Over the last couple of months I’ve played some lovely gigs and radio sessions. I had a wonderful night performing at Norwich Waterfront Studio opening for country singer songwriter Sarah Darling. It was exciting to perform two brand new songs and nice to have the brilliant Noel Dashwood - from renowned local folk trio Alden, Patterson and Dashwood - joining me with his exceptional dobro and harmony vocals. We also earned some great reviews from local publications:
“With dobro player Noel by her side, she opened up the evening with a great array of original songs which she has written over her substantial career as a musician. It was easy to be drawn in by her elegant and classy deliverance.” Huge thanks to the EDP Newspaper for this great mention.
“Lisa performs numbers from her recent Another Place and Time EP, several brand new songs, and also one of my favourites, Carolina Rain from the earlier Slipstream album. Lisa has always moved seamlessly between the worlds of country and folk, but tonight’s set understandably steers more towards the former, and provides a great opener to tonight’sshow.” Thanks also to Outline Magazine for their kind words.
Prior to the tour, I also interviewed Sarah for vocal publication iSing magazine and it was lovely to chat to her in Nashville about her inspirations, new material and vocal care. Sarah sounded absolutely sublime during the show and it was a joy to support her:
http://www.isingmag.com/sarah-
Some live videos from the show have been added to my YouTube channel including
“Carolina Rain” https://youtu.be/_TXq9ljZk3E
New song “I Just Can’t Forget” https://youtu.be/YIeD0650Egs
Whispering Bob TV Session
The following day I had a lovely afternoon recording my second Under the Apple Tree session for WhisperingBobTV in Oxfordshire. It is always special catching up with Bob Harris - who has hugely supported my career - and for this session it was so nice to be reunited with brilliant pedal steel player Alan Cook who played on my second album “Lost Again”.
Look out for the session coming soon on their YouTube channel.
www.youtube.com/user/
Park Radio Session
Shortly after I also recorded a live session and interview for Park Radio, a lovely community radio station based in Diss with an eclectic playlist. There was such a great response when I performed for the live feed that it resulted in orders for my releases. Thanks so much to all of those of you who have listened and ordered my material, look out for me co-hosting a show on the station very soon!
Live session on Park Radio: https://youtu.be/Pma4E-oO0RE
Ramblin’ Roots Revue
Earlier this month I had fun performing at The Ramblin’ Roots Revue, a festival celebrating Americana at Bucks Student Union and it was lovely to be joined again by Alan Cook on pedal steel and dobro. We also recorded a fun live session and interview for Scottish radio show Medicine Music in their moose mobile and the video is on their YouTube channel:
I saw so much amazing live music during the festival including storming sets by Danny & the Champions of the World, Robert Vincent, The Magic Numbers and a fun Tom Petty tribute. It was also lovely to meet Romeo Stodart of The Magic Numbers before their headline set. Catch them at Norwich Arts Centre on June 13 when they will be playing songs from brand new album “Outsiders”.
Performing new song “Anything But Easy” https://youtu.be/-r9BfxNjbf4
Sunday Session at Burnham Deepdale
My next headline show is on June 17, a special acoustic Sunday Session at beautiful Burnham Deepdale. I had a lovely time performing in March at their Hygge Festival. May’s Sunday Session on May 20 features the brilliant local songwriter Jess Morgan who recently released a single called “Whitby”.
Tickets for my Sunday Session are here: https://www.
WOW - Women of the World
Coming up this weekend at OPEN Norwich is WOW – Women of the World festival. Organised in conjunction with Norwich Arts Centre and London’s Southbank Centre, WOW
was founded in 2010 by Southbank Centre’s Artistic Director, Jude Kelly CBE and is now the largest women’s movement in the world, reaching over 1.5 million people in 23 cities across five continents. It is very exciting that it is now happening in Norwich.
With over 100 speakers, 18 panels, workshops, performances, a pop-up marketplace, WOW Bite talks, mentor sessions and keynote speakers, WOW Norwich is going to be a really inspiring, jam-packed weekend of celebration, thought provoking conversation and exploration.
Full listings, weekend and day passes are available here:
http://norwichartscentre.co.
Norfolk and Norwich Festival Preview
May of course brings the Norfolk and Norwich festival which this year is from May 11-27. As usual, world class classic and contemporary music, theatre, circus, visual arts, film, dance and literature will be coming to the city as well as outstanding songwriters, jazz, world and folk music.
A real highlight is acclaimed songwriter, five-time Grammy Award winner Mary Chapin Carpenter, who makes her first appearance at the festival on 17 May at Norwich Theatre Royal. I saw her last year at the Americana UK conference for a fascinating In Conversation with Bob Harris when she discussed her illustrious career, the roots of Americana music and her songwriting process.
Mary will perform songs from her expansive back catalogue and new album “Sometimes Just The Sky” which was produced by one of my favourite producers, Ethan Johns (Ryan Adams, Kings of Leon, Laura Marling). Support comes from Emily Barker who I recently saw perform a stunning solo song at the Americana UK Awards in London where she was this year’s UK Artist of the Year recipient.
