Christmas Ceilidh tickets . . .

. . . are on sale now and selling fast, so get yours soon! Available at the MICA or at this Thursday's Session.

Folk Radio UK

Folk Radio UK plays non-stop Folk, Roots, Indie and Alternative music. It's completely free to listen , although the station relies on the good-will of listeners to make voluntary donations which provide the main source of funding.

Regatta Christmas Ceilidh

OK, it's still only October, but it's always a good thing to look ahead. Especially as the busy Christmas season marches inexorably towards us.

So here's advance notice of this year's Christmas Ceilidh at the MICA on Saturday 10th December, featuring The Regatta Ceilidh Band - aka Liz, Tom, Ian, Gary, Adrian, Barry and Greg, with John doing the honours as caller.

If you went along last year you'll know how much festive fun is on offer - not just the liveliest dancing and music on the island, but a fantastic hot supper and as many mince pies with cream as you can eat. This year's Christmas Ceilidh promises to be even bigger and better. So put the date in your diary NOW. Tickets will be on sale at the MICA soon.

The Session's 2nd birthday - 20.10.11

Thanks to Chrissie for these pics from the Session's 2nd birthday celebrations. I've posted some others HERE .

Obituary: Ian Seager, Musician, 1942-2011

As we approach the Mersea Session’s second birthday, it is sad to report the death of one of our few founder members, Ian Seager.

It was a near-empty Coast Inn that hosted our first session in October 2009, when Ian drove all the way from Chelmsford to attend, with Fred Field from Tollesbury. We had a pretty sparse evening until the doors burst open and in walked the Ragged String Band, and the party started.

Ian spent much of the winter months in Malta - he didn’t ‘do’ cold - but when he was at home, he was a regular at Fred’s United Brethren Tuesday evening session in Chelmsford. Before he retired, Ian ran a successful office cleaning business in Chelmsford, employing over 50 people at one point.

Ian said some very kind things to me about my playing and about our session. He declared one particular session, about a year ago as the best session he had ever been to, and I’m not aware that accolade was topped during his last year. He was very kind to Juliet and me in facilitating a short break in Malta last spring, where we stayed with his great friend Joe Grimshaw, but we were to be Joe's last visitors, as he died a short month later, which greatly saddened Ian.

Ian really loved his music-making and played his Polkawerk melodeon with great drive and enthusiasm. Although an infrequent visitor to the Coast session, he is greatly missed at the United Brethren, and it is the mark of the man that the fund that his friend Fred Field has set up in memoriam, which will go the stroke unit at Broomfield Hospital (which looked after Ian so well during his last hours), has topped £270 at last count. I have put in a contribution from his friends at the Coast Inn.

RIP Ian

Greg

Session's 2nd birthday - Thursday 20 October

Don't forget that the Session is 2 years old this Thursday!

Please come along and help us celebrate.

15 October 2011 - FWMPC fundraiser

Four members of the Session were invited to perform at a fundraising shanty evening in aid of Friends of West Mersea Parish Church , which opened with an entertaining talk on the history of sea shanties by Keith Lovell , continued with a delicious seafood supper, and ended with a good hour's-worth of shanties and sea-songs by our very own John, Bill, Barry and Greg - all on extremely fine form. The whole programme was enthusiastically received by the large (and keenly participatory) audience, and the evening's contribution to the restoration project was well into four figures.

Announcing the forthcoming launch of Black Diamond Accordions

Shameless bit of commercial advertising follows:

If you've been to the Thursday Session since August, you may have seen Greg playing a Black Diamond Accordion.

Black Diamond Accordions is Greg and Juliet's new business venture, which will be officially launched on 11-14th November at the Accordions International Festival 2011, Seacroft Holiday Village, Hemsby, Norfolk.

Following a trip to China earlier this year, to visit one of the oldest-established accordion factories, Greg struck an exclusive deal to import and sell a range of accordions in the UK, under our own Black Diamond Accordions branding.

Using Italian reeds to produce an excellent tone, these are high-quality, well designed instruments at extremely affordable prices.

We're currently busy building our website and online shop, designing the catalogue, and organising photoshoots, videos and sound recordings. The website will be launched later this month.

Meanwhile, we are keeping everyone up to date with what's happening by posting news on the Black Diamond Accordions Blog .

There's also a Black Diamond Accordions Facebook Page and you can follow us on Twitter, too, @.BDAccordions.

We'll be selling Black Diamond Accordions via our online shop and at accordion festivals and other events, rather than in traditional high-street music shops, so the faster and louder we can get the new name out there in the big wide world, the better.

Simply by 'liking' our Facebook page, following us on Twitter and telling your friends about Black Diamond Accordions, you will be helping us to spread the word!

