Horses Brawl Blog

Merry Seasonal Doo-Dahs!

2010-12-30T10:22:00.000-08:00

Merry Seasonal Doo-Dahs!! Lots has happened since the last news, with the Brighton festival and Norden Farm Arts Centre gigs under our belts we set off down the road to the Granary studio in wee Toft Monks to record the new album ... a D.I.Y affair that saw us both playing and engineering.
We'd decided that the cavernous church sound - though having served us well on the last two albums - needed toning down. So back to the barn where we recorded our debut album.
We had a good couple of days recording and were listening back, but things were not quite hunky dory. Somehow what we had was not matching the sounds we'd imagined and the way we wanted this record to feel.
We left the sessions with a large question mark which has taken a few weeks and quite a lot of soul-searching to digest.... but, a plan has hatched which involves hitting the studio again in feb 2011 to begin again with a fresh approach, a few extra new tunes, and the possibility of (shock, horror!) Multi-tracking - courtesy of Mr John Vigar and his shiny studio.
Its always tricky trying to translate what happens live into a recording and we felt it was time to take off the restrictions we'd subconsciously placed on it and allow ourselves to use the studio as a creative space in order to realise our sound the way it is in our heads!
Soooooo, exciting times ahead. We'll keep you updated on progress and hope to have a launch at some point in 2011.
Meanwhile Laura has a very exciting (re-scheduled) Norwich gig with Handel-addicts 'The Brook Street Band' whose recent 'In Tune' session on radio 3 blew me away. Date tbc.
And I'm off on the bus for more adventures in Plovdiv, Bulgaria with my tamboura teacher Vladimir Vladimirov to soak up some sounds, tricks and ornaments and have some time just writing tunes.
Wishing you all the very bestest for 2011!!

New Photos

2010-11-03T16:57:00.000-07:00

We have new photos. This is our favourite, so I thought I'd put it here.

Coming up we have a gig on Friday in Norwich at Wensum Lodge, then a lot of practising, then a gig at Norden Farm Arts Centre, then recording our new album, then designing and launching our new website, then mastering the album and designing the artwork, then sending it to the magical world of CD manufacturing, followed by a release date in late spring/early summer 2011. Should be good if it all goes in that order.

I forgot to write about the new tune book that Adrian and I are working on so you too can play like Horses Brawl. It will feature the original tunes that we have based some of our pieces on plus our arrangements.

Bloomsbury & Brighton

2010-10-28T14:23:00.000-07:00

The past week has seen us seriously cut down on the tea breaks (a mean feat) in order to get our fingers firmly round all the new material and dust down some oldies ready for the weekend's gigs at Bloomsbury Festival and Brighton Early Music Festival.

It also meant a new early morning regime for me, catching the train to get to Raveningham where Laura is now cosily shacked-up in a lovely country cottage. It involves 6 miles biking and one river-ferry crossing at Reedham! Some amazing sights have been seen though, and I get the weekly countryside dosage plus some new ferryman friends!

The two gigs couldn't have contrasted more. Bloomsbury was in a cold, damp, but beautifully leafy Russell Square where we shared the same stage as our friend Micheal Ormiston, an incredible Tuvan throat singer from north London, and some very sunny sounding African bands that people tapped frozen feet along to. Our contribution to the 'World Music' stage was kind of different, but we revel in not fitting-in anywhere! It was well received though, and you can't beat that special festival adrenaline rush of suddenly finding yourself on stage having not warmed-up with 5mins to plug in and go. Woa!!

Then, off to Brighton.
Walking into St. Bartholomew's church we were met with this incredible ghost-like fog of incense illuminated through a massive circular window above the entrance as we looked up, then up, then up some more. This is one TALL building! Apparently built to the dimensions of Noah's ark (or was that just the after-gig Hobgoblin ale talking?) you could easily host some giraffe acrobatics in this place.

However it was just us, and some not particularly loud instruments - an initially slightly daunting prospect, coupled with the fact that this was the debut of the Brawkestra line-up, 8 musicians in total, with whom we'd never shared a stage before!
However, once everything was set we started getting used to and enjoying the cavernous sound, and even started tweaking some arrangements to use it to its full. One quartet piece (me, Laura, Jim O'toole and Alexsis Bennett) has a build-up to a 4-beat stop which was extended to an 'at Laura's pleasure' stop! It was a real joy to hear the last notes literally fly around the church before we crashed in again.

The gongs were firm favourites, and I had the pleasure of ending the whole concert in a three-some with them, all of us bowing and hitting our respective instruments as everyone else processed off the stage into the sonic ether and left us to what could only be described as a pulsating screeching eerie-ness!! What a way to go!

It had been a lot of work to organise, but it was totally worth every minute, we all had a great time and got some really heart-felt comments from people afterwards. It's the best thing after working away locked up in a room in a musical bubble to then open-out and share it with people and find common ground, especially in such an amazing space.

Sooooooo, onwards. Just the small matter of an album to make and a spring/summer tour to organise! Ooh, and watch out for some new photos of us prancing around on a cold Raveningham day with our friend the very talented mr Dougal Waters at the camera.

Posted By Adrian

Brighton Early Music Festival

2010-10-10T07:44:00.000-07:00

HORSES BRAWL EXTENDED LINE-UP
24th October http://www.bremf.org.uk

So the Brighton early music festival gig is fast approaching and its an exciting time for us as we're venturing into a new project that has its debut at St. Bart's.

The story of the project goes back to spring this year when our idea of an extended line-up became reality with the news that the arts council grant we'd applied for was 'in the bag'. Brilliant news!!! .... But now we had to make it happen.
Because of the nature of the way we work - magpie-ing tunes from all over europe whether folk, medieval, renaissance or baroque, borrowing phrases, repeating fragments, changing notes, playing two tunes on top of each other to create new 'pieces' - everything develops out of improvisation. There is no score, no defined orchestration, so it all had to be dreamed-up.

The original idea that was pitched to BREMF was a 7-piece line-up that would consist of lots of medieval fiddles and an extra guitar. A few brainstorms later and we'd arrived at (quite literally!) a paired-down version, with me and Laura (Horses Brawl) and Arngeir Hauksson and Rebecca Austin-Brown of the Bardos Band on guitar/lute and recorder/medieval fiddle respectively.
The idea was that both mine and laura's instruments had a double, and with some effective arrangement we could achieve a much more expansive sound with only two extra players.
This line-up was then duly sent to BREMF to go in the festival programme ......
But things are never quite that simple!!
We were still hearing other sounds in our heads. Maybe we were just going mad? Or maybe we needed all those fiddles after all.

We wanted a snappy, powerful and concise sound. But we also wanted to explore some sonic landscapes, timbres and textural effects that weren't quite possible with the quartet.
Cue Alexis Bennett (The Early Music Experiment, Dufay Collective) and Jim O'toole (Joglaresa, La Serenissima, English Touring Opera). Both fiddlers have wide experience playing early, folk and contemporary classical music, and were up for jumping on board and delving into some sonic experiments with us.
So, a 6-piece was born, and we were getting closer to realising the sounds in our head ... except we didn't feel they were satiated just yet ... Cue the gongs!

