WINTER TALES FOLK : JOHNNY CAMPBELL & THE GRACE SMITH TRIO

A warming evening of songs, tunes, stotties & beer with a fine sing-songwriter & trad trio

Wylam First School Hall, Bell Road, Wylam, NE41 8EH
Thursday 6th February, Doors & Bar 7.00pm, Performance begins 7.30pm
Price: £12.50

Total Tickets: 80

Tonight’s concert looks set to be one of the most atmospheric events of this years line-up. Join us as we serve up a Thursday night menu of intimate ballads and toe tapping tunes with award winning local stotties and local ales. A warming winter folk line up to sate your musical appetite. With a double bill featuring critically acclaimed singer-songwriter Johnny Campbell and highly regarded traditional outfit The Grace Smith Trio we know this will be a treat for the ears.

Johnny Campbell comes to us this evening straight off a flight from Germany where he will have been touring throughout January. He emerged onto the UK folk scene writing self-penned material and delving deep into Northern English folk song and story. Hailed as ''a modern-day Billy Bragg'' by Tradfolk magazine his performances have drawn universal praise from across the Folk music spectrum - ‘'The spirit of the folk clubs in their heyday runs in his veins'' Folking.com. His most recent works “A Right to Roam” (2022) - a collaboration with Commoners Choir & Skelmanthorpe Brass Band - and “True North” (2024) - an album of Northern English traditional songs recorded on their respective county summits - have cemented his place as a leading exponent of the North of England folk song tradition. Lean in closer and you’ll encounter stories of landscape, place and Northern identity all bound up in a trademark voice and accomplished delivery. Alongside extensive touring in UK and Europe, Campbell finds time to write for Britain's best selling walking magazine Country Walking.

Also entertaining us tonight are The Grace Smith Trio. A rising tour de force on the folk/traditional scene the trio forge together the distinct voices of fiddle, concertina and double bass to create one dynamic and expressive musical delight. Acclaimed fiddle and viola player Grace Smith is joined by Sam Partridge (Concertina, Electric Guitar) and Bevan Morris (Double Bass) in this innovative ensemble offering a fresh take on folk. Drawing deeply from tradition, whilst expanding the repertoire with new melodies of their own, the trio explores the boundaries of what folk can be. Bellows, bow and bass come together with mesmerising effect to share music that will stay with you long after you’ve heard them.

“If you’re looking for the exciting future of instrumental folk music, you need search no further.” - Folk Radio UK

Our stotties this evening will be provided by The Big River Bakery. Based in Shieldfield, Newcastle the Big River Bakery believes they can change the world one stottie at a time. Read more about the great work they do here.