Sunday Evenings at 8 pm (doors open 7:45) at: The Normandy Centre Denne Road, Horsham, West Sussex RH12 1JF Licensed bar - Non members welcome Admission varies between £2 and £7 (discounted for members)   Stop Press!!! Why not become a member and save money? Now is the time to take out a subscription. This will entitle you to price concessions on admission to events. Join at events - there are membership application forms on the desk.. Annual membership is only £15. Under 18s are free on any evening.     (click on a picture to see the bigger picture....)     Summer break while everyone visits festivals! Sunday 5th September   Song & Dance Admission £2 (members £1) Songs, tunes and poems from members & guests plus dancing to our excellent ceilidh band. Beginners and experts alike are welcome and our experienced callers ensure everyone can work their way through the dances with enjoyment. Sunday 12th September   Elsie's Band Elsie's Band, formed in the 1970s, is one of the most prominent folk music bands to be found in the south east today, well known for appearances at folk clubs, folk music festivals and folk concerts. They have appeared in the festivals at Loughborough, Walton and a number of times at Wadebridge and are to be regularly seen in the Kent , Sussex and Essex folk club scene. The band comprises Tony Deane, Iris Bishop, David Watts and John Hills and gets its name from the landlady of the pub where they have held Sing and Play nights for many years: The Queens Arms at Cowden, Kent. The pub is known locally as Elsie's after the name of the landlady, Elsie Maynard. Each December the band joins with Tony Gowan, Dave Andrews, Mac McNally and Will Duke to perform the Cowden Mummers play at Elsie's. The play is a traditional tale of good conquering evil with St George, The Turkish Knight, and a host of other familiar characters as you would expect but with some significant differences and it has never been performed the same way twice. Topicality and ad-lib are often the order of the day but the underlying traditional basis is there to be seen and heard. Band Members Tony Deane, singer, songwriter and folklorist, is the composer of "Following The Old 'Oss", "Orchids" (a highly regarded song about the demise of the gardens at Heligan, Cornwall) and many more. Iris Bishop, a superb performer on accordions and concertinas, is highly regarded in her own right as a member of a number of bands and for her accompaniment to Martyn Wyndham-Read. She is also known internationally for her knitting design expertise. David Watts, is a singer of a broad selection of folk and country songs as well as a good repertoire of comic and music hall songs. He is also the best pyrotechnist to be heard on the pub music scene. John Hills, singer, song writer and string musician includes "Young in Kent", "Loss of the Regiment", "Docklands", "The Poachers Year", amongst his work. www.elsiesband.com Admission £5 (members £3) Sunday 19th September   Askew sisters Emily and Hazel Askew are a young duo making waves on the folk scene with their energetic brand of English folk music. Using fiddle and melodeon, they play and sing with an infectious enjoyment and love for the music, winning them fans wherever they go. From rhythmic foot stomping tunes to powerful interpretations of songs and ballads, their playing always guarantees to engage and inspire those who hear. James Fagan and Nancy Kerr, who appeared at Horsham Folk Club last season had this to day about the Askew Sisters: "Simply fantastic traditional music - look out, England - the sisters of stomp are heading your way!" 2010 sees the release of 'Though Lonesome Woods' - a long awaited follow up to their critically acclaimed debut 'All in a Garden Green' in 2007. Their robust musicianship allows them to switch around at will, colluding and colliding during the course of a performance, thus keeping the audience on its toes and its toes tapping. www.askewsisters.co.uk www.myspace.com/askewsisters Admission £6 (members £4) Sunday 26th September   Open Floor Admission £2 (members £1) Another opportunity to join members and guests to sing, play or read their own and other people’s work. An evening of surprise and hidden gems. Sunday 3rd October     Barrie & Ingrid Temple Barrie and Ingrid are harmony singers from Newcastle upon Tyne. Although they sing mostly unaccompanied, Barrie also adds concertina or guitar accompaniment to some of their songs. They have been singing together for nearly 40 years and have performed throughout the UK and abroad, at folk clubs and festivals. Their singing is mainly traditional with both serious and humorous content. They also perform many of Barrie's own songs, which are written in the traditional style. They are well respected for their unique style of close harmony singing and their original arrangements. Barrie's own songs are now being sung and recorded by other folk performers, both here and abroad. Admission £5 (members £3) Sunday 10th October   Cloudstreet Cloudstreet's Nicole Murray and John Thompson perform New Australian folk music, a combination of Anglo-Celtic and Australian traditional songs and tunes, coupled with trad-styled original songs. Their repertoire represents the many influences from around the world that have been blended to produce Australian folk music. They are renowned for their hot harmonies & beautiful ballads supported by their driving guitar and Irish flute. Their trademark dazzling harmonies and their impassioned presentation are leavened with humour and great tales from their travels. Cloudstreet makes their audience feel that they are the privileged viewers of something very special. While Cloudstreet’s style is traditional, they present a lively and entertaining acoustic act which appeals to a wide range of people and ages. Their ancient ballads and traditional songs are made spellbinding by their daring and sublime vocal harmonies, which create the impression