Bradford's own Stephanie Hladowski shortlisted for music award

Bradford's own Stephanie Hladowski has been shortlisted for

The Spiral Awards 2013 - Best Female Singer music award

http://www.spiralearth.co.uk/spiralawards2013/best-female-singer.asp

AND

The Spiral Awards 2013 - Best Debut Album

The Wild Wild Berry

Stephanie Hladowski & C. Joynes

http://www.spiralearth.co.uk/spiralawards2013/best-debut-album.asp

Go to those web sites, and VOTE...

Stephanie's beautiful and accurate voice will be familiar to Bradford's folk music world, and to followers of world music on BBC Radio 3

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b012fv1j

'In an exclusive Late Junction session, English folk songs are explored by the exquisite young folk singer Stephanie Hladowski and experimental finger-picking guitarist C Joynes...'

See also

http://www.boweavilrecordings.com/weavil_49.html

http://boomkat.com/cds/570263-stephanie-hladwoski-c-joynes-the-wild-wild-berry

'Terrific album of traditional English folksong - 11 pieces specially sourced from the archive at Cecil Sharp House, to be precise - interpreted by singer Stephanie Hladowski and multi-instrumentalist C Joynes. Whether you're a fully switched-on folk beard or a relatively inexperienced adventurer in Electric Eden, this is a fascinating journey through the landscape, magick and jerry-built mythology of our fair island - try listening to a tune like 'Lord Bateman', driven by Joynes' by turns courtly, ornate and droning, raga-like guitar, and tell us it doesn't speak to something ancient in you and the world around you. 'Flash Company' is a stunning acapella that highlights Hladowski's pristine, characterful vocal talent, but the guitar treatments - at once jazzy, bluesy, medievalist, Arabesque, betraying the influence of John Renbourn, Davey Graham and Bert Jansch - cast every bit as strong a spell, perhaps even stronger. A superb and timeless record, one that we can see ourselves listening to again and again, recommended to fans not only of the aforementioned but also Current 93, Pentangle, Shirley Collins, Fairport Convention and Andrew King.'

EXTRACTS, President Michael D. Higgins, Reflecting on Irish Migrations

EXTRACTS, President Michael D. Higgins, Reflecting on Irish Migrations

Reflecting on Irish Migrations: Some issues for the Social Sciences

Michael D. Higgins, Uachtarán na hÉireann, President of Ireland at NYU Glucksman Ireland House, Thursday, 3rd May 2012

I am delighted to be in Glucksman Ireland House in New York University, one of the highest ranking academic Irish Studies Centres in the U.S. Those of us who value the importance of Irish Studies and in particular, the importance of its accessibility in the wider Irish Diaspora, owe a deep debt of gratitude to the late Lew Glucksman and Loretta Brennan Glucksman. I am especially, pleased that Loretta is with us today...

... I am very much a supporter of the view put forward by Patrick O’Sullivan that Irish migration studies has to be an interdisciplinary exercise and I applaud his every efforts to give meaning to this through his six volume edited series – The Irish World Wide History, Heritage, Identity which of course has been succeeded by further scholarship and this had led to revisions which he has acknowledged. Nevertheless, his views on how the Irish migrations might best be studied were important and his delivery on these with the six volumes in the 1990s was a real contribution.

The rewards of a multi-disciplinary approach to Irish migration are, I repeat, rich. Yet as Patrick O’Sullivan has pointed out this has been difficult to achieve. His paper Developing Irish Diaspora Studies: A Personal View in New Hibernian Review in 2003 spelled that out:

“No one academic discipline is going to tell us everything we want to know about the Irish Diaspora. The study of migration, emigration, immigration, population movements, flight scattering, networks, transnational communities, diaspora – this study demands an interdisciplinary approach.”

Patrick O’Sullivan made his significant contribution at a time when migration theory and migration studies were being contracted back to individual disciplines or allowed an eclectic existence within what was regarded as core subjects which, it was often asserted by their leading practitioners did not need the discomfort, or the challenge of interdisciplinarity.

... I believe that an inclusive scholarship would have benefitted from such an interdisciplinary approach that while reflecting a respect for the different tools of analysis in different disciplines at the same time was able to draw on the benefit of transcending boundaries. This argument has been well made by Patrick O’Sullivan in his state of the field article on Irish Diaspora Studies to which I earlier referred.

It may be that what has to be overcome by scholars is the fear that by a particular approach to migration we are seeking to colonise it at the expense of other approaches, or that by failures to regard such a study of migration all the more valuable because, as Edward Said would put it, it exists in the interstices, we allow it to be relegated to an exotic or eclectic existence as an afterthought in a department that travels under a different and more grandiose title. Patrick O’Sullivan is very complimentary to the scholarship of NYU Glucksman Ireland House as exceptional in avoiding such pitfalls...

