September 12, 2016

Doin different - the last waltz as the Titanic tour goes down singing in Lynn! (Hanse House 11 am, 1 pm, 3 pm)

Picture gallery by Pat Jones.

Lynn news story (trending on the Lynn news website!)

"These are songs from a book, doin different it's called
All about Norfolk heroes and heroines bold.
It's on sale over there at that Hanse House stall.
You can buy it at Waterstone's and at Jarrold's.
So we're here doin different as Norfolkers should,
Nor folk in the town singing songs from the wood.
We got Margery Kempe, Walpole, two of his kin;
Bad King John, Nelson, Cod Fishers, Sawtrey of Lynn..."
(The tour song in its final adaptation)

Where Doin different all began - on the last day and 5 years ago when composer Adrian Tebbutt (left) asked me to give him some lyrics about a Norfolk legend. The result was then sung by Roger Partridge (backside shown right!) Also pictured the lady who now sings it and lead singer on Heritage Day, Sharon Clifton.
The minstrel Lynn, lead singer of Waterline.

The Fried Pirates warm up. (and another back view of Jolly Roger)

William Sawtrey of Lynn's life or death issues with the eucharistic bread and wine. Parrish priest of St Margaret's (the parish this Hanse House performance was staged in) and a Lollard martyr he was England's first burned heretic in 1401.

The Ballad of Badass King John, a Lynn Pride rap that went down well with children and adults alike.

Lynn singing about Lynn in Lynn!

Waterline's elegant music and costume perfectly suited to the occasion

Vanessa Wood-Davies (harp) and the minstrel Lynn rest between sets. Melanie Calway and Adrian Tebbutt manage to keep them both standing.

The maestro minstrel Terry Smith

Hullo, that's a bit of added woodwind on The Ballad of Sir Robert Walpole

The composer leads Waterline in the Ballad of Turnip Townshend

It's not all work. Some folk club regulars give their verdict.

"And now - Mr Lynn himself!" I introduce Dr Paul Richards, town historian of Lynn.

    Dr Paul is fascinating as always about how folk  ballads tell the social history of the town he loves.
 Vanessa and I borrow Waterline's impressive set up for this performance of Margery Kempe music.
All right lads - we knew they weren't really tights! 

I introduce the spooky 'Ballad of the Brown lady' - our ghost ballad about Dorothy Walpole, who is said to haunt both Houghton Hall (built by Sir Robert Walpole) and Raynham Hall (built by her husband and, some believe, her murderer Turnip Townshend) (we exonerate him in this ballad and in the spooky folk video we made of this ghost story)

"I rise up like a morning star of love and faith and hope..."
(Great idea of Pat's to photograph the "holy without smoke" of William Sawtrey of Lynn's burning!)



Waterline, doin different at 11 am, 1pm and 3 pm.

The Titanic 21 gig tour goes down singing into the September sunset this Sunday,the last four gigs flagged up and flying in the EDP, The Lynn News (including a page 3) and Lynn's 'Your Local Paper.'

Here's the last one - Lynn News WOW feature here.

Nine new folk ballads telling the long and colourful history of Lynn will be performed in the Blue Room of Hanse House as part of Heritage Day this Sunday.

All have been published by Poppyland publishing in a new book called 'Doin different - new ballads from the east of England' written by Sedgeford author and director of the Room at the Hanse theatre company Gareth Calway

The 'Doin different'  collection has been touring as a musical show since the premiere at Lynn's Hanse Festival last May - taking in Ely Folk festival, Folk in a Field, Lynn's Folk in the Town, the King and Queen in Foley St London W1 and the archaeological dig in Sedgeford- and on Sunday the 21 gig tour ends where it began - at Hanse House.

Twelve Norfolk-based composers have written for the project, a score of performers have participated and four new folk bands have been formed as a result. Three of these folk bands will be on show this Sunday.

One of the aims of the book is to celebrate Norfolk's often underestimated role in British history and another is to draw attention to Lynn's amazing contribution to that.

The Fried Pirates will perform ballads about the heroic and under-sung Cod Fishers of Lynn and the Siege of Lynn in 1643. Lovehearts & Redwine will offer homages to Lynn's religious pioneers Margery Kempe, who wrote the first autobiography in English, and William Sawtrey, parish priest of St Margaret's, the first man to be burned for his beliefs in England. And to not so Bad King John, who gave the port its first independence from Norwich. Waterline will sing the praises of Lynn's MP for 40 years - Sir Robert Walpole, Britain's first prime minister - and of Lynn author Fanny Burney, the mother of the Jane Austen novel.  

Waterline will also take your breath away with an exquisitely sung ghost ballad about Walpole's sister, the Brown Lady, who is said to haunt Walpole's magnificent Houghton Hall, and the Fried Pirates will add a stirring shanty about Nelson, who said Norfolk volunteers were worth two of other men and whose crews included plenty of Lynn's sea-hardened men.

All three bands perform at 11 pm and 1 pm and will be introduced at 1pm by Dr Paul Richards, town historian. At 3 pm, Lovehearts & Redwine and Waterline will perform slightly longer sets from Doin different. The Fried Pirates will perform a different set at True's yard  from 2pm-3.30pm. Admission is free for all events.

'Doin different - new ballads from the east of England' (lyrics with musical scores, photographs and historical support) is on sale at Waterstones, True's Yard, Jarrolds and Hanse House or via www.poppyland.co.uk. You can find online links to audio and video performances of songs, scores and extensive historical resources and features at www.garethcalway.co.uk

The Fried Pirates at True's yard. They will be doin different in the Blue Room of Hanse House at 11am and 1pm 




DONE different. Tour's end and into the sunset!



