3tynespodcast

Today, I’m talking to Connall, Ben and Joe from the band Central Arcade about life in an upcoming band, writing songs, gigging, marketing and balancing artistic ambition against income. It’s a hard, competitive environment and one that requires a complete commitment to the band and a realistic long term view of what constitutes success.

Central Arcade have had rave reviews for their energetic live performances and their original songs. We recorded this conversation on the day before they released their EP Master, which NARC Magazine described as ‘demonstrating vocal, instrumental and lyrical skill - and impressive diversity of each’… adding, ‘Central Arcade prove that good, classic indie rock is still very much alive and kicking in the North East’.

The band recorded two acoustic versions of songs from the EP for the podcast: Master and Liar in the Heart.

This episode of the podcast was produced and engineered by Dean Parker at Odobo Studios in the John Marley Centre in Scotswood, Newcastle. Dean also produced, mixed and mastered the two songs.

You can find out more about Central Arcade and listen to their music by following them on Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok and YouTube.

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

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

Today my guest is the singer songwriter Chris Kelly. Based in Hexham, Chris started playing music and writing songs in a school band that achieved significant local success. Sadly, as so often happens, the band split when the members left school and went their separate ways. Throughout his time studying music at university, Chris’s writing and style evolved in line with his solo performances and he is now known for his carefully crafted lyrics and personal songs.

Chris recently released an EP of five songs called the Middle Of It All. It’s available on his page on Bandcamp and on Spotify. You can also see him perform on his YouTube channel.

Chris often plays gigs in and around Tynedale and Tyneside so do check out his pages on Instagram and Facebook to find out when.

Chris recorded two songs specially for the podcast, both of which are on the EP. They are: All I Ever Meant To You and When It Rains.

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

This is a special episode devoted entirely to a performance on the ten bells of St Augustine’s Church in Alston, played on the carillon by Josephine Dickinson.

The performance took place on the Saturday morning of the 2025 Alston Live Festival and was free to all who could hear it in and around Alston. It included over 20 classical, traditional and popular tunes chosen by Josephine. The performance lasted an hour – a physically demanding challenge that Josephine met with admirable determination and stamina.

Thanks are due to Paul Frear and the organising committee of Alston Live Festival, and Mark Nash-Williams, Vicar of Alston Moor, for their support for the performance; and to the shops and businesses of Alston that helped to promote the concert. And of course thanks are due to Josephine Dickinson, whose commitment to playing the carillon has brought the sound of the bells of St Augustine’s to the people of Alston for many years.

The tunes Josephine played were:

Cavatina (The Shadows) 4m

Do-Re-Me (The Sound of Music) 2m

Everyday (Buddy Holly) 3m

Believe me if all those endearing young charms (traditional air) 1m

You Never Can Tell (Chuck Berry) 2.5m

Stumpie (trad) 1.5m

Grádh gan fhios — Love In Secret (Bunting transcript via Simon Chadwick) 2m

O’Carolan’s Lament (Turlough O’Carolan) 2.5m

Ride a Mile slip jig (trad) 1.5m

The Bramble Briar (song collected by RVW) 1m

Everlasting Love (Buzz Casson and Mac Gayden) 2m

Song for Someone (Bono and The Edge) 3m

Edi beo thu (Anonymous English, late 13thC, secular Christmas song in praise of Mary) 1.5m

Lift Me Up (Rihanna) 3.5m

Heman Dubh (trad) 1m

Fare thee well, my dearest dear (song collected by RVW) 1m

Slide Dubh (Peadar Ó Riada) 1.5m

Smile (from ‘Modern Times’ by Charles Chaplin) 2m

Seikilos Epitaph (trad Greek, oldest known complete song) 1m

I Will Have a Wife of My Own (irregular trad English aka JBa.57) 2m

A Wife of My Own (trad English regular version) 2m

New Road to Alston (trad from a Northumbrian piper’s MS of c.1816) 2m

Carolan’s Farewell to Music (Turlough O’Carolan) 3m

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

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

Stephen Fry is a musician born in Tynemouth who now lives in Tynedale, and who can trace his roots in folk music back several generations. He is a familiar face in Northumberland music circles through his solo performances, appearance at folk sessions and his membership of Hexham band The Cherrypickers.

