…and this was my final Alternative Barnsley show for the four week broadcast of Barnsley’s Horizon Radio. I decided to go all out and present a three hour show, and other than the housekeeping of playing half an hour local brand new local music and showcasing that week’s gig guide, I mae the show into a special program about Barnsley Folk Music.
We had not one, but two live sessions. The first was recorded at Elsecar Beer and Steam Festival and featured Barnsley’s newest folk group, Parson’s Lot. The second was recorded at Barnsley Folk Club, which took place over at Barnsley Trades Club. The session was recorded as a way of introducing music lovers to the kind of music played on an
night there. Although I only broadcast a couple of songs from each session on air, the entire 13 tracks are available to stream and download from our soundcloud page.
This week my studio guest was Jemma Conway, the Community Heritage Curator for Barnsley Museums, and she joined me to discuss the opening of the Barnsley’s first ever museum, Experience Barnsley and talk about the kind of exhibits you’d expect to find there. We were also joined by local author and founding comittee member of Experience Barnsley, Mel Dyke. She discussed the 1988 tape of the play Children of the Dark, which I played an excerpt from. The play was about the 1838 Husker Pit Tragedy, in which twenty-six child miners died.
https://www.facebook.com/ExperienceBarnsley2012
https://twitter.com/EBMuseum
https://twitter.com/BarnsleyMuseums
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Cooper-Gallery/331408703599637
You can find links to all of them and the local bands/musicians below.
If you did you miss the show, here’s what we played in the correct order…
THE BREEDERS – CANNONBALL
A brilliant 1993 classic Cannonball, from the album The last Splash which is re-issued this year.MCCARTHY VIGIL – CHINESE CANDLE
One of the quieter tracks by the brilliant local alternative indie band.
https://www.facebook.com/mccarthyvigil
https://soundcloud.com/mccarthyvigilANTESAINT – UNBREAKABLE
Three former members of the Barnsley band Majority Vote, previews a track from their forthcoming debut EP.
https://www.facebook.com/antesaintNEW MESSIAHS – THE KIDS ARE WITH YOU
A sneak preview from the forthcoming album by the Barnsley indie group.
https://www.facebook.com/newmessiahsMARK LANEGAN & DUKE GARWOOD – PENTECOSTAL
From the new collaborative album, Black Pudding – this is my Record of the Week.
http://marklanegan.com/
http://www.dukegarwood.co.uk/BLACK VINES – HIS MASTER’S BRAINS
Black Vines recently put down an entire album in one day at Hi-Watt Studios and it really brings their live raw energy to record.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/blackvines/THE SECOND COMING – SCARE CROWS
A great archive track from the compilation Bites and Stabs from the brilliant post-punk Barnsley band, The Second Coming.
http://phoenixhairpins.blogspot.co.uk/2008/01/second-coming-712comp-tracks.htmlFOLKUS – PENISTONE UNDERGROUND
One of the first original recordings by the youngest and one of the newst folk groups in Barnsley, Folkus.
https://www.facebook.com/FolkusBandHORIZON RADIO LIVE SESSION – PARSON’S LOT
Two songs from a live set recorded at Elsecar Steam and Beer Festival. Parson’s Lot are Barnsley’s newest folk band, made up of members from the bands Mynas and Cambodia.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Parsons-Lot/165033166999508WILD SAMMON – BROKEN TOYS
A recording by barnsley folk club regular Chris Sammon and his musical partner, Dave Wilde.
https://soundcloud.com/wilde-sammonDAVE BURLAND – WITHERED AND DIED
An archive track from Dave’s classic tribute album from Richard Thompson, His Master’s Voice.
http://www.daveburland.com/THE FOGGY DEW-O – BOTTLE OF WINE
One of the first popular folk groups in Barnsley and also the first Barnsley group to sign a major record deal (with Decca). This song is a version of the song by American folk musician Tom Paxton and was released in 1968.EMILY BARKER & THE RED CLAY HALO – FIELDS OF JUNE featuring FRANK TURNER
A brillaint folk pop duet between one of my favourite current folk artists, Emily Barker and folk-punk, Frank Turner.RICHARD KITSON – BICYCLE MAN
The new single by one of Barnsley’s favourite current folk and blues singers. Available now on itunes.
https://www.facebook.com/richardkitsonmusicHORIZON RADIO LIVE SESSION – BARNSLEY FOLK CLUB
Recorded over one night at Barnsley Folk Club in May 2013, the recording features many club regulars including the band String Theory, singers Ray Padgett and Johnny Booker and that evenings guest band Harry Bird and the Rubber Wellies.
