Johnny Coppin - Latest News

	• 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!