The young squeezebox player is illuminating the history of these endlessly intertwined traditions – that is, when his mum isn’t outbidding him for research resources on eBay
n a sunny Sunday afternoon late in the festival season, a young musician is alone on stage with an older crowd in the palm of his hand. He plays a sailor’s hornpipe he composed that playfully references Bach, a music hall song once performed by Miss Piggy , and then talks about being outbid on eBay on a book of folk songs from Barbados. “Then I found out who the bidder was – my mother!”
His Bajan maternal grandmother bought him his first concertina, he tells me when we meet in the site farmhouse before showtime. “I literally first saw and heard one here at Bromyard,” he says. “I was fascinated. It had such a distinctive, strident sound, and I loved the sense of fairground organ jollity about it.” He laughs, clearly self-aware that it’s an odd choice for a kid. “Plus I loved that it can do a lot. I like being a one-man band.
He was reminded of it years later in 2020 when he was commissioned by the English Folk Dance and Song Society to write a secondary school music resource on the theme of Black music in the Americas, helped in his research by online resources such as the US’s Library of Congress. He kept going with the search after that project ended.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Holocaust survivor marks 80th birthday with protest outside Israeli prisonProf Veronika Cohen holds vigil with friends to draw attention to poor treatment of Palestinian prisoners
Read more »
It’s another British multimillionaire’s solemn farewell tourPimlico Plumbers founder Charlie Mullins has had it up to here with the UK’s taxes, and he is determined to make sure every one of us knows it, says Guardian columnist Marina Hyde
Read more »
Russia revokes accreditation of six British diplomats it accuses of spyingFSB says diplomats sent to Moscow were tasked with ensuring Russia’s defeat in its war against Ukraine
Read more »
Picasso the printmaker takes centre stage at British MuseumBig exhibition will reflect life and loves of artist, from his first professional print in 1904 to 1960s masterpieces
Read more »
Youth mobility deal ‘in the British interest’, says German ambassadorMiguel Berger says deal would help ‘those who have most lost because of Brexit’
Read more »
Pablo Castrillo climbs to Vuelta stage 12 win ahead of British rider Max PoolePablo Castrillo clinched victory on stage 12 of the Vuelta a España, pulling clear of 21-year-old Max Poole on the final climb
Read more »