Music – Concerts and Bands
Young People’s Piano Concert in aid of East Anglia Children’s Hospice – took place on 15th May at St. Vigor’s Church
Twenty young people played music from the eighteenth century to the present to an audience of over 100 people and raised over £1,400 for the EACH charity.
Chris Fox’s performance was on Friday 13th May – Six Bells Function Room at 7:30pm for 8pm
Born and raised in Cambridgeshire Chris Fox cut his teeth playing for pints in local drinking establishments along the river Great Ouse in 2014. Fast forward to an award-winning Folk and Routes singer songwriter who has played a variety of stages from Dorset to The Western Isles, and from intimate 10-seater venues to a packed out set in the Den at Cambridge Folk Festival 2019. He underpins his lyrics with a variety of musical styles ranging the roots lexicon of Folk, Blues, County and Americana.
“A seriously accomplished guitar player with a powerful yet expressive voice” Chris Fox transcribes songs of the human experience in an eclectic range of styles across the folk and roots spectrum, writing and performing songs in a new roots ‘soundscape’ that encompasses a cultural whiplash of trad & contemporary Folk, Americana, Country, and Blues.
Sarah McQuaid performed on 21st Jan in the Six Bells.
One of the most instantly recognisable voices in current music … Shades of Joni Mitchell in a jam with Karen Carpenter and Lana Del Rey.”
—Neil March, Trust The Doc
There was an enthusiastic and receptive capacity audience of all ages down at the Six Bells for Sarah McQuaid. Sarah responded to our enjoyment of her songs and her playing, telling us animatedly how each song came to be written and clearly expressing her sheer delight performing for a live audience once more. Sarah’s atmospheric, uplifting songs are often inspired by everyday events, which become thoughtful observations on life, sometimes quirky, sometimes profound.
Reviewers describe Sarah McQuaid as sounding a bit like this singer, a bit like that one. Her assured, melodic voice does indeed show her traditional folk roots, recalling pure, natural voices like Sandy Denny, June Tabor or Joan Baez, but it is distinctive and personal, matching her songwriting.
As a guitarist, Sarah stands comparison with folk-blues greats such as Bert Jansch, or her friend and mentor Michael Chapman. The electric she played was in fact loaned to her by Chapman, who produced her album ‘If you dig any deeper it might get dangerous’. Sadly, he died a few months ago, so his guitar has now become Sarah’s.
Besides acoustic and electric guitars, Sarah also accompanied herself on keyboard and drum. There was superb support from Martin Stansbury her sound engineer, who expertly cued loops of her voice to provide a backing chorus on some songs.
If you were there and enjoyed the gig please do post a comment on Sarah McQuaid’s guest page or email us at fulbournarts@gmail.com Sarah told us she’d love to come and play again if we would let her, so you’d better tell us if you want her back.
Sarah’s own comments posted after the gig:
‘Huge thanks to Fulbourn Arts as well as to The Six Bells Fulbourn and all the lovely bar staff! Such a wonderful audience to play for and my goodness, did they ever buy CDs. I was particularly chuffed to see that one of the LP purchasers looked to be about 8 years old and was escorted by her older brother and sister, all of whom were equally enthusiastic — so nice to see the youth of today embracing the music and technology of what surely is already a bygone era!’
Watch a short documentary about the making of her St Buryan Sessions Album here:
Read more about Sarah McQuaid on her own website here and watch her on Youtube here.
Brooks Williams performed on 3rd Sept 2021 ….. and is returning again on 26th Nov 2022 accompanied by Dan Walsh!
The Fulbourn Arts music performance by Brooks Williams on 3rd Sept 2021 in the Six Bells was warmly received by the enthusiastic audience, with Brooks himself saying how great it was to be finally performing a live gig in front of a real audience. He covered material from both his past repertoire and also some wonderful new material from his latest album called ‘Ghost Owl’ which was made in collaboration with ace fiddler Aaron Catlow during lockdown and released just this month. A real treat for everyone there
About Brooks Williams:
Cambridge UK-based, Statesboro, Georgia US-born guitarist singer and songwriter Brooks Williams is admired by both listeners and fellow musicians, and has been a leading light on the acoustic music scene for three decades.
His guitar skills are evident as he effortlessly slides in and out of folk, blues and country with a jazz player’s adroitness. It comes as no surprise he is listed in the Top 100 Acoustic Guitarists. Williams’ voice also takes centre stage and has been described as one you ‘melt into.’ His songs are rich narratives about guitar players, gamblers, dreamers, ne’er-do-wells and golden palominos.
Brooks Williams is ‘quite simply one of the most unassuming, natural performers on the circuit, and his easy, relaxed manner conceals the greatest level of true expertise.’ (Fatea Acoustic Music Magazine).
Brooks is making a welcome return to Fulbourn, this time playing solo. He’s bound to be popular so make sure of your tickets as soon as they’re made available in early August.
Joanna Eden‘s performance at the Six Bells on 20th August 2021:
Joanna Eden is no stranger to Fulbourn, having played here in the past several times, most recently with Jazz at the Movies presenting a Christmas set two years ago. This time she was accompanied by on bass and guitar by Andres Lafone, a mainstay of the London jazz and Latin scene himself. The room was laid out in cabaret style around small tables, which gave it a relaxed comfortable feel.
Joanna seemed as delighted to be playing for a live audience again as we were to see her. She had chosen a mix of her own numbers along with standards of the singer-songwriter repertoire from the 1960s and 70s by the likes of Joni Mitchell, Carole King and James Taylor, all re-interpreted in Joanna’s mellow style. These were classic songs that many in the audience knew well, but Joanna’s own compositions stood up confidently beside them as classy adult pop songs.
For our first gig after lockdown the show was a great success and we are all looking forward to Joanna visiting again in one of her other incarnations, perhaps with her full band next time.
Look out for adverts in The Mill, notices on the village Facebook pages, our monthly newsletter, this website, and posters around the village for more information about the forthcoming live gigs!
If you’re in a band and want to hold a music event in the village please contact us at fulbournarts@gmail.com as we may be able to help you with finding the right the venue and promoting the event.
Fulbourn Arts 