Ten years of Folk Music...
Susie Fox is based in York, playing mostly at The First Sunday Folk Club in Heminbrough, Folk at the Ferry in Thorganby and is a resident musician at The Black Swan Folk Club in York. She sings, plays 6 and 12 string guitar, descant, treble and tenor recorder and used the Bodhran for session music. In times past, she has travelled to Bradford, Leeds, Harrogate, Whitby and Aklam, Middlesborough to play in different folk clubs and festivals. In 2005 she played with flautist Jack Firminger, and sang solo, on three of the Radio York Folk Programmes that were broadcast on Wednesday evenings. Lullaby (Words E.Bronte/Music Fox), Moorlough Shore (Trad arr Fox), I can go, or I can stay (c. Fox 2005) Geordie (Trad arr Fox) and Walking down the road in the wrong direction (c. Fox 2004) were recorded for the programmes.
It is eleven years since she first visited a folk club, and in April 2008 ten years since singing her first song, East Virginia, learned from a 50p second hand cassette tape bought from a jumble sale. Those were the seven longest and most strugglesome verses ever sung in the history of the universe of folk!
New for 2009 is a Ralph Bown Guitar and some fine recorders. Gone are the clarinets - aaaagh! Also smothered the new instruments in "Smartwater"! just to be on the safe side. No burglaries please.
Watch out for us at........well, just watch out!
2nd May 2010at Thornborough Henge May Day Celebration - "The Brigantia Players"
5th / 6th June 2010 at The Black Swan Folk Weekend, 5.25 pm in the Marquee on Sunday 31st
10th July 2010 at Nature's World, Acklam, Middlesborough:
TBA Unaccompanied Singing Workshop (Susie)
TBA An Introduction to Flute (Jack)
TBA on mainstage (Susie Fox & Jack Firminger)
The early days...
Susie started her musical life as a classical musician. Her very first instrument was the descant recorder, followed closely by the larger tenor recorder. This has developed into a fascination for medieval and baroque music written for the instruments, and she has since bought a treble recorder and uses this to intersperse songs with musical interludes.
Then came the piano lessons, followed two years later by clarinet. After many years of playing piano and clarinet she took up the 6 string guitar (£40 ! bargain), taught herself, and then bought a much beloved Ovation. Many years later she went the whole hog and bought a Ralph Bown guitar from a longstanding mate, Dave Shaw who was daft enough to sell it. For a fuller sound when using a plectrum, the 12 string Norman guitar was purchased.
Never satisfied, and always on the look out for opportunity to make a noise, the bodhran was bought, learned and played in musical sessions, held in the local pubs. As ever, it makes an appearance in songs accompanying some that would otherwise be solo. It is a Malarchy from Roundstone in Eire.
Susie teaches beginner Bodhran. Normally, this is a one-hour lesson held as a one-off that starts a beginner on their percussive journey into reels, jigs, slip jigs and hornpipes. Or this can be presented to a group as a workshop. Contact by email or telephone.
Susie teaches piano and theory professionally. Half-hour lessons are scheduled weekly, and she works with Associated Board of the Royal Schools of music syllabuses.
And when not doing all of this....she can be found hard at work during the day, selling, registering and managing Domain Names for businesses, setting up adverts and creating websites. Also, she is teacher and practitioner of Reiki & Seichem, Aromatherapy & Herbalism.
Jack Firminger - Flautist
Jack is very much part of the music - he plays a Powell flute (concert pitch) and an Alto flute. Flute playing has been part of his life since a teenager, but only since 2005 has he been involved in Folk Music. He always wanted to play "Bouree" (The Jethro Tull version) by JS Bach, arranged madly and famously by Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull. The performance took place in 2006 with a strange conglomeration of additional instruments, namely Heidi Svensgaard on descant recorder, Dave Shaw on Guitar and Susie Fox on biscuit tin, and then Bodhran. Since then other variations have taken place: Susie on descant recorder, tenor recorder; a busked version in St Sampson's Square, York to the stunned astonishment of the coffee drinking outdoor audience.
Nowadays he plays jigs and reels (with determination), plays the harmonised arrangements of tradional and Susie's own music, and has written some excellent music himself: "Micky Mac's Lament", for Micky Mac of Heminbrough (Flute and Guitar), "Mick O'Hara's Jaunt" for Mick O'Hara of Heminbrough (Solo Flute), "The Owl & the Oak" (Flute and Tenor Recorder) in the style of 16th Century Tudor music to team up with "Greensleeves" and "King Henry's Madrigal" .
He has also been heard singing - adding his voice to some songs, and singing a main part in "The Crow on the Cradle" by Sidney Carter, having a go at John Barleycorn and wondering about Bedlam Boys.
He is a Painter & Decorator by trade, specialising in old buildings and homes of nice ladies that feed him and let him play with their dogs. Check out www.jackfirminger.co.uk for more info.