Fiddles and Pipes at The Apex
Originally formed in 1994 for a one-off special concert, Feast of Fiddles (pictured above) return to The Apex, in Bury St Edmunds, later this month as part of their 31st tour.
They are a celebrated collective that combines the talents of some of Britain’s top players.
Phil Beer (from Show of Hands), Garry Blakeley (from Band of Two), Marion Fleetwood (Trad Arr and Sandy Denny Project), Mark Jolley (Banter), Tom Leary (Joe Brown) and Simon Swarbrick (Merry Hell) each bring their own individual fiddle style.
Holding them together is the rock back-line led by legendary drummer Dave Mattacks, who has played with Fairport, Steeleye and Richard Thompson, as well as the likes of Paul McCartney, Elton John and Chris Rea.
Together they visit many musical genres in a flourish of fretwork, performed with passion, joy and a liberal dose of fun.
They are to take to the stage at the venue on Tuesday, February 24, and will be followed two days later by Kathryn Tickell and The Darkening.
Kathryn is the foremost exponent of the Northumbrian pipes, a composer, performer and successful recording artist whose work is deeply rooted in the landscape and people of Northumbria.
She first took up the pipes at the age of nine, learning in the traditional way from shepherd musicians in outlying hill farms near her home.
The landscape, weather and stories of the people that lived and worked there were part of her childhood, and this is heard through the traditional tunes and songs that she brings to audiences.
She has released 14 of her own albums to date and has also recorded and performed with Sting, The Chieftains, The Penguin Café Orchestra, Evelyn Glennie and many others.
The Darkening take their inspiration from the wild, dramatic, weather-beaten countryside along Hadrian’s Wall, which seems so quintessentially Northern English, yet was inhabited by people from the furthest reaches of the Roman Empire.
Kathryn Tickell and The Darkening embrace that global perspective, bringing some of the oldest Northumbrian tunes and songs to life, mingling them with new material and binding it all together with contemporary attitude.
See www.theapex.co.uk or ring 01284 758000 for more details and to book tickets.