Through her performance masters at the university of east anglia, Laura forged links with the sonic arts department and entered that whole sound-world, creating pieces for solo recorder and computer using Ganassi-style improvisation, and commissioning a piece for tape, voice, electronics and recorder quartet.
Her partner, Andre Bosman, and friend Alex Sanders were both on the course and we knew they'd be on the right wavelength when it came to adding the extra sonic effects we were looking for. We'd watched Alex's band 'Transcept' using gongs to great effect, and decided that was the way forward.
So the two gongs jumped on board, and we've been working at a mix of rhythmic and textural bowing and soft beaters to give eerie sparkle to some of the slower material and some dramatic depth to some of the faster pieces, completing the 8-piece Brighton line-up.

The whole group will come together on the 17th of october for an intensive day rehearsal at Raveningham church, Norfolk, for fine tuning (and lots of other tuning - around 50 strings altogether!) and getting the whole thing to really gel.
I'm really excited to hear it all together - a culmination of lots of organising, work ... and fun! Also to hear how the various pieces reflect the moods and seasonal rituals we've identified them with for the Harvest Queen programme.
The program consists of brand new material for our forthcoming album and some pieces from our last album 'Wild Lament'.
We reflected on all the music and came up with the concept, which takes themes, rituals and personal journeys from points around the whole yearly cycle with the harvest as its axis as fundamental in sustaining life throughout the year. Each musical piece reflects a piece within this cycle.
St Bart's has an amazing acoustic that is both immediate and clear and at the same time richly reverberant, so I think it'll be the perfect place to debut the new project- and at one of our favourite festivals! I hope to see you there.

Adrian

FREE SUMMER CONCERT AT THE RAVENINGHAM CENTRE

2010-07-24T04:32:00.000-07:00

On Sunday 1st August the Ravenous Café plays host to a thrilling line-up of musicians. Laura Cannell (originally from Raveningham) is hosting an afternoon of music performed by highly acclaimed musicians, including her own duo Horses Brawl (described by The Times as ‘Virtuoso Magpie Musicians), baroque and folk fiddle player Jim O’Toole from Pakefield and members of the Norfolk folk supergroup – The Rampant Horse Collective.

Laura is currently working on a project with Horses Brawl which is funded by the Arts Council of England and will see them performing their new works at the prestigious Brighton Early Music Festival and National Portrait Gallery Friday Concert Series amongst others. She is also the current recipient of a grant awarded to her by the Musician’s Benevolent Fund, enabling Laura to research into various fiddle styles. Alongside a selection of medieval, baroque and folk music, Laura has also invited some of her most promising recorder students to perform.

Horses Brawl have recently returned from a six week tour of England which included a sell out date at Leasowes Bank Arts Festival in Shropshire, Leigh Folk Festival in Essex, The Grassington Festival in North Yorkshire with Storyteller Hugh Lupton, The Wymondham Festival, The Square Chapel in Halifax and Quay Arts centre on the Isle of Wight where they were filmed live in concert for the UK Entertainment Channel.

The Café will be serving a ‘Tea Party’ menu, which includes cucumber sandwiches, homemade cupcakes and lashings and lashings of ginger beer!
The Café is open from 10am – 5pm and the performance is from 2pm – 4pm.
Information and table bookings please call: 01508 548406

doodlesac

2010-04-12T05:07:00.001-07:00

The great tune search of 2010 has begun....i'm not off to a bad start, just getting my hands on as much music that fits into my very picky self determined boundaries.

At the minute I'm re-writing and and being inspired by Northumbrian pipe tunes and really early European doodlesac tunes.
Branles, Gavottes, Galliards, Pavanes, Hornpipes, Swedish tunes and general Bagpipe tunes. Will def have to save up for more smallpipes (having sold the last lot last year to pay the rent...stupid money!)

Yesterday we did a nice little gig at the Ravenous Cafe: me, Jim O'Toole and Adrian. It was packed and really friendly.

Today is also recorder lessons day, one down two to go... all very nice and enthusiastic people so really good to teach.

www.lauracannell.co.uk

2010-03-17T08:11:00.000-07:00

Yes, that should be www.lauracannell.co.uk
Can't seem to spell my own name!!!

On Tour March 17th

2010-03-17T07:57:00.000-07:00

Just waiting for Adrian to arrive for a quick practice in preparation fro tomorrow's gig in Pembrokeshire in Wales tomorrow. Enjoying a bowl full of sugar snap peas and looking forward to a few days gig advenures but know I am going to miss the boy and the cat!

Anyway, I've re-done and put up my new website so www.lauracammell.co.uk should be up and running and a bit more up to date than the previous one.

Better tune up, pack up and have a cup of tea.

Adrian here now.....

HB Mailout

2010-03-02T04:42:00.000-08:00

Just a quick reminder that this week we are performing at:

NORWICH ARTS CENTRE
Thursday 4th (supported by My Dark Aunt)
Box Office: 01603 660352
&
THE SEAGULL THEATRE - Lowestoft
Friday 5th March
Box Office:
01502 589726

FREE TICKETS
We have 2 pairs of complimentary tickets to give away for this weeks gigs:
1 pair for Norwich - GONE NOW - and 1 pair for Lowestoft.
Whoever emails first will win them! (please state which venue you would like tickets to).

NEWS NEWS NEWS
We have just received some very good news from The Arts Council of England...

They have awarded us a substantial lottery grant for a development project that we proposed to take place over the next 12 months. We are really excited because it means we will be able to spend more time developing our music and trying out new compositions with an extended line up of musicians! We will be working towards a new album and new touring. Norwich Arts Centre have been a huge support with the project so far and so we want to encourage people to support them by going to lots of gigs!

Anyway, we will let you know what happens with the project but in the meantime, we have a few new pieces ready for their world premieres this week!
Hope to see you somewhere soon.

Best wishes

Laura & Adrian

Beccles and Bungay 26th Feb 2010

2010-02-26T02:17:00.001-08:00

Folk band celebrates grant

26 February 2010

A FOLK band has been awarded a substantial grant from the Arts Council of England's lottery funding.

Horses Brawl, made up of Laura Cannell from Raveningham and Adrian Lever, from Burgh St Peter, are celebrating the cash that enables them to carry out a year-long project.

The new funding will help the duo create new music in their own inimitable style, which has roots in folk and early music, as well as working with top London PR company SoundUK and producing their fourth album.

They will also be working with an extended line-up of some of the UK's leading early/folk musicians and with whom they have just been invited to perform at Brighton Early Music Festival in October 2010.

“We are so excited that the Arts Council has recognised the uniqueness of our work. We are really grateful for their support and also everyone who has supported us by coming to concerts and buying our CDs over the years, especially in Norfolk,” said Laura, who went to Hobart High School.

“What we do has never been easy to pigeon hole and this has been challenging and frustrating at times, but we are so glad that we stayed focussed and true to our music as now we have this amazing opportunity to take our music and careers to the next level,” she added.

Horses Brawl originally formed in January 2003 and has released three highly acclaimed albums. They have been recorded live in concert for the BBC and broadcast live on BBC Radio 3's In Tune as well as performing widely at festivals and Arts Centres throughout the UK.

The experimental duo improvises with phrases and fragments of music drawn from more than eight centuries they transform them into their own mesmerising and spellbinding compositions.

