‘Coracle’ – A small, rounded lightweight boat.
Coracle brings together the talents, imagination and creativity of three artists, PAUL HUTCHINSON, KAREN WIMHURST and ANNA TAM each with vastly different backgrounds, who have come together through their love of traditional music and cut through with experimentation, boldness, humour and risk.
Paul Hutchinson is a BBC Folk Award Best Live Artist nominee with Belshazzar’s Feast, a much-feted accordion player and teacher. He’s equally at home on the concert stage, playing dance tunes for enthusiastic revellers or running workshops. His previous collaborations with Hoover the Dog, Pagoda Project and The Maniacs produced albums and performances that drew five-star reviews.
Karen Wimhust is a clarinet player influenced by traditional, jazz and contemporary classical music. She’s a widely commissioned composer of chamber works; music theatre; theatre and large-scale collaborative productions ranging from the Grimethorpe Brass Band to The Welsh National Opera and the Allegri Quartet.
Anna Tam was shortlisted as Fatea’s 2021 Instrumentalist of the Year, adds nyckelharpa, viola da gamba, hurdy gurdy and cello alongside a “gin pure” voice. With a background in classical music and a spell as a Mediaeval Baebe, her move towards folk with her debut album Anchoress, which brought her widespread acclaim. Her second album “Hatching Hares” will be released in June this year.
Together, you can expect ethereal to turn gutsy, passion to be tempered by a good laugh and a tide of improvisation which means no two evenings in their company are ever the same.
With the British folk tradition at its very heart with eddies of contemporary classical and splashes of early music, ebbs and flows, squalls and flurries – each gig is a exhilarating journey of exploration and enjoyment. Expect to be thrilled by the silvern voice of Anna Tam, the free flowing mix of reeds…..clarinets and accordion….cello, nyckelharpa, viola da gamba and hurdy gurdy. (I would encourage you dear readers to employ the use of our modern online encyclopaedia to find out what these amazing instruments are if you are not familiar with them)
Their paths crossed during lockdown, when individually they were experimenting beyond their usual repertoire and looking to embrace new influences and sounds. Improvising and recording with other musicians around the world with a similar sense of musical adventure, they were inspired to take things further. Coracle is the result.
They’ve just finished recording their debut album, Murmuration and will set sail with live dates in the Autumn of 2022 as well as being part of the Pub to Pulpit Concert Tour, where hundreds of singers across the country are set to join them in a rousing concert tour of Cathedrals, when they’ll turn folk songs into hymns to celebrate Ralph Vaughan Williams’ 150th birthday. More information here:https://www.broomdasher.com/frompubtopulpit/
Tour dates as follows:
UK Dates – PUB TO PULPIT – A celebration of Vaughan Williams
Sept 22
30th Derby Cathedral P2P
Oct 22
1st Newcastle Cathedral P2P
2nd The Globe, Newcastle Coracle
5th Exeter Cathedral P2P
7th Marston Bigot Coracle
8th Lincoln Cathedral P2P
12th Wells Cathedral P2P
20th Carlisle Cathedral P2P
23rd Green Note, Camden Coracle
Nov 22
23rd Red Lion Folk Club, Birmingham Coracle
24th Baston Folk Club Coracle
26th Hull Minster P2P
Jan 23
8th Folk in the Barn, Canterbury Coracle
Feb 23
11th Coventry Cathedral P2P
March 23
3rd Chelmsford Cathedral P2P
May 23
5th Diss Corn Hall Coracle
6th Bury St Edmunds P2P
20th Brecon Cathedral P2P
June 23
10th Blackburn Cathedral P2P
11th (or 9th) Victoria Hall, Settle Coracle
17th Kendal Festival P2P
For further details please visit: https://coracleband.co.uk/
📷Featured Image – Head Girl Photography
