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Pete Atkin / Gigs / Re: Woking, June 21st |
11.06.25 at 18:47 |
| Started by S J Birkill | Newest post by ChriRHarris |
Hi All,
I'm largely duplicating here what I've just added to the "new member " thread but with less personal waffle.
Pete's next gig is on Saturday 21st June at Andy's community cafe in Woking GU21 3LG. This is a cafe area attached to St Andrews church, Goldsworth Park and the present home of the Anchor Folk club on alternate Thursdays.
Note that the cafe will not be open for food or drinks so it's a "Bring Your Own" event. (The Waitrose supermarket next door is open until 8)
Entrance is £10 cash on the door There will also be a raffle (this is a folk club after all) and as usual all profits go to the artist.
We aim to start as soon as possible after 7:30.
There's plenty of parking in the adjacent Waitrose car park.
To reserve a place or any queries please email me at PAWoking2025@gmail.com.
I look forward to welcoming you to our Woking venue.
Cheers,
Chris,
Anchor Folk Club, Woking
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Pete Atkin / Members / Re: New members |
11.06.25 at 11:36 |
| Started by S J Birkill | Newest post by ChriRHarris |
Hi all,
|'ve just re-joined MV's after being on Pete's mailing list for the past few years.
I first encountered Pete and Clive's songs through, I think, a girlfriend at university in the early 70's, I've just looked at my copy of Beware OTBS and I had written my name on the sleeve, so obviously I was lending it out at times and protecting it much as possible.
Over the years I've seen Pete several times, including with Clive in (again "I think" ) Basingstoke.
More to the point Pete and Clive's music has always been part of my musical life as I occasionally perform in public, mainly at the folk club that I now organise. The Anchor folk club was started 30 years ago this September in the Blue Anchor pub in Byfleet, Surrey and ran weekly until the pandemic. During Covid days we remained active on-line (Zoom and Youtube). Post Covid we moved to a new venue in Woking when I took over organising it and we now usually meet twice a month. But... see BELOW.
I've always performed (I hesitate to say "sung"), a selection of their songs, mostly the more humorous ones (Ballad OAUW, Original OHTTB, Stranger IT) plus, of course, BewareOTBS and GirlOTT.
Ballad OAUW was the first song I sang at the Anchor Folk club and has always been the first song I'll sing when, very occasionally, I perform elsewhere.
Beware of The Beautiful Stranger (Oh that's what he means !) is top of my list for Desert Island Discs ( I'm still waiting for the call). I love the mid song twist when she is revealed as really a stranger, a similar effect to even greater effect happens in Canoe, another favourite of mine.
In Aug 1997 I was fortunate enough to be on holiday in Derbyshire with my family when I saw a poster for a festival in Monyash, a few miles from our campsite, featuring our very own Pete Atkin. So I dumped the family for a day and sat in a tent, in a field, listening to Pete and other's music. Brilliant !
Subsequently i was a member, 'though not a very active one, during the early days of the MV bulletin board (or whatever it was.)
BELOW
HOWEVER... my main impetus for re-connecting with MV is to last minutely (?) remind everyone that Pete is performing at our club venue in Woking on June 21st, the weekend after next. If you'd like to come alone and haven't yet let me know then please email me a PAWoking2025@gmail.com to reserve a place.
Details are on the PA website and the Anchor Folk website https://www.anchorfolkclub.com/.
Briefly, it's £10 cash on the door and post code for ANDY'S CAFE is GU21 3LG.
That's me done for now , Chris
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| 3 |
Pete Atkin / Newsletter / Newsletter - latest edition |
11.06.25 at 08:31 |
| Started by S J Birkill | Newest post by S J Birkill |
Those of us signed up to Pete's occasional e-mail newsletter will already have seen his timely reminder of the upcoming (on the 21st) performance at St Andrew's Church in Woking, along with his recommendations for a good book to read in the interim. The event has been arranged by Chris Harris of Woking Folk Club, though this gig is separate -- it's not a folk club meeting -- and places are still available. Full details in the newsletter or in the Smash Flops Gig Guide.