The project is being supported by Norwich Arts Centre manager Stuart Hobday and the Escalator Scheme, part of the Arts Council

Horses Brawl are currently on their spring tour and are playing at Norwich Arts Centre on Thursday (box office: 01603 660352) with support from My Dark Aunt and The Seagull Theatre in Lowestoft next Friday (box office: 01502 589726)

fiddlyriddlydiddly

2010-02-22T02:37:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I was the tutor for a fiddle workshop in Stowmarket. It was an intensive two hours and we managed to cover lots of technical stuff as well as a couple of tunes. There was the most amazing sunset on the way back through the countryside, with a slight detour to a friends for a cup of tea. That's one of the things I love most about Norfolk, the sunset over fields as far as the eye can see. It makes the whole land glow in a warm light.

We have two gigs next week, Norwich Arts Centre and The Seagull Theatre, the latter I haven't been to since playing a very rubbish Queen Brittania (on a zimmer frame).

So anyway, we are going to be performing 4 new pieces, so had better get practising!

Arts Council & Touring

2010-02-17T06:44:00.000-08:00

We're back into performing now, having played in Luton Library Theatre, The King of Hearts, The Cut Arts Centre, and a few smaller gigs.

March is looking very busy with touring around England plus I'm adjudicating at a music festival and running a folk orchestra workshop plus a fiddle workshop in Stowmarket.

Also, the big news is that I have just found out that we got the Arts Council funding I applied for in December, and we found out two months earlier so this means we can start putting the new project into action and set about writing new music for the next album.

It's all really exciting and an amazing opportunity to really develop our music.

I'm still in the middle of my Fiddle project too which is funded by the Musician's Benevolent Fund, so I am feeling very lucky and very busy trying to fit everything in.

the next gig is on March 4th at Norwich Arts Centre with support from My Dark Aunt, which I'm really looking forward to.... they are a moving and magical band.

Anyhoo, we're waiting for the new fiddle cd to come back, I hope it sounds as good as I remember it sounding!

Workshop News

2009-11-23T01:48:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we ran our first Horses Brawl workshop in Norwich, we had 9 participants on a mix of fiddles, flutes, mandolins and guitar. We talk the tunes by ear and then had a cup of tea of course, and then worked together on an arrangement which was really good.

Only one more HB concert til 2010! This seems quite weird after having so many, but we have so much writing to do. So hopefully there will be shiny new album next year.

I'm also planning a tune book with some of our source tunes in it, especially the traditional and anonymous ones, and a few of mine and Adrian's. That's a good winter project I think.

Anyway, need to practice for the Dragon Hall gig this Friday and then Cupid Dart's first concert on Wednesday. And teach, and write programme notes and write a huge proposal, and go to London for a medieval fiddle lesson. SO i'd better get on with it...croissant first though.

2009-11-04T14:02:00.000-08:00

It's been a busy couple of months with performances up and down the country, we've really enjoyed our touring but it's good to be back in Norfolk especially as we have some exciting things coming up here.

Sunday 15th November
THE TWA CORBIES - folk gig
at The Raveningham Centre, 2pm -4pm FREE ENTRY
Traditional folk from Britain and beyond with two of East Anglia's finest fiddlers,
Laura Cannell & Jim O'Toole plus special guest on guitar Adrian Lever.
This is a rare chance to hear the unadorned folkier side of Horses Brawl with
our new friend Jim, a fantastic baroque and folk fiddler.

Sunday 22nd November
HORSES BRAWL ORCHESTRA WORKSHOP
at Dragon Hall, 1pm - 4pm
Open to all ages and instruments.
Workshop costs £30 / £25, please book through the
Dragon Hall Box Office: 01603 663922
enquiries info@horsesbrawl.co.uk

Friday 27th November
HORSES BRAWL CONCERT
at Dragon Hall, 7.30pm (doors 7pm)
Tickets £7.50 Box Office: 01603 663922 or on the door
Fresh back from their autumn tour, Horses Brawl present:
A stirring musical journey spanning six centuries, conjuring high
dancehalls, low ballrooms and lamenting lovers. With recorders, fiddle,
crumhorn and bowed guitar, Horses Brawl spellbind audiences with
energetic and haunting performances including music from their
latest album, a collection of pieces arranged and composed from
fragments of ancient melodies, intertwined with raucous traditional
folk music from England and Europe, plus new pieces.

Wednesday 2nd December
CUPID'S DART
The United Reform Church, Princes Street, Norwich, 7.30pm (doors 7pm)
A thrilling new trio performing English baroque music.

Lisa Cassidy - Soprano
Laura Cannell - Recorders
Carolyn Gibley - Harpsichord

Tickets £12 (includes wine and mince pies)
available from Prelude Records 01603 628319 (or on the door)

ipod day

2009-10-27T08:34:00.000-07:00

I'm listening to my iPod on shuffle today, trying to get ahead with proposals and updating CV and having a bit of a cold. Currently it is Chris Wood and it has been, His majesty's sagbutts and cornetts, Dram from Sweden, Horses Brawl, Bach, Cecelia Bartoli doing Vivaldi, Kathryn Tickell, some anonymous Norwegian and Swedish fiddle players, Musica Antiqua of London, Red Priest... that's all I can remember hearing today, it's very enjoyable!

Anyway, enough of that, I'm trying to keep still and have a cold today so that I am on top form for the 3 gigs with Horses Brawl this week! Really looking forward to them.

Now we're in medieval Spain, lots of plucked instruments.... pretty amazing.

Better get on...new tunes to write...

On the road again...

2009-10-12T09:43:00.000-07:00

We've been trying out some of Adrian's new tunes today, they've got a Bulgarian feel, and an english sense of harmony. Hopefully something will magically appear out of them!

We've got three concerts this week as part of the Rural Tour in Nottinghamshire, should be fun, I really like these ones. Last weeks' concert and workshop at the Colchester Institute was really fun. We had BA undergrad guitarists and wind players taking part in creating a new piece, with some good ideas. The concert was great fun too, a very friendly and appreciative audience and some of them had seen us twice this year.

Plans are in the pipeline for a new EP, we have two definite new tracks and 1 almost finished one, hopefully we'll get it out before Christmas! and hopefully before our date at Dragon Hall on November 27th.

must go and move the car now, I'm borrowing one which doesn't fit in the garage and I don't have a parking space! good excuse for a ride around the city.

Autumn Tour and Orchestra Workshop

2009-10-02T11:38:00.000-07:00

We have a busy couple of months ahead with 9 concerts and plans to record an EP in November. And for those of you who like the idea of a Horses Brawl Orchestra, we are running a workshop at Dragon Hall in Norwich which is open to instrumentalists of all ages. We will be taking some traditional folk tunes and a fragment of and early tune and working with the group to create an exciting new piece. Please find details below.

