News

7/10/2019: Popular Cumbrian music festival returns for 2020

A much-loved Cumbrian music festival is returning for its 11^th year in 2020.

Organisers have confirmed Music on the Marr will take place from Thursday July 16 to Sunday July 19.

The award-winning festival, hosted in the village of Castle Carrock, near Brampton, has built a reputation for the quality of its music and its warm welcome for visitors.

This year it celebrated 10 years of shows with performances from folk legend Martin Simpson, Scottish favourites Tide Lines and Blazin’ Fiddles and multi award-winners Merry Hell, among many others.

Headliners for next year have yet to be confirmed but festival director Richard Johnstone said that audiences could expect a treat.

He said: “We sold more tickets than ever in 2019 and buoyed by that vote of confidence we’ve decided to press ahead with another. We must be mad.

“The feedback from our audiences is just astonishing and when there’s so much love for a thing, you just want to make it happen again.

“There’s no way we would ever let the quality drop, so anyone booking for 2020 can rest assured we will once again have a line up stuffed with some of the very best music around.”

A ‘Friends of MoM’ scheme is being launched which, in return for a small fee to help the not-for-profit festival meet running costs, will offer supporters some exclusive benefits.

Local businesses or organisations able to offer financial support are also being sought with a range of sponsorship packages available.

A book chronicling the festival’s first 10 years, A Decade of Dancing, is also now in production.

Festival fans or those curious to know more are invited to check out musiconthemarr.com for video highlights from this year set to a soundtrack from Cumbrian/North East favourites Hadrian’s Union.

The festival has received plaudits from across the world of folk music and was named Best Community Arts Initiative at 2018’s Carlisle Living Awards.

ENDS

7 October, 2019

Photo captions:

Highlights from 2019’s festival – Headliners Tide Lines and Baghdaddies, Danny 5’s fireshow and a busy Marr

Notes for editors:

- Music on the Marr was founded in 2010 in a marquee left free following a village wedding.
- We provide Music in the Hat, a ‘give what you can afford’ concert on Thursday evening for early arrivals.
- We provide free access to all accompanied under-17’s exposing them to local, national and international musicians.
- We provide a series of music learning and developmental workshops free to all ticket holders during the festival.
- Partners in delivery include: Castle Carrock School, St Peter’s Church, The Watson Institute, The Duke of Cumberland Inn, Pennine Artisans and a wide variety of musicians, music teachers and the good people of Castle Carrock who give many hours of their time to help make the festival happen.
- The festival has raised thousands of pounds for the St Peter’s Church Restoration Fund and Eden Valley Hospice.
- Music on the Marr is produced and directed by Geltsdale Arts Ltd, a not for profit organisation.
- Twitter @MusicOnTheMarr Facebook @musiconthemarr Instagram @musiconthemarr

Further details:
Richard Johnstone (01228) 670329 and 07802 409770
David Helliwell (01228) 830835

15/11/2019: The Love You Leave Behind Collective film released

A celebration of the life and music of Roy Bailey at Music on the Marr filmed in July 2019.

Professor Roy Bailey, OBE (returned) died in November 2018, was patron at Music on the Marr for 7 years. He had a distinguished career as an academic sociologist by day; at the weekends and in the evenings Roy was a man of the people, singer of songs of compassion, resistance, revolution and hope. For 55 years his strong voice filled sold out gigs in small folk clubs, marquees at festivals, The Albert Hall and across the world. Often thought to have been a great songwriter, he was the first to admit that he had never written a song in his life. Instead he interpreted songs written by others making them his own and he has been described as one of the greatest interpreters of contemporary and traditional songs.

In this unique show filmed at Music on the Marr in July 2019, we brought together some of the musicians who worked with Roy and some of the songwriters whose songs he sang. Many of them appeared with Roy in The Anti Capitalist Road Show: Celebrating Subversion, and other collaborations. All of them have an important place in the canon of folk music and have been most influential in its development during the last 50 years. Thanks are due to them and to Ian and Matthew Brown from Flashlight Films for their patient work creating the video and to Paul Adams from Fellside Records for taking much care with the soundtrack.

Contributions from:

Ray Hearne. A powerful and much respected singer and songwriter. His ‘Song for David’ was amongst the most requested in Roy’s repertoire.

