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Homegrown + English Folk Expo

Venue: Various
Town: Bury
Date: 16-18/10/14
Website: http://themet.biz/homegrown/

Although the Summer festival season has ended, there's always one more event on the calendar to which folk fans can look forward. And what an event the Homegrown weekend has started to become. The event is now in its third year and an already stellar bill continues to get better and better, with The Met attracting an established audience from the local area and beyond with a varied programme across three venues in the centre of town, often leaving the public spoilt for choice and reflecting the very best in English folk music. Thirteen different shows utilising the 2 performance spaces in The Met itself, plus the larger capacity Drill Hall and the recently opened Clarence pub, a staggering total of thirty acts scheduled for public performances across the Thursday and Friday evenings plus a full day on Saturday.

Hand in hand with the musical events is the English Folk Expo music industry gathering, which allows The Met and the musical performances across town to showcase the best and exciting new talents of the genre which go some way to spreading the word on what English music has to offer. Whilst being offered the full programme of events which make up the Homegrown part of the weekend, the delegates who attend the English Folk Expo can add a whole host of their own events which make the most of marketing the artists and the music. The main mover behind English Folk Expo is Terry O'Brien of Playpen Music Management & Agency who took some time at the end of the festival to chat about her tireless work to promote traditional English music - more of that can be found here.

Thursday Friday Saturday Interview Gallery

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Dateline : Thursday

Just the five bands to get the event going on the opening night at The Met. An appetiser, or aperitif if you will, for the treats which would follow. And none could be more subtle and delicate as the set from Josienne Clarke and Ben Walker. With their new string enhanced 'Nothing Can Bring back The Hour' album gaining some positive reactions in the media, they added a string duo plus John Parker's double bass to their package to reproduce the rich sound of their new record. Boldly admitting to presenting what Josienne termed "a barrage of misery", which is their special niche in the grand scheme of things, they referenced artists and song from Sandy Denny to Elgar in their set, including what Josienne also called her "psycho ballad". With the duo, expect an sound and sets of lyrics which touch on the bleak and melancholy but in the nicest possible way! A chance for Ben to show his flair on the nylon guitar with a couple of pieces, one in particular with a South American/Argentinian flavour, added a little diversity to their performance; a beautifully played and sensitive outing.

At the moment, it seems almost impossible to keep up with the multiple projects with which the multitasking and multitalented Sam Sweeney is engaged. And wherever Sam goes, he's usually accompanied by his favourite musician pal and collaborator Rob Harbron and his trusty concertina. For their latest project Leveret, they've added another box wizard in Andy Cutting who also adds his jovial asides and quips to the between song banter so you're never short of a smile or two. Musically, their set comprised a collection of tunes expertly arranged and played, which you'd expect from three quality class musicians and somewhat contrary to the nature of the speed at which they recorded their album (set for early 2015 release - to avoid the folk awards, as Andy explained). Ranging from the typically jaunty with 'Square Word/Cossack Square' to the more reflective and adding the usual morris and hornpipe tunes, they've done some work raiding the Playford catalogue for their inspiration. The first time too that they've played through a PA system, so an impressive outing for the fledgling band.

It was being on the same bill as Spiro that seemed to excite Sam Sweeney more than his own gig. His current favourite band with Rob Harbron switching to the sound desk were worthy headliners of the first night, their set their confidence and their performance visibly growing through the set as they criss-crossed and interacted all the while knocking out a highly captivating set of tunes from their three albums. The visual foil was the amazingly attired fiddler Jane Harbour, bathed in pink light and losing herself in the swelling sounds, while on the other hand there's the earthy Jason Sparkes on accordion, sweating away and as he said, living the dream like your heroes, with a namecheck for Freddie Mercury. With tunes inspired by sixties puppet show Stingray and early electronic games (nice to know someone else appreciates the finer things in life), picking any out as highlights might be churlish but the combination of 'Gabor's Tune/Spinning Jenny' was hard to beat along with their interesting take on the Bobby Shaftoe song - 'Shaft', while the stunning closing 'We Will Be Absorbed' rounded off the gig with a pleasant take on death and nicely bookended the evening. With their virtuosity and the musical textures the quartet created Spiro set the bar pretty high for the weekend to come. No wonder Sam Sweeney was racing up to Rob at the sound desk at the end full of glee!

Down in The Met's studio in the meantime, The Willows had brought much excitement with their freshness, youth and vibrancy. Afresh from the release of their 'Amidst Fiery Skies' album, they are one of the many up and coming young acts which are creating some interest and causing a stir. A more raw sound live than the more polished recorded sound which Sean Lakeman has created with their new album, singer Jade Rhiannon caught the attention as an eyecatching front for the band - boasting a first-rate guitarist in Ben Savage, flipping his dobro on its side as seems to be an ever growing custom, while Cliff and Prue Ward add the icing on the cake with extra guitar and fiddle.

It wouldn't be a Bury based festival of music of course without Harp & A Monkey. The trio are about as indigenous to Bury as black pudding. The well used phrase of electro-folk storytelling which describes their brand is inextricably linked with their dedication to seeking out and providing songs which have their roots in local story and song. Perhaps more than any other act on the opening evening, they are the epitome of folk music. Their set featured some of their new songs which are conceptualised around the Great War - and why not as most people seem to be picking up on the theme - and was a grand way to round off the opening evening.

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