Brooks Williams with Dan Walsh on Saturday 26th Nov
7:30pm for an 8pm start in the Function Room of the Six Bells, High Street, Fulbourn, CB21 5DH
Watch a video of them playing Church Street Blues HERE
Brooks Williams & Dan Walsh
VIRTUOSIC GUITAR AND BANJO MEETS BRITISH AND AMERICANA ROOTS
Admired by both listeners and fellow musicians alike, Brooks Williams and Dan Walsh combine talents for an extraordinary collaboration of British and Americana roots music.
Each is a leading light on their respective instruments and they both bring buckets of charisma and talent to the stage. Add to that poignant songs and lively humour and the result is a truly remarkable duet. They will simply knock your socks off.
Brooks Williams plays guitar with ‘melodic virtuosity’ (IRISH NEWS), effortlessly combining old-time fingerpicking, country flat picking and bluesy backbeats. He’s rated one of the Top 100 Acoustic Guitarists and is ‘quite simply one of the most unassuming, natural performers on the circuit’ (FATEA).
BBC Award nominee Dan Walsh plays British, Irish and American roots music. His ‘virtuoso playing’ (MORNING STAR) features a unique and dazzling take on clawhammer style banjo helping to challenge all preconceptions about the instrument. ‘Absolutely terrific’ (Mark Radcliffe, BBC RADIO 2).
Jesse Terry & Emma Stevens (double bill) – Thursday 27th Oct
Watch Jesse Terry video HERE
CAME TO FULBOURN FROM THE US AS PART OF HIS TOUR OF UK AND IRELAND
Link to Jesse Terry YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNmbChDBYWs
JESSE TERRY
“It is easy to compare Terry’s heritage and storytelling to that of Jackson Browne, James Taylor or Bruce Springsteen.. A symphonic delight for the heart and soul.” ~ Americana UK 9/10
“bring[s] to mind iconic artist/poets like Paul Simon and Jackson Browne…. [with] a performance that touches the heart like only a whisper can.”
Whatever magic potion the troubadours in Laurel Canyon were sipping on in 1971, Jesse Terry has managed to track it down and take a deep gulp. Now on his seventh album, When We Wander, Terry performs his beautifully crafted songs to around 150 audiences a year from Bonnaroo to the Philadelphia Folk Festival, the 30A Song-writers Festival to Americana Fest. Recorded live, When We Wander prioritises emotion and raw performances over perfection. ‘In Spite of You’ recalls his stay in a residential facility for behavior modification that traumatized him as a young teenager: “The sermons that you sold me all were fakes.”Yet he emerged to earn a degree from Berklee College of Music, net a five-year staff writer gigon Nashville’s Music Row penning material for major TV networks, and win prestigious songwriting awards.. And then to become the singer-songwriter his countless fans know today, who (in the words of Music News Nashville)
Link to Emma Stevens video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/2wu2RDqwSjA
EMMA STEVENS
“Just Magical” – Sir Terry Wogan
“A Very Talented Multi Instrumentalist” – The Telegraph
Emma started playing guitar at the age of 2 and has gone on to learn bass, cello, piano, banjo, ukulele and mandolin. She established a career as a singer songwriter in 2012, her original music and has achieved four consecutive play-listed singles on BBC Radio 2, extensive international radio play in the UK, Europe and Australia, an iTunes single of the week with her song “Riptide”, sold out headline shows and supported The Feeling, Take That, Wet Wet Wet, Sophie Ellis Bextor, Train, Simply Red to name a few! Emma’s music has been used on many TV shows on BBC, ITV, Sky and Channel 4, and even featured on a TV show in China which was broadcast to 75 million people, gaining her over 500 million streams on Chinese streaming site NetEase!
PAST EVENT: Fulbourn Woodwinds – Sunday 2nd Oct
They selected a range of music which they love playing and which everyone enjoyed, varying from Farkas dances with a medieval flavour, Reicha and Pilss, to more well-known pieces by Elgar and Mozart. The event raised over £200 for Richard’s music charity, helping young people via music.
PAST EVENT: Nick Herrick’s CEILIDH band – on 16th Sept.
A very enjoyable evening took place in Townley Hall with dancing to Nick Herrick’s Ceilidh band performing live with a caller to guide our moves! You’ll remember Nick’s band from their very lively and enjoyable performance at the 2021 Fulbourn Winter Festival last December and we hope to have them back again for the 2022 Fulbourn Winter Festival.
PAST EVENT: 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.
PAST EVENT: Chris Fox’s performance was on Friday 13th May in The Six Bells
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.
PAST EVENT: 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!’
Read more about Sarah McQuaid on her own website here and watch her on Youtube here.
PAST EVENT: Brooks Williams performed on 3rd Sept 2021
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.
PAST EVENT: Joanna Eden 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.
Supporting Arts events in Fulbourn 
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