3tynespodcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Happy Christmas everyone! And my best wishes for a peaceful New Year.

In this episode I encourage you to use Bandcamp as a way to help musicians make a living from their work. The link to the site is https://bandcamp.com/ And I am pleased once again to be able to thank the people who have helped me upload nearly 40 episodes since the first one was published in May 2023. They are:

Mike Coleman

Paul Frear (aka Uncle PAF)

Craig Atkinson (Allen Valleys Folk Festival)

Ian K Brown

Penny Grennan

My guest today is Ray Taylor, Musical Director of the Hexham Male Voice Choir.

The Choir has been singing for well over 70 years, covering a large catalogue of secular and choral music that includes popular modern song and familiar classics. It performs live several times each year, often together with other music groups and choirs. The current membership numbers just over 20.

Ray became Musical Director in 2024, having been a member for about two years. He has a long track record as a member of several prestigious choirs and his vision for the Hexham Male Voice Choir promises to raise its ambition and its profile, including more collaborations with other choirs in the area.

The Choir’s next concert is called The Magic of Music and will be held in Hexham Trinity Methodist Church on Saturday December the 14th. In this episode, the Choir performs two specially recorded classics that will feature in the concert: The Rose and Bridge Over Troubled Water. The accompanist was Zoe Solomon.

Today’s episode also features guest appearances from Ray’s dogs. Perhaps they were auditioning for a choir of their own, or maybe they knew that the podcast is pet-friendly and wanted to get in on the interview. Their hopes on this occasion were dashed. Better luck next time.

Hexham Male Voice Choir rehearses every Thursday evening at the West End Methodist Church. Newcomers are guaranteed a warm welcome and anyone who is wondering if choir singing is for them is encouraged to go along and find out. Information about the choir and its concerts is available on its Facebook page and on its website, https://www.hexhammalevoicechoir.co.uk/.

Hi Welcome to the 3tynespodcast. Today’s guest is the multitalented Phil Ogg.

 Phil Ogg was born in Prudhoe and has been a familiar presence on the music scene in Northumberland for many years. He has worn many hats during his career, including singer, songwriter and guitarist as well as community music enthusiast, lately evident in the many gigs he organises in the 3tynes area through his non-profit promotion organisation Twango. His distinctive musical style evolved from a classical music education informed by an eclectic range of interests and his thoughtful approach to creativity. Martin Stephenson has described his songs as 'baritonic, expansive, mindful, hopeful'.

In this episode, Phil talks about the motivations for songwriting and the value of music as a keystone of the community, and he plays two compositions recorded specially for the podcast. 

You can follow Phil on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/phil.ogg.7) and his music can be found on Bandcamp (https://philogg.bandcamp.com/). Information about Twango’s gigs is on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Twangogg. 

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Yakka Doon is the stage name for the folk persona of Claire Welford, a singer and songwriter who lives on the edge of the North Pennines. Her distinctive voice and rich lyricism create a style that is unique in folk circles and one that rewards close listening. Claire also plays bass in the slowcore band The Last Path, a style that appears to be a complete contrast to Yakka Doon but one that has some common roots in the folk tradition. In this episode, Claire talks about how she developed as a singer and songwriter and why she sings her songs on the stage.

You can find Yakka Doon’s music on Bandcamp at https://yakkadoon.bandcamp.com/ and on streaming pltaforms such as Spotify https://open.spotify.com/artist/7IYYYfYLkhgIcPR7kl9PbG?si=QW_AgrXRTjW308AzLouaBQ and Apple Music https://music.apple.com/gb/artist/yakka-doon/1539966704

The Last Path are also on Bandcamp at https://thelastpath.bandcamp.com/album/convenience-kills

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In this episode, we look at how a major folk music festival emerged in the town of Allendale, in the East Allen Valley. Craig Atkinson and Peter Alcroft talk about the development of the Allen Valleys Folk Festival to become one of the premier small events on the folk circuit. They reflect on how their experiences over the years has enabled to the 2024 festival to field a roster of local and national artists supported by events in the town itself.

