January 2007

ALEX MYERS will be appearing at:

Cygnet Folk Festival
12 - 14 January 2007

Saturday 13 January - Women's Song Circle - Supper Room 10.30am - 12.30
Dale Dengate is running this event which also features Margaret Walters, Lin Van Hek and others.

Saturday 13 January - New Sydney Hotel Celtic Inspirations Concert - RSL Club 7pm - 12

Sunday 14 January - "Legends of Avalon II - Looking for Merlin" - Supper Room 9.30am - 11.00
A presentation in words and music, which traces the history and works of Merlin Emrys, Merlin Silvestris
and other bards from the times of Arthur of the Britons.

Sunday 14 January - 60s and 70s Folk Revisited Concert - We Were There and We Remember! -
Supper Room 7pm - 10pm
This concert also features Danny Spooner, Neil Gardner, Malcolm Brooks, Chris Cruis and Ian Paulin.


Tamar Valley Folk Festival at George Town
19 - 21 January 2007
Saturday 20 January - "Legends of Avalon II - Looking for Merlin" - Yacht Club 10am - 11.30am
A presentation in words and music, which traces the history and works of Merlin Emrys, Merlin Silvestris
and other bards from the times of Arthur of the Britons.

The First Real News!

The first real news!

Writing and researching workshops has been a very enjoyable experience and a highlight of the last few years.

In 2001, Alex teamed up with historian MALCOLM TURNBULL to produce the workshop “From The Wild Goose To Brumida - Tasmanian Songwriters Of The 1960s and 70s” at the Georgetown Folk Festival. This workshop was also a reunion and featured guests Neil Gardner, John Lavery, Ian Paulin, Mike Raine, Beth Sowter, Sue Lee Archer and Pete Lyall. It was the first time all these singers had been together since the Brumida Festivals of the early 1970s. What a wonderful occasion it was!

This was followed in 2002, by her own workshop “Ballads And Broadsides - The Tabloids Of The Middle Ages”, which she performed and presented with DOUG KELLY. This workshop presented a collection of ballads, drawn from the English and Scottish folk traditions, together with historical facts surrounding them. The themes ranged from murder and mayhem, to unrequited love, and even the occasional happy ending. It was also a chance to revisit a lot of favourite songs which don't get an airing very often. And of course it was great to be playing with Doug who has a great affection for the old music.

In 2003, Alex wrote the workshop “Circle Round the Sun - Songs and Traditions of the Seasons”, and presented it at the Tamar Valley Folk Festival with DOUG KELLY, SUE LEE-ARCHER and MALCOLM TURNBULL. Over the past 20 years or so, Alex has been collecting weather rhymes and these were the basis of the workshop. Not only is the year divided into 12 months, but there are also eight divisions, based on the solstices and equinoxes. This workshop explored the changing seasons, from Candlemas to Yule, with traditional festivals, weather folklore, moon rhymes and all manner of things.

The 2004 Tamar Valley Folk Festival at George Town featured ACCAPPELLA STELLA and the FELLA and the CELLO
(Alex Myers, Sue Lee-Archer and Malcolm Turnbull) with the workshop “Legends of Avalon - Tales of Glastonbury and Arthur of Britain”. It started out as a look at the King Arthur legends and ended up with an entirely unexpected but surprisingly well documented real person.

Alex also performed "Legends of Avalon' at the 2004 Uranquinty Folk Festival.

COMING UP !!!

Accappella Stella will be performing at the 2005 Cygnet Folk Festival

At the moment Alex is researching and writing a new workshop to be presented in January 2004 at the Tamar Valley Folk Festival at George Town. The actual workshop will be held at the Low Head Pilot Station, where the earliest building was designed by John Lee Archer.
“The Life and Times of John Lee Archer - Colonial Architect and Engineer to Van Diemen’s Land” A journey through the life of John Lee Archer, whose legacy of Georgian buildings and bridges gives Tasmania its unique character. This will be enhanced with songs and tunes of the period, and presented by Alex Myers and Sue Lee-Archer, great grand-daughter of John Lee Archer.

PS Check out the Tasmanian Folk Federation's Website

http:/www.tased.edu.au/tasonline/folkfed

Cheers,
Alex

Take 2

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