Local Group Report – Chichester – Thursday 20th April 2017

We had a very happy evening on 20th April, and worked very hard as we went through the song list for the Food and Folk Festival on 30th April. We were pleased to welcome another newcomer who is an experienced folk singer but wants to know more about Sussex folk songs and learn the harmonies to ‘our’ songs. We hope she will come again! We finished off the evening of course, by Rolling Home…

Local Group Report – Lewes – Tuesday 18th April 2017

Again this month, we sang through 22 songs with 12 singers. From the start a young man from Brighton joined us and picked up the tunes and some bass harmonies very quickly, so we hope he’ll be coming along in May, too. Tina led us through the Weald and Downland set list as well as Ha’nacker Mill, The Woodcutter’s Song and fortuitously Constant Lovers as new boy Chris grew up with grandparents who sang music hall favourites, so he was able to join in enthusiastically and we made a “terrible sound”, enough to make anyone seasick. We finished the evening on a fast pub crawl with East Sussex Drinking Song and Jolly Good Song.

Shoreham Wordfest – Celebrating Shakespeare festival

20th – 23rd April 2017

Here's a message from Emily:

Hello all,

Here's a great thing to do this weekend! A fab festival in Shoreham celebrating Shakespeare: Workshops, talks, singing, a Saturday night Elizabethan dance and feast... dressing up if you fancy... wonderful costumes last year!

Come and join in!

A small group of SDFS and Secret Shore singers will be performing under the name of Sounds and Sweet Airs. This will be at approximately 11.00-11.30am by the War Memorial in East Street and at midday in St. Mary de Haura Church, Shoreham-by-Sea.

On Sunday afternoon Emily will be leading two workshops titled "Sounds and Sweet Airs" and "Hey ho! To the Greenwood".

For more information about the whole weekend click the images below to download the poster and leaflet as pdf files, and visit the Shoreham Wordfest website.

    

SDFS at the Weald & Downland Living Museum's 'Food & Folk', Sunday 30th April 2017

Dear Singers,

You will have received by now an email requesting you to confirm with John C. if you are volunteering to sing at this event, to be placed on the free passes list, so there may be some duplication in the following details, but better safe than sorry.

We will be performing our two sets in the Market Square at 13.00-13.45hrs & 15.30-16.15hrs, they are detailed further down this piece. Please be in the Market Square half an hour before we commence each set.

As usual if you have apparel that you can wear that reflects our standard colours of blue, green or cream, then please do so but I suspect that as in previous years you will be wearing your coats most of the time. There will be a list of participating Singers at the pedestrian entrances (follow the 'Friends & Exhibitors' stream) where you will be ticked off the alphabetical-by-surname list, and issued with a wristband pass.

This year there is a fuller content of Folk performances on the now-extended-to-three-day weekend, with Emily's 'Sounds & Sweet Airs' Shoreham 'Celebrating Shakespeare' splinter group performing Tudor songs on the Saturday, plus other groups on the other days.

In addition SDFSingers participating will have free entry to the Folk Concert with your wristband on the Sunday evening if you requested this in your email when confirming that you are volunteering to perform.

The Museum is open from 10.30 hrs, and those Singers who have been before are well aware that, especially with good weather forecast, entry traffic queues swiftly build up, so allow for that for your arrival.

Regards,

John C.


First Set, 1.00pm:
1. Oak, Ash and Thorn E
2. Jim the Carter Lad B
3. On Sussex Hills A
4. Pleasant and Delightful B
5. The Farmer’s Toast
6. Smugglers Song C#
7. Ale, Glorious Ale E
8. Rosebuds in June B
9. West Sussex Drinking Song E

Second Set, 3.30pm:
1. Country Life Eb – Ab
2. Poor Froze-out Gardeners C#
3. Life of a Man B
4. The Magpie C
5. The Turnip Hoer Bb
6. Brisk Young Ploughboy C
7. Thousands or More A
8. Gooch’s Beer F
9. Sussex by the Sea A
10. Jolly Good Song

“South Downs Folk Singers” Recording Project

As many of our singers already know, we have hopes and plans to make sound and film recordings of our performances – to share our South Downs songs with others via the internet or to use on a DVD or CD compilation.

Progress has been slow and currently relies on hard-pressed members of our Committee. Assistance from others in the SDFS (or from their friends and families) would, we hope, share the tasks and opportunities and help speed us on our way to realising our goals all the sooner. We have a variety of events and performances planned for this summer and it would be good to make the most of them.

So – if you have any recording expertise, recording equipment and free time to offer we would be very glad to hear from you. Please contact us via the SDFS email or chat with us at one of our regular local sessions, one or more from our committee are usually amongst the crowd at these gatherings.

“Your SDFS Needs You” and we are hoping to hear from you soon!

Many thanks from all the Committee, Henny

Local Group Report – Lewes – Tuesday 21st March 2017

This turned out to be an excellent evening with 12 of us rolling through 22 songs, so here goes: Drink Me Brave Boys (with its extra verse written by Mac!), The Nightingale, The Turmut Hoer, Farmer’s Toast, at which point two men appeared and joined in with Pleasant And Delightful, Thousands Or More and Country Life before returning to the bar. So we started on the more sober Ha’nacker Mill, Poor Froze Out Gardeners and They Won’t Let us Go To Sea Any More before our break. The second half started with The Magpie, Where Stormy Winds Do Blow, West Sussex Drinking Song, On Sussex Hills, Rolling In The Dew, The Woodcutter’s Song, Three Maidens, A Smuggler’s Song, Oak, Ash and Thorn, Run of the Downs, East Sussex Drinking Song and finishing with Seasons Turn – all on half a shandy!