Hope to see you somewhere soon!
Best wishes

Laura & Adrian

October 7th, 2009 COLCHESTER INSTITUTE, Swinburne Hall.
October 15th, 2009 EDENHAM VILLAGE HALL Lincolnshire
October 16th, 2009 ALFORD MANOR HOUSE Lincolnshire
October 17th, 2009 BARKSTON & SYSTON VILLAGE HALL, Grantham
October 23rd, 2009 BRACEBOROUGH & WILSTHORPE VILLAGE HALL, Lincolnshire
October 29th, 2009 THE STABLES, Wavendon, Milton Keynes
October 30th, 2009 MAPLEBACK VILLAGE HALL, Nottinghamshire
October 31st, 2009 GROVE STREET METHODIST CHURCH, Nottinghamshire
November 22nd, 2009 WORKSHOP at Dragon Hall, Norwich (details below)
November 27th, 2009 NORWICH Dragon Hall 01603 663922

Please visit www.horsesbrawl.co.uk for further details

MUSIC WORKSHOP with HORSES BRAWL
Sunday 22nd November at Dragon Hall, King Street, Norwich
1pm - 4pm
£30 / £25 concs
This is an excellent opportunity to find out how the duo write their award-winning and highly acclaimed music and an excellent chance to create a new music with a mixed group of instruments. Horses Brawl will teach tunes by ear (sheet music will also be available) and work with participants to create a new piece of music. The duo have run similar workshops at Universities and festivals around the country but never before in their home city, so come and help us to create the Horses Brawl orchestra for an afternoon.

The workshop is open to players of stringed instruments i.e. violin, viola, cello, guitar, harp and soft winds i.e. recorders, flutes, whistles and early instruments including crumhorns/smallpipes etc. We recommend that recorder players bring at least two sizes of recorder possible. Pegs, sponges and stickers will be provided.... you will find out why!

Ability: Players must be able to hold a tune confidently.
We will be working by ear, but music will also be available. If you are unsure of your standard or have any enquiries please contact Laura on 01603 305399 or email info@horsesbrawl.co.uk
All ages are welcome
Pitch A=440 (normal concert pitch)
Friends/Partners/Parents can arrive at 3.45pm to hear an informal performance of the new piece.

To book a place please contact Dragon Hall Box Office on 01603 663922 more information at www.dragonhall.org

Saltaire Festival Review Sept 09

2009-09-28T00:48:00.000-07:00

Horses Brawl, Saltaire, 11 September, 2009

ONE of the advantages of the Early Music Shop’s (relatively) new location in Saltaire is the fact that some charismatic venues are close at hand for occasional concerts. One is Sir Titus Salt’s Congregational Chapel and another is the interior of Salt’s Mill itself.

Both, obviously, are Victorian structures. But they betray the influence of earlier architectural styles and are perfectly sympathetic locations for renaissance and baroque music.

In the case of the mill, performances take place in a bare space where power looms once wove alpaca cloth day and night. But when the duo Horses Brawl performed to a large audience here they did so between cast iron pillars which were almost reminiscent of a renaissance theatre.

deconstructed renaissance/medieval music performed in a nineteenth century mill to a surreal backdrop of pastiche-eighteenth century theatre designs by a contemporary artist – this was actually perfectly appropriate in the case of Horses Brawl.

Laura Cannell (recorders, violin, crumhorn) and Adrian Lever (guitar) can be categorised as an ‘early music’ duo because of their sources and influences. But the extent to which they reinvent their material and do so, especially in Adrian’s case, on ‘modern’ instruments, means that they are a long way from the authenticist movement.

Not that this invalidates the creative process behind their repertoire. Nor does it diminish the impact of their musicianship.

Adrian Lever’s playing of a steel strung guitar, using a variety of capos, tunings and techniques – including a bow which made his instrument sound like a viol consort – is thoroughly ingenious and shows his determination to explore its potential.

Laura Cannell plays the fiddle with panache and her full-bodied, uninhibited recorder playing makes one realise that this staple early music instrument does not have to sound insipid and tentative.

The duo assembles its repertoire from fragments of early melodies – such as medieval dances, excerpts from sacred polyphony and eighteenth century folk tunes – and creates a post-modern musical melange that stands outside time. None of it was ‘renaissance thrash’ – the duo’s sets were, in general, rather contemplative and required concentration from the audience.

This is not ‘early music’ in a musicological sense. But, for many us, playing and listening to early music is all about reinvention and renewal – seeking an alternative musical route to the classical canon or the ubiquity of pop. Horses Brawl are perfect products of this philosophy, And Sir Titus Salt’s mill was a perfect accompaniment.

William Marshall

More reviews

2009-08-16T00:41:00.000-07:00

We just got a review in Properganda Magazine...

"Horses Brawl are Norwich-based duo of Laura Cannell (fiddle, recorder, crumhorn) and guitarist Adrian Lever (Philip Thorby guests on recorder and viol on four tracks). Wild Lament is the duo's third album and is quite exquisite.

What Horses Brawl do is adapt fragments of melodies of early music and create something start and startling. An immediate comparison would be with A Hawk And A Hacksaw (male-female duo who successfully adopt East European traditional melodies) yet Horses Brawl sound nothing like AHAAHA, instead they draw on old British and French Melodies alongside referencing folk music from Bolivia, Bulgaria and long forgotten classical composers.

The result is an eerie music, quite beautiful if at times intense and rightly demanding. There's nothing twee here, none of the singer-songwriter cliches that are often pushed as 'folk' these days. Instead, Wild Lament is exactly what it says - haunted, feral music that stretches from our century back to medieval times."

We're spending some time writing and researching tunes and this week will start in earnest rehearsing our sets for our forthcoming touring throughout September and October. I can't wait! But in the mean time, there are two new pieces and at least two others which are about to go through the brawl machine. Sweden seems to be making quite an appearance at the moment, so amazing tunes keep being found.

But for today, I think I will have a croissant, let the cat out, play said tunes and perhaps go and pick up a rather nice pair of old chairs.

fRoots Review JULY 09

2009-06-19T10:01:00.000-07:00

This just out...

Horses Brawl Wild Lament

“For their third album, Laura Cannell (recorders, fiddle) and Adrian Lever (bowed and prepared guitar) continue their progressive experiments and improvisations around tunes with roots in trad and early music. Though at times more inward-looking than hitherto, Wild Lament still converys the as-live essence of the urgency, intimacy and inventiveness of the duo’s music-making.”

factorium

2009-06-19T01:43:00.000-07:00

We are practising at the factory today, my car is fixed (maybe I left the light on and it drained the battery...but how rubbish that one little bulb could do that! it's hardly my fault!)

We're running the sets for tomorrow's concert at The Red Hedgehog in Highgate, not really sure what to expect, will just have to wait and see.

There's a couple of new pieces in the pipeline, one of them has part of a Scottish tune written down and arranged by James Oswald in the 18th century and then collected in the notebook of an officer in George Washington's army and then ordered by me over the internet, so I have this little collection of tunes well travelled. The next bit has a new version of the Bellingham Boat, a northumbrian tune, slightly re-arranged. and I think there's also a reference to a Pierre Attaignment galliard.

hopefully we'll get a chance to develop that some more today and then we need to make some time to get some more gigs, so we can get on the road again. September and October are looking pretty good so far, and we have a few over the summer.

Laura
xxx

Songlines Magazine

2009-06-17T11:06:00.000-07:00

Apparently Wild Lament is reviewed in Songlines Magazine which comes out tomorrow.
DOn't know what it'll be like, hope it's good. Watch out for it....

Red Hedgehog Pie

2009-06-16T03:55:00.000-07:00

A slightly less stressful week this week. Monday night we played our first session at The Rumsey Wells, traditional Irish based, not Horses Brawl at all although Adrian and I were playing. It was also with the excellent Kate Ross and Tessa on flutes and whistles. It was really nice to sit and pass tunes around - having to think of a tune and keep it all up in the air was a good test, like a volley, we dropped it a couple of times.