Leon Rosselson. One of our greatest singer songwriters and a committed fighter for truth and justice. Never short of political acuity, he collaborated with Roy Bailey in many projects over 35 years beginning with The Three City Four which he formed in 1965. He continues to perform and write.

Frankie Armstrong Is an acclaimed singer and voice teacher and she is the president of The Natural Voice Network. Franki was involved with folk and political songs from the 1950s and in a trio with Roy and Leon Rosselson for 8 years.

Jim Woodland is a talented and inspiring songwriter, performer and producer; Roy Bailey was an exponent of his work. His song ‘Stories’, “we tell stories to each other and that is all” explains the entire purpose of the folk tradition in a single song, was regularly sung by Roy in his shows.

Janet Russell. Singer, vocal harmony workshop leader, musical director, arranger and choir leader. Her ‘Secretary’s Song’ became a BBC Radio 2 legend and ‘Breastfeeding Baby in the Park’ has been taken up by the pro-breastfeeding lobby. Janet appeared with Roy many times.

Keith Donnelly. Comedian, singer, songwriter and bringer of mirth everywhere he goes. Roy and he were friends appearing at festivals across the globe. Roy once introduced Keith as ‘Kevin’ and it stuck.

Sandra Kerr is an English folk singer, multi instrumentalist, song-writer and choir director. She was a member of The Critics Group with Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger. With John Faulkner, she wrote the music for the TV series Bagpuss. Sandra was part of The Anti Capitalist Roadshow with Roy.

Martin Simpson. Unquestionably one of the world’s greatest guitarists and songwriters. He was Roy’s son in law and regularly accompanied him along with Andy Cutting at performances at home in Sheffield and throughout the country, most notably at Roy’s annual August Bank Holiday afternoon gig at Towersy Festival where Roy was patron for 50 years.

Andy Cutting. A musician’s musician: a soulful and technically outstanding melodeon practitioner, he has been most influential in the evolution of traditional music during the last 20 years. He regularly appeared on stage with Roy.

Peggy Seeger. Much loved American singer, multi -instrumentalist and songwriter with an impressive pedigree and an original voice. A long-time friend of Roy she appeared with him in The Anti Capitalist Roadshow and many concerts.

Nancy Kerr and James Fagan. Well known and frequently decorated for their outstanding musicianship and original compositions, they have a lifelong grounding in traditional singing and instrumental playing. They cite Roy as a significant influence and regularly performed with him.

Stew Simpson. Front man with Hadrian’s Union Stew is an accomplished singer, songwriter and visual artist. Roy was his mentor. “Roy showed me that if you aren't brave and don't stand up for what you believe to be the truth and what is right then the truly magical things in life might not happen. He showed me that love can make Everything Possible”.

Marc Block was the curator of The Love You Leave Behind Collective. Marc was Roy's friend for over thirty years, and his driver and accompanist during the last six years of Roy's life. A fine singer and songwriter, Marc is a highly engaging and personable performer with a Queer slant to his writing.

Notes for editors:

Further details:
Richard Johnstone (01228) 670329 and 07802 409770
David Helliwell (01228) 830835

12/12/2019: A Decade of Dancing published - 10 Years of Music on the Marr

Festival book released after mammoth trawl through 7,000 photos

A book celebrating a popular Cumbrian music festival has been published after a mammoth trawl through photographic archives.

A Decade of Dancing captures 10 years of Music on the Marr, which has brought some of the folk world’s biggest names to the county.

The 48-page book is packed with pictures from the festival held annually in the village of Castle Carrock, near Brampton. It involved searching through more than 7,000 images taken by photographer David Ambridge between 2010 and 2019.

Eventually the images were narrowed down to the 170 chosen for publication. They include some of the star names that have delighted audiences over the years including Wolfstone, Merry Hell, Dan Walsh and Skerryvore.

But it also includes some of the more off beat moments that happen during the four-day festival – such as circus performers, candid shots of festival goers and the occasional summer downpour.

The book was compiled and edited by David Helliwell and designed by Liquid Studios’ Becca Davidson.

David said: “We are so fortunate to have this wonderful archive of images that has been compiled by David. Every year he pops up all over the place, taking an amazing number of pictures that document what has become a much-loved event.

“It seemed obvious we needed to do something more with this historic archive.