Chris became a member of MV in the 1990s when we were a mailing list, and he's recently rejoined us here. I'm expecting a post from him in the next day or four, promoting the gig.
If you're reading this and haven't seen the latest edition of the newsletter, all is not lost: every issue is archived on our (you guessed it) Newsletter Archive page, at www.peteatkin.com/newsletter.htm. The "Go To Latest" button at the head of the page will do just that, and you can subscribe for future newsletters using the form at the foot of that page.
Steve
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Pete Atkin / News / Wizz Jones has died |
01.05.25 at 09:19 |
| Started by S J Birkill | Newest post by S J Birkill |
Influential virtuoso guitarist Wizz Jones died at the weekend, aged 86. Himself inspired by Ramblin' Jack Elliot and Big Bill Broonzy, Wizz was a pioneer of the instrument across the folk and blues spectrum during the 1950s and 60s, along with contemporaries including Davy Graham, Alexis Korner, Long John Baldry, John Renbourn, Bert Jansch and Martin Carthy, inspiring a generation of young British guitarists. He was a charming and gentle man, very modest and easy to talk to.
Wizz was a member of Midnight Voices in its days as a mailing list between 1997 and 2004, and appeared as a guest artist at two of our MV gatherings during that period, at Milton Keynes (Stantonbury School) in October 2000 and at Hebden Bridge (The Picture House) in September 2001.
Here is a video of Wizz, shot by MV's "Fat_Ed" (Brian Hazelden) in 2012. Coincidentally this performance also took place at Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire, this time at the Trades Club. The song, Atkin/James's 'Touch Has A Memory' appeared on Wizz's 1987 album "The Grapes of Life".
Robin Denselow has written an obituary for Wizz in The Guardian, here. |
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| 8 |
Pete Atkin / News / BBC Radio Scotland |
25.03.25 at 01:11 |
| Started by S J Birkill | Newest post by S J Birkill |
I don't believe we've yet reached the point where any radio programme featuring one of Pete's songs is worthy of mention here, but today I heard for the first time in, well, ages, from MV founder members and Monyash '97 attendees (along with several other events in the early days), Pat and Richard Llanwarne. They are currently "Richard and Pat" on MV, having resigned the email list in September 1997 but rejoined (after it became the MV Forum) in August 2006.
Pat and Richard listen to Iain Anderson's 9 p.m. radio show on BBC Radio Scotland, and were surprised and delighted to hear Iain's first selection on last night's (Sunday 23rd) programme, "Have You Got A Biro I Can Borrow". This prompted them to visit the Website, where they learned about the upcoming Woking gig, and promptly reserved a couple of places.
Which goes (perhaps) to show that any publicity, however remote or obscure, is worth having. I hope all members will keep this in mind while executing their daily drear. Oh yes, and if any other MV old-timers show up at Woking I hope you'll say hello to Pat and Richard. Now, how many of you can remember where you put your Andy Love enamel MV 'Walk Towards The Music' badge, complete with our original URL!
Steve
PS: I should have credited Angus MacIver (he of the far-flung island, MV member at the time) for the badge artwork.
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| 9 |
Pete Atkin / Shrinks / Re: Shrinks at the Alma, March 9th |
18.03.25 at 01:02 |
| Started by S J Birkill | Newest post by S J Birkill |
As half-expected, Dave Lewis wasn't able to play the Alma gig, Sunday before last.
Dave Lewis, bass guitarist and record producer to the stars and constant voice of the rhythm section in the otherwise fluid line-up of Bristol band The Shrinks, has been suffering for some time with unremitting lung cancer, despite bouts of chemo- and radiotherapy. He's quite frail now and, though philosophical about his illness, has regrettably had, for the time being at least, to lay down his Jazz Bass.
It may not be the end of The Shrinks -- there's a possible replacement waiting in the wings -- but our thoughts must be with Dave, one of the good guys. On Sunday's gig Pete was able to fill in some of Dave's bass lines on his keyboard, so the show could, and did, go on.
Steve
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