Six Days. Six Musicians. Six New Songs.
7pm BST - Wednesday 16th June 2021
The Folk Effect is a free, online, high-speed songwriting project like no other. Featuring exquisite folk musicians from across the UK, including Ríoghnach Connolly, Kate Young, Ellie Gowers, Lisa Knapp, Gwilym Bowen Rhys and Jackie Oates, The Folk Effect celebrates both the history and the future of folk music.
Join us as Ríoghnach Connolly, Kate Young, Ellie Gowers, Lisa Knapp, Gwilym Bowen Rhys, and Jackie Oates write six new songs one after the other in a chain reaction of songwriting.
Our artists will take it in turns to write a new song in just 24 hours, initially inspired by a traditional folk song and then in response to the one created the day before, to form a new folk music conversation.
Quench your live-music thirst and relish all that folk music is about: community, creativity and the sharing of great tunes!
A film showcasing performances of all the new songs will be streamed at 7:00pm BST on Wednesday 16th June on Facebook, Youtube, and right here on our website! The video will be captioned, and lyrics available for download on our website.
THE MUSICIANS
Ríoghnach ConnollY
Kate Young
Ellie Gowers
Lisa Knapp
Gwilym Bowen Rhys
Jackie Oates
Portraits by Jo Elizabeth May
And follow us on social media to keep up with the project and see behind-the-scenes of the songwriting process.
And here’s a sneak peek at the traditional song we're using as our starting point!
We discovered 'Tonight I Shall Sleep Lightly' in the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library, it is performed by Dr. Farquhar MacRae, and was collected by Lucy Etheldred Broadwood and recorded on wax cylinder in 1908. It is sung in Scots Gaelic, which was translated by our first artist, Ríoghnach Connolly.
Based on this archive recording, a new version of the song was recorded by our very own Musical Director, Jonathan Ip. This then kickstarted the chain for 6 brand-new songs to be created!
The archive recording has been supplied by The British Library and used with the permission of The British Library, the English Folk Dance and Song Society, and copyright holders.
The Folk Effect has been made possible by the Friends of Ondervinden and Arts Council England. If you have enjoyed the event please consider becoming a Friend of Ondervinden here to help us to keep making innovative and exciting work. Thank you.
