february'S EVENTS 

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   Friday 5 February 2021       

 Virtual Singers and Musicians Night

  starts 7:30pm  (Zoom entry from 7:00) 

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A chance to sing and play via Zoom, still replacing our usual first-Friday-of-the-month singarounds at the Barlow. 

You are most welcome to join us as a performer or as a member of the audience. Please email Chris Nash on cnash38913@aol.com and he will email you a link on Friday.

If you receive the link automatically, don't forget to email him back if you would like to perform. The aim is to get "round the room" twice. These sessions have been very popular though, so if it turns out to be just once please bear with us and enjoy the quality and variety of music. Please note that we are now starting at 7:30 to try and accommodate everyone.

Much as we would like to be together, Zoom does have some merits : -

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• no matter how far away from Lancashire you are, you can still join us

• you can just join using audio rather than video if you like

• you can join in to play and harmonise to your heart's content while muted

• you can use a microphone, speakers, headphones, equaliser if you have these

• you can use your own drink and catering facilities 

• you can have the words in front of you and no-one will know

• you can put your chorus up on "chat" so that people can join in easily at home

• you can take time out to feed the cats/wash up etc 

• you can wear your slippers

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Seriously, it's great fun and good to see everyone happily making music. The quality of performance has been excellent, so if you haven't tried it yet, give it a go.

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If you are performing, Chris has details he can send you about how to make the most of your sound.

Chris Green and Sophie Matthews are talented multi-instrumentalists and modern-day balladeers who specialise in telling stories through song. They play English traditional songs and tunes in a thoroughly 21st- century kick-ass style. Using a beguiling blend of ancient instruments such as cittern, English border bagpipes and shawm as well as modern folk instruments such as guitar, flute and piano accordion, Chris and Sophie breathe new life into material from hundreds of years ago, making it fresh, relevant and accessible for a modern audience. Also known for their popular themed touring shows, GreenMatthews have built an enviable reputation for combining incisive wit and humour with a genuine love for the English tradition. They have a particular passion for 18th- century ballads and dance tunes – several of which have been unearthed by Chris from various libraries around the country and which are now being performed again for the first time in two hundred years. They also perform original songs which draw on their wealth of historical research to paint a fascinating picture of individual lives and stories from England’s past. They last performed at the Barlow in 2016 when they did the Christmas show as Blast from the Past, so we are all looking forward to seeing them again.

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“You guys are awesome!” Bill Barclay (Director of Music at Shakespeare’s Globe)

REGULAR EVENTS

Zoom singarounds, first Friday of the month 8pm.

   First Friday - Singaround   

In "normal" times, Folk at the Barlow run a monthly folk music singaround on the first Friday of the month. This starts at 8pm, takes place in the Reading Room (otherwise known as the bar) at the Barlow, and there is a collection taken which will hopefully cover the hire of the room. However, these are not normal times, and we have gone online using Zoom. These now start at 7:30pm. Please see the Home and Future Events pages for updates.

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Zoom concerts, third Friday of the month 8pm.

   Third  Friday - Concert   

Also in normal times, there is a concert on the third Friday of each month, featuring two "spots" by a guest act, usually of national acclaim, and one spot from a support act, always talented and usually local. All this is preceded by a jolly bashing out of tunes by the house band, kicking off at 7:40pm. The concert starts at 8pm. Tickets are usually priced at £10 each. However, we are not allowed to sit together, blow instruments or sing communally at the moment so regrettably all this isn't happening. But watch the Home and Future Events pages as we are managing to put on some concerts via Zoom. See the Past Events page for the Zoom concerts we have hosted so far this year.    

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