Saturday 24 October, 5.00pm

Wellington Folk Festival

Brookfield, Wainuiomata

Acoustic Routes is celebrating 40 years of official being, i.e. when its first constitution was formed (as a folk club we are really 44 years young but we decided to branch out and celebrate OUR 40th because 4 years ago the festival, which was one and the same thing as the Wellington Folk Club many moons ago,  celebrated its 40 years). confused yet? Yeah, its complicated… maybe just enjoy the party!! It was SO difficult choosing people. We considered lots and lots of past, present and future members, but decided to use the following guidelines: club members who weren’t featured in the Festival’s 40th four years ago; are current or active members who are still singing and developing and contributing to the music of the club; members who do not get heaps of exposure particularly at festivals, and of course they needed to be super talented to be a good ad for the music that is happening in the club these days.

Mary Livingston , President Acoustic Routes

A TASTE OF MORRIS    Some 30 years ago a Morris dancing group, Pride of Holland Street, was formed in Wellington from amongst the folk scene and was heavily involved in the folk club. Subsequently two further sides were formed, Britannic Bedlam Morris Gentlemen and White Rose who will be dancing today. Bedlam present dances from the Cotswold area, while White Rose dance in the North-West tradition. They also combine to do Border Morris. POHS folded some years ago, but their involvement in the early days of the folk scene has left a strong legacy of dance and music. http://morrisdancing.org.nz/

MURRAY KILPATRICK    Julie and I have been involved in the Wellington folk scene since the late sixties.  I play and sing a range of music using a variety of instruments. Together we ran the “Famous Plimmerton  Bush Band”  many years ago for about nine years and currently we host the monthly Pukerua Bay Folk Club’s monthly sing around in the lounge of our home. My most recent ventures include playing jazz folk with “Parcel”, but at this concert I am playing some solo items

KAREN CLARKE, BOB COOPER-GRUNDY    Raumati South based singer/ songwriter Karen Clarke makes music that fuses her love of rhythm, smoky vocal delivery and sensitive eye on life. The influence of both her Ngati Kahungunu and Celt lines are heard in the mix of contemporary folk, bluesy and femme styles. With an onstage style that critics describe as anything from raw to sassy,   Karen is known for a strong, emotive performance style. Themes of love, optimism, sexuality with a dose of social commentary are  the territory Karen  explores in song. In this celebration concert Karen will be backed by finger picking blues exponent Bob Cooper-Grundy from the Wairarapa.

RON CRAIG, ANDREA COOP, CHRIS ROSEVEARE       Andrea and Ron are both ex-presidents and have been performing together for a number of years. Christine joined in late 2008 and has added a new dimension of depth to the performance with the bass and also occasional vocals. The group plays a selection of country, contemporary and traditional music primarily from USA, and Britain . Their musical sources are performers such as Gillian Welch, Alison Kraus, Tim O’Brien, Emmylou Harris, The Watersons, Archie Fisher, Phil & June Colclough, John Tams, Bob Dylan, Kris Drever & Ian Telfer and traditional folk sources.

HELEN DOROTHY    Helen came to Acoustic Routes via Pukerua Bay Club about 5 years ago now and we have seen her go from a shy but very talented songwriter to a strong presence with such awesome songs they stop you in your tracks. Following the release of her debut album "The Going Away" earlier this year, which has been well received in the folk and acoustic music community, guitarist and singer/ songwriter Helen Dorothy will perform some of her original material. Song themes may be quirky or moving, often conjuring up imagery of the natural world, with unusual guitar tunings to reflect mood.

MARY HUBBLE       Mary found her way to the folk club (then 10 Holland Street) via a flat full of folkies in 1981 as a fresh-faced  young lass of 20.  It wasn't long before she found a bent for unaccompanied singing of (mainly) trad. English songs with the encouragement of such other exponents such as Chris Penman and Liz Merton.  Before too long Mary had also stepped into Chris' very large shoes as president of the club (too young then to realise you don't go to AGMs if you don't want to volunteer!).  In later years she has become known largely for playing and singing in groups such as the Jimmies and the Hex Crystals but relished the chance to go back to her "roots" in trad. last year at the Museum of City and Sea winter series and again at the club this February.  She's looking forward to sharing some of her favourites at this concert, with melody and some heart tugging lyrics at the core, and maybe the odd bit of "ham" around the edges.

DON  FRANKS,  JILL BRASELL      Don's association with the Wellington Folk Club goes back to the early ‘80s when he appeared hopefully at Holland Street one night in possession of four chords and a cherry-red f - hole Framus guitar. Jill's is only a bit more recent, beginning when she hooked up with Don in the mid 80s, though she'd been a closet folkie since she got her first guitar in 1967. They started playing together in more ways than one (mostly on banjo and double bass), (It can’t have been comfortable! Ed.).found they harmonized pretty well, and discovered the charms of old-time country music. They also play old-time city music on tenor horn and tuba with the Brass Razoo Solidarity Band. (It can’t have been comfortable! Ed.)

COL WRIGHT, LIZ MERTON       Col  arrived in NZ in Jan. 1972 and joined W.F.C. and became president about 1976 or 1977. Col also ran the Wellington folk festival  before changing it to the National Folk Festival.   He resigned in 1983 to travel the USA for a year and then left NZ in 1985 to follow a lovely woman around the planet for the next 22 years .    “I played and sang my style of ballads around clubs, pubs and seaman's missions in the USA, Germany, France , UK and of course Australia where he once again took up the reins of a folk club in Canberra called the Merry Muse and secured a very successful venue at the Australian National Folk Festival under the same name.”  Col moved to Brittany in 2002 for four years and was invited to be the foreign voice in an Irish tunes band before returning to NZ in 2006 and joined the folk club once again as a committee member in 2008. At this concert Col is performing a beautiful poem to the lilt of Liz Merton’s fiddle playing. Liz is also a long-time member of the folk scene and a member of Acoustic Routes. She has covered all genres of music from trad and celtic to dance bands and eastern traditional music and currently plays with fab musician Tim Barrie as well as a host of others, as the mood takes her!!