Our Outreach Projects – Join Us!

Here's a reminder of our forthcoming outreach project dates:

Wednesday 13th July - Selsey 'Making Your Mark'
Wednesday 20th July - Bognor `Making Your Mark` at The Waverley
Saturday 16th July - `FamyShanty` at Regis Centre, Bognor Regis
Saturday 16th July - 'Shanty Heads' at The RAFA Club, Bognor Regis

We do hope you can join us!

Find out more via our Outreach Project page

FamyShanty
Making Your Mark

Our Forthcoming Outreach Project Dates

Here’s a reminder of our forthcoming out-reach project dates:

Wednesday 11th May – Selsey ‘Making Your Mark’
Saturday 14th May – `Shanty Heads` at RAFA Club, Bognor Regis
Wednesday 18th May – Bognor `Making Your Mark` at Waverley
Saturday 21st May – `FamyShanty` at Regis Centre, Bognor Regis

Advance notice: Waverley Jam Sun 5th June at Queens Platinum Jubilee, 4pm, Waterloo Square

We do hope you can join us!

Find out more via our Outreach Project page

Honey & The Bear

British folk and roots duo Honey & The Bear play Greyshott Folk Club. They combine delicately interweaving vocal harmonies with emotive and evocative song writing. With a diverse range of sounds, textures and rhythms that flow from the fast and furious to gentle ballads, their live performances are spirited and dynamic.

We’re so pleased to support our friends at Grayshott Folk Club with their shows.

Conjuring stories in song, Honey & The Bear tell tales of Suffolk folklore, courageous people they admire, their passion for nature and the odd heartbreak or two. The multi instrumentalist pair, comprised of songwriters Jon Hart (guitar, bass, bouzouki) and Lucy Hart (guitar, ukulele, bass, banjo, mandolin & percussion), have been writing and performing together since early 2014, having met at a song writing event two years previously.

Since then, they have played at many revered venues and festivals across the UK as well as travelling across the channel for their first European tour. They have supported Sam Kelly and the Lost Boys on two UK tours and opened for The Shires at world renowned Snape Maltings Concert Hall.

Born and raised in Suffolk, Lucy learned to play Violin and Drums at school, sung in the Suffolk Jubilee choir and started song writing at age 15. She taught herself guitar whilst at University in Canterbury, and began performing her creations not long afterwards. At 27, she released her debut band album ’Step Right On’, songs from which you can now hear her perform with Jon. Jon, a Yorkshire boy, raised in East Anglia, has been performing his own songs since his teens. A self taught guitarist, his love of driving guitar riffs is a core aspect of his song writing process. He has released three band albums, the latest of which was entitled ‘Level With Me’, featuring ‘Wrist Burner’ which is a gig favourite.

‘Journey Through the Roke’ was released on 23rd April 2021. The album features many talented musicians including Toby Shaer (whistles, harmonium, flute, fiddle, bass), Evan Carson (drums, bodhran, percussion), Archie Churchill Moss of Moore, Moss, Rutter (melodeon) and Graham Coe of The Jellyman’s Daughter (cello).

“Lucy and Jon’s vocals are gentle, rich and mellifluous throughout. This is an accomplished album from a masterly duo”.
– Folk London Magazine

“Dexterously played with beautifully crafted arrangements around a perfect pairing of voices delivering personal fine songs this is a stunning album.”
– FATEA

“This album is one of the clearest recordings I’ve heard in a decade, holding its head above the roke and into the sunlight on every track” – Irish Music Magazine

“Lucy’s vocals are as beautiful as ever…she is now one of this country’s best folk singers” – Stephen Foster, Radio Caroline & EADT.

This gig has been rescheduled from November 2020 but this time around, Lucy and Jon have invited some of their gifted musical friends to join them.

honey & the bear

Songs for FamyShanty: April

Welcome to FamyShanty 🌟

Bringing families closer together through music is the aim of FamyShanty, our new and exciting out-reach project from Southdowns Music Festival.

Monthly sessions will last for around 90 minutes with experienced music tutors leading mainly primary aged children and their parents in learning songs on ukuleles based around well known Sea Shanties.