Yesterday I also put together an article for The Recorder Magazine. Today, a bit of tune research, general practice and I'm giving a few fiddle lessons. Tomorrow, a couple of whistle workshops in Schools in Thetford. Thursday and Friday Horses Brawl rehearsals and a bit of onepage updating with our new album quotes and Saturday we have an afternoon and evening gig at The Red Hedgehog. Followed by Adrian's solo gig at Raveningham on Sunday afternoon...bit scared to look at next week, but I think the madness has calmed down a bit at least.

Feeling very positive about things, though am regretting trying a good violin, there's still no turning back!

Anyone want to by a baroque violin?

Derby Telegraph Review from Friday

2009-06-15T09:21:00.000-07:00

We just got sent this from Friday which may or may not be put in the paper, but the review exists so here it is...

"Horses Brawl, Assembly Rooms, Derby, 12.6.09 (Mike Wheeler)

A band that cites Kathryn Tickell and Cecilia Bartoli among its influences has to be worth hearing. Horses Brawl comprises Laura Cannell - recorders, fiddle and (though not on this occasion, sadly) crumhorn - and Adrian Lever, guitar. Together they roam the overlap area between mediaeval and Renaissance music on the one hand and folk music on the other, picking up whatever takes their fancy, putting their material together in unexpected combinations, and seeing what emerges.

Mixing and matching composed music from Renaissance Spain and Italy, English folk dance tunes and traditional music from as far afield as Bulgaria and Bolivia, they blend these disparate elements to the point where it is sometimes not easy to hear where one stops and the other takes over.

Anything and everything can be grist to their mill. In 'Pase El Agua' they bounce a courtly love song from Renaissance Spain off a traditional tune which Adrian Lever brought back from a recent visit to Bulgaria. Landini's Ecco la Primavera is paired up with the English tune, The Bonny Miller. Another Bulgarian tune is blended with the second soprano part of Ludwig Senfl's motet Ave Rosa Sine Spinis.

All this is fascinating enough. But what makes the results so exciting and refreshing is the pair's virtuosity and sonic imagination. Laura Cannell doesn't just switch between treble and descant recorder, she occasionally plays both at the same time. On the violin she uses both a baroque and a modern bow, she mutes the lower two strings only to produce a hurdy-gurdy effect, and she plays the instrument guitar-style, using a plectrum. Adrian Lever's guitar-playing can be hauntingly subtle, or rhythmically incisive, with ear-deceiving percussion sounds, and he produces some magically resonant drone effects using Laura's violin bow.

And I bet you didn't know that you can use an Oyster card as a guitar mute."

The Times and Derby

2009-06-14T10:35:00.000-07:00

On Friday night we played in Derby at the The Assembly Rooms. It was a great gig, very friendly audience and lots of autograph signings in the interval...!

Wild Lament is selling well and the reviews are still coming in. On Saturday there was a review in The Times Newspaper, see below:

"Impossible to pigeonhole the Horses Brawl duo, Laura Cannell and Adrian Lever. Armed with recorders, fiddle, guitar, and guest artist Philip Thorby, they build improvised fantasias from scraps of medieval chansons, folk music and other ancient history. Ancient, but not dead; your foot taps and heart sings as these virtuoso magpie musicians duck and weave, making Northumbrian hornpipes and Guillaume de Machaut share common ground. A breath of fresh air."
Geoff Brown, THE TIMES 4 out of 5 stars.

Yesterday my car decided to die just when I was going to pick up Adrian for our gig at The Locks in Geldeston... grrrrrr... but Marmalmade very kindly came and saved the day and got us to the gig which was really nice, a sunny mini festival at a pub by a lock, down a mile long track where Adrian and I both used to go when we were at school. Then the lovely Al was our next transporter, he picked us up from the middle of the countryside and took us to Raveningham to prepare for the concert in the cafe. We did a little guest appearance with Sian Croose and Big Sky Choir, to a small but appreciative audience. Then a lift back to norwich to have a drink at the Playhouse.

It was a long old week, but full of music and ideas and reviews (our interview in MUSO is also out now).

Time to make some bread now, the website is updated, the washing hung out and I need to try and work out how to buy a new fiddle and a car...

maybe some wine will help with my maths!

xxxx

WILD LAMENT by HORSES BRAWL OUT TODAY

2009-06-08T03:27:00.000-07:00

There has been alot going on! And I had such good intentions of writing it down too!

Anyway to summerise:
The album is out today
We are on BBC Radio 3 tomorrow on 'In Tune'
I have just finished a mini baroque recorder and harpsichord tour.
Adrian has just finished a theatre project
We have been getting reviews for the new album in the following publications-
The Independent, The Guardian, Muso, Early Music Today with more to follow over the next couple of months.

I have received an award from The Musicians Benevolent Fund for a year's worth of study into fiddle techniques.

Fiona Talkington is going to play our CD on Late Junction on Radio 3 on June 23rd.

The London Launch is on June 20th at The Red Hedgehog in Highgate.

We are in Derby on Friday

It is all very exciting!

Swaledale Festival last week was great, fantastic beautiful lanscape and we met Clare Salaman, a fantastic multi-instrumentalist who was playing with the Ian MacMillan Orchestra.

We also supported Cara Dillon a couple of weeks ago, which was great! She was lovely and Adrian was really pleased to meet Ed Boyd.

I met Anthony Rowland Jones yesterday at my recorder concert in Cambridge....(that's for recorder geeks only!) which was really interesting.

and that's all for now, but there's still lots to catch up on.
xxxx

Horses Brawl ticket competition and stuff

2009-03-01T10:32:00.000-08:00

Dear Horses friends,

A few people have asked whether we'll be playing live at the launch and the answer is... YES! Adrian, Philip and I will be performing music from the new album WILD LAMENT and there will be nibbles and a bar. We will be staying around to chat (and have a drink) and we hope that you will join us.

In February we gave concerts and workshops at Anglia Ruskin University, the University of Wolverhampton, and a performance at The Everyman Folk Club which was great fun.
The album will be officially released in June into shops etc. but tickets are now on sale for our launch party on Friday 27th March at Dragon Hall in Norwich, 7.30pm.
Tickets £5. Box office: 01603 663922.javascript:void(0)

THE GREAT ALBUM LAUNCH TICKET GIVE AWAY..... but first you have to get creative!
We've got three pairs of tickets to give away, to win a pair of tickets, we want you to describe Horses Brawl in no more than 20 words.
Email us info@horsesbrawl.co.uk with your description and we will publish the best ones on our website.

Other concerts coming up:

March 14th 2009
Re-Chord Air at Norwich Arts Centre
Composers and recorder players join Laura Cannell (Horses Brawl) to perform groundbreaking premiers of works especially commissioned for this evening. Acoustic and electro-acoustic, solo and chamber, improvised and composed. Fragmented sounds juxtaposed with drones, real-time laptop improvisation and contemporary and ancient instrumental techniques. Haunting and virtuosic playing from some of the UKs leading recorder players including Laura Cannell and Ferdia Stone-Davis featuring new works by Andre Bosman, Laura Cannell, Jason Dixon and Liam Wells.
Tickets 01603 660352

March 15th 2009
Strings, Necks and Frets at The Raveningham Centre
Adrian Lever & Friends perform on various instruments in styles from around the world including: Tambura, guitars and ukeleles.
1pm - 3pm Free Entry

March 20th
The Cut - Halesworth
Horses Brawl & Philip Thorby

March 21st
The Paine Festival - Diss Corn Hall
Horses Brawl concert followed by a ceilidh with The Rampant Horse Collective

April 18th 2009
TUNE-UP Folk Day at The Raveningham Centre
A day of workshops for fiddle, flute, whistle, guitar and voices with Adrian Lever, Laura Cannell, Kate Ross and Jennie Cassidy.
Plus in the evening:
Showcase Concert & Ceilidh
For info on tickets and booking visit www.norfolkfiddle.co.uk or call 01508 548406 for more details.

info@horsesbrawl.co.uk
www.lauracannell.co.uk
www.horsesbrawl.co.uk

I can talk!