The festival dates for 2024 are Friday 27th to Sunday 29th September. You can find more information at  https://www.allenvalleysfolkfestival.co.uk and on Facebook, Instagram and X.

The music in this episode is from The Bird and The Black Road, by Will Good and The Mattes.

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Kim Bull is a player and maker of the Northumbrian pipes, a type of bagpipes unique to Northumberland that is small and characteristically sweeter-sounding than the familiar Highland pipes.

For many years, Kim was renowned as a national-level coach in canoeing and kayaking but, having been a recreational piper since acquiring a set for his wedding, he switched career when the pandemic lockdown severely curtailed outdoor sports. He has now built a new reputation as someone who can repair and service other people’s pipes and make his own sets from the raw materials.

In this three-part episode, Kim explains how the Northumbrian pipes evolved from the traditional keyless type into the range of instruments played today, and how this led to different styles of playing. He describes how the pipes are made and talks about his journey from top level sports coach to top level pipe maker.

Kim is featured on the 3tynespodcast jukebox on YouTube playing Drops of Brandy/Andrew Kerr – go to https://youtu.be/uwADg4znY30.

There is information about the Northumbrian pipes on Kim’s website at https://www.northumbrianpipes.co.uk/, including an illustrated account of their making. You can hear examples of pipe music on his SoundCloud page at https://soundcloud.com/kim-bull and on YouTube at www.youtube.com/@kimbull-northumbrianpipema5278.

The tunes Kim plays in today’s episodes are: 

In Episode One: Because He Was A Bonny Lad, a traditional tune; Lament of the Border Reiver (played on the Border pipes), composed by Roy M Hugman; Edward the Second, which is from the Dixon Manuscript; and another traditional tune, Drops of Brandy/Andrew Kerr.

In Episode Two, we also hear Kim play Jacky Layton, a traditional variation set dating to at least the 1700s, and a reprise of Edward The Second.

And in Episode Three, we reprise Drops of Brandy/Andrew Kerr and Because He Was A Bonny Lad. 

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Kim Bull is a player and maker of the Northumbrian pipes, a type of bagpipes unique to Northumberland that is small and characteristically sweeter-sounding than the familiar Highland pipes.

For many years, Kim was renowned as a national-level coach in canoeing and kayaking but, having been a recreational piper since acquiring a set for his wedding, he switched career when the pandemic lockdown severely curtailed outdoor sports. He has now built a new reputation as someone who can repair and service other people’s pipes and make his own sets from the raw materials.

In this three-part episode, Kim explains how the Northumbrian pipes evolved from the traditional keyless type into the range of instruments played today, and how this led to different styles of playing. He describes how the pipes are made and talks about his journey from top level sports coach to top level pipe maker.

Kim is featured on the 3tynespodcast jukebox on YouTube playing Drops of Brandy/Andrew Kerr – go to https://youtu.be/uwADg4znY30.

There is information about the Northumbrian pipes on Kim’s website at https://www.northumbrianpipes.co.uk/, including an illustrated account of their making. You can hear examples of pipe music on his SoundCloud page at https://soundcloud.com/kim-bull and on YouTube at www.youtube.com/@kimbull-northumbrianpipema5278.

The tunes Kim plays in today’s episodes are: 

In Episode One: Because He Was A Bonny Lad, a traditional tune; Lament of the Border Reiver (played on the Border pipes), composed by Roy M Hugman; Edward the Second, which is from the Dixon Manuscript; and another traditional tune, Drops of Brandy/Andrew Kerr.

In Episode Two, we also hear Kim play Jacky Layton, a traditional variation set dating to at least the 1700s, and a reprise of Edward The Second.

And in Episode Three, we reprise Drops of Brandy/Andrew Kerr and Because He Was A Bonny Lad. 

Follow 3tynespodcast on Facebook and Instagram.

Kim Bull is a player and maker of the Northumbrian pipes, a type of bagpipes unique to Northumberland that is small and characteristically sweeter-sounding than the familiar Highland pipes.

For many years, Kim was renowned as a national-level coach in canoeing and kayaking but, having been a recreational piper since acquiring a set for his wedding, he switched career when the pandemic lockdown severely curtailed outdoor sports. He has now built a new reputation as someone who can repair and service other people’s pipes and make his own sets from the raw materials.