`Mikes Music` boss, Mike Bosley, one of the Project partners said: “The last few years have been very difficult for families with the Covid Pandemic and other pressures. So FamyShanty is a way of redressing this and offering something that both parents and their children can enjoy, whilst learning new skills and helping improve their overall well-being. We also plan to use IT to make learning resources available on YouTube and other platforms so that participants can continue learning and practising between physical sessions`.

To find out more or to get involved, just call/text 07751 594285.

View and download the songs for the next session:

Leave Her Johnny
Randy Dandy
South Australia
The Worst Old Ship

View guided videos via our YouTube channel.

famyshanty

View & Download Songs For FamyShanty Sessions

Welcome to FamyShanty 🌟

Bringing families closer together through music is the aim of FamyShanty, our new and exciting out-reach project from Southdowns Music Festival.

Monthly sessions will last for around 90 minutes with experienced music tutors leading mainly primary aged children and their parents in learning songs on ukuleles based around well known Sea Shanties.

`Mikes Music` boss, Mike Bosley, one of the Project partners said: “The last few years have been very difficult for families with the Covid Pandemic and other pressures. So FamyShanty is a way of redressing this and offering something that both parents and their children can enjoy, whilst learning new skills and helping improve their overall well-being. We also plan to use IT to make learning resources available on YouTube and other platforms so that participants can continue learning and practising between physical sessions`.

To find out more or to get involved, just call/text 07751 594285.

View and download the songs for the forthcoming sessions:
Blow The Man Down
Drunken Sailor Basic
Drunken Sailor
John Kanaka
Singing in the Rain

And view guided videos via our YouTube channel.

famyshanty

Making Your Mark February Event – Change Of Venue

MAKING YOUR MARK
VENUE CHANGE FOR 16 FEB: RAFA CLUB instead of WAVERLEY.

Due to an administrative mix-up, the venue for MAKING YOUR MARK & the WAVERLEY JAM on Wednesday 16th February is now at the RAFA Club, Waterloo Square, PO21 1SU.

Exactly same timings and there will be a separate room for complete ukulele beginners. Ukuleles and tuners will be available for sale, and please also be Covid aware at our new February venue (ie – wear a mask when moving around, use sanitiser etc).

Many thanks to the RAFA Club for accommodating us at very short notice. Drinks and snacks can be purchased at the Club. Nearest parking is the Hothampton Car Park where 2-hour Parking Discs can be used if you have one.

Don`t forget as well, that MAKING YOUR MARK starts on Selsey on Wednesday 9th March ( 10.30-12.00 ) at the Selsey Club, Coxe`s Road.

making your mark

FamyShanty – Our New Outreach Project

Welcome to FamyShanty 🌟

Bringing families closer together through music is the aim of FamyShanty, a new and exciting out-reach project from Southdowns Music Festival.

Funded by a £9300 grant from Awards for All, the project will start on Saturday 26th March (10 to 11.30am) with the initial venue located at the Regis Centre, Bognor Regis.

Monthly sessions will last for around 90 minutes with experienced music tutors leading mainly primary aged children and their parents in learning songs on ukuleles based around well known Sea Shanties.

`Mikes Music` boss, Mike Bosley, one of the Project partners said: “The last few years have been very difficult for families with the Covid Pandemic and other pressures. So FamyShanty is a way of redressing this and offering something that both parents and their children can enjoy, whilst learning new skills and helping improve their overall well-being. We also plan to use IT to make learning resources available on YouTube and other platforms so that participants can continue learning and practising between physical sessions`.

Roger Nash, Chairman of the Southdowns Music Festival said: “We are incredibly grateful to Awards for All for funding this new project, and over the next couple of months, we will be busy contacting local primary schools to make sure they are as on board as much as possible with FamyShanty as well as publicising the project far and wide. Each music session will be free and ukuleles will be provided courtesy of Mikes Music. The aim will be to build up music skills, ability and self-confidence cumulating in a FamyShanty performance at this September`s Southdowns Music Festival, as well as other possible venues.`

All Covid protocols at any moment in time will be adhered to, and numbers will initially be limited to 30 for health and safety reasons plus making participants feel as comfortable as possible.

To find out more or to get involved, just call/text 07751 594285.