2009-02-23T11:47:00.000-08:00

For Britain....this is what I discovered today when I was invited to give a two hour seminar to MA students at the University of East Anglia. I was worried about filling the time but apparently once I start I can't stop!

The album artwork is 99% done.... can't wait to get it sent off.

But mostly can't wait for people to hear it and to get on the road!

artwork complete

2009-02-22T15:17:00.000-08:00

I've done it... I've made the new album artwork. With a massive help from Dougal Water's photo shoot on Thursday, and two days solid of sitting and throwing away lots of ideas. I am happy, I think it looks cool and can't wait to get it produced and out into the world!

I forgot what a big thing it is! A lot of work and then hopefully people will like our tunes and we will be able to start writing some new ones again and do lots more performing.

let's keep our fingers crossed that I've done it all right!!!!

Tomorrow I am giving a seminar at the University of East Anglia about professional practice as a creative entrepreneur! It's been interesting preparing, it's made me look at alot of the work that has gone in over the past 5 years.

comfort zones

2009-02-21T12:25:00.000-08:00

We just did a concert and workshop at Anglia Ruskin University and the same at the University of Wolverhampton. the first was a strange concert set up as the theatre was set up for a musical and so there was a massive orchestral pit between us and the audience, we got a good response, but it was hard to tell until I got some nice emails a few days later. the workshop was a little strange as we thought that it was going to be a practical workshop but no-one had brought any instruments! so Adrian and I ended up giving a lecture recital about ourselves for just over an hour, and it felt like the longest hour ever. you may think I like to talk about myself but that was pushing it. luckily i have alot of musical epiphanies up my sleeve. I put a lot in but who knows if it was useful to anyone else. SImilar in Wolvehampton, though great lecturer and very keen of shaking things up a bit, so we did i think. We took people out of their comfort zones I think (sorry!) but there were some amazing results, some great musicians and energy and some people not ready to go for it. And some who seemed really annoyed by the challenge which is as good to me as someone getting really into it... I don't want to rile people but if it challenges you, you will get something out of it.

I now know that I do not want to become a lecturer, I like doing it randomly and workshops and seminars are great, but it is all consuming, I don't know how I could be a performer and give so much to other people through teaching. Teaching isn't the easy option, I definitely can't even do have and have, it tales the same kind of energy and for me gives satisfaction but I expect so much from people, so I'd rather expect alot from myself and not get annoyed!

Anyway, having said that I'm really looking for to the fiddle party I'm holding on saturday at my house and to TUNE-UP Folk Day in April.

I think the roasted vegetables may be done, smells that way....

Badpipes

2009-02-06T11:49:00.000-08:00

I just got some Smallpipes!
One drone in D with an E drone hole too. Can't wait til I can co-ordinate everything, but getting a few tunes already!

The album is recorded! we're mixing next week in Lincolnshire.

A couple of lunchtime concerts coming up followed by workshops for undergraduates at Anglia Ruskin University and The University of Wolverhampton.

I'll be really glad when the nights start getting lighter! I love the countryside but it's just soooo dark!

I'm getting the artwork ready and we have arranged the pre=release party for March 27th and the official release will be June (date tbc)

It's always such an uncertain time, Initially we have to like what we are writing, then we have to play it as well as we imagine it can be, then we have to give it a visual aspect, then we hope that people are moved by it somehow... what a precarious life!

New photos next week with Dougal, it's all go for the brawl.
anyway back to the roasted veg lasagne, it must be time to stir something
xxxx

Album is recorded

2009-01-24T14:39:00.000-08:00

Just got home from three days recording in Raveningham CHurch. It was COLD! but we managed to take the edge off. I think my arms have done as much as they can for a couple of days, it's like performing six hours a day, each times has to be a performance and we ended up like wibbly things! Philip joined us just today and we did 4 tracks and thursday and friday we did 3 each day. It was full on, and Ken Blair who was our sound engineer and co-producer was brilliant!

Can't wait to listen to it again in a few days, I think it's time to have a nice warm bath.

twitter twooooo

2009-01-20T14:34:00.000-08:00

Now I have a twitter, though having said that I probably won't be able to update it very much over the next couple of days since we'll be recording and busy. But it is www.twitter.com/laurarecorder

tunes are ready to record, I think!
The launch party is now going to be March 17th NOT May 9th as previously posted! it'll be at Dragon Hall in Norwich, the event of the month!!!

Yes, it is slightly backwards announcing the release before we've entirely decided anything else, but it gives us focus... and who doesn't like a party!

better go and work out which clothes are comfy and warm yet not too frumpy to record in a Norfolk church in!

moved the bridge on my fiddle today as Adrian suggested, improved the sound a bit, but it still aint right ever since it divided itself from the fingerboard. Fingers crossed it sounds good in the recording. It is slightly better, but I could be imagining that!

Dixieland Jazz and hungover

2009-01-18T11:14:00.000-08:00

Today Andre and I went to my mum and dads www.norfolkrugs.co.uk to see a free afternoon concert by the Dixie Jazz Bandits, it was truly great! the perfect remedy to a very slight over-doing it session last night! I never even new I liked it, but they were just so laid back yet amazing improvisers, it almost made me want to take up the cornet again! but i'll see how i go with the english smallpipes first!

Anyhoo, off to an Irish session in Norwich now and then practice practice practice all the days long untill we record the mighty horse's new album on thurs, fri and sat!

A good night at Norwich Arts Centre

2009-01-17T03:22:00.000-08:00

It went well last night, it's so strange playing to at home! it's really good but you just keep recognising people every time you look up and want to smile. It feels like the first time all of the new pieces have really come together even though we were still finalising some notes in the sound check!

We changed the staging of it slightly so that whenevr we had Philip and I playing the recorder he would move to the side and we would play in stereo, this worked so much better than it has been recently with everyone staying in one place.

we had Jerry doing the sound and he is absolutely amazing, he makes everthing sound like it isn't coming through a pa, but is completely natural, he is the best sound engineer we've ever worked with, he completely gets us. Only trouble is he is so much in demand all over the world we have to keep our fingers crossed he is in the county when we are next playing here. ANyway enough gushing!

only five days till we start the album. I'm getting excited now, just need to make sure we get in and warm the church up enough in advance so our fingers will actually move.

Woken up by the cat poking my chin this morning and then squashing me, can't wait til she falls a sleep, then we'll see how she likes it!

gig tonight

2009-01-16T05:51:00.000-08:00

We're off to the arts centre in a bit.... stupid break lights on the car have gone though so waiting for the garage to get the bit! anyway... we're trying out some new pieces tonight so should be exciting. It's been a while since we did a full evening gig in Norfolk so it'll be nice to see some people.

