Upcoming

Grow Heathrow 5th birthday: time to celebrate that old G-R-O-W spirit:

‘G-R-O-W

You take care of me, I take care of you

H-E-A-T-H-R-O-W

Are we gonna go? (No!)’ etc…

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Who would have thought it? It’s been 5 years of growing tomatoes, learning how to use renewable energy, protecting from planes, pollution and capitalism and finding out about what community really means.. so it’s time to party…

Saturday 28th February 11am till late:
5th BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION! Expect workshops, guest speakers, fun and games, pizzas, live music, tours, the cake competition, late night djs, and more.
Friday, 27th February 7pm:
Pre-Birthday PerformanceSunday 1st March 3pm:
Post-Birthday Artistic Performance

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Previous upcomings:

Dusk Assembly at ‘Never Again Ever!’ – Holocaust Survivors’ Cabaret, New Unity Hall, Islington, London

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There’s a new band brewing, and it’s debuting at Get Behind the Grassroots…name still being decided, as of Jan 15th!

Edge Fund benefit 2015

 

PS. Name decided in the nick of time: Dusk Assembly

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Quaker Homeless Action at Union Chapel, December 27th, for an hour before dinner time; http://www.qha.org.uk

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I’ll be playing songs from 7 years of camps, occupations, auditoriums and street corners at the ‘SATURDAY EVENING: LIBERATION CABARET – EXPRESSION, CONNECTION & COMMUNION’

https://www.facebook.com/events/1554712861428825/?ref_dashboard_filter=upcoming

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Grow Heathrow is worth fighting for (with music)!

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Photos by Jonathan Goldberg

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I performed on Saturday evening (August 2nd) at Peace News Summer Camp, which took place in a really beautiful location near Minsmere nature reserve from July 31st to August 4th. (Special thanks to the farmer for pointing me towards the big swimming pond!) BudQ3IyIUAIL9sV

On Monday August 4th we had a powerful and helpful session/ritual declaring peace on the 100th anniversary of Britain’s declaration of war on Germany, and envisioning our contribution to (some of) the next 100 years. I wrote a short piece (with melodic assistance from Sarah Jewell) which we all sang at the beginning. Here’s me demo-ing it a few days earlier: https://soundcloud.com/hedgemustard/a-declaration-of-peace

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http://www.hedgemustard.org/the-travelling-people-2014-rides-again-saturday-july-12th/

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Otherworld, Chailey Heritage School, Lewes, June & Cockcroft Hall, Brighton, May 13-18. Otherworld poster 2014

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Shell Out Sounds celebrates the end of Shell’s sponsorship of classical music concerts at the South Bank, June 8th.

Farewell Outside 2 8-6-14

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Songlines Choir performs at The Nave on July 12th, including a modified version of The Travelling People 2014

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TVP poster April

https://www.facebook.com/events/514666085310792/

Poster: Alex Goodman, http://alexinpenryn.tumblr.com

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On the 17th April 1964, the BBC broadcast The Travelling People, a ‘radio ballad’ by Ewan MacColl, Charles Parker and Peggy Seeger. The last of their groundbreaking collaborations, this programme explored the lives of Gypsies and Travellers in their own voices, interspersed with songs by MacColl. April 17th 2014 will be the 50th anniversary of this broadcast, so that’s the day we’ll celebrate it, as well as the lives and culture of Gypsies, Travellers and Roma people. We’ll do this by creating a 2014 version of a radio ballad (albeit with visuals as well as sound!) About the performers: * The Gypsy Starshttp://thegypsychronicles.net/gypsy-stars-uk/ * Thomas McCarthy: www.thomasmccarthyfolk.com * Damian Le Bas: www.damianlebas.com * Keely T. Mills: www.sundownarts.org/2013/10/keely-mills-our-poet-for-peterborough/ * Alex Etchart: http://alexetchart.com/ * Peter Cox, author of Set Into Song, a brilliant history of the radio ballads: www.setintosong.co.uk * Hedgemustard: www.hedgemustard.org Goldsmiths College Library houses an extraordinary and little-seen collection of material that once belonged to Seeger and MacColl. This collection is filled with material that explores and celebrates the incredibly rich folk music of these islands, as well as the struggles of the disadvantaged to carve out some justice in their own lives, and in those of others. More than anything else, the collection is an exploration of the extraordinary potential of music to transform social struggles. There will be an exhibition of material from the Seeger/MacColl collection at New X LEarning from April 14-27th. Thanks to the Lipman-Miliband Trust for part-funding this event.

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Grow Heathrow‘s 4th birthday partay

birthday1   Grow Heathrow 4th birthday party 2014

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Otherworld‘,  Brighton Community Academy, March 2014 http://www.samesky.co.uk Otherworld 3 Otherworld 5

Otherworld‘, Jan 23-25 2014, Corn Exchange, Church Street, Brighton http://www.samesky.co.uk Screen Shot 2014-01-21 at 23.04.15

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On January 1st 2014, I played here:

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Sunday 13th October 2013 will see a short set from me, and another Songlines Choir set, at a benefit for Peace News at the Cockpit Theatre in Marylebone, London. Also in October (21-25), I’ll be part of the team running a music project to celebrate Black History Month at the amazing Essex Primary School in Newham, east London. June 14th sees They Owe Us, a response to this year’s G8 meeting set for deepest Northern Ireland. I’ll be debuting my (somewhat wobbly) trombone skills with a brass band, ready to take a (brassy) blast at Canary Wharf etc. On Monday June 17th, I’ll be running ‘Libr’y Up Yourself’, a workshop in the Special Collections room of Goldsmiths College Library. It will celebrate libraries as liberatory (and occasionally musical) spaces, inspired in part by the Ewan MacColl/Peggy Seeger archive which is based there. http://callandresponseevent.wordpress.com

The workshop will run from 2-2.30pm, as part of an afternoon ‘showcasing the creative and dynamic talent of the next generation of community music practitioners’:
http://callandresponseevent.wordpress.com
Let me know if you would like to come along, or just indicate that wish here:
http://goldsmithscallandresponse.eventbrite.co.uk
Since putting together a piece for a cabaret night at the wonderful Friern Barnet Peoples’ Library – http://fbpeopleslibrary.co.uk – in January 2013, I have become increasingly fascinated by them as political, community and social spaces. All being well, I plan to work more closely with libraries in the future, celebrating them musically, and collaborating with the people who use them, (especially those that are squatted or community-run). I would love to hear from you if you might like to collaborate on such projects in 2013 and beyond, or if you’re part of a library that might be interested in hosting such events.
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On Friday August 16th, I’ll be part of a small contingent from Songlines Choir performing outdoors and unplugged at the last Uncivilisation Festival, at the Sustainability Centre in Hampshire.