Damien Barber & Tony Hall/Alvar Smith (with Katie Howson)

Event information

Traditional singing from the Blaxhall Ship. Alvar Smith is an undiscovered jewel in the crown of English Traditional singers.
Suffolk’s Blaxhall Ship Inn, often seen as the home of English traditional singing, was visited by collector Peter Kennedy in 1953 who filmed an evening of singing in the pub. Present on the night of the recording was Alvar Smith, now a retired gamekeeper who still regularly sings in the Ship and has passed his songs down the the next generation of his family. Alvar will be joined by Katie Howson, with whom he will discuss his life in traditional music, as well as performing some of his signature songs. A very rare outing by one of the country’s finest exponents of the tradition - not to be missed!

Damien Barber is a stylish and distinctive singer, be it unaccompanied or alongside his guitar or English concertina. He has been heavily influenced by such earlier singers as Peter Bellamy and Walter Pardon from his native Norfolk. Over the years, he heard many of the great English revival singers like Nic Jones, Dick Gaughan and Martin Carthy at his local folk club. There, he began to absorb the styles and sounds of local singers such as Tony Hall and Peter Bellamy and he was fortunate to listen to, and to play with Walter Pardon, one of the last great Traditional singers of the region, at his home before he died in 1996. With such strong folk credentials, it’s not surprising that Damien is a committed traditionalist.

The grand master of English-style two-row melodeon music, Tony Hall also performs an eclectic repertoire of songs and tunes in his own distinctive style, singing anything from shanties to blues and Brecht, as well as traditional Norfolk songs and a few of his own strange and hilarious compositions.