It's really cold here, and grey but once i get fiddling everything will change.
recording next week is getting closer! only got til wednesday to iron out any corners, though i am feeling pretty confident, just can't wait to be doing it.

A few more gigs are rolling in, and we may have the title of the album, but i won't spoil it and say anything, it needs a few more contenders to decide if it really is strong enough.

I wonder when would be a good time to record a medieval christmas cd? if I wait til Christmas it'll be too late! but it I do it any other time it seems wrong! oh well, there will be one for this year, i'll just have to fake the christmasness.

My bagpipes should be arriving soon!!!!!!

National Portrait Gallery 9th January 2009

2009-01-09T17:53:00.000-08:00

I like the symmetry of 9.1.9

Today's 'first concert of the year' went really well, we played in the tutor gallery infront of Queen Elizabeth and all the kings and queens of the tudor courts, totally amazing works to be in the presence of. The concert was full with a big crowd gathered at the back of the room and people standing and sitting down the side.

The difference in dynamic when Adrian and I play and when we are joined by Philip is very noticable, but I think this is a good thing, it definitely shows the difference of adding another person into the mix and highlights the different energy of both combinations. We played 5 pieces with Philip and four as a duo.

I'm looking forward to finishing off the new tunes and also to the recording and making the CD, it's a really exciting thing to do and so much time and work has already gone into it, it feels good when there is an actual physical thing to hold.

It's very icy outside, and the moon was huge and followed me all the way home from Norwich... all 15 miles which I thought was very friendly of it.

Next gig Norwich Arts Centre next Friday....

2009-01-08T14:15:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd write something down today just before the first concert of the year which is tomorrow at the National Portrait Gallery. Adrian and I have been practising hard and have written a whole new piece for double barreled recorders and another for fiddle and guitar. Working titles are 'Scrambling' and 'The Bonnie Miller' both have Northumbrian pipe tunes at the core but a definite contemporary element.

It's hard to play recorder with the hiccups! That's what I discovered today, but I persevered. The news is that maybe we will be playing as part of the Escalator Showcase in May at Norwich Arts Centre so we'll have to see if that is the official album launch or if it happens earlier. we've still got exciting dates coming in for the year ahead which is great and I have put new strings on my fiddle so it has a little more sparkle.

Since the terrible ordeal of the fingerboard coming of it hasn't sounded quite right, strings help, but something is different, a resonance or something has changed. I'm not sure it is necessarily a bad thing, but I have been playing the same fiddle for nearly 12 years and it might be time to move on....(I did cover my fiddles sound holes incase it overheard)

The cat (shoogs) is flopping her tail on my left hand making it a bit tricky to type. Things are feeling very busy already with the album, my re-chord air contemporary recorder project, a couple of recorder concerts with Carolyn Gibley of the Brook Street Band to programme and another TUNE-UP Folk Day. Though none of these things are happening tomorrow or even the next day, so I think I will empty them onto a page and focus on playing some lovely brawly tunes.

Happy New Year

2008-12-31T01:50:00.000-08:00

Tonight I am playing the last gig of the year, or first gig of the new year depending if you are an 'Old year's night' person or 'new year's eve', anyway, Andre and I have been asked to play a couple of short sets at Norwich Playhouse at their Village Fete themed party tonight. We're the village band - possibly called the tea and cake band. It should be good, fiddle and Indian harmonium. A good way to see the new year in though, playing English folk music on my fiddle, maybe I will get that fiddle CD made this year!!

We just got our first possible brawl booking for 2010 so that's very exciting! but we'll just have to wait and see if it comes off.

Happy New Year to all.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-24T02:01:00.000-08:00

I'm feeling quite festive now, after the gigs on Friday and then carols on saturday, last night I did a quick stint on the festive fiddling at a local 'carols in the barn' event. (we also won a pheasant!)

Adrian is off on his adventures and we will meet back in a week and a half to get ready for recording. I am looking forward to researching some new tunes over the next couple of weeks so that's what I'll be doing.

Anyway better get baking... merry christmasness

christmas cheer and end of year

2008-12-20T03:17:00.000-08:00

I'm feeling extremely Christmassy today, tonight is the carol party where we clear a room in my parents shop and wheel in a piano and a bunch of people and an open fire and warm up the house with festiveness. I think i also feel extra festive because we did our last gigs of the year yesterday, lunchtime was at St James's Church, Piccadilly which is the most incredible church to play in. The sound is enormous, and with just two of us acoustic the notes swam and shot off in different directions of the curved and vaulted ceiling.

Then back to Norwich for a short set at Jurnets bar at Wensum Lodge, a cellar bar that needs a good dust and de-cobweb! It was total extreme of venue and we weren't quite sure how we would go down, but the response was brilliant, we were followed by the indie band The Neutrinos, who did an acoustic set and were amazing.

We played one of our newest pieces 'Merula' the one which prophesies about the life of Jesus while Mary is rocking him as a baby and mulling his future, very festively appropriate I think.

I've just had a look at next year's touring and it's looking like a very busy start, with gigs all over from Norwich to Belfast to Sussex etc so now we just need to finish writing the album... but first a bit of Christmas cheer and music and maybe a few celebratory drinks.

Merry Christmas

Greenwich Early Music Festival

2008-11-17T02:04:00.000-08:00

MY VIOLIN BROKE JUST BEFORE THE CONCERT!!!!!!
we were setting up at Blackheath Hall Recital room, warming up with a run through of La Gamba with all my instruments on a table which decided to collapse and recorders, crumhorn and fiddle flew off the stage! 40 minutes before we were due to start the concert. the fingerboard came right off my fiddle. a few expletives later and I was in a taxi to greenwich to see if i could borrow a violin, luckily as it was part of the festival there was a huge exhibition of musicial instruments and I saw Rachel a recorder player who manages part of the early music shop who told me to take my pick... so.... I swapped my injured fiddle for a rather more expensive baroque one, and had 5 minutes to tune it and get ready for the concert, I hadn't even played a scale and the venue wouldn't wait a couple of minutes for us to prepare. I always see these things as a test, but why did it have to happen there and then??? I was really looking forward to performing and all the intonation was different and I normally play on metal strings, but we did it! I think the stress made one of Adrians strings break in the penultimate piece too, but nothing can phase us now!!

Better get down to the violin repairers then. The wierd thing is that it stayed in tune and the bridge didn't budge!

.....and.....relax :)

Critics Choice

2008-11-11T14:18:00.000-08:00

We are the Critic's Choice in this weeks TIME OUT London

GREENWICH INTERNATIONAL EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL The Horses Brawl
Sun Nov 16
Blackheath Halls, 23 Lee Road, London, SE3 9RQ
*Critics' Choice*
The Horses Brawl is an innovative instrumental duo from Norfolk whose music is rooted in Renaissance, Medieval, Baroque and European folk traditions. They re-work and re-compose fragments of ancient melodies to create contemporary music.

We've also nearly written two whole new pieces. Quite unusual and interesting ideas.... more coming soon.

Meeyaup!!!! or maybe just yauunnn

2008-10-28T16:19:00.000-07:00

2008-10-28T16:07:00.000-07:00

I like playing the recorder and the fiddle, but this much may be clear....

