• For concert dates and performances please see the Tour
Dates page
WELCOME TO THIS WEBSITE!
LATEST NEWS - July 2010
our new phone number is 01453 885088
but we still have the same address P O BOX 27, Stroud, GL6 0YQ
I do hope you are well. Here is the latest news of
- Aug/ Sept concert dates
- Tour dates inc The Tempest by The Festival Players
- Radio programme on 4 radio stations across the West from 1st
August
- latest CD release- Roll on Dreamer - now out at just £10.95
- a Village Hall or small venue concert near you?
- Songwriting workshop in France
- Books by Laurie Lee, Leonard Clark etc for sale
- feedback from "All on a Winter's Night" tour
and recent concerts
Hope you are well......and enjoying the summer! Thanks to everyone
who supported the gigs in April and May and I do hope to see you at
a concert this summer- details are below.......
LATEST NEWS
My radio show is broadcast every Sunday - until 25 July at 6
-7pm on BBC Radio Gloucestershire - on FM, AM, online and listen
again for 7 days on www.bbc.co.uk/gloucestershire - BUT from 1st
August it will be BROADCAST ACROSS THE WEST on BBC RADIO BRISTOL,
BBC RADIO GLOUCESTERSHIRE, BBC SOMERSET, and BBC WILTSHIRE - every
Sunday from 1 till 2pm.
don't forget to email your requests and event info to me - the quickest
way is to johnny@johnnycoppin.co.uk or by post to me at P O BOX 27,
Stroud, GL6 0YQ.
Recently I have been busy writing and rehearsing songs and music
for The Festival Players summer tour of "THE TEMPEST" by
William Shakespeare. This talented company (directed by Michael
Dyer) will hopefully be at a venue near you during their 3 month tour
of England, Scotland, and Wales. Nearly all the venues are outdoors
- so bring your own seating, picnics etc for a wonderful evening's
entertainment....the play lasts just 2 hours including the interval.
Full Tour details of 58 dates on Tour Dates page... for
more info www.thefestivalplayers.org.uk.
Recently I've also been rehearsing new songs with Mike Silver,
and with Karen Tweed who kindly stood in for Paul Burgess at
the Hartpury concert in May - a very cold outdoor concert!
I'm also currently producing an album for a singer/songwriter from
the South Coast. - and very soon I must continue working on ideas
for my next solo album.
Tour Dates...
Tour dates coming up include.....
JULY
Sun 18 - Bristol Ð THE DRACA FOLK DAY at St Georges 1-8pm
tickets £5 in aid of St Georges 0845 402 4001
AUGUST
Fri 6 - Gloucester - Concert with Peter Combe (s/s
from Australia) and Paul Burgess at Three Choirs Plus 7.30pm Ð
Guildhall Arts, Eastgate Street, Gloucester GL1 info from 01452 503050
Sat 7 - Malmesbury É.St MaryÕs Hall, 7.30pm Steve
CoxÉ.. 01666 823475
Wed 11 - Coleford Festival of Words, Glos. - F W
Harvey / Gurney celebration with Paul Burgess 8pm - at
Coleford Baptist Church tickets from Forest Bookshop 01594 833334
or www.forestbookshop.com
Sun 22 - Sun 27 Songwriting Week - La Grande GennaieÉ
at Carelles, Mayenne in N. France contact Alison Benn grandgennerie@hotmail.co.uk
SEPTEMBER dates in Thornbury, and Oxfordshire (with PHIL BEER)
For details see Tour page
New CD by Mail Order
my debut solo album Roll on Dreamer is out on
CD for the first time at just £10.95Ð it includes
the songs Angelus, Liberty, Never Lost for Love, The Worm Forgives
the Plough, Roll on Dreamer, and Archangel as featured on recent Christmas
tour Ð guest musicians are Phil Beer (Show of Hands ) on fiddle
, Geoff March (Decameron) on cello, and Nigel Mazlyn Jones.
on 12 string guitar.