I asked Stephen to talk about the family of instruments known as squeezeboxes – the most familiar of which are the concertina, melodeon and accordion – and what follows is testament to his encyclopaedic knowledge of open reed instruments, illustrated by his masterful playing of several examples from his own collection.

You can find some of Stephen’s music on Soundcloud, under the name Stephen W Fry or Highford, where recordings include several traditional tunes and music hall songs. You can find out about The Cherrypickers gigs by following the band on Instagram with the tag thecherrypickershexham.

Stephen has been instrumental in recording some of the most familiar names in traditional Northumbrian folk music for The Tradition Lives On, a fascinating CD and DVD celebrating the music culture of North Tynedale and Redesdale. You can order them both online from Northern Heritage at https://www.northern-heritage.co.uk. Stephen has also recorded, with guitarist Peter Stenhouse, a collection of well known songs from the 19th and 20th centuries. The CD, called So Far, is not widely available but if you come across a copy you’ll find a reminder of the humour and warmth that is a feature of many popular songs.

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

Today’s episode is all about the open mic session – an opportunity for anyone to turn up and play the music of their choice to a supportive, if sometimes noisy, audience. Open mics could fairly be described as the roots of grass roots music: it is here that developing musicians and poets take their first steps as performers, with the opportunity to learn from their own experience and from watching more seasoned performers.

First, we hear from Chris Kelly, a musician who MCs the Buskers’ open mic session on Sundays at The Tannery in Hexham, about the practicalities of performing and what a newcomer might expect at their first night.

Then, it’s a short hop across the river to The Crown Inn in Humshaugh, where we meet MC and singer-songwriter Calum Tordoff and landlord David Harding, and hear the stories of the performers who entertained us that evening.

Open mics can include a lot of covers and this evening was no exception. I’m afraid I can’t include them in the podcast for copyright reasons but I hope there’s enough music here to give you a flavour of the session.

You can find information about these open mic sessions on the Facebook pages of The Tannery and The Crown Inn. Music by Chris Kelly and Calum Tordoff is available on the major streaming platforms and on Bandcamp, and more information is on Instagram and Facebook.

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

Today’s guest is multi-instrumentalist Caroline Guirr, a musician from the Tyne Valley whose work encompasses songwriting, performing, composing, arranging and producing both for her solo career, her duo with Tom Cantwell, various bands and for the Tyne Valley Big Band and the Prudhoe Community Band.

Caroline is not one to shy away from challenging subjects in her music, which draws on her interest in jazz, pop and classical, which she uses to great effect in support of her thoughtful and personal lyrics.

Caroline talks about her multifaceted career, her process of creating and publishing music, and her involvement in the music of her community,

This episode includes three of Caroline’s songs: That Day, from her 2024 album, Make the Most of Everything; and This Long Happy Life and Four Dusty Shoes from the album Diamonds and Stars, which was released in 2021.

You can find Caroline’s music on the usual streaming platforms and you can buy all her albums from her website and Bandcamp page:

https://carolineguirr.bandcamp.com

https://www.carolineguirr.com

You can read an in-depth interview with Caroline by Aldora Britain Records at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YggsyZdplFLDktibq7ON_zwG-R0f3EOZ/view

Music by the Riverside is part of the Prudhoe Arts Festival, which is running from July 5th – 20th. It is a free event coordinated by the Prudhoe Community Partnership. You can find more details on its Facebook page.

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

Today, I’m talking to David Francis, Lead Officer at Music Partnership North in Northumberland.

Music Partnership North is the regional agency through which the Government’s plan for music education is delivered. David is an enthusiastic advocate for music education. He works with schools and outside formal education structures to support and facilitate music learning for young people. Many smaller schools and individual aspiring musicians look to these services for help with learning to play an instrument.

The way the Government supports music education is currently undergoing change. Music teaching suffered a devastating decline when the Conservative government of 2013 excluded music from the core curriculum for state schools. But the past 6 - 7 years have seen a reversal in policy and, despite repeated tweaks, the future for state-funded music education is now looking brighter as long as the new proposals can be translated into action on the ground.

