3tynespodcast

In this episode, we look at how a major folk music festival emerged in the town of Allendale, in the East Allen Valley. Craig Atkinson and Peter Alcroft talk about the development of the Allen Valleys Folk Festival to become one of the premier small events on the folk circuit. They reflect on how their experiences over the years has enabled to the 2024 festival to field a roster of local and natio...

Kim Bull is a player and maker of the Northumbrian pipes, a type of bagpipes unique to Northumberland that is small and characteristically sweeter-sounding than the familiar Highland pipes. For many years, Kim was renowned as a national-level coach in canoeing and kayaking but, having been a recreational piper since acquiring a set for his wedding, he switched career when the pandemic lockdown sev...

Kim Bull is a player and maker of the Northumbrian pipes, a type of bagpipes unique to Northumberland that is small and characteristically sweeter-sounding than the familiar Highland pipes. For many years, Kim was renowned as a national-level coach in canoeing and kayaking but, having been a recreational piper since acquiring a set for his wedding, he switched career when the pandemic lockdown sev...

Kim Bull is a player and maker of the Northumbrian pipes, a type of bagpipes unique to Northumberland that is small and characteristically sweeter-sounding than the familiar Highland pipes. For many years, Kim was renowned as a national-level coach in canoeing and kayaking but, having been a recreational piper since acquiring a set for his wedding, he switched career when the pandemic lockdown sev...

Today, June 22nd, we’re joining Hexham Abbey and the people of Hexham to celebrate the memory of Etheldreda with the Under the Sun music festival and an evening performance of Arrival, a specially developed work of movement and song about the experience of migration and finding a new home. Etheldreda was an East Anglian Princess who was forcibly married to Ecgfrith, Prince of Northumbria. He becam...

Today we are at Alston Live – the first of the five larger music festivals that are held in the three Tynes area each year.  The festival featured 17 bands playing an eclectic range of music on Friday the 19th and Saturday the 20th of July in the Potato Market, Town Foot, St Augustine's Church and the Town Hall. There is, of course, no substitute for being there – the clue to enjoying Alston...

Vic Gammon is a distinguished music historian, teacher and a composer and player in the traditional folk style – a man who, in a very full musical career, has played with folk aristocracy including Martin Carthy and Judy Collins.  Vic has worked in music education for most of his life. He was a music teacher in Huddersfield before joining the University of Leeds to manage the BA in Popular and Wor...

Vic Gammon is a distinguished music historian, teacher and a composer and player in the traditional folk style – a man who, in a very full musical career, has played with folk aristocracy including Martin Carthy and Judy Collins.  Vic has worked in music education for most of his life. He was a music teacher in Huddersfield before joining the University of Leeds to manage the BA in Popular and Wor...

You can find more information about BAAFest, including details of the line up, venue and dates, at https://baafest.com/ and Facebook. As well as several stages of music, festival goers can enjoy on-site workshops and craft stalls, and real ale from Bellingham’s very own First and Last Brewery. The music from this episode is from Enough Now by Will Good and The Mattes. Follow 3tynespodcast on Faceb...

Ian K Brown is one of the most familiar singer songwriters on the Northumberland folk circuit. His style of carefully crafted folk songs, accompanying himself on acoustic guitar, has won many fans at festivals and clubs throughout the country. He is instrumental in organising local festivals and has worked with the eminent folk singer Maddy Prior and bassist Rick Kemp. He organises gigs at Wark ev...

Marshall Nattrass is a singer-songwriter from Hexham. In his long career he’s played in bands but he has been a solo singer for many years and is now a well-established performer in the festivals, pubs and bars of Northumberland and Tyneside. Marshall’s music draws on the romance and lived experience of Americana to tell tales of heartbreak, redemption, love and hope. He now plays mostly original...

David Oliver is an eminent musician in Hexham. He is a champion of community-based music, having established the Hexham Village Ceilidh Band ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/hexhamvillageband ) and the Hedgehog Skin’s Ceilidh Band ( http://hedgehogsskin.co.uk/ ). David’s enthusiasm for traditional music began in earnest when, on his first night at university in Leeds, he and fellow novices were w...

David Oliver is an eminent musician in Hexham. He is a champion of community-based music, having established the Hexham Village Ceilidh Band ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/hexhamvillageband ) and the Hedgehog Skin’s Ceilidh Band ( http://hedgehogsskin.co.uk/ ). David’s enthusiasm for traditional music began in earnest when, on his first night at university in Leeds, he and fellow novices were w...

Allen Valleys Folk Festival takes place on September 27th - 29th. More info at https://www.allenvalleysfolkfestival.co.uk/ Follow 3tynespodcast on Facebook and Instagram. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 3tynespodcast.substack.com

Dean Parker is a songwriter, guitarist and music producer based in Newcastle, and Studio Manager and Music Advisor at Hexham’s Core Music. Dean’s music is carefully crafted, characterised by inventive melodic turns and meaningful lyrics. With his band, he self-organised a trip to play in the musical shrines of Austin, Texas and Nashville, Tennessee and is now gigging in the North East and across t...

Dean Parker is a songwriter, guitarist and music producer based in Newcastle, and is Studio Manager and Music Advisor at Hexham’s Core Music. Dean’s music is carefully crafted, characterised by inventive melodic turns and meaningful lyrics. With his band, he self-organised a trip to play in the musical shrines of Austin, Texas and Nashville, Tennessee and is now gigging in the North East and acros...

Alston Live Festival will take place on July 19th and 20th. More info at https://alstonlive.com/ Follow 3tynespodcast on Facebook and Instagram. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 3tynespodcast.substack.com

Paul Frear is a singer-songwriter from Alston, Cumbria, in the upper South Tyne valley. His political stance and direct, guitar-based delivery have prompted comparisons with Billy Bragg, an influence Paul readily acknowledges along with another political and musical inspiration, The Clash. Paul is instrumental in organising the annual Alston Live Festival ( https://www.facebook.com/AlstonLiveFesti...

The 2024 Hexham Bluegrass Festival will take place on July 26th - 28th. More info at https://www.bluegrassinhexham.uk/2024-festival . Follow 3tynespodcast on Facebook and Instagram. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 3tynespodcast.substack.com

Hexham Morris welcome summer with traditional song and dance at dawn, May 1st 2024. Morris dancing is an English tradition that dates back at least five centuries. Its origins are uncertain but it has long been a presence at holidays and celebrations. Morris was danced in Northumberland until the 19th century but fell into decline. It was revived in the late 1970s and has since gone from strength...

The 3tynespodcast launches on May 14th with an episode about Hexham Morris dancers welcoming the summer with traditional song and dance.  It’s said that if they don’t perform this tribute on May 1st, then summer will not arrive. Those of us who live in Northumberland have good reason to think they might have missed a few years here and there – but not this year, and the podcast was there at 5.30 a...

An epic tale of the birth of the North Tyne, the South Tyne and the Tyne, without which we would not be here. Follow 3tynespodcast on Facebook and Instagram. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 3tynespodcast.substack.com

A fortnightly podcast in which we talk to anyone and everyone involved in grassroots music and music culture in the areas in and around the valleys of the North Tyne, South Tyne and the Tyne in west Northumberland and the corner of Cumbria that is Alston. Follow 3tynespodcast on Facebook and Instagram. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access...