We all know that whoever wins the General Election on May 6th it won’t be us!

So screw the politicians and we’ll make our own entertainment at this special fundraiser for the Waltham Forest Trades Council.

The line up is two great pals of the club – Steve White & The Protest Family and Tunnel Visions very own Graham Larkbey & The Escape Committee.

I’ll be MCing and throwing in a couple of tunes as well.

It’s at the Rose & Crown in Hoe Street, admission is £3 and it kicks off at 8:00pm

Club regulars Sian Allen, Roger Huddle and Jim Kane are keeping our end up at the Mayday Celebrations at the Rose & Crown on Saturday May 1st.

They’ll be on from six in the evening or so as part of what looks to be a great evening of music Hall Variety , traditional Union song, Piano , vintage gramaphoning and DJ entertainment until late.

There’ll be kiddies stuff  in the afternoon face painting and arts and crafts activities and stalls.

There is also a Speech from Neil Gerrard and Other Union Mayday activists and if that wasn’t enough the Sound Box Review which is Tip Top Tony Tunes and Mademoiselle Sisamo.

The Rose & Crown is on How Street and you can find out more at their website http://www.roseandcrowntheatrepub.webeden.co.uk

We’re all set to go for our Folk Against Fascism Special this Sunday, April 25th.

Alongside all our regular friends we’ll be hearing from the likes of Roger Huddle, The Raven, Slight Aches, Edwin Brooks, Steve White and the Protest Family and the awesome guitar wizardry of Dave Dellare.

And whilst the Icelandic volcano may be causing havoc for air travellers (including our own Other Theresa, currently camping out in Seoul airport!) it’s meant that we can also welcome the stunning singer Somaye who was supposed to be gigging overseas this weekend. Check her out at http://www.myspace.com/somaye

Plus we’ve decided that we’re going to drop a formal entrance fee for this evening and dig out the venerable love-bucket for a collection which we’ll use to give a donation to FaF and to Unite Against Fascism who’ll also be on hand with information and ideas for how you can get involved with the fight against the BNP.

We’re working really hard to make this event a success and to really make the point that there’s no place for the BNP in the folk scene – it promises to be a great night and we’ll look forward to seeing you there.

Doors open 7:30 – Admission FREE!

Our Folk Against Fascism evening on April 25th is starting to take shape.

Currently the line up includes (in no particular order)

• Roger Huddle
  As well as being a great pal and well known local activist Roger is a first class poet
  http://rogerhuddle.blogspot.com/
• The Raven
  Great duo really making a name for themselves at the moment.
  http://theraven.me/
• Slight Aches
  An acoustic duo featuring Simon Crafter on guitarist and vocals and Alison Stewart (formerly of Red Rubies acapella and lately of Wendy A. Bennett band) on mandolin/singer/tin whistle.
• Edwin Brooks
  Great song writing with Ukulele and clarinet.
• Steve White and the Protest Family
  Noisy, angry, funny, ragged-arsed and intensely entertaining agitprop from this local band rapidly achieving real notoriety.
  http://www.myspace.com/realstevewhite

And of course our special guest

David Dellare
The soon to be former Mawkin guitar wizard steps out on his own.

And as if that wasn’t enough there’ll be floorspots from all our regular friends and supporters.

We’ve got enough artists now so please don’t assume you’ll get a spot if you turn up on the night. If you’re very keen to perform let us know in advance and we’ll try and fit you in. But no promises, sorry!

All in all it should be a great evening for an important cause and don’t forget admission is only £3.

More about FaF at http://www.folkagainstfascism.com

Regulars to the club will know I’m on a big Pete Seeger kick at the moment.

So you can imagine how chuffed I was to find this photo of our forthcoming guests Steve Suffet & Anne Price on stage with the man himself. The photo was taken at Ecofest in Central Park, New York City. October 4. 2009.

How cool is that?

Steve and Anne will be coming to visit on Sunday 9th May.

A recent conversation made me realise that having a bit more about the upcoming guests on the site is useful to people when they’re deciding quite how cold (now sub wet) it is on a Sunday evening.

The next guest we have is the wonderful Bruce Molsky and I’ve collected a couple of YouTube clips for those who don’t know who he is, not that those who do know who he is are forbidden from watching them!

Bruce plays fiddle, banjo, guitar and sings.

You can get advance tickets here.

These clips were recorded at the Edinburgh Folk Club in 2008
Bruce Molsky – Drunkard’s Hiccups
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4MXu3j6Qvw (they don’t give permission to embed the clips)

Bruce Molsky – Charmin’ Betsy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnDYiWrIZrg&feature=related

And some other clips:

I’ll be the main guest at the Romford Folk Club on April 6th.

The club is at The Sun, 47 London Road, Romford RM7 9QA Phone: 01708 743423

It all starts at 8 pm.

I’ve never been to this club and I’m really looking forward to it.

We are delighted to announce that the club is now on Twitter!

To follow us just go to http://twitter.com/WalthamstowFolk

It should be a great way to keep in touch!

Our friends Raven who will be familiar to regular club goers are
supporting Eliza Carthy at the Water Rats this Thursday the 18th.

The Water Rats is at 328 Grays Inn Road, London WC1X 8BZ

Admission is £17 and it should be a great night!

The chaps have their own website here – http://theraven.me

A Special Evening as part of Folk Against Fascism Week.

Folk Against Fascism is an organisation setup to counter moves by the BNP to co-opt elements of the English tradition.

As since Nick Griffin is running for MP in Barking it’s vital that the folk movement in East London makes it’s oppositon clear.

To that end we are proud to announce an evening of local mucisions, poets and performers plus a special guest appearence by Mawkin guitar wizard Dave Delarre.

Admission for this evening is just £3.