Archive for year: 2018

The Candlelit Christmas Guitar Concert Tour is now two-thirds of the way through and Richard Durrant and his team are playing to big crowds and getting the Christmas magic flowing through advent.  So let’s catch up with all the action…

‘The new set list for this tour is a joy with the addition of the English song The Cutty Wren, an XTC track and several other surprises. I am also playing more cello than before – which sounds great with Nick Pynn’s fiddle, dulcimer and bass pedals and Amy Kakoura’s wonderful singing’.

Tickets are now sold out for the remainder of the tour except for the Trinity Theatre, Tunbridge Wells and the afternoon performance in Wilmington Church.

The tour began at the start of December and included a trip up to The Toll Gavel, Beverley – a regular gig for Richard where he always draws a big crowd. Richard tells us:

‘Apart from meeting so many old friends at the show, this trip also reminded me just how much I enjoy travelling with Nick, Amy and company stage manager Matt Hodgson. Matt’s a great member of the team who makes a big difference to the show with his years of experience in music and theatre, both onstage and backstage – believe it or not he even played the Milky Bar Kid (a few years back…)’.

The day after our their too short visit to Yorkshire they travelled down to Baulking in Oxfordshire. The idea was to include a Christmas gig as close as possible to the Uffington White Horse. Big thanks to George Reade and team for hosting such a brilliant event. The candles flickered and the White Horse danced on the side of the hill. This gig was filmed and the plan is to publish highlights at some point. 

On Saturday the team headed back to Sussex to a gig in the historic church at East Chiltingon. The following day they played a matinee and evening concert back home in Shoreham at the Ropetackle Arts Centre.  The Ropetackle gig was recorded and the track are on sale now in MP3, FLAC or ALAC formats.

This week the tour concludes with performances at Trinity Theatre, Tunbridge Wells, Findon Valley and the tour finale on the day of the Winter Solstice at Wilmington Church (close to another notable, English hill carving).

Look out for Richard’s 12 Days of Christmas which will soon be appearing on all Richard’s video and social media pages as well as on the successful Richard Durrant Academy…

Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas without Richard Durrant’s Candlelit Christmas Guitar Concert Tour. But it’s not all about Richard as he is accompanied by two of the finest talents on the musical scene. Find out more…

CLICK HERE FOR ALL THE TOUR DETAILS

Amy Kakoura

Caught between worlds – part Greek, part Irish, and brought up in England, Amy Kakoura is an artist who strides across genres, journeying between the folk world, an operatic training, the musical-theatre industry, the Jazz ’n’ Blues scene, and many stops in-between.

Amy trained at the GSA Conservatoire, and went on to co-write and take the lead in the sellout production Songs From A Ledge, at the Old Joint Stock in Birmingham, and her song cycle Anansi Is Dead was performed at Coventry’s Theatre Absolute in November.

Amy is the lead vocalist for Steamchicken. This eight-piece folk-funk-cabaret cacophony has attracted much notoriety! She also sings regularly with Blues and Soul Revue The Daily Grind and joins Richard Durrant for a sixth year of his magical Christmas tour.

Haunting Vocals
– Maverick Magazine on Amy Kakoura

Nick Pynn

Nick is probably best known for his regular appearance as Stewart Lee’s musical counterpart in the BBC Comedy Vehicle, as well as playing in Lee’s Austerity Binge at The Queen Elizabeth Hall.

Nick is a member of Stomp’s Lost and Found Orchestra, and has toured with comedians Boothby Graffoe, Rich Hall and performed for several years in two-handers with Steve Harley (Cockney Rebel) and Arthur Brown.

Receiving glowing reviews for his 15 years at the Edinburgh Fringe, with his unique mix of storytelling, melodic mastery, technical wizardry and vast array of instruments and curiosities. In 2012 he toured in the all-star line up of The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny.

Nick often joins forces with singer/songwriter Kate Daisy Grant to create a two-person orchestra, adding piano, found objects and various string instruments. Nick has performed and recorded regularly with guitar virtuoso Richard Durrant.

…music of immense imagination and skill
– Glasgow Herald on Nick Pynn

Richard Durrant

In 2018 Richard never really stopped. After his orchestra gave its debut performance playing Richard’s new ukulele concerto and a selection of his other orchestral music, he went on to release his first double album Stringhenge. Then he cycled from St Magnus Cathedral on Orkney all the way down to Sussex including a live performance on BBC Radio 3.

Following two very successful Guitar Adventurers holidays in the south of France Richard returned home for more Stringhenge concerts and found himself the subject of a forty five minute feature on BBC6 Music. The station continues to play tracks from Stringhenge.

But now Christmas has just appeared on the horizon, and the music has changed tack

Says Richard: ‘As soon as the clocks go back I start to daydream about playing with Nick and Amy – by the time Bonfire Night has been and gone this has turned to a raging desire! So bring on the midwinter and let me play folk music and sing carols….’

Richard Durrant is my new favourite guitarist. He sits completely outside the accepted genres and has a peculiar and wonderful mind
– Tom Robinson BBC Radio 6

Throughout December, you can catch Richard Durrant’s Candlelit Christmas Guitar Concert Tour at Beverley, Baulking (already sold out) East Chitlington, Tunbridge Wells, Findon Valley, Wilmington and Richard’s home town of Shoreham-by-Sea.

CLICK HERE FOR ALL THE TOUR DETAILS

Due to other commitments this is a shorter tour than usual so get your tickets fast!

Richard Durrant has now cycled over 600 miles as part of his Stringhenge musical pilgrimage from The Old Man of Hoy to the Long Man of Wilmington.

Here’s his update…

‘It all started at St Magus Cathedral on 1st June where I was very surprised and moved to see people in the audience from all over the UK.

Since then I have slowly headed south stopping for two other Scottish gigs plus one on Holy Island and one in Pickering North Yorkshire.

There are still many miles to pedal and five more concerts to play. And tonight I’ll be in St Mary’s Church, Edwinstowe in Sherwood Forest.’

13 June @ 7.30 pm
St Mary’s Church, Edwinstowe, Sherwood Forest

15 June @ 7.30 pm
Scopwick Village Hall, Brookside, Lincolnshire

18 June @ 7.30 pm
Holywell Music Room, Oxford

21 June @ 7:30 pm
BOAT Brighton, Park Dyke Road, Hove

22 June : 7:30 pm
St Peter’s Church, Church St., Bexhill-on-Sea

19 July @ 7:30 pm
Ropetackle Arts Centre, Shoreham-by-sea

The Stringhenge album is now at the factory. If you pre-order your copy here we will send you a link to the mp3 version of the album.

You can also already buy Stringhenge as FLAC or ALAC files at the full, mastering quality sampling rate (96-24).

The audio quality of these downloads is really quite something – in fact all Richard’s albums are for sale on his site in these formats so that you can here them at the very highest resolution.