Marisa Jack & Davy started a folk club in the summer of 2015. HEY HO! FOLK (previously Mill Race Folk) aims to create an intimate, cosy acoustic folk night with the best folk artists from around the country. Shows are held in various locations around Bedford. Some are traditional music venues, others are in rather strange and unusual places. Please contact us for more details.
Through these nights we have shared the stage with Martin Carthy, John Kirkpatrick and The Askew Sisters. Marisa Jack & Davy are using the opportunity to learn straight from the people who sing folk songs and are sharing these discoveries via their podcast.
COMIN’ UP at HEY HO! FOLK
Thursday 26th September 2019
Folk on the Boat
With Matt Tighe & Tad Sargent
Departing from the Barns Hotel (Cardington Road, Bedford) at 19.30pm for a 2 hour round trip, tickets are £17.50 per person and there’s a licensed bar available on board.
Call 01946 690301 for tickets
Folk duo Matt Tighe and Tad Sargent came to Bedford last year to play Folk on the Boat on The John Bunyan Boat. They loved it and we loved them so they’re back!
Their sublime folk tunes are a perfect accompaniment for a lazy trip down the Ouse. Take a cool glass of something fancy in your hand and soak up the delights of the river on an early autumnal evening.
Don’t miss out, these tickets are very limited. Call the friendly team at John Bunyan boat on 01946 690301 (Mon-Fri 09:00-17:00) to book your tickets £17.50
Saturday 12th October 2019
The Askew Sisters
Foster Hill Road Cemetery,
Foster Hill Road, Bedford, MK41 7TD
Doors at 7:30pm
Tickets £12 at eventbrite
Emily and Hazel Askew have become known as two of the foremost performers and interpreters of English folk music and they’re coming back to Bedford!
Their live performances brim with the depth and connection not only of two sisters, but also of two musicians who have been immersed in folk music all their lives.
Together, they rework and reinterpret songs and balladry, creating breath-taking arrangements, which allow words that are hundreds of years old to resonate profoundly with contemporary audiences.
Alongside this, both women are also skilled multi-instrumentalists and expert players of dance music, using fiddles, melodeons, concertina and cello in their innate drive to bring old dance music to life.
SOME OF OUR PAST EVENTS
Saturday 22nd September 2018
FOLK DOUBLE BILL
Jack Sharp and Thom Ashworth
Moot Hall, Church End, Elstow, MK42 9XT. Doors at 7:00 PM,
Tickets £10 + booking fee
To start our new Mill Race Folk season we have an amazing double bill.
Thom Ashworth is an English folksinger and bassist and has been described as a “vibrant new voice-to-watch on the folk scene” by fRoots Magazine. He performs stripped back arrangements of traditional songs on voice and acoustic bass guitar. Listen to Thom’s 2nd EP, ‘Hollow’
You will recognise Jack from Marisa Jack & Davy, and as one of the hosts of Mill Race Folk. He also plays in rock band Wolf People. He will be playing solo folk songs with guitar and bouzouki, many of which have been collected in Bedfordshire. Buy Tickets from Eventbrite now
Thursday 27th September 2018
Folk on the Boat
Matt Tighe & Tad Sargent
A two hour river cruise with live folk music from Matt and Tad leaves from the moorings at the Barns Hotel, Cardington Road, Bedford (boarding at 7.15 p.m).
Gorgeous folk duo Matt Tighe and Tad Sargent come to Bedford on 27th September to play Mill Race Folk on The John Bunyan Boat. Their sublime folk tunes are a perfect accompaniment for a lazy trip down the Ouse. Take a cool glass of something fancy in your hand and soak up the delights of the river on an early autumnal evening.
Matt Tighe is quickly making a name for himself in the world of folk and Traditional music. He has been described as a, “fiery virtuoso”, and has already had an extensive experience in performance, playing at many festivals and clubs within the UK and Ireland. London Born Tad Sargent, whose family roots come from Castlebar in county Mayo, started playing music at a young age on the piano. He picked up the bouzouki in 2008 and has performed/recorded and worked with many great musicians and groups such as Barrule, Tony Christie, Luke Daniels and Cara Dillon.
