3tynespodcast

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 Live at its best is in the name – but you can get a flavour of the festival from the videos posted on its Facebook page. Do check out social media and the streaming platforms to hear more music from the artists who played.

In this episode, I talk to the bands who played on Saturday and hear some of their music, beginning with an outdoor salsa session and closing the festival with a packed and very hot audience dancing to soul classics in the Town Hall.

Because of copyright laws, I can’t bring you the music played by covers bands but the episode does include some original songs courtesy of the artists themselves. I didn’t get to see every band, so I apologise to Blue Scarrow and Shipcote and Friends for not including them here.

My thanks to Paul Frear and the organising committee for making me so welcome, and to all the musicians who took the time to talk to me. Keep an eye on the calendar for the dates to next year’s Alston Live.

The bands included in this episode are:

Street Beats Salsa Band

David Roe and the Hainton Symphonic Orchestra

Harry and Robin

Andy Fraser

Reubens Train

Bleeding Kansas

99 Mr Bens

Cian Downing

Soul Junction

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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 World Musics. In 2004, he became Senior Lecturer in Folk and Traditional Music at the International Centre for Music Studies at the University of Newcastle.

Vic’s interest is in the music of ordinary people. He has published research papers and monographs on traditional music and tune books of traditional folk melodies. 

Much of Vic’s work is free to access on the Internet Archive (https://archive.org and search for ‘Vic Gammon’ in the Archive, not using the WaybackMachine search tool). He has several CDs to his credit and some tunes are available on SoundCloud, Apple Music and Spotify. You can also find videos of his performances on YouTube and a Google search will generate enough hits to keep you busy for several hours. He now lives in Tynedale and can sometimes be found playing in folk sessions in local venues.

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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 World Musics. In 2004, he became Senior Lecturer in Folk and Traditional Music at the International Centre for Music Studies at the University of Newcastle.

Vic’s interest is in the music of ordinary people. He has published research papers and monographs on traditional music and tune books of traditional folk melodies. 

Much of Vic’s work is free to access on the Internet Archive (https://archive.org and search for ‘Vic Gammon’ in the Archive, not using the WaybackMachine search tool). He has several CDs to his credit and some tunes are available on SoundCloud, Apple Music and Spotify. You can also find videos of his performances on YouTube and a Google search will generate enough hits to keep you busy for several hours. He now lives in Tynedale and can sometimes be found playing in folk sessions in local venues.

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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

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.

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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 every two months, featuring a touring band and a support set from himself with the accompaniment of singer Louise Ainsley. Ian is also renowned as a ukelele teacher, giving regular classes and workshops at festivals.

In this episode, Ian talks about his career, his influences and the challenges musicians face in finding gigs and developing their careers.

The songs featured in this episode are You Can Stay, Who’s The Bad Guy, I remember The Time and Lullaby.

Ian is featured on the 3tynespodcast jukebox on YouTube – go to https://youtu.be/uqMS-Kc5mZk.

Ian’s music is available on Bandcamp at https://iankbrown.bandcamp.com/ and on SoundCloud at https://soundcloud.com/ikbian. You can follow him on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/BrownIanK, where you’ll find information about upcoming gigs.

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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 songs, as you can hear on his 2024 album Vatican City Serenades.

You can find Marshall’s music on the usual streaming platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music, and on Bandcamp at https://marshallnattrass.bandcamp.com/. His Facebook pages are https://www.facebook.com/marshall.nattrass.7 and https://www.facebook.com/p/Marshall-Nattrass-The-Highway-Gypsys-100035054347502. His YouTube channel is www.youtube.com/@marshallnattrass. 

The songs Marshall plays in the podcast are West Road, Letter on the Dresser and Roll on Back.

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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 welcomed to their college with a lively rapper sword dance. Working as a secondary school teacher, he went on to play and promote traditional dance music In 1993 he was appointed Education Director of Folkworks, based in Gateshead (subsequently moving to the Sage Gateshead).

In these episodes, David talks about his career, the importance of social music to wellbeing and how he came to establish the Hexham Village Ceilidh Band. The music was recorded during one of the band’s regular ceilidhs in Hexham.

If you’d like to know more about the positive effects of social dancing, the research David referred to was first published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2003 (https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMoa022252). There’s an easy-to-read summary of it on a website called Stanford Dance, which is full of interesting information about the benefits of dancing (https://socialdance.stanford.edu/syllabi/smarter.htm).

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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

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 welcomed to their college with a lively rapper sword dance. Working as a secondary school teacher, he went on to play and promote traditional dance music In 1993 he was appointed Education Director of Folkworks, based in Gateshead (subsequently moving to the Sage Gateshead).

In these episodes, David talks about his career, the importance of social music to wellbeing and how he came to establish the Hexham Village Ceilidh Band. The music was recorded during one of the band’s regular ceilidhs in Hexham.

If you’d like to know more about the positive effects of social dancing, the research David referred to was first published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2003 (https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMoa022252). There’s an easy-to-read summary of it on a website called Stanford Dance, which is full of interesting information about the benefits of dancing (https://socialdance.stanford.edu/syllabi/smarter.htm).

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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

Allen Valleys Folk Festival takes place on September 27th - 29th. More info at https://www.allenvalleysfolkfestival.co.uk/

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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 the UK. 

In this episode, Dean talks about his approach to songwriting, his career as a session musician in London’s intensely competitive scene, and his return to the North East to form a band and develop his skills as a producer.

The songs featured in these episodes are Heat, The Death of a Certain Kind of Life and Yes, Love Forever. You can find Dean’s music on his website at https://www.deanparkermusic.com/, on Bandcamp at https://deanparkermusic.bandcamp.com, and on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/artist/4fQgcw3d0f3qHu3o5JscPm?si=Ze1HXPUlSJiRml9txK8raw.

His Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/iamdeanparker and you can follow him on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/deanparker__.

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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