Fairport Convention: 2 new CDs, acoustic tour, and Cropredy bill

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Fairport Convention follow their sell-out electric tour with two new CDs this month and next,  and a 28-gig acoustic tour.

 

Fame and Glory, (Matty Grooves Records, Cat number: MGCD049) due out on Monday, April 20, is a 15-track collection of songs and tunes by Breton composer Alan Simon from the gold disc song cycle Excalibur.

 

Tracks include: Castle Rock, Pilgrims, Celtic Dream (live), The Gest of Gauvain, Morgane (live), Dragon Breath, Lugh, Behind the Darkness (live), La Guerre Folle, Fame And Glory (live), Sacrifice, Danza del Crepusculo, Marie la Cordeliere, Duchess Anne, and The Soldier.

 

The music is performed by Fairport Convention with guest appearances by Jacqui McShee, Martin Barre, Dave Mattacks, Dan Ar Braz, John Helliwell, James Wood, and Flook among others.

 

Live at Cropredy '08 (Matty Grooves Records, Cat number: MGCD048) was recorded on Saturday August 9, and features the following tracks:

Ye Mariners All, Reynard The Fox, The Eynsham Poacher, 3 selections from Babbacombe Lee (Breakfast in Mayfair, Cell Song, Hanging Song), Doctor of Physick,  Reynardine, Mock Morris, Suite of 5 songs honouring the memory of Sandy Denny (Fotheringay, It'll Take a Long Time, John The Gun, Who Knows Where The Time Goes?, The Battle of Evermore), John Gaudie/The Bowman's Retreat, and Best Wishes.

 

To mark the 30th anniversary of the death of Sandy Denny , Fairport commemorated her life and work at Cropredy with a suite of five songs, all but one of which (The Battle of Evermore, by Robert Plant and Jimmy Page) were written by Sandy.

 

The guest artists who sang them at Cropredy 2008 were:

Vikki Clayton (Fotheringay), Chris While (It'll Take a Long Time), Kellie While (John The Gun), Chris While and Kellie While (Who Knows Where The Time Goes?), and Robert Plant and Kristina Donahue (The Battle of Evermore).

 

Reviews of these two CDs will follow in due course. 

Fairport 'Acoustic' Convention UK Tour 2009

 

May 1	Dartford	Mick Jagger Centre	01322 291100
May 2	Margate	West Coast Bar	07967 028844
May 3	Hailsham	Hailsham Pavilion	01323 841414
May 5	South Petherton	David's Hall Arts Ctre	01460 240340
May 6	Dartington	Ariel Centre	01803 847070
May 7	Southampton	Talking Heads	02380 678446
May 8	Lichfield	Arts Centre	01543 262223
May 9	Colchester	Arts Centre	01206 500900
May 10	Cromer	Folk on the Pier	01263 512495
May 11	Portsmouth	New Theatre Royal	02392 649000
May 14	Dublin	Whelan's	00353 1 4780 766
May 15	Chesterfield	Alexanders	01244 340005
May 16	Alnwick	The Playhouse	01665 510785
May 17	Boston	Blackfriars Theatre	01205 363108
May 18	Nettlebed	The Folk Club	01628 636620
May 19	Swindon	Arts Centre	01793 614837
May 20	Abergavenney	Borough Theatre	01873 850805
May 21	Bury	The Met	0161 761 2216
May 22	Hertford	The Corn Exchange
May 23	Leamington Spa	The Assembly	01926 523001
May 24	Haddenham	Arkenstall Village Ctre	01353 740999
May 25	Shrewsbury	West Mids Showground Music Events	0845 050 8252
May 26	Leek	The Swan	01538 385260
May 27	Stirling	Stirling Folk Club	01259 218521
May 28	Bromsgrove	The Folk Club	0121 476 5938
May 29	York	The Duchess	08700 600 100
May 30	Papplewick	Village Hall	01623 794700
May 31	Didcot, Oxon	Cornerstones Arts Ctre	01235 515144

 

Among the guests so far booked for Fairport's Cropredy Convention (August 13-15) are Steve Winwood, the Buzzcocks, Ken Nicol & Phil Cool, 4 Square, Harlequinn, Richard Thompson, Seth Lakeman, The Dodge Brothers, John Jorgensen Band, Ade Edmondson and the Bad Shepherds, BBC Young Folk Award Winners Megan and Joe Henwood, ColvinQuarmby, Ralph McTell, Dreadzone, Feast of Fiddles, Churchfitters, and Richard Digance.

 

For more Fairport news go to www.fairportconvention.com.

 

Purchasing Fairport CDs & DVDs

• Click HERE to check out Fairport on Amazon UK
  
  
• Click HERE to go to Fairport page on Amazon US
  
  
• Click on links below to order the box set of 25 years of Cropredy