The Mendip Hills of Somerset rocked and reeled to the sound of Priddy Folk Festival 2009 last weekend with its reassuringly English blend of village green, Somerset countryside and musical talent.
Of particular note for me was the traditional English session run by Chris Timpson and Anne Gregson. I always enjoy this session. Chris keeps the tunes going nicely with his immense knowledge of English traditional folk tunes at a speed most people can achieve whilst always encouraging others to start a tune if they feel inspired.
After the formal session, I stayed on and played a few more tunes with an awesome pair of lady fiddlers from the Milborne St Andrew area who were seated in front of an old traditional fire at the Queen Victoria pub - most appropriate since their playing was red hot :-)
The rain started falling heavily later on Saturday afternoon and I popped back home to Exmoor to the comfort of a warm bed with more than a passing thought for those sleeping the night under rain lashed canvas.
The next morning bloomed bright and sunny so I returned to Priddy Folk Festival for another day of looking for kindred spirits with whom to play a tune.
Most of the tunes that were played seemed to be Irish with the exception of the Cornish band Dalla who had set up an informal session in a corner of the New Inn garden and were rocking out their intriguing blend of modern traditional Cornish tunes and songs.
To me Dalla's music had a strangely Eastern flavour and I noticed when I visited the Dalla web site that Folk & Roots had described their music as having a 'Dervish' quality. I was left wondering whether Dalla's music was truly a reflection of Cornish music or was Dalla through its success creating a Cornish tradition that was essentially Dalla.
However, one thing was certain, Cornish music and Dalla are definitely worth more exploration and, of course, exploration is one of the greatest joys of musical experience.
Were you there? What are your memories? I'd love to hear your comments below :-)
Bye for now
Rob
Rob Hopcott
Monday, July 13, 2009
Traditional English and Cornish folk music sessions at Priddy Folk Festival 2009
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3 comments:
I was there camping in that lovely rain and a muddy field, but we soon dried off once we started dancing bright and early sunday morning.
Great to hear from you Charlotte :-)
Was that Morris Dancing by any chance?
No it wasn't actually for once although i do morris also but it was Appalachian.
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