Band†and caller Dave Hunt
• Have-a-go sessions – a chance to try out traditional instruments including squeezeboxes and tin whistles or our unique collection of traditional dancing dolls, also a chance to make your own instrument from junk – for all the family!
The day will be opened by Mrs Vera Waspe, the Mayor of Stowmarket, at 10.30am.
Further event information
Special day tickets are available in advance from the East Anglian Traditional Music Trust, which give access to all events, space permitting. Closing date for advance tickets is Thursday 3rd September. On the day, ordinary museum tickets can be bought, together with a programme, which allows entry to all outdoor events, but not the concert programme.
Locally produced food and real ales will be available on site throughout the day.
Further details about the events and guests can be found at www.eatmt.org.uk on the Traditional Music Day page. The website also has a full timetable and tickets details. Further information from: the East Anglian Traditional Music Trust on 01449 771090.
