LIVE EVENTS
Canal Music Tour, 9-30 September 2009
To book tickets please scroll down.
This autumn we bring you two of Britain’s brightest folk and electronics artists, Lisa Knapp and Leafcutter John, who collaborate for the first time to create new music inspired by the culture and history of the British waterways. Join them for a performance along the banks of the Grand Union Canal.
Following the world premiere inside the London Canal Museum, the 1930s narrow boat The Chiswick will journey up the once thriving trade route from London to Birmingham, Britain’s longest single stretch of canal. Serving as a floating stage, The Chiswick stops for performances along the banks of five canal side settings, each chosen for their natural beauty and significance to the history of the canal.
Highly acclaimed folk singer Lisa Knapp and leading electronics artist Leafcutter John will capture the spirit of the UK waterways in a contemporary celebration of canal life, playing new work inspired by the canals as well as their own existing music.
The Artists
Mojo Folk Album of the Year winner Lisa Knapp is a spellbinding singer and fiddle player. Her radiant folk merges traditional tunes with self-penned songs, and blends fiddle with sonic delights from the technological age. “Knapp sounds like a young Maddy Prior with the girlish inflection of Bjork” Uncut
Leafcutter John has been hailed as one of the finest exponents of folktronica, combining guitar and voice based writing with more experimental electronic sonic forms. He is currently working on his fifth solo album (Young God Records), as well as being a member of the Mercury nominated Polar Bear. “Like Leonard Cohen is having a cup of tea with Warp Records in a truck stop outside of Denver” The Stool Pigeon
The Places
London Canal Museum is a treasure trove of canal curiosities with a particularly interesting history. Audiences here can peek inside a narrow boat cabin and peer into the huge Victorian ice well that stored vast quantities of ice imported from Norway, used by famous the local Swiss Italian Carlo Gatti to make early ice cream.
The Navigation Inn is at the heart of the historical village Stoke Bruerne, where canal laborers used to propel canal boats with their legs through the one and a quarter mile long Bilsworth Tunnel.
Berkhamsted Canal Fields, Interaction MK and Hatton Locks are three oases of natural beauty alongside the Grand Union Canal, with the latter known as ‘The Stairway to Heaven’ for its striking succession of 21 locks in a steep rise.
The tour concludes in the very different, urban setting of the Flapper and Firkin located in central Birmingham, which famously has more canals than Venice. Situated in an area which was until recently a ‘private’ industrial world, audiences here will watch the performance against the backdrop of Farmer’s Bridge, for 50 years the busiest flight of locks on the system, working 24/7.
The Boat
The beautifully restored 1930s narrow boat The Chiswick plays a key role in Canal Music. With her own colourful history in entertainment she is perfectly placed to serve as an unusual stage for these unusual artists. She appeared in a 1970s BBC drama, features in a number of books about Canal history and today takes part in canal rallies and festivals, and offers Halloween trips through the Islington tunnel.
www.leafcutterjohn.com
www.myspace.com/lisaknappmusic
Tour Dates
Weds 9 September, 7.30pm
LONDON Canal Museum
12-13 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RT
Tickets £10
www.wegottickets.com
London Canal Museum website
Sun 13 September, 4.00pm
BERKHAMSTED Canal Fields
Broadwater, Berkhamsted HP4 2AH
Outdoor performance, please wear suitable clothing and bring a picnic chair or blanket if seating is required.
There are no tickets for this event, a Pay What You Can collection will be taken at the end of the performance.
Weds 16 September, 7.30pm
MILTON KEYNES Interaction MK
The Old Rectory, Waterside, Peartree Bridge, Milton Keynes MK6 3EJ
Outdoor performance, please wear suitable clothing and bring a picnic chair or blanket if seating is required.
Tickets £10
www.wegottickets.com
Venue: www.interactionmk.org.uk
Weds 23 September, 7.30pm
STOKE BRUERNE The Navigation Inn
Bridge Road, Stoke Bruerne NN12 7SD
Outdoor event, please wear suitable clothing. Unreserved seating available in the pub garden.
Tickets £10
www.wegottickets.com
Sun 27 September, 3.30pm
HATTON LOCKS, Hatton Locks Cafe
Canal Lane, CV25 7JL
Outdoor event with limited seating, please bring a picnic chair or blanket if required and wear suitable clothing.
There are no tickets for this event, a Pay What You Can collection will be taken at the end of the performance.
Venue: Hatton Locks Cafe
Weds 30 September, 7.30pm
BIRMINGHAM The Flapper & Firkin
Kingston Row, B1 2NU
Unreserved seating available in the pub garden. Outdoor event, please wear suitable clothing.
Tickets £10
www.moseleyfolk.co.uk
