Folk for Heroes

Thank you!

2010-05-26T14:49:00.000-07:00

Well, now that the dust has settled on a truly wonderful night of folk and folk rock, the pennies have all been counted.

I am delighted to announce that Folk for Heroes has raised £3,500 all of which has now been paid over to Help for Heroes and is being put to work to help our wounded service personnel.

So thank you to all who contributed.

It's not over til it's over, as they say. Watch this space for details of the fundraising live album that will be available for download soon.

Help for Heroes Concert 24 April 2010

2010-01-27T00:49:00.000-08:00

We are proud and delighted to announce Folk For Heroes - a benefit concert to help wounded soldiers and their families - on 24 April 2010 at Rowington Village Hall. http://www.rowington.org/Rowington/rowington_village_hall.html

Here's a taster:

The Bands:
The John Richards Band
Red Shoes
plus support: Shaky Nancy

John Richards needs little introduction in the folk world as the writer of Honour & Praise and The Deserter, both regularly performed by iconic folk-rockers Fairport Convention. The JRBs' latest album "For Love Nor Money" confirms John’s reputation as one of our finest writers and the band’s reputation as one of the most entertaining, emerging acts on the folk scene. http://www.thejrbs.co.uk/

Red Shoes' recently released album "Ring Around the Land", produced by Fairport Convention's Dave Pegg, has received much critical acclaim. It received 4 stars from Rock 'n' Reel who described it as a "Beautifully realised collection of well crafted songs rendered in attractive, melodic folk-rock style". http://www.myspace.com/redshoes1

Shaky Nancy will get the proceedings underway with an eclectic set of folk-rock to get your feet tapping for a great night of live music.

Tickets: £10 in advance

There will be a licensed bar and a hot food stall. We will also be holding a raffle with some great prizes including ukuleles donated by our friends at Hobgoblin Music.

All profits will be donated to Help for Heroes.

http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/

The bands have kindly agreed to play for free.

Folk Legend John Tams records Love Farewell for Help for Heroes

2010-01-05T02:18:00.000-08:00

Folk bands Red Shoes and The John Richards Band are helping raise money for Help for Heroes at the Folk for Heroes concert on 24 April 2010 (see earlier posts for more details), which promises to be a great night.

The folk community has long had an affinity with wounded servicemen and hard working soldiers putting their lives at risk on the frontline. The soldier's lot has been the subject of a large slice of the folk repetoire, probably since folk music was first used as an outlet for the concerns of ordinary men and women.

Songs such as the mid 19th century "Johnny I hardly knew you", from the mid seventies Eric Bogle's "No man's land", and later, John Richards' "The Deserter" (adopted as their own by Fairport Convention) are well known examples.

Another fine example is John Tams' excellent version of Love Farewell recorded with the Band and Bugles of The Rifles Regiment to raise funds for Help for Heroes. There's no inconsistency between the historical questioning of war by the folk movement and the folk community now rallying around to support wounded servicemen. John Tams explained his motivation for recording the song:

“I’m a civilian - I hold no truck with war yet the young men and women returning in heartbreaking numbers, dead and wounded in service was an opportunity to put my voice where they had put their lives – a small gesture for me – an all too often life-losing, life changing sacrifice for them," he said.

"It’s a lovesong, a leave-taking song without jingoism or sabre rattling and if it makes a difference to the care of those coming home and their families, my small contribution has been worthwhile.”

To listen to and hopefully buy your own copy of Love Farewell go to http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/love-farewell.html

Details of where you can catch the wonderful Mr Tams live are to be found on his web site

http://www.johntams.co.uk/johntams/index.cfm

Why Help for Heroes?

2010-01-03T04:39:00.000-08:00

I work in an office where the greatest risk of injury is a paper cut, or maybe a nasty stapler incident. My grandfather was a war hero http://www.thevictoriacross.net/recipients/spencer_john_bent.html

He left me a lot to live up to. If Folk for Heroes can raise some money for H4H, then that's a small start.

Whether or not one approves of the war in Afghanistan, British servicemen and women are out there on our behalf. Everyday we ask them to put their lives at risk. Everyday they know that the Taliban will do all they can to harm them. Yet they still go to work and do their job.

It seems an almost daily news item that another soldier has been killed. Many more are being injured. Some of them horrifically.

When the war in Afghanistan is over and has become yesterday's news, our wounded service personnel will still be living lives forever altered by their injuries. We need to make sure their sacrifice on our behalf is not forgotten. We need to make sure their needs - financial and emotional - are not ignored.

Help for Heroes has done a fantastic job at raising awareness of the plight of the wounded. http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/