Cellar Upstairs Folk Club
cellarupstairs@aol.com
Cellar Upstairs Folk Club
Traditional music in Central London
Monday evenings at 8.00
Venue:
The club meets in the Alpaca,
84-86 Essex Road, N1 8LU (020 3417 7224). Nearest underground: Angel; railway station: Essex Road; various buses
Access: The club is in an upstairs room.
Entrance: Pay on the door (cash only), no need to book. Members: £7, non-members: £9, except on nights marked *, when it will be £8 and £10 respectively.
Membership: £4 for the year (from September)
13 Jan: John Foreman
evening: The Broadsheet King, a great performer of traditional, music hall and other songs, remembered with songs and anecdotes on what would have been his 94th birthday by fine singers Andrew Frank, Peta Webb, Ken Hall,
Matthew Crampton
and others. To listen to John’s LP The 'Ouses In Between, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snUyV4tS2fI; John Cain’s biography of John Foreman is at https://folklondon.co.uk/2024/09/john-foreman-1931-2024-farewell-to-the-broadsheet-king.
3 Feb: Wendy Lanchin & Simon Prager: Simon (guitar, vocal) and Wendy (vocal) play an exciting mixture of acoustic music from country blues to ragtime, jazz, skiffle, swing and novelty songs, always with feeling and humour. Wendy’s background was in musical theatre and cabaret before sh came to jazz and folk music. She has sung in clubs and bars across London including Pizza Express, Hugo’s and the Vortex, and studied folk song with Hazel Askew. Simon has been involved in the British blues scene since the ‘60s. His musical hero was gospel and ragtime player Gary Davis. He has performed in duos, trios and bands, playing mainly acoustic country blues with Steve Rye, “Doc” Stenson and others. He once accompanied Sonny Terry on tour when Brownie McGhee was ill.
Access: The club is in an upstairs room.
Entrance: Pay on the door (cash only), no need to book. Members: £7, non-members: £9, except on nights marked *, when it will be £8 and £10 respectively.
Membership: £4 for the year (from September)
Information:
e-mail cellarupstairs@aol.com, organiser 020 7281 7700
Resident Performers:
Peta Webb & Ken Hall, Amanda MacLean, Frankie Cleeve, Dave East & Doreen Leighter, Alison Frosdick
Floor-performers are always welcome.
Autumn programme 2024
11 Nov: Chris Foster
is a master of his trade, recently described as “one of the finest singers and most thoughtful, inventive guitar accompanists of English folk songs”. He was at the forefront of the folk revival in the 1970s, when he was highly regarded as a serious, cutting-edge interpreter of traditional song. He made two fine albums for Topic Records and gigged extensively. In the early 2000s Chris re-emerged on to the UK folk scene and Colin Irwin wrote in fRoots magazine, “Chris Foster merits legend status, one of the very best in the second wave of the Brit folk revival, as important as Martin Carthy, Dick Gaughan and Nic Jones in the way he modernised and invested traditional songs with inventive guitar arrangements and potent vocal delivery.”
18 Nov: Patterson Dipper: John Dipper and James Patterson both have deep roots in the English folk scene. John, widely regarded as one of the finest English fiddlers, has been part of the English Acoustic Collective, Alma, the Emily Askew Band, Dipper Malkin and many others. James, a highly regarded singer and interpreter of a wide range of material, worked for nearly 40 years with the late Ralph Jordan in Silas, Crows and Patterson, Jordan, Dipper. Together he and John present a rich tapestry of tunes and songs garnered from a wide range of sources, traditional, classical and contemporary, all infused with a musicality and thoughtfulness that only comes with long experience. Unearthing, their first duo record, was released to critical acclaim in 2021.
25 Nov: Cathy Barclay and Sarah Yarwood are a mother-and-daughter duo who use the songs of the folk tradition to weave their mostly unaccompanied harmonies. Cathy previously sang in a capella folk groups Bryony and Beggar's Velvet, and Sarah grew up marinating in their music since in utero.
2 Dec: Anne Lamb & Graham Bell: As well as the songs of the north-east, Anne’s repertoire comes from wherever she finds a good song, all delivered in a quiet, unassuming style, a beautiful voice with fine ornamentation and a distinct twinkle in her eye. Graham is an unaccompanied singer-songwriter whose songs are written in the traditional idiom and inspired by the rich, rural and industrial landscape of his native Northumbria. Recently, Anne and Graham have teamed up, and are increasingly in demand by festivals and folk clubs across the country. Expect humour, pathos, passion and northern grit from this talented couple.