David and I met in an office in County Hall in Morpeth. You will hear, right from the start, that the road repair services were in full swing.

In this conversation, we mention a YouTube video by Bobby McFerrin in which the singer demonstrates that an audience can estimate pitch. You can find it here:

We also mention Jacob Collier, so I’ve included a link to one of his videos in which he leads an audience in singing:

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

Music can be found everywhere in our lives and it is often so prevalent that we may not notice it. But one musical form can be heard in most villages and towns and it is worth a momentary pause to listen – because then you will hear the sound of church bells.

Today’s episode is devoted to the carillon – an instrument for playing church bells that is an alternative to bell ringing by pulling ropes. The carillon is often, but not exclusively, found in smaller churches with 4 to 12 bells; these may be buildings with towers that are too small or not strong enough to cope with the huge forces generated by pulling ropes.

The carillon is not exactly rare, but neither is it common. In the Three Tynes area, I have found only two churches with carillons – St Augustine’s in Alston and Holy Trinity Church in Whitfield. We will hear them both.

Another five churches have bells that are rung by ropes – that is, in Hexham, Allendale, Ovingham, Wylam and Corbridge (though the Corbridge bells are not currently rung in case of structural damage). The other churches have no bells, or one or two.

The Carillon Society of Britain and Ireland defines a carillon as an instrument with at least 23 bells. The Society tells me: “The reason for the minimum is practical. Omitting the two lowest semitones for cost and/or space (for example, on a keyboard the C# and Eb), 23 bells produces a carillon of two musical octaves, providing a range of opportunities. For a smaller number of bells than this, the musical potential reduces.”

Fifteen carillons in Britain and Ireland meet that criterion. The most famous of these is perhaps in York Minster, though with 35 bells it is not the largest. That honour belongs to instruments in a primary school near Birmingham and a church in Aberdeen, both of which have 48 bells, and to St Colman’s Cathedral in Ireland, which has 49.

But while I’m talking about carillons in this episode, I’m also talking to two people who play them.

It is a little known fact that the Civic Centre in Newcastle has a carillon and, with 25 bells weighing a total of 22 tons, it is the heaviest two-octave carillon in the world.

Jon Bradley is the carillonist for Newcastle City Council - he plays the bells on civic occasions and gives a recital every Friday afternoon. Jon gives us a potted history of the carillon and recounts the story of how the Newcastle instrument came to be. Jon plays a huge repertoire and he performs one of his own compositions, The Autumn Leaves, from a suite of miniatures called The Chromaticas.

First, I talk to Josephine Dickinson, the carillonist at St Augustine’s Church in Alston. Josephine is an accomplished musician who has been deaf since childhood. In our conversation, she talks about her experience of music in all its forms and of discovering her enthusiasm for playing the carillon. And we travel to Whitfield and Newcastle to hear these contrasting instruments.

3tynespodcast is known for its inclusive approach to animals and I miss no opportunity to give them their moment in the limelight. Josephine and I recorded our conversation in the tower of St Augustine’s Church. If you listen carefully, you will hear the pigeons doing their best.

We start the episode with Josephine’s performance of the traditional tune New Road to Alston, appropriately played on the Alston carillon.

You can find information about the Carillon Society of Britain and Ireland at https://carillonsbi.org/

The Edith Adamson Memorial Carillon has its own Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/newcastlecarillon and you can find information about Jon Bradley’s performances there.

Information about St Augustine’s Church in Alston is at https://www.alstonmoorcofe.org.uk/

The Holy Trinity Church in Whitfield is part of the Allen Valleys Churches; go to https://allendalechurch.co.uk/ to find out more.

This episode was inspired by a conversation with Mark Nash-Williams, Vicar of the Parish of Alston Moor. I am grateful to Josephine Dickinson and Jon Bradley for their enthusiasm and generous support in making this episode, and to Sarah Blackett-Ord for helping us visit the Holy Trinity Church in Whitfield. The first time we hear the bells at Whitfield, the carillon was played by Keron North.

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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