WASSAIL! WASSAIL! ALL OVER THE TOWN @TopicRecords Christmas Newsletter

The latest news and special offers from Topic Records. WASSAIL! WASSAIL! ALL OVER THE TOWN December is upon us and, as Bob Copper sings in The Trees Are All Bare: ‘Now Christmas is come and our song is almost done For we soon shall have the turn of the year.’ In a year that has seen a fond farewell to The Full English, a welcome to a stunning album and tour by Simpson-Cutting-Kerr, celebrations of Bob Copper and Ewan MacColl on the 100th anniversary of their births, 80th birthday parties for Shirley Collins and tours from Martin Simpson, Martin Carthy and Eliza Carthy, it’s clear that folk music continues to resonate loudly in our modern world, and Topic is proud to contribute to its ongoing evolution. All of us at Topic wish everyone a peaceful Christmas in 2015. All customers placing mail orders which are received by Topic up to midnight on Friday 18th December will be entered into a randomly chosen draw to win one of only 5 signed CD copies of Martin Carthy’s last Topic studio album, ‘Waiting for Angels’. Christmas special offers We have some seasonal titles from Topic and our good friends Fledg’ling on offer at the special price of only £6 each during December:     TSCD562  WATERSON:CARTHY  Holy Heathens and the Old Green Man TSCD563  THE WATERSONS  Frost and Fire FLED 3006  THE YOUNG TRADITION  The Holly Bears The Crown FLED 3060  JOHN KIRKPATRICK  Carolling & Crumpets Four more fabulous albums are also on offer at this great price:     TSCD576D  EWAN MACCOLL  Ballads 2CD TSCD774D  VOICE + VISION songs of resistance, democracy + peace 2CD FLED 3094  THE YOUNG TRADITION  Oberlin 1968 FLED 3097  BOB & RON COPPER  Traditional Songs from Rottingdean   All customers placing mail orders which are received by Topic up to midnight on Friday 18th December will be entered into a randomly chosen draw to win one of only 5 signed CD copies of Martin Carthy’s last Topic studio album, ‘Waiting for Angels’. £3 bargains from the Topic catalogue If you need ideas for Christmas presents (or just a present for yourself), these wonderful Topic titles make great stocking fillers at only £3 each!: TSCD496  A.L. LLOYD  English Drinking Songs TSCD523  THE ALBION BAND  Road Movies TSCD528  OLIVER KNIGHT  Mysterious Day TSCD550  BRASS MONKEY  Flame of Fire TSCD565  TIM VAN EYKEN  Stiffs Lovers Holymen Thieves TSCD571  ELIZA CARTHY  Dreams of Breathing Underwater TSCD574  THE WATERSONS for pence and spicy ale TSCD579  ELIZA CARTHY & NORMA WATERSON  Gift TSCD582  PETER BELLAMY  Both Sides Then TSCD822  LINDA THOMPSON  Won’t Be Long Now We have very few copies remaining of the wonderful book with 7 CDs celebrating Topic’s 70th anniversary, Three Score and Ten; these will not be reprinted once they have gone, so get your copy now at the special price of only £25 during December.    Topic and Fledg’ling collaborated on a stunning review of the artistry of Lal Waterson in the limited edition book and accompanying CD teach me to be a summer’s morning. This month we are offering this superb assessment of a unique talent at only £15. Tour news Martin Carthy has a few pre-Christmas tour dates during December, starting on 5th December at Kings Place in London with support from The Devil’s Interval. Martin Carthy tour dates Eliza Carthy and the Wayward Band play at the Great British Folk Festival, Skegness on the weekend of 4th to 7th December. Eliza Carthy tour dates During December, Martin Simpson travels as far North as Barnard Castle in Co. Durham (5th Dec) and as far South as St. Helier in Jersey (19th Dec, his last gig this year). Martin Simpson tour dates

The Latest News and Special Offers From Topic Records.

