Bottle Bank Band are delighted to have been asked to play at St Mary’s Heritage Centre for their Heritage Evening on Tuesday 6th June. Doors open at 6.30 pm for refreshments, and pre-booking is essential. St Mary’s has been our spiritual home since our very first concert, and there’s a chance this might be our…
30 Years Collection
Exciting news! This book of original compositions is now out of my control and with the printers. Thirty years of life as a professional folk musician portrayed in melody… as well as the occasional harmony! Huge thanks to Amanda Jayne White (www.mandascat.com) for her original artwork for the cover, and to Rob Say for putting the…
Bottle Bank Band September Gigs
Towards the end of this month I am looking forward to performing three local gigs with my esteemed colleagues in Bottle Bank Band. We are excited to be playing in The Vault in Hexham, a new live music venue in a cellar under the Haslam’s of Hallgate Gallery. This is followed by the beautiful acoustics of…
Summer 2017
Well, the summer is nearly here, and the double edition of the newsletter has just been sent out. You can read all the upcoming news here, with details of gigs, workshops and a summer school which is fast approaching! Following a truly fantastic tour with Frank in May, we have recently been working on (and…
Cracking Concert in Stocksfield
We had a fantastic time in Stocksfield on Feb 11th. There was a great crowd, and The Stocksfield Stompers provided a wonderful first half hour of tunes and songs to get us underway. Many thanks to Chris Pentney of Sharper Than who organised the concert, arranged the hall & bar and provided a fabulous tea…
Bottle Bank Band in Embleton
On Tuesday 1st November I will be joining Bottle Bank Band in our Autumn Concert. We are looking forward to returning to the lovely Embleton Village Hall for a fun evening, playing sets from our album and some new material too. We were very pleased to have had some recent air time on Radio 3…
Bottle Bank Band CD launched
The Bottle Bank Band CD is now officially launched and what a send off it was given! Chloe, David, Sophy and I would like to say thank you very much to all those people who came along to support the gigs, filling the halls and buying CDs. Thanks as well to Ednie and the team…
Bottle Bank Band CD Launch Tour
Announcing the long-awaited launch of the band’s debut CD “Bottle Bank Band.” Details of the three concerts are on the Events page, starting at St Mary’s Heritage Centre on Thurs 9th June, before heading to Allendale Village Hall on Fri 17th June, and to Felton in Northumberland on Fri 24th June at Gallery 45. Tickets are…
Recordings
-
Upcoming Events
Dec6Fri7:00 pm December 2024: Play-along Session @ Online - on ZoomDecember 2024: Play-along Session @ Online - on ZoomDec 6 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
December Workshops 2024 Play-along Session in Harmony for Mixed Instruments This will be a Zoom call open to intermediate players (and above) of any instrument. Notation will be provided in advance for all the tunes,...Dec7Sat10:00 am December Workshops 2024: Fiddle ... @ Online - on ZoomDecember Workshops 2024: Fiddle ... @ Online - on ZoomDec 7 @ 10:00 am – 12:00 pmDecember Workshops 2024 Fiddle Workshop 1 Zoom Workshop The Shepherd and ShepherdessA joyful and very popular English Country Dance tune. Learn a tune steadily, taught phrase by phrase with detailed instruction for any useful techniques...2:00 pm December Workshops 2024: Fiddle ... @ Online - on ZoomDecember Workshops 2024: Fiddle ... @ Online - on ZoomDec 7 @ 2:00 pm – 4:00 pmDecember Workshops 2024 Fiddle Workshop 2 Zoom Workshop The Prussian DanceA belting jig, with a version that Stewart has from his pal and colleague, Sophy Ball. Learn a tune steadily, taught phrase by phrase with...Feb9Sun7:00 pm Phoenix Folk: An Evening with… S... @ On ZoomPhoenix Folk: An Evening with… S... @ On ZoomFeb 9 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pmIt was lovely to be asked again by Maurice and Marina of Phoenix Folk to join them for one of their “An Evening With…” sessions. Once again, I’ll be playing a short solo set and... Facebook Feed
Friday night is online session night! (Booking link in the comments 😊) Come along and join me for some lovely tunes, one of which will be this beauty by George Reynolds, just added to The Tune Vault.🎶 The Tune Vault
Ice on the Water (George Reynolds)
Ice on the Water (George Reynolds) | The Tune Vault
youtu.be
Ice on the Water (George Reynolds)- The Tune Vault by Stewart HardyAn utterly beautiful melody to which I was first introduced by Thomas and Jo Green. It’s ...
It has been 23 fantastic years with The Holly and Ivy road show, every single one of them cherished and thoroughly enjoyed. Xmas will be very different without Holly and Ivy. Thanks to everyone who has supported it over the years. 🎄❄️From Laura:
Absolutely heartbroken to say that after 23 joyous years of performing in The Holly & Ivy Roadshow with the incredible David Oliver and Stewart Hardy, we have sadly made the decision to make this year our final year. This project is what Christmas is all about for me, getting together with good friends, singing, dancing, eating lots and lots of mince pies and sharing our traditions with the most wonderful schools who have made us feel like part of their school families every December. That feeling of walking into a school hall after a whole year has gone by, shouting "Wassail" and hearing the whole school shout it back to you will be a sound I will cherish forever.
They say all good things must come to an end, this has been one of the most wonderful pieces of work I've been involved in.
Thank you to all of the schools, teachers and children who have supported us over the years, we will miss you all next year.
If you have tickets for the Beamish Christmas evenings, you may spot David and I, please come and say hi! (more details to follow).
WASSAIL! ❤️🥹
Stewart Hardy Music
Thank you to St Matthew's for sharing this film x
#wassail #Christmas #traditionalmusic #clogdanceVideo footage from the Holly and the Ivy 2023. Thank you to David, Lauran and Stuart for another fantastic show.
Zoom workshops are coming up in a couple of weeks!Friday evening session - all instruments welcome. Music is provided in advance, with suggested chords and harmony lines.
For the Saturday fiddle workshops, I’ll be looking at a couple of fabulous English Country Dance tunes taken from two major publishers of the mid-eighteenth century, Johnson and Rutherford. In the morning, we’ll learn the joyful and very popular, The Shepherd and Shepherdess. In the afternoon, it is the turn of a belting jig, The Prussian Dance, with a version that I have from my pal and colleague, Sophy Ball.
Book now on the website 🎶🎧🎻🎹 The next set of Zoom workshops will be on Friday 6th and Saturday 7th December. Each workshop can be booked individually, and all will be available on-demand after the weekend. Book now on the website!
There will be lots of favourite tunes with harmonies and chords provided for the Friday evening play-along session. All instruments are welcome, and alternate clefs or keys for transposing instruments can be provided on request.
Then we will have two fabulous tunes for our fiddle workshops. Each one will be chosen to be accessible for learning on Zoom, the techniques required will be covered in detail, and the tunes will be taught phrase by phrase, with lots of repetition. Full resources including audio files and a worksheet will be provided.
Visit the website for more info and bookings 😃