Don’t miss out, these tickets are very limited. Call the friendly team at John Bunyan boat on 01946 690301 (Mon-Fri 09:00-17:00) to book your tickets £tbc
Saturday 13th October 2018
Bird in the Belly
Moot Hall, Church End, Elstow, MK42 9XT. Doors at 7:00 PM,
Tickets £10 + booking fee
Bird in the Belly are a Brighton based collective made up of solo artist Jinnwoo, folk duo Hickory Signals, visual artist Epha Roe, and instrumentalist Tom Pryor. Together they have spent the last 12 months recording songs and stories that have either never before been recorded or are rarely recorded – all set to contemporary folk music, in the hopes of reintroducing these songs back into the folk canon. Tickets are available now
Saturday 19th January 2019
Cohen Braithewaite Kilcoyne
Moot Hall, Church End, Elstow, MK42 9XT. Doors at 7:00 PM,
Tickets £10 + booking fee
Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne is a folk musician and singer. Cohen has been a musician since the age of 6 and took to squeezeboxes in his teens and has since developed into a fine player of both the melodeon and anglo concertina. Cohen is also a well-regarded singer and in 2014 won Bromyard Folk Festival’s Future of Young Folk Award for singing.
Cohen’s solo repertoire consists mainly of traditional songs with accompaniment from anglo concertina or melodeon. Alongside this Cohen also performs traditional tunes and the occasional un-accompanied song. An average solo performance includes traditional ballads, historical songs, industrial songs, sea songs and shanties all firmly rooted in the English tradition, with a fair amount of material linked to the West Midlands where Cohen has lived for much of his life. Buy tickets from Eventbrite now
Saturday 9th March 2019
Ewan McLennan
Moot Hall, Church End, Elstow, MK42 9XT. Doors at 7:00 PM,
Tickets £10 + booking fee
Ewan’s last gig with Mill Race Folk was cancelled due to snow. We have finally managed to get him back, and this time it will be at the incredibly beautiful Moot Hall in Elstow.
Ewan’s music has depth of feeling & sincerity. Whether singing haunting traditional Scottish ballads or weaving the powerful stories that make up his own songs, Ewan’s unique, moving and earthy voice is always compelling. His guitar playing is outstanding and forms an essential part of his music. Ewan’s most recent project, entitled Breaking the Spell of Loneliness, was a collaborative tour and album with renowned author and journalist George Monbiot, seeking to use music and word to open up the issue of loneliness and community.
Support will come from hosts Marisa Jack & Davy. Buy tickets from Eventbrite now
Previously in 2018…
Saturday 31st March 2018 – Stick In the Wheel At Bedford Esquires Tickets £12
Precision folk with anger, lust & blood” The Guardian
Known for Kearey’s fierce, authentic delivery, this is culturally & politically switched on folk with roots embedded in working-class heritage. They examine rituals & cycles, our inherent power to change ourselves & the world around us, the past repeating itself, ghosts & death, land & place, thieves & beggars.
Saturday 14th April 2018 – Mill Race Folk Social with Gemma Khawaja At The Star Rowing Club, Bedford.
Our more traditional folk night with floor spots and a bit more opportunity to chat and drink. Do you know any folk songs? We would love to hear them from anyone who is interested! Or just come and relax, listen and meet new people.
We’re lucky to have Gemma Khawaja performing for us. She’s based in Norfolk and plays traditional songs of the British Isles. Her voice is warm and powerful. Her delivery is self-assured and captivating. Gemma was the 2013 winner of Islington Folk Club’s Trad2Mad competition. Food and drink will be available by Rachel and team at The Star Food Co. Entry is £5 for listeners, and £3 for performers
Saturday 5th May 2018 -Anna and Elizabeth At Moot Hall, Elstow Bedfordshire. Tickets £16
Sublime genre-bending storytellers from The USA. Widely loved for their moving minimalist arrangements, the duo present old songs & stories to modern audiences. Their new album, ‘The Invisible Comes to Us’ is released on Smithsonian Folkways on 30th March 2018. We are so fortuneate to have them at Mill Race Folk this season. Seriously, they are not to be missed!
Thursday 14th June 2018 – Bryony Griffith & Will Hampson on The John Bunyan Community Boat
We’re so happy to have Bryony and Will back at Mill Race Folk with the first FOLK ON THE BOAT on The John Bunyan Community Boat. Expect powerful vocals, deliciously rustic fiddle playing and driving yet sensitive box playing. They have a distinctive repertoire of dark ballads, chorus songs and dance tunes all delivered with good-humoured Yorkshire banter.
Book a ticket and visit the John Bunyan Boat website by clicking here
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