The first half of 2010 finished off with one of the best gigs Friends of Folk has promoted.  A full house on 31 April witnessed a line-up of friends old and new.  It was great to have Maddy Prior and Abbie Lathe back on stage together and a duo of Maddy and Ken Nicol was very special, together with a tremendous solo spot from Ken.  Also worthy of special note was Simon Fox stepping out from his usual position behind the sound desk to render a quality instrumental solo before being joined by Ken Nicol to form a duo not heard before.

Before that there was a spot from Chris and Siobhan Nelson who never fail to entertain and you can get a chance to hear them again in the first gig of the second half of the year.  The night also heard from ‘friends new’ with Blackheart, Andrew Keeling and the Bailey Sisters all getting the first half of the evening off to a quality start.  You can be sure that all three will feature in future Friends of Folk gigs.

2010 continues with the first post summer gig on Sunday 29 August at Worden Arts Centre in Leyland with Chris & Siobhan Nelson and Ken Nicol.  The gig is part of South Ribble Arts Forum bank holiday Parkicipate event.  Why not come along on bank holiday Sunday and Monday to Worden Park – for more details go to www.southribbleartsforum.co.uk. 

The partnership with the Rose Theatre in Ormskirk continues with three joint gigs featuring Maddy Prior with Giles Lewin and Benji Kirkpatrick in October, Chloe Hall in November and Peter Knight’s Gigspanner in December.  Also in November Ashley Hutchings and Ken Nicol will be at Croston near Preston.  For details of Ashley & Ken’s other gigs go to www.fofpromotions.com.

The other news is that Friends of Folk has released its first CD ‘Baker’s Dozen’ featuring 13 tracks from 13 great artists.  For more details and to buy a copy (only £5!) go to the shop page at www.fofpromotions.com

With every best wish
Jim Minall