Grayshott Folk Club – Niall McNamee & Band

Sharing a wonderful sounding gig via our friends at Grayshott Folk Club.

Niall McNamee & Band
Friday 28th January 2022 at 7.30pm
Grayshott Village Hall, Headley Road, Grayshott, Near Hindhead, Surry, GU26 6TZ.

From the press release:
We believe we’ve unearthed another hidden treasure for you all and we are delighted to welcome Niall McNamee for his first visit to Grayshott Village Hall.
We saw Niall play his own set with his band on the River Stage at The Isle of Wight Festival in September 2021 and Imelda May sang guest vocals on one of his songs.
Niall then went and performed on the Main Stage with Imelda May.
Niall McNamee live at the Isle of Wight Festival with Imelda May, 30th September 2021
Niall McNamee

Just before Christmas 2021, Niall was then invited to join Sir Rod Stewart and Imelda May at the Nordoff Robbins Carol Concert in London.

Niall’s latest single, All I Need has just been picked up by East Midlands BBC Music Introducing.
You can hear the whole thing here:
All I Need

and my favourite song of his is When She Goes:
When She Goes

I firmly believe that Niall is going places and one of his next stops is Grayshott Folk Club.

In future years you will be able to tell people you first saw him at Grayshott Village Hall… but only if you get your tickets for our show NOW.

Tickets available direct from us on the number below, or in person from Grayshott Post Office.

See you there!
Des O’Byrne
Grayshott Folk Club

01428 607096
grayshottfolkclub@btinternet.com
Grayshott Folk Club

FamyShanty Grant From Awards for All – The National Lottery

Thank you National Lottery!

We recently received a note from The National Lottery Awards For All:

“We’re really happy to tell you we will be funding your project following your application for National Lottery Awards for All. And we want to give `FamyShanty` £9300 to help your community thrive.”

FamyShanty is a new and exciting out-reach project closely linked to the 2022 Southdowns Folk Festival which aims to bring local families closer together and help improve mental well-being through the medium of acoustic music and the growingly popular genre of Shanty singing.

It is a well documented fact that the Covid Pandemic has put a lot of pressure on families and has had an increasingly negative impact on mental health. The fact that the Pandemic has gone on longer than thought, has only made this situation worse, and younger people of school age have in many ways been impacted the worst. Therefore, with the help of a range of partners, plus a local music shop who will provide hire instruments at significantly reduced cost plus tutoring input, ‘FamyShanty’ aims to provide a platform for children and their parents to work together using different instruments and singing styles loosely based around Shanty and ‘Songs from the Sea’.

The project will be located in a local primary school plus other appropriate and accessible venues and will run every month between February and October 2022 and will be an integral part of the Southdowns Music Festival to include key performances and workshops at different festival venues around Bognor Regis. There will also be Zoom and other online sessions the extent of which will depend on how the pandemic changes and alters.

Our project partners will play the leading part in publicising it plus recruiting appropriate participants from amongst the ‘harder to reach’ and more ‘vulnerable’ members of the local community. It is envisaged that each monthly session will have a maximum of 30 people so as to provide closer learning support, as well as a safer Covid environment in which all safety protocols will be followed.

If you’d like to be involved, please contact rnash10@hotmail.com for more details.

Ukulele Sessions

Learn to play the ukulele, or brush up on your skills – come join our Ukulele Sessions!

Following the success of our December ‘Making Your Mark’, our ukulele sessions return for 2022 on Wednesday 19th January.

Funded by the Sussex Community Foundation, Making Your Mark aims to combat social isolation and promote positive mental health by helping people to learn or brush up on their ukulele skills.

Our popular Making Your Mark returns Wednesday 19th January, between 10am and 12 noon in the Waverley Function Room on West Bognor Regis Seafront. Free car parking is very near by.

Making Your Mark is one of the reach-out projects of the Southdowns Music Festival.
For just £1, you can get all the tea and coffee you want! If you don’t own a ukulele, don’t worry as there will be some there for you to try and buy if you want to, and when the session is finished, you’ll be very welcome to stay on for the regular `Waverley Ukulele Jam` at the same venue between 1pm and 3pm.

Keep in touch by joining our mailing list: Southdowns Music Festival

Ukulele Sessions