February 26th, 2008
Competition: want to see some Bearded Ladies/”femme folk”?
This Thursday Maximum Joy have a very eclectic night of music lined up under the banner of Bearded Ladies. On the bill are Jane Weaver, Emma Tricca and Carly Sings (I wrote about Carly here last year). Last year a Bearded Ladies compilation was released featuring acts like Wendy & Bonnie, Selda, Susan Christie, Weaver herself, Turid and Cate Le Bon.
The genesis of the project is explained in a recent Guardian article:
“Something peculiar happened at the dawn of the 21st century: eccentric folk music of the late 1960s became covetable again. The catalyst was the 2000 reissue of Vashti Bunyan’s 1970 album, Just Another Diamond Day… which prompted record collectors to hunt for other neglected female folk musicians.
Two people who took this task very seriously were folk singer-songwriter Jane Weaver and her husband Andy Votel, the record producer and long-time colleague of Jarvis Cocker, Badly Drawn Boy and Gruff Rhys from Super Furry Animals. They started a project that they called Bearded Ladies - a play on “beards”, the nickname given to geeky, usually male collectors of obscure recordings. Their aim was to bring female folk singers, both young and old, together - and, in the process, help forgotten singers reinvigorate their careers.”
I really liked Weaver’s 2002 album Like an Aspen Leaf so this is definitely worth checking out. There will also be late music with the Bearded Ladies DJs and it takes place this Thursday, Wednesday February 28th from 8pm. Admission is €11.50.
But, I have a double pass to give away. To win it, answer this question in the comments here.
Q: Name an album by Jane Weaver?
Will announce a winner on Thursday.
February 26th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Kate Rusby predates this, I think. She appears in Heartlands, an excellent but little seen Damien O’Donnell film and has a few albums behind her now.
February 26th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
Conan, you should read Jane Weaver’s story on her myspace page - years of recording albums that never got released, a debut that finally gets recorded and then the label head dies so it dies with him, etc. I’m amazed she persevered for as long as she did, and she’s easily been around as long as Kate Rusby.
February 26th, 2008 at 10:41 pm
I would have said they are contemporaries but thats not important. Janes and indeed Emma Tricca are both great singers and anyone interested in melody and skewed folk will find much to savour at this night.
In fact Bearded ladies has a sligtly wider brief in that it encompasses psychedelic protest music from the 70s (Selda & Brigitte Fontaine), georgeous pastoral popscapes of 60s hippie idealists Wendy & Bonnie and beautiful contemporary Espers acolytes Speck Mountain and Lights.
February 27th, 2008 at 10:43 am
Sinead, I’ll look her up. Btw, I’ve always thought women like, say, Beth Orton, Polly Harvey, and Natalie Merchant from the US, have had one leg planted firmly in the folk tradition.
February 27th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
Yeah, Beth Orton has a proper folk voice - she’s like Maddy Prior or something. This gig sounds great - I have always been very fond of English folk (not only are my sisters singing an Incredible String Band Song at my wedding, but it is the same one my parents sang at theirs). Have you heard Lisa Knapp, Sinéad? She is brilliant and would fit in with this bill.
February 27th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
Here is my entry!
Seven Day Smile