18 Nov: Patterson Dipper: John Dipper and James Patterson both have deep roots in the English folk scene. John, widely regarded as one of the finest English fiddlers, has been part of the English Acoustic Collective, Alma, the Emily Askew Band, Dipper Malkin and many others. James, a highly regarded singer and interpreter of a wide range of material, worked for nearly 40 years with the late Ralph Jordan in Silas, Crows and Patterson, Jordan, Dipper. Together he and John present a rich tapestry of tunes and songs garnered from a wide range of sources, traditional, classical and contemporary, all infused with a musicality and thoughtfulness that only comes with long experience. Unearthing, their first duo record, was released to critical acclaim in 2021.
25 Nov: Cathy Barclay and Sarah Yarwood are a mother-and-daughter duo who use the songs of the folk tradition to weave their mostly unaccompanied harmonies. Cathy previously sang in a capella folk groups Bryony and Beggar's Velvet, and Sarah grew up marinating in their music since in utero.
2 Dec: Anne Lamb & Graham Bell: As well as the songs of the north-east, Anne’s repertoire comes from wherever she finds a good song, all delivered in a quiet, unassuming style, a beautiful voice with fine ornamentation and a distinct twinkle in her eye. Graham is an unaccompanied singer-songwriter whose songs are written in the traditional idiom and inspired by the rich, rural and industrial landscape of his native Northumbria. Recently, Anne and Graham have teamed up, and are increasingly in demand by festivals and folk clubs across the country. Expect humour, pathos, passion and northern grit from this talented couple.
Spring programme 2025
6 Jan: Notts Alliance’s repertoire is a well chosen, eclectic mix of the old and new, with both well-known traditional material and interesting arrangements of songs from writers such as Richard Thompson, Michael Marra and Sydney Carter. Sometimes subtle and moving, often humorous and with various full-blown, rousing chorus songs, their performances are honest, never dull and always enjoyable. They have their roots in the Nottingham Traditional Musical Club of the 1970s and ’80s, where they were the club residents in the ’80s. The current line up is Stephen Bailey, Phil Hardcastle, and Chris Orme. Their well-crafted, tight and inventive harmony singing, excellent delivery and ability to engage with the audience have earned them a position of high respect on the UK club and festival circuits.
20 Jan: Beskydy
is a band from London that plays eastern European, Klezmer and Balkan music. They have been performing since 1994, have toured extensively throughout the UK, Europe and the US, and have appeared at major festivals such as Womad, the Cambridge Folk Festival and the London International Festival of Early Music. Their music embraces the dance rhythms and songs of Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, the Hungarian plains, the Danube basin, and all the way down to the Black Sea, inspired by the centuries-old trade routes that crossed these lands. Beskydy is known for its high-energy performances and its ability to get audiences dancing. They are a must-see for fans of traditional folk music.
27 Jan: Dan Stewart and Chan Reid (Bold Reilly): Dan, from Rattle on the Stovepipe and the Long Hill Ramblers, plays banjo, guitar, fiddle and sings, and Chan, from Hastings Comhaltas, sings sean-nos songs in Irish and English and plays guitar and fiddle; together they play and sing traditional Irish songs and tunes, and some sea shanties.
10 Feb: the Waite Collective: Mal Waite and her two daughters, Rebecca Holmes and Katrina Turner, each with an “exceptional” voice, sing with belief and commitment. With a repertoire that is varied, not to say eclectic, their voices seem to blend effortlessly as they take turns to sing the melody and harmony roles. Their obvious enjoyment in singing and performing together spills over to include the audience in the warm rapport they clearly have together.
17 Feb: Damien Barber, raised in Norfolk and heavily influenced by such earlier Norfolk singers as Walter Pardon, Peter Bellamy and Tony Hall, is a stylish and distinctive singer, either a capella or accompanied on guitar or concertina. Though he has lived in West Yorkshire for more than 20 years he retains a strong East Anglian identity.
24 Feb: the Scan Tester Fan Club: Will Duke – well known to lovers of traditional music through his membership of various bands and a duo with Dan Quinn – is joined by Jonathan Burrows on one-row melodeons and Liz Evans on fiddle. They specialise in tunes from the varied repertoire of the great Sussex-born traditional musician Scan Tester, and Will plays Anglo concertinas and sings songs from traditional sources, plus some comic and music hall songs.
