.....where we are gearing up for our imminent tour in Canada, and
still charmed by the use of our
song When I'm Up I Can't Get Down in the victory ceremony of the Winter
Olympics in Vancouver on 26 February. Wish we could have sent
them
some snow too,
though.
Meanwhile we have more or less recovered from the fROOTS 30th
birthday
party at the Roundhouse in Camden, London. Our short set
with June Tabor was very well received, but in fact the whole "brave,
unexpectedly slick" evening (The
Guardian, giving it a 5-star review),
was something of a triumph, and the live web stream of the show, with
dozens of artists, was watched around the world.
"The most powerful performances were the least expected. The
celebrated traditional singer June Tabor came on in a leather
jacket, joined by the electric guitars, accordion and violin of
Oysterband, with whom she recorded the Freedom and Rain album 20 years
ago. Now they mixed folk songs with Lou Reed and an intense treatment
of Joy Division's Love Will Tear Us Apart, with Tabor sounding like an
English Patti Smith." (Guardian)
Mmm, we do like a bit of intensity
sometimes...
fROOTS Magazine has put a fine photo-gallery of the event by Judith
Burrows on YouTube here
and film of June and Oysters here A
couple of shots of June with Oysterband are in our Photo Gallery.
A late addition to our calendar is a very rare outing for OYSTER
CEILIDH BAND (with our friends Al Scott & Ian Kearey) at the FOLK
AGAINST FASCISM Mayday Fête at Queen Elizabeth Hall, South Bank Centre,
London on May 2nd.
We will be playing for dancing - free - in the
QEH foyer between about 2 and 4 in the afternoon, taking over from The
Old Swan Band. But there's lots more happening too, including Club
Peripherique (featuring music of those who came and stayed
- "travellers, Turks, tradition carriers...") and an evening
singaround concert with Chumbawamba, Bellowhead and Show Of Hands.
(There is a charge for the concerts.)
We recommend you support this event if you're around London on May
2nd. We can't see why enjoying and taking pride in your own culture
should involve disrespecting anyone else's. Don't let the extreme right
appropriate and rewrite the history of ordinary people!
Meanwhile, we wish you a happy and fruitful 2010, notwithstanding
the strange weather and icy ecenomic conditions. Stay warm, stay
strong,
stay in control....
By
popular demand this CD is now on release in UK, via Proper Music
Distribution. We're a bit surprised ourselves - we'd planned to sell it
only on shows and by mail-order, but the response was such that we felt
we really should take the next step. (Of course, it'll continue to be
available through our
Now on
release is John Jones' solo album Rising Road (Westpark
87179). With seven traditional songs, four written by John, and one
from the Oyster vaults, it also features Seth Lakeman (tenor guitar,
fiddle, vocal), Benji Kirkpatrick (guitar, mandolin, bouzouki, piano,
vocal), former Oysterman Ian Kearey (banjo-dulcimer), Rowan Godel
(vocal), Sophie Walsh (harp) and Francois Deville (pedal steel) as well
as homeboys Dil Davies (drums), Alan Prosser (guitars) and producer Al
Scott.