"A contemporary folk masterpiece Éfirst class in every department"
- Manchester Evening News
"The album that Decameron should have made and never did"
Ð Folk Roots Magazine
other albums - Keep the Flame, West Country Christmas,
and A Country Christmas,
plus Edge of Day- with Laurie Lee, and The Glorious Glosters
- CDs
all at £10.95 each
The Winding Stair "Poignantly sung and wonderfully arranged"
Ð Acoustic magazine
Breaking the Silence (with Mike Silver) "Two great writers,
two superb voices " Ð Ralph McTell
The Gloucestershire Collection, Force of the River, and two Decameron
albums Ð Say Hello to the Band, and Afterwords (live 2001)
- CDs all at £12.95
please order by phone on 01453 885088 Visa and Mastercard
only or by post to Red Sky Records, P O BOX 27, Stroud, GL6 0YQ. UK
Feedback on recent concerts -
"Just to say how much I really enjoyed your and Mike's performances
on Saturday night at St Ives and to say I really appreciated your
singing Peace Descends in the second half. Thank you very much. I
was a great fan of Decameron and always turned up when you did a show
in Penzance. My recent ownership of an iPod lead me to order CDs from
you and it is great hearing the songs again after all this time. I
included "The Winding Stair" and now have a whole new range of music
which forms part of my life. - R.L.
"I just wanted to say a big thank you for the gig on Saturday.(St
Ives) You were both on good form and the overall sound was wonderful.
I know a number of people who came not having heard you before and
left being very impressed. It's one of life's quirks I guess, and
very unfair, that you guys don't have a much much higher profile in
the music world. You are both very talented and great musicians. I
don't know how you rectify that (if indeed you want to) but it seems
a great injustice to me. Thanks once again for a truly great night
" - D.B. in St Ives, Cornwall
"All on a Winter's Night" tour
I was very pleased with our tour and our special guests at Cheltenham
Town Hall 17th and Stroud Sub Rooms - accordion queen KAREN
TWEED (ex Poozies etc), and DIK CADBURY (from Decameron) -
such an honour to have Karen with us and such a great sound!
Great reaction to the tour....more to be added...
"Came and saw you last night in St Mary Redcliffe Church
(Bristol) and I thought out of the four times that I have been to
see your concerts last night was the best you have ever sung"
"Just wanted to say how much we enjoyed the concert at St.
Mary Redcliffe on Wednesday. It was a beautiful setting and we particularly
enjoyed some of the new songs we hadn't heard before.Ê Your Christmas
concert is always a very special part of our Christmas celebration."
"Many thanks for the superb performances from Paul, Mick
and you, Johnny, as you began your Christmas tour with us last night.
The excellent programme of songs and readings provided us with an
evening to treasure. You evoked seasonal memories, warm nostalgia
and some rustic country customs; and you did this with lyrics of integrity
and a marvellous musicality which touched us to the heart, and some
original songs which were graced with your pure voice. On a Winter's
night the audience all went home with a tune on its lips and a smile
on its face".
*Songwriting Workshops -
There will be a Day workshop on Sun 28 March at Dursley, in
Gloucestershire.
A WORKSHOP FOR SINGERS, SONGWRITERS and MUSICIANS
WITH JOHNNY COPPIN singer/songwriter -
A workshop on how to approach song writing, learn how to write tunes
for songs, arrange songs, accompany songs. By working with your own
songs and ideas, the aim is to build confidence and generate new enthusiasm
for your music making. Whatever your level of experience, Johnny will
explain and illustrate many of the techniques.
Venue- Dursley Town Hall 10:00 -16:00
Contact - Anne Watson of Traditional Music Making 8 Jubilee Road,
Dursley, Gloucestershire GL11 4ES tel 01453 519243 07766 447804
emailÉ traditionalmusic@btinternet.com
And, very soon, I hope to announce dates for the next WEEKEND
WORKSHOP in Herefordshire.
I have been booked to take a workshop for a week in France next
August - this is for all levels of experience -with the emphasis
on working on a one-to-one basis to build confidence and try new techniques.