of a ‘third voice’. The songs they perform are like chapters from fairytales; some dark and foreboding, some strange and funny and all performed with consummate skill, grace and passion. They tell the stories of Australia's past and present, as well as drawing on the English and Irish traditions which have fed the Australian folk music repertoire. Since turning professional in 2003, Cloudstreet have continued to build on their strong profile in Australia as a main concert act and festival headliner and sought to build on this success through developing an international market for their music in the UK. Consequently they have undertaken five tours to the UK since 2003, developing a strong following among festival and folk-club audiences across the country. Cloudstreet has released six CDs. Nicole plays Irish flute, silver flute, tin whistle, violin, guitar, and percussion and is an established composer of both songs and tunes. In 2009 she was the musical director of the Woodford Folk Festival Fire Event. Nicole has concentrated on Irish and English traditional music in recent years, as well as harmony work and songwriting. A qualified teacher, Nicole founded the Voices, a collective of singing teachers in Brisbane and teaches with them annually. Originally a barrister, John's musical journey has seen him busking with a bush band in the Queen Street Mall, performing in musicals, operas, and comedy improvisation shows. As well as singing with Cloudstreet, John performs as a debater, master of ceremonies, and parodist. John is also an occasional member of the legendary Spooky Mens Chorale, touring with them in Australia and the United Kingdom, and a member of The Voices, a Brisbane-based teaching collective. Since 2003, John has pursued music as his fulltime occupation. He plays guitar, English concertina and Irish whistle. Admission £7 (members £5) Sunday 17th October   Song & Dance Admission £2 (members £1)   Songs, tunes and poems from members & guests plus dancing to our excellent ceilidh band. Beginners and experts alike are welcome and our experienced callers ensure everyone can work their way through the dances with enjoyment. Sunday 24th October     Strawhead Strawhead are Gregg Butler, Malc Gibbons and Chris Pollington, and has, for over 30 years, performed 'Popular Music of the Olden Time', a term to explain the popular songs of the period from the 16th to the 19th centuries. Sad songs, funny songs, royal and street ballads, spooky, serious and the plain daftare all included in the repertoire. Well known for their renditions of famous ballads like ‘ Over the Hills and Far Away’ and ' Rochester Recruiting Sergeant' there is a rich variety of songs to be enjoyed, especially as they are performed and explained with the kind of aplomb that reaches to the hearts of their audiences. Historical themes and projects have, over the years, stamped out the distinctive style of this group who on these occasions are often augmented by vocalist, Alison Younger. They recreate the past in music, presenting Britain's song heritage at its finest. A Strawhead concert is an event you won't forget with that inimitable Strawhead sound of vocals, guitar and keyboards, with wind instruments including the remarkable 'cornett'. With a wealth of experience, the group has been performing these songs for over thirty years and in addition to hundreds of festival and club appearances have also performed at many prestige historical events and venues. Admission £7 (members £5) Sunday 31st October     Bob Fox One of Britain’s most respected and internationally acclaimed performers Ralph McTell said of BOB FOX: "As soon as I heard Bob Fox sing I realised that he must have one of the best voices in England.  I have always regarded him as an artiste of great integrity and ability". Bob Fox's supreme voice is full of life and clarity. He is also a very talented musician playing guitar, piano and dulcimer. Added to that is a full and varied repertoire of traditional and modern songs. Bob has formed successful duos with first Tom McConville then with Stuart Luckley. Both duos performed to great acclaim round the UK folk scene. Since 1982 Bob has continued to work as a solo artist. He has also been singer/keyboard player in a Celtic band, The Rub. He has been Folk Artist in Residence for the District of Blyth Valley and Music Development Worker for Easington District Council during which time he was inspired by the discovery of a photographic archive to produce a song / slide show with Benny Graham celebrating the rich and varied culture of the coal mining communities of Durham and Northumberland, 'How Are You Of For Coals?'. This project brought Bob back to recording after almost 15 years when he and Benny produced a CD collection of mining songs 'How Are You Off For Coals?' and the following year re-recorded 14 songs from his albums with Stuart Luckley on the CD 'Box of Gold' (Fellside Recordings, Cumbria.) In the year 2000 Bob celebrated 25 years of singing folk songs professionally with a number of tours both in the UK and abroad, starting with an appearance as 'special guest' on the Fairport Convention tour and continuing with folk club tours in Britain, Holland and Canada. Bob also recorded his first ever solo CD "Dreams Never Leave You". Bob has twice been nominated as Folk Singer of the Year at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards and was invited to sing and play at Celtic Connections as part of a performance of the 2006 Radio Ballads. In 2000 Bob was Special Guest on the Wood and the Wire tour with the legendary Fairport Convention, who guested on his Dreams Never Leave You album. Bob’s masterful interpretation of traditional and contemporary songs is one of his greatest strengths and during his time performing with Stu Luckley they won the Melody Maker 'Folk Album of the Year' Award. Admission £7 (members £5)                         Click here for our links page.