Also at Norwich Theatre Royal on May 19 is multi-platinum selling singer-songwriter Ben Folds, widely regarded as one of the major music influencers of our generation. Throughout his career, Folds has created an enormous body of genre-bending musical art that includes pop albums as the front man for Ben Folds Five, multiple solo rock albums, as well as unique collaborative records with artists from Sara Bareilles and Regina Spektor, to Weird Al and William Shatner. Folds will deliver a high-energy performance using the intimacy of just a piano in a concert that will include some of his best-loved songs, as well as more recent compositions.
On 20 May Amanda Palmer will be bringing her electrifying and unique live performance to OPEN Norwich. One half of cult punk-cabaret duo The Dresden Dolls and an alt-rock icon, Palmer is known for her earnest songwriting and vast creative output. Her recent artistic work has diversely leapt from collaborations and film clips to new music, blogs and multi-media art.
For fans of folk music Kathryn Tickell & The Darkening will be leading a band of musicians from England, Scotland and Ireland and bringing some of the oldest Northumbrian songs to life at Norwich Playhouse Theatre on 21 May.
For more details about this year’s Norfolk and Norwich Festival, visit the website: https://nnfestival.org.uk
For all my latest gigs and teaching information please visit my website: www.lisaredford.com
Talented Norfolk Singer and Songwriter Lisa Redford will be teaching Guitar and Ukulele at Wensum Lodge, King Street in Norwich this Spring. These are exciting new music courses being launched in association with Norfolk County Council Adult Learning with taster sessions and 10 week beginners courses.
Passionate about teaching music, Lisa Redford is a local musician and professional music tutor who has been described by legendary BBC broadcaster Bob Harris as "one of our finest singer songwriters". Lisa has earned worldwide acclaim for her heartfelt acoustic music and her original songs have featured on BBC Radio 2 and other radio stations worldwide. Having taught locally for over 10 years as well as in Manchester and New York City, Lisa loves sharing her skills and experience as a touring musician and has performed, written and recorded many songs.
In her latest feature for All Things Norfolk, Lisa focuses on the exciting launch of her fundraising single in aid of Future Radio "This Fine City" about Norwich and how we're all coming together znd overcoming this tough time.
"I began volunteering at Future Radio in 2018, regularly hosting the Afternoon Session and also briefly covering NR Sounds which showcases bands and artists from Norwich and the surrounding areas of Norfolk and North Suffolk. It has been so rewarding and enjoyable to be part of the station - certainly been a real buzz broadcasting live to listeners and sharing my passion for music"
All Things Norfolk business member, singer-songwriter and music tutor Lisa Redford has written and recorded a brand new song at home during the lockdown "From Afar"
Lisa got her inspiration for writing this song when walking in her local area in Norwich and seeing a poster in a window which said "know you are loved from afar" . The song is all about missing loved ones but knowing that we can still love and care from them "From Afar" until we meet again. Once the song was written Lisa then recorded an acoustic version of it from her home studio.
We highly recommend that you take a listen to "From Afar" by visiting https://lisaredford.bandcamp.com/track/from-afar and support this talented local artist by purchasing the song digitally for £1 . You can also view the video by visiting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfnukKmLcqc
It has been a little while since my last All Things Norfolk column. I had a really busy summer playing lots of festivals in the area and further afield. Here in Norfolk I really enjoyed performing at the first F-19 festival, a major new music festival in Feltwell at the stunning St Mary’s Church; all profits from the festival went towards the upkeep of this stunning medieval building.
I was also part of a brilliant line-up for The Waterfront Sessions. It was an all day promoted by The Tilting Sky celebrating some of the regions finest country and Americana artists by the riverside at Norwich Waterfront and it really showcased the wealth of talent here.
In July I also released a single Let Go - the second from my latest EP Edge of Love. It has been receiving some lovely airplay on many stations and shows including BBC Introducing Norfolk. Edge of Love has continued to get great reviews, so much so that I’m excited to be releasing a new single I Just Can’t Forget next month. The ballad, like all of my songs, comes from the heart and has a more soulful country sound with harmonies, piano, pedal steel acoustic and electric guitar
It features terrific local musicians: The Vagaband’s Jose McGill - who also produced the EP - plus Mark Howes from local blues duo Dove and Boweevil and Mikey Shaw on drums. The single has already been performed live in session for Whispering Bob TV’s Under the Apple Tree - intimate live acoustic sessions recorded in the home studio of legendary BBC broadcaster Bob Harris - certainly one of the highlights of my career so far!
I am really excited that the PledgeMusic crowdfunding campaign for my next release is already at 86%! A huge thank you to all those of you who have pledged or shared the project. As an independent artist it really means a lot.
Recording for the new EP has just finished here in Norwich and it has been a really productive and exciting process. As mentioned, I am working with the super talented musician and producer José McGill – band-leader of the award-winning local band Vagaband – who has created some beautiful arrangements and played an array of instruments.
There is also a host of other local musicians who have been involved. Noel Dashwood – from Norwich based folk trio Alden Patterson and Dashwood - has contributed his wonderful dobro and harmonies. We have performed live together in the area playing festivals such as Folk East in Suffolk and supporting Sarah Darling and Eliza Carthy at Norwich Waterfront and OPEN. He will be performing with his trio at Epic Studios on 22nd November opening for renowned folk artists Show of Hands.