...Patrick O’Sullivan noted in the general introduction to his series the fact that Everett S. Lee’s theory of migration had had little influence on Irish migration studies. I agree with Patrick O’Sullivan that the general scheme in Lee’s work might have enabled us to conceptualise Irish migration within a larger and more general framework of migrant theory. I was aware of this in Manchester and felt it was a quite valuable approach in correcting some of the over-determined features of the Push-Pull model.

SOURCE

http://www.president.ie/speeches/reflecting-on-irish-migrations-some-issues-for-the-social-sciences/

Gargrave Autoharp Festival - Accomodation

Accomodation

Gargrave Autoharp Festival

Weekend of Friday May 31, Saturday June 1, Sunday June 2, 2013

Gargrave is a pretty  village, on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales, not far from the market town Skipton.  The main road through the village is the A65.  The Pennine Way, long distance footpath, comes down to the village, before climbing to Malham.  The Leeds & Liverpool Canal, one of the 3 trans-Pennine canals, goes through the village.

Gargrave has its own railway station, on the Leeds-Morecambe line - which also connects with the Settle-Carlisle line.  The local large and busy station is Skipton, ten minutes drive away.  If you travel by train and you let us know your time of arrival, we can meet you with a car.

Remember that the Gargrave Village Hall is the main venue, and the Masons Arms, Gargrave, is our main pub. 

See the simple map on

http://www.gargrave.org.uk/streetmap.htm

The Masons Arms does not seem to want an apostrophe...

Accomodation

A:  Gargrave

1.

Masons Arms - pub and B&B

http://www.masonsarmsgargrave.co.uk/Masons_Arms_Gargrave/Welcome.html

John Baker, the landlord, is very helpful and supportive.

Tel: 01756 749 304

info@masonsarmsgargrave.co.uk

2.

River Cottage B&B

Kath and Keith Bradley, very helpful and supportive.

http://rivercottagebandb.com/

Contact Information

Tel: 01756 749541

Email: keithbradley1953@yahoo.co.uk

3.

The Old Swan Inn - pub and B&B

The future of this pub is not really clear - various refurbishments are planned, and the position might be clearer before May 2013.

Check the state of play by phoning Tel.  01756 749232

4.

Premier Inn

http://www.premierinn.com/en/hotel/SKIANC/skipton-north-gargrave

The Premier Inn, run by Leanne Richardson, is on the western edge of Gargrave, where the A65 crosses the Leeds & Liverpool Canal.  It shares a site with the Anchor Inn, a Brewers Fayre pub restaurant.  There is a safe walk to the centre of the village, along the towpath.

B:  Camp and Caravan

Generally caravan and camper van people have their own contacts and lists.  But, briefly, Eshton Road Caravan Park is quite small, on the eastern edge of Gargrave, next to the Leeds & Liverpool Canal.  There is an easy walk into the village, along the canal towpath.

Eshton Road Caravan Park

Eshton Road

Gargrave

Skipton

North Yorkshire

BD23 3PN

Contact Details

Tel: 01756 749229

Fax: 01756 748060

http://www.ukparks.co.uk/eshton/

There are many other Camp and Caravan sites nearby, in Skipton and in the Yorkshire Dales generally.

C:  Further Afield

Skipton is nearby, and has very many hotels and B&Bs, of every standard...  See

http://www.yorkshirenet.co.uk/yorkshire-dales/skipton.htm

...and many other web sites. 

Gargrave is about 10 minutes drive from the centre of Skipton.  There is a Travelodge on the Gargrave edge of Skipton, on the Skipton by-pass - so 5 minutes drive.  The Travelodge is a bit isolated.  On the bypass.

If you do book accommodation in Skipton make sure that the parking problem is solved.  The more established hotels, like the Heriot and the Rendezvous, have their own car parks.  Otherwise, parking in Skipton is annoying and/or expensive.

Near to Gargrave, but NOT walking distance, are other possibilities - depending on budgets.  For example

The Coniston Hotel

http://www.theconistonhotel.com/

Newton Grange

http://www.newton-grange.co.uk/

All of the villages and towns around Gargrave, especially within the Yorkshire Dales, have hotels, B&Bs, camp and caravan sites.  There are also many holiday cottages, but they are usually let through agencies/web sites, and usually by the week.  Weekends are sometimes available - I am trying to talk directly to the holiday cottage owners through our local contacts, but cannot promise anything.

For those in an extravagant or adventurous mood it is possible to hire a canal boat in Skipton, or nearby, bring the boat up the locks and moor in Gargrave.  But canal boat hire is not cheap.

For those who want to experience the most beautiful stretch of canal in England...  I will be bringing my boat down from Barnoldswick (pronounced Barlick) to Gargrave a few days before the Gargrave Autoharp Festival, and we can take about 8 passengers.  The journey takes a whole day by boat, 20 minutes by car.

