OFFGRID with Tom Kitching’s Seasons of Change + Little Big Blue and Stories from Chris Bostock

Fri 18th February 2022 8pm £7 - £11

Location:
Venue Space, Cobalt Studios, 10-16 Boyd Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 1AP

Accessibility:
The Venue Space is fully wheelchair accessible.
If you have any specific requirements please contact us before your visit.

A candlelit night of acoustic folk music and stories…

Tom Kitching uses voice, & fiddle with Marit Falt on Nordic mandolin to tell the story of the year he set out busking over the length and breadth of England in an attempt to read the state of the nation.

Little Big Blue bring the interplay of rhythm and melodic lines, think Penguin Café meets Pentangle vibe. While Chris has all the stories you need to help you dream with open eyes…

Tom Kitching 

Tom Kitching is a fiddle player and travel writer from Cheshire. He is a founder member of BBC Radio 2 folk award nominated Pilgrims’ Way, and is a veteran of over 2000 live gigs. Shortly before the pandemic, he set out busking over the length and breadth of England in an attempt to read the state of the nation. Seasons of Change, a book and album, are the result of this extraordinary journey.

When Tom set off, a little over three years ago, he couldn’t have known he was documenting the end of an era. From being angrily summoned to return to a County Durham coal mining village to halcyon days amongst fellow buskers on the Cornish Riviera. From the heart of the Black Country to the square mile of the City of London.

It was a quest to get to know his own country better, through its native music, a quest completed just in time for the high street to close and the country to head into a state of profound change.

It’s become a moment in time, the before. What will we find when we all finally emerge and take stock of the worst recession on record and the inevitable consequences of our agonising, slow-motion rupture with the EU?

“One of the best books on England in recent years.” Mike Harding

“It’s like reading one long, beautiful song” Lopa Kothari, BBC Radio 3

“There are dozens of folk violinists, but few with the attack, passion, and ingenuity of Tom Kitching. The most beautiful instrumental playing of the year.” – Sunday Express

Little Big Blue + Chris Bostock

Little Big Blue. Stu Finden (mandolin) and Fiona Finden (fiddle), known better as the horn section of Radio 2 Folk Award winning Whapweasel, are joined by Ken Patterson, ‘cello player from acid folk’s Caedmon.

The interplay of rhythm and melodic lines creates a Penguin Café meets Pentangle vibe, as they under-pin Chris Bostock’s intriguing tales.

Chris, a member of A Bit Crack – Storytelling, has all the stories you need to help you dream with open eyes.