Crossing off the last gig and putting Done! next to it.






September 10, 2016

What a night! 'Doin different' at Elsing Church Saturday September 10

Doin different -job done. A pic by John MacLennan that says it all. 


More than a preview of Gamorra's last show, also a record of an amazing partnership. 
Plus Vanessa Wood-Davies gives the view from the harpist's chair. 

Songs from a book... Pics by Bhas Allan














 







and Maz Calway's view...









 Half God Half Nelson and the whole cast
Lovehearts & Redwine in full flight.

showing tonight!!! DOIN DIFFERENT DOIN THE DISSENT THING...

RESOURCES FOR THE DOIN DIFFERENT PROJECT  
(AUDIOS AND VIDEOS OF THE SONGS; HISTORICAL SUPPORT)

A church fundraising event with a difference comes to Elsing this Saturday 10 September.
Church of England listing for Doin different!
'Doin different' by Gareth Calway and featuring the author in performance with a galaxy of musical composers and collaborators tells the story of religious and political dissent in Norfolk from Boudicca to the present. Norfolk was at the forefront of both for much of this time.
There is a special emphasis on religious rebels like the Lollard heretic William Sawtrey of Lynn, the first man to be burned for his beliefs in England and on political radicals like Robert Kett of Wymondham and Tom Paine of Thetford. Their stories are told through an exciting collection of folk ballads and also through theatre and dramatic readings.
The thousand year struggle of the common man and woman for a voice in the spheres of politics and religion is traced: the Peasants' Revolt, the Reformation and the English Civil War are brought alive in 'Dissolution Row (The Ballad of Binham Priory)' and 'The Ballad of Freeborn John.'
Homage is also paid to heroes and heroines of the copybook headings like Lord Nelson of Burnham and Edith Cavell of Swardeston who actually 'did different' and broke ranks at least as much as their more obviously dissenting Norfolk compatriots.
'Doin different, 39 new ballads from the East of England' was published by Poppyland last year and the author has been successfully touring East Anglian festivals like the Ely Folk Festival, Folk in a Field and Lynn's Hanse Festival as well as theatres and heritage spaces with a rolling collective of musical collaborators since May.





This 20th - and penultimate - tour date features chief collaborating composer punk-folker Anto Morra, whose 2015 album 'Boudicca's Country' sets 12 lyrics from Calway's book and has received glowing reviews like Fatea magazine's "a collection of fine songs, all of which are capable of passing into folk tradition." 
Rockier notes are struck in Saturday's performance by Tim Chipping on electric guitar and more classical ones  by harpist Vanessa Wood-Davies and soprano Gill Sims-McLennan.
Tickets are £10 on 01362 637331 or on the door.

'Doin different' by Gareth Calway (Poppyland Publishing) is on sale at Jarrold's, Waterstones and via www.poppyland.co.uk It includes musical scores, historical information, pictures of performers and links to online resources about the characters. Full details of tour and book are on www.garethcalway.co.uk

or to put all that another way (Tim's preview) 


Doin’ Different: New ballads from the East of England.

Elsing, St Mary’s Church.

The Doin’ Different Tour comes to St Mary’s Church, Elsing, NR20 3EA on Saturday 10th September 2016, 7.30pm.
Based upon the new Poppyland Publishing book of the same name, its author Gareth Calway is joined by his musical collaborators Vanessa Wood-Davies (Harp), Anto Morra (voice and guitar - as heard at the centenary memorial service of Edith Cavell’s execution broadcast on BBC Radio 4’s Morning Worship programme from Norwich Cathedral), Tim Chipping (voice and guitar) and a guest spot for Gill Sims-MacLennan (classical soprano), to present a show spanning a thousand years of Norfolk history in ballad form.

Traversing the local landscape from Lynn to Yarmouth, Thetford to Wells and back to Norwich, each new ballad tells a “cracking story”; history, tragedy, murders, legends, outlaws, ghosts, love, man and woman against the odds, the exploits of a cast of the county’s famous, infamous and forgotten-about heroes and heroines. We meet Boudica, Queen of the Iceni defying the might of Rome, the ill-fated Fiddler of Fiddler’s Hill, Admiral Lord Nelson,  Margery Kempe, Robert Kett leader of the Peasant’s Revolt of 1549, Edith Cavell, Anne Boleyn, the Cod Fisherman of Lynn, Yarmouth and Wells, the ghost of  Susan Nobes of Sedgeford and Tom Paine, author of The Rights of Man.

Although always respectful to this long list of characters, Doin’ Different has a rumbustious edge to its mix of drama, song, spoken word and music and, whilst humour and a playful use of language are an integral part to the performance, you will also find yourself moved to ponder the “human condition” and man’s inhumanity to his fellow man. Doin’ Different is therefore a celebration in music of the rich history of this region, a tapestry of tales woven not only to entertain but to inform and enthuse its audience to find out more about these people who did indeed do different.



Tickets £10, advance booking from Tim on 01362 637331 (includes glass of wine and canapes).
All profits will go towards repair of the north side gargoyles of Elsing church.

Go on, get out from in front of the telly.....................Support live local music and theatre!


(P.S. Thanks if you've already booked , look on this as a reminder..............yes, we've had folks buy tickets in the past and forget to come!)

See you there.


DOIN DIFFERENT - AUDIO, VIDEO AND HISTORICAL RESOURCES