Patrick O'Sullivan

SHORT FILM Paraski in Tignes, why don't you

This short film is now on YouTube.  The starting point here is very prosaic  – my wife wanted to share her holiday snaps and videos…

Paraski in Tignes, why don't you
A film by Patrick O'Sullivan
© Patrick O'Sullivan 2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gxy0DXVNM08


There was no time to do a detailed sound edit  – and indeed no point in going into one.  I took what sound I had been given, and in the background put a meditation by Marin Marais on a chord sequence.  And let the music seem to follow movement on the screen. 

It is a famous chord sequence which has its own name, La Folia (Madness, Folly), its own history, and its own Wikipedia entry…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folia

See also this labour of love…
http://www.folias.nl/

As well as the Marin Marais you will find versions by Lully, Vivaldi, Corelli, and so on.  But it turns up in all sorts of places – I think you can hear it in the fiddle tune that became the theme for the movie, Last of the Mohicans.

In Dm all the chords are available on a standard chromatic autoharp.  One chord per bar, except for bar 15.

Dm A7 Dm C
F C Dm A7
Dm A7 Dm C
F C Dm/A7 Dm

Patrick O’Sullivan

Autoharp in The Bourne Legacy

Autoharp sighting...

Whilst moving my boat home, from Llangollen, I had a few evenings by myself. And one night I went to the cinema, to see The Bourne Legacy - the Bourne movie without Jason Bourne, written and directed by the usual Bourne scriptwriter, Tony Gilroy. The movie has had very mixed reviews - but I enjoyed it as a further exploration of the 'Bourne world'.

Anyway... The movie has an autoharp in it, just part of the set dressing - in a cabin in the snow, propped against the wall, never explained or mentioned. There is no reason for an autoharp to be there. You have to think that maybe - because the scene IS set in a cabin in the snow - this is a cineaste's reference to the W.C. Fields short, The Fatal Glass of Beer.

view-source:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDB1htp07Ms

Shortly after you see the autoharp (spoiler alert!) the cabin in the snow is blown up by a missile launched from a drone. And the autoharp too, we must suppose...

Patrick O'Sullivan

The Wharf in Castlefield Basin is up for an award

Visitors to the Castlefield Canal Basin, Manchester, on the Bridgewater, at the bottom end of the Rochdale Canal, will know that the large pub building, on the Slate Wharf, next to the Middle Warehouse, has been rescued by Rob Broadbent and his team.  It is now open as a busy upmarket pub, called The Wharf, with good food and well cared for beer.  There is more information on the very interesting web site...

http://www.brunningandprice.co.uk/thewharf/

The Wharf is up for an award and would like our support...

The Wharf has been nominated in the ‘Newcomer of the Year’ category of the Manchester Food and Drink Awards, part of the annual food and drink festival.

There are two stages to the judging process: firstly they are visited by a mystery diner, who will assess the quality, flavour and presentation of food and drink, value for money, and the standard of the furnishings and finishes etc.

No, I don't know how you get to be a mystery diner...

The second part of the judging process is where they need our help.  You can vote on the Food and Drink Festival awards page here:

http://foodanddrinkfestival.com/awards

You just add your email, scroll down to the 'Newcomer of the Year' section, and enter your vote, then click on the link in the confirmation email you will receive.

When so many canal side pubs have disappeared I think it is right to say Thank You when this one has been rescued, and is being run so well.

Patrick O'Sullivan

New Song: Sherman Tank

Sherman Tank

Tune:  Wildwood Flower

I will drive in my Sherman to the gates of Berlin,

or dance with an angel on the point of a pin.

Be you Tommy or Frenchie or Polack or Yank

you are welcome to shelter by my Sherman Tank.

If we meet with a Tiger we will hide in the wood,

for a seventy five mill won't do us much good.

We will hide in the wood, lads, and keep out of reach

till the seventeen pounders come up from the beach.

I don’t hate the German as much as I should.

I don’t love my Sherman as much as I could.

For to tell you the truth, in the midst of a war,

I would far rather be in a T34.

To cross that wide river you need a strong bridge,

To cross that high mountain just follow the ridge,

To cross that wide plain you will need a good road,

And always my Sherman to carry your load.

I will drive in my Sherman to the gates of Berlin,

or dance with an angel on the point of a pin.

Be you Tommy or Frenchie or Polack or Yank

you are welcome to shelter by my Sherman Tank.

I think it is generally agreed that we do not have enough songs about the tanks, and other armoured and tracked vehicles, of World War II.

This song attempts to fill that gap.

This song will go to the tune of Wildwood Flower, the same tune that Woody Guthrie used for his song Reuben James.  Woody Guthrie adds an extra element to the tune, a little 2 line chorus.  If we need that chorus just adapt the Tommy and Frenchie couplet.

© Patrick O’Sullivan 2012