It's 22-27 Aug 2010 at La Grande GennaieÉ at Carelles, Mayenne
in N. France please contact Alison Benn for more details - email -
grandgennerie@hotmail.co.uk
If you are interested in a future workshop- please tel 01453 885088
email johnny@johnnycoppin.co.uk
* Village Halls / Small Venues / House concerts
Ð Would you be interested in putting on a concert in your area or
perhaps a house concert?- If so, do please email me on johnny@johnnycoppin.co.uk
or phone 01453 885088
* Books for sale Ð If you are interested
in buying First Editions and other books by Laurie Lee, Leonard Clark,
Winifred Foley, John Masefield etc Ð please send a SAE for a full
details.
* Emailing List Ð some of your email
addresses have changedÉso, only if you have NOT received the recent
monthly Email Newsletters, please email it to me at johnny@johnnycoppin.co.uk
********************************************************************
Thanks for supporting all the Sept/Oct/Nov concerts at Burton-on-Trent,
Chippenham, Stroud (with Karen Tweed and Timo Alokatila- where we
played a great version of Reunion Hill together and some tunes.)
Also Mike Silver's birthday bash at Lickey Village Hall - where we
all had a great time, complete with special guests Jo Partridge, Patsy
Matheson, and Anna Shannon. Then Dursley, Banbury Canalside Festival,
Bristol, Sherston Arts Festival, Derby, and Salisbury Folk Club.
I had a very enjoyable Songwriting Weekend
in Herefordshire - and a big thank you to
all the partipants for all their hardwork - Fran, Nancy, Sarah, Genevieve,
Alan, Geoff and Paul - and especially our wonderful hosts Paddy and
Genevieve, and catering par-excellence by Rachel.
Thanks for making it a great weekend!
I wrote and arranged songs and music for a summer open-air production
of Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" .
This was performed by The Festival Players Theatre Company
on their 3 month tour all over the UK..... www.thefestivalplayers.org.uk
** Review **
Festival Players: The Merchant of Venice - Beaudesert Park School,
Minchinhampton Tuesday 16th June 2009 Crackerjack rating:
9 out of 10.
The British weather did its best to ruin our visit to see The
Merchant of Venice. A rainy night meant the touring Festival Players
Theatre Company were forced indoors at Beaudesert in Minchinhampton,
instead of performing in the school grounds. But the fab performance
by the sparkling and accomplished cast more than made up for the audienceÕs
disappointment over cancelled outside picnics.
A favourite of mine, among ShakespeareÕs classics, this offering
of The Merchant was pacy and at times very funny. The play was
sharply and accurately delivered and the specially written accompanying
music by folk legend Johnny Coppin, now based locally near Nailsworth,
made the whole experience a real treat. Director Michael Dyer
himself took on the role of Jewish moneylender Shylock, his clear
diction making perfectly sure even newcomers to The Bard understood
the riddles, romance and revenge of the plot. Ideally cast David Lee-Jones
became The Merchant, Antonio, as well as Lorenzo and Morocco, in a
bustling, all-male production that saw Matthew Barksby as wealthy
heiress Portia. - Jo Barber STROUD LIFE
Mike Harding, on his Folk requests show for BBC Radio 2, played
a Coppin/Silver track from "Breaking the Silence" CD
on Wednesday 27th May - "The Sun's Coming Over the Hill",
the Karine Polwart song.
Feedback/review from March/April tour with Mike
Silver.
Mike and I really enjoyed our short tour at Stroud, Belper, Stirling,
Stanley nr Durham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Stonehaven..thanks to all
the organisers
and everyone who came and supported us. Amazing coincidence at the
Stroud concert- one of the stewards told me she was related to Susanna
Martin by 6 generations! (song on The Winding Stair CD- about Susanna
Martin, one of the Salem witches in 17th Century USA)
Here's part of review of the Stroud concert...............
"It's a match made in a kind of folk heaven...they play off
each other perfectly.
Every song played from joint album "Breaking the Silence"
has the makings of a classic, and I hope this sensational collaboration
continues for many years" - STROUD LIFE
Thank you so much for supporting the December tour
of 'All on a Winter's Night' Ð with Paul Burgess and Mick Dolan
-and for your kind comments. We really enjoyed the concerts at Shrewsbury,
Dumfries, Gloucester Cathedral, Malmesbury, Aust, Nailsea, plus Cheltenham
and Stroud.where we were joined by Geoff March and Dik Cadbury from
Decameron. Already dates have been coming in very fast for December
2009 and even for 2010! Ðso if you are interested please email soon
- to johnny@johnnycoppin.co.uk.
