Tickets Available For Two Great Music Events...

New Mills Festival and Spring Bank Arts Centre are very pleased to announce that The Askew Sisters, the acclaimed English Folk Duo making waves on the folk scene with their energetic brand of English folk music, will be performing at Spring Bank Arts Centre on Friday 12th April 2019. The gig will be the first in a series of collaborations between New Mills Festival and Spring Bank Arts Centre.

Emily and Hazel Askew have become known as two of the foremost performers and interpreters of English folk music. Their live performances brim with the depth and connection not only of two sisters, but also of two musicians who have been immersed in folk music all their lives.

In 2014, their third album In the Air or the Earth, was released by RootBeat Records to widespread critical acclaim, including the Spiral Earth Award for Best Traditional Album 2015. Since then, the two women have been busy working on a number of other innovative projects; Emily has been touring with her vibrant fiddle band Alma, as well as releasing her first solo album, which explored the cross-over between folk and early music and was highly critically acclaimed by the national press; Hazel has been busy working with her groundbreaking trio Lady Maisery, as well as folk super groups Coven and Songs of Separation, the latter of which won Best Album at the 2017 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.

Together, they rework and reinterpret songs and balladry, creating breath-taking arrangements, which allow words that are hundreds of years old resonate profoundly with contemporary audiences. Alongside this, both women are also skilled multi-instrumentalists and expert players of dance music, using fiddles, melodeons, concertina and cello in their innate drive to bring old dance music to life.

Stirred by these new musical experiences, the sisters now return to their duo with a fresh vision. They are spending 2018 deep in rehearsal, reconstructing and re-exploring their sound, unearthing old songs, as well as composing and creating new music. The culmination of this will be their long awaited fourth studio album, to be released in 2019.

As usual, there will be a bar at the gig serving locally-brewed real ale, as well as wine, lager, cider and soft drinks.

"Inspired arrangements of traditional music, striking versions of tricky ballads – this is traditional folk in a fine, fresh form”
The Telegraph

"A definitive album of the current English Folk scene."
Spiral Earth

"An album of singular and iconic beauty."
FolkWords

"Vocals shimmering above fiddles, viola, melodeons and concertina, [this album] casts its spell"
The Sunday Times

"The edgy alchemy of melodeon and fiddle makes for a vivid and revitalising sound throughout one of the most atmospheric and erudite albums you’ll hear this year"
EDS

BOOK ONLINE HERE: https://www.newmillsfestival.com/

Award winning actress and singer-songwriter, Hazel O’Connor, who rose to fame in the 1980s in the film Breaking Glass  and performing its accompanying soundtrack, will play in New Mills on 30th March 2019 in support of the New Mills Festival.

Hazel had many hits and eye-catching Top of The Pops appearances aplenty throughout her career. Her ageless songs include Eighth Day, Will You, Big Brother, Monsters in Disguise, Calls The Tune, If Only, Give Me An Inch, Blackman and Hanging Around - all of which seem even more relevant in our present times.

Accompanied by virtuoso saxophonist Clare Hirst (The Belle Stars, Communards, David Bowie) on sax and vocals and Sarah Fisher (Eurythmics) on keyboards and vocals, this powerful blend of voices and musicianship brings a classy touch of energy to Hazel’s vibrant performance. With a new album celebrating and reflecting Hazel's very own Hallejujah Moments, expect a soulful introspective dip into Hazel's stunning portfolio, the old and the new.
A sumptuous night of some of the greatest songs of the 20th Century delivered with passion and fire. With a special Meet & Greet immediately after the show you're in for a treat. Unmissable, book early!

BOOK ONLINE HERE: https://www.newmillsfestival.com/

 

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