They say that a change is as good as a rest and that seems like an appropriate to start this. As many of you now know, 2024 is the last year (for now at least) that we will be running the Festival Workshops and Sessions side of what we do. It has been an incredible 10 years of running these workshops. We have seen young people grow up and older people re-discover a love of playing.
I’d like to say a huge thank you to all of you who have been a part of these workshops over the years, there will be aspects of the festival workshops we will not miss, the rain, wind, mud, loos etc. but we will certainly miss the people we’ve met along the way and the workshops we have run. It has been a pleasure to have you be a part of our Folk Orc community and we hope that you will continue to be a part of that community as we venture forwards.
The Folk Orc is not going away, it is just changing, and is still committed to getting more people playing music together and keeping the traditional songs of Britain and Ireland alive. I will post about everything below in more detail as time goes on but for now here is a brief summary of what will be happening over the next couple of years that you can get involved in.
Patreon
First up, The Folk Orc Online at Patreon. This is a subscription service that will teach you how to play the songs from the Folk Orc repertoire; just like you would at a festival workshop but from the comfort of your own home and at your own leisure. From September we will be focusing on a monthly song and in weekly instalments I will be dropping the material needed for you to learn and play this song. This will include a play along track (with guitar, mandolin and vocals) accompanied by the song sheet, video tutorials for the rhythm section and both simplified and standard video tutorials for the tune. Depending on the song there will be additional material provided such as alternative parts, song histories and more. While you are subscribed you will have access to all of the content, both past and present to learn in your own time and refer back to at any point in the future. The songs will be the most popular songs from the Folk Orc repertoire and will make up a special edition session book. This book will then be used for future Folk Orc events, so if you wish to get together to play the music you have learned then you can join us at one of the events listed below. This is in addition to the occasional additional material for the Thursday night regular sessions run at Coda Music Centre, which will include a host of new old songs and the fabled book 4!
If you wish you can also sign up for all access which will give you access to a selection of teaching sheets from my 20+ years of teaching guitar, banjo and mandolin to help you to learn a variety of additional songs across different genres and styles of music. Along with additional material for the Coda Campfire Sessions and Blues Orc (also run from Coda Music Centre).
Prices per Month The Folk Orc Online | £7 (plus vat) All Access | £12 (plus vat) Discounts available for annual subscription. Subscribe here:
The Earthouse Sessions
Our twice yearly sessions at the Earthouse will hopefully continue next year. These happen on the Monday of February and October half-terms and are a great evening of playing music around the fire in a beautiful Saxon Earthouse in Cranbourne, Dorset.
The next one of these is on Monday 28th October and will be a little different as we are celebrating 15 years of the Thursday night sessions at Coda, so in addition to the session there will also be a performance by the Regular Sessions Band.
Earthouse Tickets:
Out of the Woods
In July we run a weekend of Camping and music near Stonehenge in Wiltshire. These started during covid but they have been so much fun that they have continued. Fri and Sat evenings are spent having a sing around where participants can play a song to the group or choose a song from the books for us all to play. If you have aspirations to play in front of people but haven’t quite plucked up the courage yet then these are a brilliant place to start. You will not find a more encouraging audience anywhere. Saturday daytimes are spent looking at some finer aspects of playing. We have done songwriting/arranging, singing harmonies, tune playing, improvisation and more.
Folk Days
New and kind of old to the Folk Orc calendar in 2025 will be the return of Folk Orc Folk Days. We used to run these before Festival workshops started to take over our year and they will be returning. A day of sessions and workshops to boost your playing and get people involved. These haven’t been organised yet so look out for details over the next few months, there will most likely be one in spring and another in autumn.
The Folk Orc at Coda
My coda sessions are returning from 9th September at Coda Music Centre, Christchurch, Dorset. Campfire Sessions are on Mondays 1-3pm which are a relaxed group playing folk, Americana and popular songs (£8 PAYG).
Folk Orc Regular Sessions are on Thursday night 7.30-9.30pm. This is where we learn arrangements of traditional songs and tune sets ready to play out as the Folk Orc Regular Sessions Band a few times each year (£7 PAYG). If you are interested in getting involved please contact Coda on 01425 276161.
Other Workshops and Events
We are always interested in new places and events that want workshops run, we have done day workshops for Guide troops and smaller town festivals like Wessex and Wimborne. If you are interested then please get in touch.
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