You never heard so sweet Following on from our Voice of the People series offer earlier in the year, during November, we have four more volumes at a very special price – edited by Reg Hall and with selections and presentations made by Shirley Collins, Steve Roud and Rod Stradling, the four collections issued in 2012 continued the high standard set by the original 20-volume treasury of traditional songs and music.  This could be your perfect opportunity to catch up with records you are missing from your collection or purchase a gift for a friend. TSCD671   YOU NEVER HEARD SO SWEET TSCD672D   I’M A ROMANY RAI TSCD673T   GOOD PEOPLE, TAKE WARNING TSCD674  SARAH MAKEM ~ The Heart Is True   We have begun to make available free downloads of the transcribed notes for several of the songs from SimpsonŸ∙CuttingŸ∙Kerr’s ‘Murmurs’ album. Click on the following link to access the notes for the banjo transcription of The Lads of Alnwick  and the fingerstyle guitar transcription of The Plains of Waterloo: SCK Transcriptions More songs will be uploaded to this location in the next couple of weeks.   We continue our monthly choice of CDs at a very special price with 4 more great Fledg’ling titles:     FLED 3031  HELEN WATSON ~ Lifesize FLED 3085  HOME SERVICE ~ Live 1986 FLED 3091  The Complete JOHN KIRKPATRICK BAND FLED 3092  IAIN MATTHEWS  & EGBERT DERIX ~ In The Now Also on offer this month for only £10.00 is the limited 180g vinyl LP edition of the classic Bob & Ron Copper album originally released on the EFDSS label, ‘Traditional Songs from Rottingdean’.     * * * STOP PRESS * * * Warehouse find – a few copies available of Davy Graham’s classic EP ¾ AD, the Topic 2013 Record Store Day edition, new and sealed. These will not be repressed, so buy while you can at this price.   Only £7.50 November tour news   In early November Eliza and Martin Carthy and Norma Waterson will join Peggy Seeger and Neill and Calum MacColl, plus a wonderful line-up of musicians, for a few special concerts celebrating the songs of Ewan MacColl, marking 100 years since his birth. Find details of the ‘Blood and Roses’ concerts here: http://www.ewanmaccoll.co.uk/blood-and-roses-live-tour/   (photograph by Phil Carter) After a very successful tour with Dom Flemons, Martin Simpson starts a November/December solo tour on Thursday 12th November at the Hebden Bridge Trades Club. More tour dates here: http://www.martinsimpson.com/gigs/

Emily Portman - Seed Stitch; New Single, Video & Tour

EMILY PORTMAN - SEED STITCH; NEW SINGLE, VIDEO & TOUR

2 track digital single from Furrow Records. Cat. No.: FURR010. Release date: 13th Nov.
2015. Barcode: 5051565305388 Publisher: Wipe Out Music, Distribution: Cadiz.
"Entrancing and unsettling. A marvellous, original work"
✭✭✭✭ Observer
"Coracle is, without doubt, one of the folk albums of the year."
✭✭✭✭✭ Songlines
"Dark, dark is the considerable beauty of Emily Portman's
work”
✭✭✭✭✭ fROOTS.
"Spooky and surreal”
✭✭✭✭ Guardian
"A bold album"
✭✭✭✭ Telegraph 'Best Folk Albums of 2015’
"Coracle is a triumph...Delicate as a spider’s web, yet tough
as memory, this is a rich and remarkable record.”
✭✭✭✭✭ R2 Magazine

Seed Stitch is the new single from BBC Folk Award-winner Emily Portman, released
alongside a new video by a fellow Liverpool-based animator Laura Sparks, and coinciding
with a live tour from 6th-15th November.

Emily Portman’s latest album Coracle has received a multitude of rave reviews
since its release in June. It was recently named a 'Best Album of 2015' by the Telegraph
and put Emily on the cover of fROOTS magazine. Coracle has received plentiful airplay,
with accolades from the likes of BBC R3’s Late Junction and Jarvis Cocker on 6 Music.
Emily Portman will be joined by special guests to play a BBC live session for Mark Radcliffe’s
Folk Show on 4th November, which will coincide with the Seed Stitch video premier
by Folk Radio UK.
Seed Stitch showcases two stand-out songs from Coracle that subtly spin together
folk motifs with personal reflections on motherhood and bereavement. Emily describes the
title track as ‘a knitting pattern for DNA’; her beguiling voice rings out over a soundscape of
metronomic fiddles, with pulsing wurlitzer, electric guitar, glitch-laden electronics and percussion.
Haunting, yet silver-lined Seed Stitch shows Emily’s finely crafted songwriting at
its most poignant. The single also features ‘Nightjar’, a beautifully atmospheric song featuring
harp, brooding strings and drums, that lyrically captures the last moments of a loved
one’s life. Joining the acclaimed Emily Portman Trio on Seed Stitch are guests Sam
Sweeney on strings (Bellowhead), M G Boulter on guitars (Lucky Strikes) and Classical
percussionist Toby Kearney (BBC Young Musician of the Year 2006). Emily will be touring
live with this expanded line up as Emily Portman and the Coracle Band in 2016.
November Tour Dates

• 6th Foundling Museum LONDON
• 7th Sugar & Spice BOURNEMOUTH
• 8th Kitchen Garden Cafe BIRMINGHAM
• 9th The Greystones SHEFFIELD
• 10th Forest Arts Centre NEW MILTON
• 11th Howard Assembly Rooms LEEDS
• 12th Lincoln Drill Hall LINCOLN
• 13th Ashcroft Arts Centre FAREHAM
• 14th Arlington Arts Centre ARLINGTON
• 15th Philharmonic Hall LIVERPOOL
www.emilyportman.co.uk PR: james@jameshsoars.com Agent:sarahcoxson@btinternet.com (ABM)