“We are a not-for-profit festival, so the aim of the book is two-fold. Hopefully we can raise some money to help us fund next July’s 11th festival. But it’s also a fantastic way to celebrate the great times that people have enjoyed over the last decade.”

The book includes a personal foreword from renowned guitarist Martin Simpson, a festival favourite and twice named Radio 2 Folk Awards’ artist of the year.

A Decade of Dancing is available now for £14 plus £2 p&p by emailing [email protected]

Tickets for next year’s festival – being held between Thursday July 16 to Sunday 19 - are set to go on sale shortly.

A ‘Friends of MoM’ scheme has also been launched which offers supporters exclusive benefits.

ENDS

December 12, 2019

Photo captions:

The cover of A Decade of Dancing and two of the images included.

Notes for editors:

- Music on the Marr was founded in 2010 in a marquee left free following a village wedding.

- We provide Music in the Hat, a ‘give what you can afford’ concert on the Thursday evening.

- We provide free access to all accompanied under-17’s exposing them to local, national and international musicians.

- We provide a series of music learning and developmental workshops free to all ticket holders during the festival.

- Partners in delivery include: Castle Carrock School, St Peter’s Church, The Watson Institute, The Duke of Cumberland Inn, Pennine Artisans and a wide variety of musicians, music teachers and the good people of Castle Carrock who give many hours of their time to help make the festival happen.

- The festival has raised thousands of pounds for charitable causes including the St Peter’s Church and Watson Institute restoration funds in 2019.

- Music on the Marr is produced and directed by Geltsdale Arts Ltd, a not for profit organisation.

- Twitter @MusicOnTheMarr Facebook @musiconthemarr Instagram @musiconthemarr

Further details:

David Helliwell (01228) 830835

www.musiconthemarr.com

19/12/2019: First bands revealed for Music on the Marr

Legendary Lindisfarne revealed as Music on the Marr headliners

Legendary folk rockers Lindisfarne will headline next year’s 11th Music on the Marr festival.

The Cumbrian festival has announced it will also welcome Peatbog Faeries and a host of other big names for its 2020 event held between July 16 and 19 in Castle Carrock.

Tickets have just gone on sale with organisers of the not-for-profit festival holding the price of a weekend ticket at £79.

Tyneside favourites Lindisfarne are celebrating their 50th anniversary next year. Their career has brought a string of memorable albums and chart hits including Fog On The Tyne, Lady Eleanor and Run For Home.

The band’s power to galvanise audiences remains undimmed and they recently played a sold out show at Carlisle’s Old Fire Station. After various changes in personnel, the band hit the road with a classic five-piece line up of long-time members fronted by founder-member Rod Clements on vocals, mandolin, fiddle and slide guitar.

Scottish trailblazers Peatbog Faeries have created a mixture of traditional sounds and dance-floor grooves that have been embraced worldwide. They draw upon a myriad of influences from jigs and reels through dance music, jazz, African and more, creating a no-nonsense feelgood atmosphere.

Festival director Richard Johnstone said: “We’re absolutely delighted that once again the summer will see Castle Carrock welcoming some of the biggest names in world music.

“In 2019 we sold more tickets than ever and it’s this great support that means we can attract bands of the calibre of Lindisfarne, Peatbog Faeries and others.

Also lined up for the festival are The Breath, whose vocalist Ríoghnach Connolly was named Folk Singer of The Year at the 2019 Radio 2 Folk awards where they were also nominated for Best Duo.

They will be joined by internationally-renowned, Cumbrian-based banjo player Dan Walsh, singer songwriter Jess Morgan, Northumbrian piper and fiddler Kathryn Tickell, Roving Crows, Saltfishforty and there’s a return for festival favourites Hadrian’s Union and Keith Donnelly.

Teenage The Voice singer Eliza Gutteridge, from Penrith, makes her festival debut, as will Caledonian duo Ross Ainslie and Ali Hutton.

Mr Johnstone said more details of the line-up would be released in the new year. Tickets are on sale now at www.musiconthemarr.com

Meanwhile, a book celebrating the first 10 years of the festival, A Decade of Dancing, is also on sale. It features images taken at the festival from 2010-2019 and a foreword from guitarist Martin Simpson. The book is available now priced £14 plus £2 p&p by emailing [email protected]