In this three-part episode, Kim explains how the Northumbrian pipes evolved from the traditional keyless type into the range of instruments played today, and how this led to different styles of playing. He describes how the pipes are made and talks about his journey from top level sports coach to top level pipe maker.

Kim is featured on the 3tynespodcast jukebox on YouTube playing Drops of Brandy/Andrew Kerr – go to https://youtu.be/uwADg4znY30.

There is information about the Northumbrian pipes on Kim’s website at https://www.northumbrianpipes.co.uk/, including an illustrated account of their making. You can hear examples of pipe music on his SoundCloud page at https://soundcloud.com/kim-bull and on YouTube at www.youtube.com/@kimbull-northumbrianpipema5278.

The tunes Kim plays in today’s episodes are: 

In Episode One: Because He Was A Bonny Lad, a traditional tune; Lament of the Border Reiver (played on the Border pipes), composed by Roy M Hugman; Edward the Second, which is from the Dixon Manuscript; and another traditional tune, Drops of Brandy/Andrew Kerr.

In Episode Two, we also hear Kim play Jacky Layton, a traditional variation set dating to at least the 1700s, and a reprise of Edward The Second.

And in Episode Three, we reprise Drops of Brandy/Andrew Kerr and Because He Was A Bonny Lad. 

Follow 3tynespodcast on Facebook and Instagram.

Today, June 22nd, we’re joining Hexham Abbey and the people of Hexham to celebrate the memory of Etheldreda with the Under the Sun music festival and an evening performance of Arrival, a specially developed work of movement and song about the experience of migration and finding a new home.

Etheldreda was an East Anglian Princess who was forcibly married to Ecgfrith, Prince of Northumbria. He became king in 670 but they divorced and, in 672, Etheldreda gave the lands we now know as Hexhamshire to Wilfred, Bishop of Northumbria, who founded the Abbey in 674.

The Under the Sun festival was held in the Abbey cloisters and was organised by Penny Grennan and the Queens Hall Arts Centre, Hexham. The musicians you will hear are: The Storytellers Street Band, Fiddolin, The Platform House Band, The Hex Pistols and Blue Lass. 

You can find the Storytellers Street Band, the Hex Pistols and Blue Lass on Facebook. Fiddolin’s music is on Soundcloud. The Platform House Band perform regularly at the Platform Bar on Hexham’s railway station. 

The Arrival performance was part of the Seeds of Hope programme, a collaboration between Theatres San Frontieres (https://tsf.org.uk/) and actors and musicians from Northumberland and Ukraine.

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Today we are at Alston Live – the first of the five larger music festivals that are held in the three Tynes area each year. 

The festival featured 17 bands playing an eclectic range of music on Friday the 19th and Saturday the 20th of July in the Potato Market, Town Foot, St Augustine's Church and the Town Hall.

There is, of course, no substitute for being there – the clue to enjoying Alston Live at its best is in the name – but you can get a flavour of the festival from the videos posted on its Facebook page. Do check out social media and the streaming platforms to hear more music from the artists who played.

In this episode, I talk to the bands who played on Saturday and hear some of their music, beginning with an outdoor salsa session and closing the festival with a packed and very hot audience dancing to soul classics in the Town Hall.

Because of copyright laws, I can’t bring you the music played by covers bands but the episode does include some original songs courtesy of the artists themselves. I didn’t get to see every band, so I apologise to Blue Scarrow and Shipcote and Friends for not including them here.

My thanks to Paul Frear and the organising committee for making me so welcome, and to all the musicians who took the time to talk to me. Keep an eye on the calendar for the dates to next year’s Alston Live.

The bands included in this episode are:

Street Beats Salsa Band

David Roe and the Hainton Symphonic Orchestra

Harry and Robin

Andy Fraser

Reubens Train

Bleeding Kansas

99 Mr Bens

Cian Downing

Soul Junction

Thanks for listening to the 3tynespodcast. I hope you enjoy this episode. Please subscribe and tell your friends about it.

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