THANK YOU!  Juliet and Greg xx

FWMPC Sea Shanties, small talk and Sea Songs, Saturday 15th October

This will be a fun evening. Keith Lovell is hugely knowledgable about the history and origins of sea shanties and a highly entertaining speaker, too. 

Musical 'illustrations' will be provided by a small invited group of 'Coast Inn Players', and there will be an audience singalong session after the seafood supper (which is included in the ticket price, together with a glass of wine).

(If you love sea shanties, see previous post (below) for news of another local event of interest.)

Harwich Shanty Festival - 7th-9th October 2011

If you enjoyed our own (damp but joyous) Shanty Night  in Mersea Week, you'll love the Harwich Shanty Festival, which offers three whole days of music and nautically-themed events.

Details below (click on pics to enlarge) and further info and full programme is available on the festival's website .

Regatta Christmas Ceilidh, 10th December - a clarification

Unfortunately, a misprint has occurred in the current issue of Mersea Life, which lists the Friends of West Mersea Parish Church Christmas Carols Evening as taking place on 10th December - at the same time as the Regatta Christmas Ceilidh!

This has understandably caused some consternation amongst those who were hoping to go to (or indeed perform in) both events.

However, please note that in reality there is no clash of dates.

The FWMPC Christmas Carols Evening, featuring Vocalise and the Moondance Band will be taking place on Tuesday 20th December. See the FWMPC website  for full details of the carols evening, and watch this space for additional info about the Christmas Ceilidh.

The Mayor's Musical Extravaganza - Saturday, 29th October 2011

Last year, as you may remember, the Mayor of West Mersea, Cllr John May - a long-time loyal supporter of music at the Coast Inn - 'borrowed' the Session one Thursday in October,  as part of his mayoral fundraising initiative in support of two special charities close to his heart: Essex Air Ambulance and St Helena Hospice.  The event was a huge success and contributed towards the grand total of £4,500 which John presented to the two organisations earlier this year.

For 2011, John is once again harnessing some of the cream of Mersea's musical talent to raise money for his chosen charities, but this time it's being held at the MICA and will take the form of three distinct sets performed by Vocalise, the Moondance Band, and Blackwaterside (the poster says 'Coast Inn Players' but this is a misprint).

So please put it in your diary and support the Mersea Music Extravaganza on 29th October. Tickets £10, available from the MICA, or from Marion at the Coast Inn on Thursday nights.

Sea Shanties, Small Talk and Sea Songs - Saturday 15th October

Friends of West Mersea Parish Church  are holding a shanties evening in St Peter's Church Hall at 7.30 pm on Saturday, 15th October.

The Revd Keith Lovell - a renowned expert on the subject - will be giving a fascinating talk about the origins of sea shanties and songs, with amusing anecdotes and amazing facts, accompanied musical illustrations by a small group of musicians. 

Tickets are £10, available from the Church Office, and include a seafood supper.

There will be a chance to join in with some well-known shanties in a rousing singalong after the meal.

If you enjoyed Shanty Night at the Coast Inn  last month, then you'll enjoy this!

And while on the subject of the excellent fundraising work of Friends of West Mersea Parish Church, just a reminder that a good-quality DVD of the Friends' inaugural concert "All That Is Mersea" - opening with shanties sung by a group of Coast Inn Players, followed by sets by Cafe Musica, and Vocalise (led by Caroline Laver) - can be purchased for £10 at the Art Cafe or at the Coast Inn on Thursday nights (speak to Greg or Juliet).

Yet more musical diary dates following soon!

Mersea's Christmas Ceilidh 2011 - Saturday 10th December

Advance notice of this year's Mersea Christmas Ceilidh, which will be held in the MICA Centre on Saturday, 10th December, at 7.30 pm. Tickets will include a hot supper, and there will be a bar and raffle.

Fast-paced music by the Regatta Ceilidh Band (aka our very own Session musicians Liz, Sue, Tom, Ian, Gary, Adrian, Barry and Greg). Caller - who else but our very own John Leyland?

If you enjoyed taking part in or watching the dancing on the car park on Regatta Day last month, then do come along on 10th December and bring your family and friends. Children of all ages welcome. A great family night out to start off the festive season.

All profits will go towards funding next year's Song and Dance event at the West Mersea Town Regatta.

More musical dates for your diary coming soon . . . .

Thursday 1.9.2011

Pics this week mostly by Iona.

Good to see so many musicians there - although inevitably the sheer numbers meant that turn-taking took ages to go round the table. Still, swings and roundabouts. And maybe that's the joy of Thursday nights at the Coast Inn - you just never know who'll be there or what'll happen!

West Mersea Regatta Song & Dance 2011

Not a Coast Inn event, but since so many of those who took part are musicians and supporters of the Thursday Session and/or Moondance Club, I've put a gallery of pictures from this year's Regatta Song and Dance on its own page HERE .