Also thanks to everyone who came to this yearÕs
concerts at Walsall, Bournemouth ,Wotton under Edge, and Dartford.
Unfortunately the snow put paid to the concert at Bourne in Lincolnshire
early in February- we hope to reschedule that soon - and the weather
also stopped me travelling ing to the Folk Awards in London on Mon
3rd February. I have tutored a very enjoyable Songwriting Weekend
in Herefordshire ( a big thank you to Genevieve and Paddy, Rachel,
Fran, Ann, Andy, Geoff and Paul ) and hope to do another in September
.
* Village Halls / Small Venue Tour 2009 Ð Would you be interested
in putting on a concert in your area from summer 2009 onwards? Or
perhaps a house concert?- If so, do please email me on johnny@johnnycoppin.co.uk
or phone 0845 644 1447
******************************************************************
- latest CD
Breaking the Silence
with Mike Silver
"Two great writers, two superb voices....this is great album" Ð
Ralph McTell
"An album of soaring harmonies and beautifully crafted songs from
two of this countryÕs finest singer songwriters."- Steve Knightley
(Show of Hands)
also available now are -
The Winding Stair (latest solo album)
"Poignantly sung and wonderfully arranged" Ð Acoustic
magazine
The Gloucestershire Collection (Forest & Vale.
+English Morning) CD
Force of the River
and Decameron albums -Say Hello to the Band and
Afterwords(Live)
at £12.95 each (special offer of £10.95 in March/April
2009 for mailing list members!)
plus
Edge of Day- with Laurie Lee
A West Country Christmas
Keep the Flame
A Country Christmas
The Glorious Glosters
at just £10.95 each (special offer of £9.95 in March/April
2009 for mailing list members!)
PLEASE ORDER by phoning 0845 644 1447 (at local rates)
or posting the ORDER FORM with cheque/credit card details - go to
Albums and Books. You can also email johnny@johnnycoppin.co.uk or
fax 01453 836877.
******************************************************************
* I enjoyed all the concerts in October/November- 4 with Paul Burgess,
3 with Mike Silver, and even a reunion gig with Phil Beer (from Show
of Hands) 27th Oct at Nettlebed Village Hall. Have had great reaction
to these - see "Your Comments" page.
*Had a great tour with Mike Silver in Germany and Holland
in September - and a review of the gig at Bonen has now been added
to Reviews page plus reaction on Your Comments page.
*Mike Silver's new album "How Many Rivers" is now out
- co-produced by Johnny Coppin and Mick Dolan contact - www.mikesilver.co.uk
* It was an honour to be elected as the Hon. President of Glosfolk
Ð an organisation working very hard to promote folk music in its many
forms here in Gloucestershire. - see www.glosfolk.org.uk
* I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that the Folk for MS concert
at Wantage in June raised £1500 for the charity - money that will
soon be helping people with Multiple Sclerosis.. The concert featured
Doug Eunson and Sarah Matthews, The Tindall Family, Tinker's Oak,
and myself.many thanks to everyone who supported this event.
* In July I saw the wonderful musical play ArthurÕs Plough
- about the famous organic Fordhall Farm in Shropshire - originally
run by Arthur Hollins, and now by his son Ben and daughter Charlotte.
The play was written and directed by Chris Eldon Lee, with great actors
and an excellent choir. My song "On A Hill in Shropshire" (from Force
of the River) was featured alongside songs by Chris E Lee and Mary
Keith, and one by Steve Ashley.
* A 1976 BBC recording of Johnny singing "Joseph Baker" at
Sidmouth Festival was played on BBC Radio 2 - Mike Harding
programme on Wed 5 March 2008 - this was the track voted for by the
public in this month's Folk Vault. Other tracks includes Martin Simpson,
Pete Seeger, Ani de Franco etc....listen again for 7 days online bbc.co.uk/radio2/mikeharding
*I do hope you can make it to one of my concerts
near you!