Three songs were broadcast; Windy Old Weather by Johnny Booker, who sings something very close to the Bob Roberts 1958 version, Wallace Hartley’s Titanic Band by String Theory and Who’s Gonna Lead the March Upon the Jailhouse by Harry Bird and the Rubber Wellies.
The entire nine song recording and be heard and downloaded from our soundcloud page.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Barnsley-Folk-and-Acoustic-Night/106566706084254TOM WAITS & KEITH RICHARDS – SHENANDOAH
Taken from the compilation record Son of Rogue’s Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs and Chanteys.KATE RUSBY – SUN GRAZERS featuring PAUL WELLER
Possibly Barnsley’s most famous folk singer, Kate Rusby duets with Paul Weller on her album ’20’, a compilations of re-visited versions of tracks from the last twenty years.
https://www.facebook.com/officialkaterusbySERIOUS SAM BARRETT – YORKSHIRE TUP
One of my favourite Yorkshire folk singers. He’s got a real Guthrie vibe about him but keeps it completely local and traditional. Although based in Leeds, Sam is from Barnsley.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Serious-Sam-BarrettYaDig-Records/185802254796469BO WEAVIL – JOHN BROWN’S DREAM
Featuring Barnsley fiddle virtuoso Dom Dudill, this track comes from Manchester folk group Bo Weavil’s current EP.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bo-Weavil/276618472375410GARFORTH & MYERS – BONFIRES
Thaken from their album Bonfires, although known as a duo, Garforth & Myers often play with a plethora of musicians including local vocalist Emma Johnstone and Keith Angel and Andy Seward who are best known for their work with Jon Boden, Kate Rusby and Martin Simpson.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Garforth-Myers/149578636931OFF THE CUFF & THE STAFF AND STUDENTS OF OAKS SCHOOL, GRIMETHORPE – CHILDREN OF THE DARK
An extract from a cassette tape from 1988. On it is a play put together by Mel Dyke and performed by staff and students of the Oaks School, Grimethorpe. It is called Children of the Dark and is a production about the Husker Pit Disaster of 1838, in Silkstone. It also includes songs performed by the then local group, Off the Cuff.KATRIONA GILMORE & JAMIE ROBERTS – SCARECROWS
Katriona Gilmore and Jamie Roberts are one of the best folk acts in the UK right now. Jamie is from Barnsley as is from a very musical family. His sister is Kathryn Roberts and his brother his brother is the bassist in Pulp Friction. Katriona is originally from Knebworth in Hertfordshire – another county famed for its folk music. She is also a member of the current incarnation of the Albion band. They released their first album in 2006, and in 2010 they were nominated for BBC Radio 2 Horizon Award and also won a ‘Best Original Song’ Hancock Award. In the last year, the praise from critics have been flooding in, having been nominated for best Duo at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards and also winning a UK Songwriting Contest award. This next song is called Scarecrows and is from their last album the brilliant, The Innocent Left.KATHRYN ROBERTS & SEAN LAKEMAN – THE BALLAD OF ANDY JACOBS
I lived in Hertfordshire for a few years and moved back to Barnsley in November 2011. It’s then I started my Alternative Barnsley website. In summer of the 2012 I went to the Folk by the Oak festival which was near where I lived back then. I saw Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman perform there and it was them playing this song, that made me proud and happy to be coming back to Barnsley. I also introduced Jemma and the Experience Barnsley guys to this sound and got it put into their sound archive.
This song was inspired by Kathryn’s memories of the miner’s strikes during her childhood years in Dodworth. The song was nominated for the Best Original Song award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2013.
https://www.facebook.com/kathrynrobertsandseanlakeman
Alternative Barnsley 