Emily Portman - Biography
‘Casts a powerful spell’ Uncut
‘A mouth-watering collaboration’ Mojo
[on The Furrow Collective]
‘Eerily magnificent, bizarre and wonderful’ fRoots

Emily Portman is a folk singer, banjo-player and songwriter hailed as ‘one of the new
British folk scene’s most beguiling presences’ (Uncut). Emily is winner the BBC Radio Two
Folk Award for Best Original Song and now she’s back with Coracle, a vivid tour de force
of finely-crafted songs that spin together folk motifs with personal reflections on motherhood
and bereavement. Coracle has already caught the attention of Jarvis Cocker, received
rave reviews and propelled Emily onto the cover of fROOTS. The Emily Portman
Trio are joined by a stellar cast of guests to create a darkly magical album that takes Emily’s
fine-spun lyricism to new heights. Emily performs live with the Emily Portman Trio,
alongside the talented musicians Lucy Farrell (voice,viola and saw) and Rachel Newton
(voice, harp and fiddle) who have become known for their “inventive arrangements using
twinkling harp, brooding strings and chiming vocal parts” (Observer).

www.emilyportman.co.uk

The Emily Portman Trio are at Lincoln Drill Hall on 12th November

Tickets for Lincoln Drill Hall from 01522 873894 www.lincolndrillhall.com

Folk @ Ropery Hall, Barton On Humber

Check out what else is on at Ropery Hall...

www.roperyhall.co.uk 

Martin Simpson Live @ Kirton Town Hall

Town Hall Live - Concerts in 2015! Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser.

September 11th Doors: 7:00 PM Advance Tickets: £13 from the OneStop store in the town. from 01652 649230 or www.wegottickets.com £15 on the door The music starts around 7.40 pm   Venue:  Town Hall, Market Square, Kirton in Lindsey, N Lincs, DN21 4LZ   MARTIN SIMPSON   performing at  TOWN HALL LIVE, KIRTON on Friday 11th  September, 2015 We are delighted to host a concert by Martin Simpson fresh from his UK tour with Andy Cutting and Nancy Kerr to celebrate the release of the collaborative album 'Murmurs. To many of you Scunthorpe born Martin will need no introduction.  He is one of folk music's leading lights.  He has been nominated an amazing 31 times in 15 years at the BBC Folk Awards, more than any other artists.  He has twice won the 'Musician of the Year' accolade, as well as many others. After 35 years as a professional musician Martin is always looking at ways to evolve, whether it be as a solo artist or in band ventures, such as being a member of The Full English or in collaboration with other artists, which in the past have included the likes of Richard Thompson, Dick Gaughan, Jackson Browne and Steve Miller to name but a few. Martin is widely acknowledged as one of the finest acoustic, slide guitar and banjo players in the world, his interpretations of traditional songs are second to none and his own songs are masterpieces of story telling.  He spent 15 years in the deep south of America and there is no other artist who has successfully combined the diverse elements of British and Afro American blues more effectively. His solo shows are intense, eclectic, spellbinding and deeply moving. Support will come from Kirsty Bromley, who played THL earlier in the year as a singer in the band AnyTown.  She is a contemporary folk singer and has recently released her debut album 'Time Ashore' which obtained a 4* review in the latest edition of Maverick Magazine, Advance tickets are priced at £13.  Tickets can be obtained from the One Stop store in the town, from Brian on 01652 649230 or from www.wegottickets.com They will be £15 on the door Get yours soon as this concert is sure to be a sell out. Then next time at TOWN HALL LIVE ... DANNY SCHMIDT   Saturday 26th  September, 2015   Named by the Chicago Tribune as one of the 50 most significant songwriters in the last 50 years.  The Austin, Texas singer songwriter has amassed a cult following for his stunningly poetic and poignant imagery.  In his use of parable and allegory, he his often compared with Cohen and Dylan, and his songs are of such quality and beauty that they more than hold their own in this exalted company. Live, his guitar playing is exceptional and his voice his distinctive and mellifluous.  Danny will be accompanied on his latest tour by his wife Carrie Elkin, who some of you will remember from her own headlining show last year. Support will come from Harrogate singer and keyboard player Vicky Whelan.  Last year Vicky recorded her latest EP 'Closer to the Sun' with her band Dragonfly Tattoo.  It boasts a haunting blend of fragilty and strength. Advance Tickets for this concert will be £12, and can be obtained from the usual outlets.  Bring Your Friends for a Great Night Out and Save on Tickets! We would like as many people as possible to come and enjoy the concerts we put on. Why not ask your friends? Any person buying 6 tickets up to one week before any concert will get £1 off the ticket price on all tickets purchased.   This offer is available only by ringing Brian on 01652 649230 or emailing him on brianchudley@btinternet.com