On Saturday 1st November Adrian and I are teaming up with our friend Kate Ross (Irish flute and whistle player) to run a day of instrumental workshops at my mum and dad's antiques shop, this may sound wierd but we have just changed some of it around so that we can have 3 classes going on simultaneously and then a space big enough for everyone to come together and form the Tune-Up Folk Orchestra to be followed by a performance of orchestra, Horses Brawl and Rampant Horse Collective (our bit on the side and nothing like the brawl), we will have to see how this goes, but so far we have 10 fiddle players, 5 guitars and 5 flute and whistles. There are alot of secret fiddle players in Norfolk and Suffolk.

My priority is to be prepared with the tunes and to make sure it all runs smoothly (!?) and also I am very keen to quickly carve out some pumpkins with pretty designs... this is extremely important and the whole day will be ruined if I don't : )

I like playing a bit of trad but I wish that there were some really good Norfolk fiddle tunes!!!!!!
Though my whole life may have been different if there were, we've had to be much cleverer with our sourcing and research because our local tradition is mostly song and I seem to like northumbrian 3/2's.

Anyhoo, shoogi says meeyaup so maybe it's time for some attention.

The other thing I love doing is a concert, especially when some lovely person writes on your guestbook a week later saying good things about the music. What a great job! What an unpredictable yet exciting job. What a shame to call it a job, there must be a better word.

home from a week's tour

2008-10-21T09:04:00.000-07:00

I'm not really sure where to start, it was a busy week with 5 concerts in a row in Devon, varying audiences and venues, interesting characters and much fun. I'm happy to just relax a bit today, but I will write about some of it soon.

Adrian and I are on the front cover of The Early Music Shop Newsletter, and we've just found out that some of our music was used on a medieval cooking programme on BBC 4! as well as radio play as diverse as BBC Macedonia and BBC Kent. We just got a mini cash injection from this, some were for as much as 44p each!!! That'll buy a few apples for the horses! (NOT!)

Just got these pictures through of our workshop in Hexham a couple of weeks ago.

We really are quite serious!

Stop the Press!!

2008-10-14T01:34:00.000-07:00

Look what we found outside Sainsburys!! True fame at last!

As well as a feature on page 3 of the Eastern Daily Press, they played a clip of Jennie from our concert on ITV News last night.

Review from Hexham Abbey Festival

2008-10-13T13:11:00.000-07:00

Performance was on 3.10.08, the review came out in the Hexham Courant on 10.10.08

HORSES Brawl is currently a duo, consisting of Adrian Lever on prepared and bowed guitar and Laura Cannel on fiddle, a collection of recorders and on crumhorn – a capped double reed medieval instrument.

They use these resources to create music that was at one moment delicate, reflective, gentle and often plaintive; at other times driving, intense, dynamic and dramatic.

An affection for the music deepened as the concert went on, and the audience assimilated the different sounds created with a limited palette of instruments.

Often this was done by the creation of antique sounds on modern instruments by the use on the fiddle of a lighter baroque bow or the use of a heavy viol bow and metal mute to recreate the rare Welsh fiddle, the crwth.
The simple addition of clothes pegs muted the sound of a modern metal stringed fiddle to create a gut-stringed viol sound.

The excellent intricate guitar work relied on lots of different open tunings; on occasion the use of an oyster card or piece of sponge, or on one lovely piece the use of a bow to create sad long sustained sounds, typical of the ancient forerunner of the modern guitar.

Fascinating as their undoubted technical and musical virtuosity was, even more fascinating was their creation of a patchwork quilt of different music from different backgrounds, times and geographies.

A typical piece might have started with a Welsh traditional gaillard, move on to a Bulgarian wedding tune and finish on a 13th century estompie – a hopping dance of the era in which we were all invited to participate!
An early French dance tune was married to a French chanson and finished with a contemporary Irish minuet.

Bewildering, maybe, but it did work, the joins were perfect and seamless – each part complementing in a wonderful interconnectedness; fusion music, a dreadful and overused term, if you like, but of a different and more magical nature.

What it did conclusively for me was to render inane the use of boxes and labels – early music, Renaissance music, folk music and medieval dance music etc. – all of which have frequently been used to describe these musicians and their various styles.

Their music to me is about demonstrating the common roots and interconnections that link all these music and traditions, and the echoes and valid relationships that have passed down into more modern music and especially what is termed contemporary folk music.

They seemingly reinvent the medieval musical world into the modern, while creating a very satisfying, cohesive and organic whole that made this a very rewarding evening.

The Paston Festival

2008-10-12T15:10:00.000-07:00

I'm just back form The Paston Festival in North Norfolk, it went really well.... saw lots of lovely people and they seemd to like it :)
It was an especially commissioned concert for The Paston Heritage Society about the Paston Family Letters and we performed a piece of music which was found in 1920 in the church which hasn't been performed or heard since the early 1500's when it was performed in Paston Church, so that was a bit of an event. Jennie sang a fragment that she had decifered and Philip played viol, it was really quite moving and especially so in the context.

I'm knackered now though. We did a workshop this morning which was great fun, Adrian and I split it with Philip, we did more folksy waley stuff (Bulgarian horo and La Gamba) and he the more formal, he also did a pavanne - taught them the song and then the dance which was great to watch (I played the tune while they danced).

... then we were videoed, recorded, pictures taken documented in every way possible, which is odd. I can see why it's important, but it did feel a bit like a circus act for a few minutes what with the camera and the huge microphones, but we just performed to the audience and each other.

But one thing I know is that every time we perform it is getting closer to just being. It's a journey and a destination all in one building up fragments with fragments.

I also got a feather pen as a special treat! it's purple and it makes me look like I'm writing something extremely important.

Phone interview

2008-10-11T02:05:00.000-07:00

I just had an early morning phone interview for the Eastern Daily Press about our concert tomorrow... we are performing a piece from a 15th century manuscript (well Jennie is!) and they wanted details and even ages! I wonder if there is a point where you don't give your age! I don't mind who knows I'm 30, but I wonder if Philip does (not being 30)!!! we'll soon find out.

Next the post arrived with a big fat cheque and then another couple of bookings for TUNE-UP extravaganza! exciting!

Need to photocopy now for the workshop, hang out the washing and go for a quick walk round the common and get ready for a rehearsal at 4pm. Oh what a glamorous life I lead. Am really looking forward to tommorrow's concert. Yesterday's rehearsal with Philip was brilliant, intense but really productive.

And, to finish an earlier conversation I believe that playing the recorder keeps you healthy and happy.

Mitten in a trug

2008-10-09T15:59:00.000-07:00

projects and festivals

2008-10-09T15:47:00.000-07:00

This weekend we are performing a specially commissioned concert for the The Paston Heritage Society and NO we aren't dressing up, though the man from the local paper thought we would be. We're doing something unusual by having a guest singer Jennie Cassidy along to do a 15th century psalm and some other stuff like that, English folk songs and some songs from court of Henry VIII. It should be good, we're also running a workshop in the morning for an assortment of recorder players, singers and other instrumentalists which should be fun. The workshops seem to be taking off!

Today is ( and nearly isn't by about ten minutes) Andre's birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY) I bought him an Indian Harmonium, which is slightly more portable than the chapel harmonium he got for christmas and takes up a corner of the music room, and a pair of rather nice green wellies, which we tried out with a walk through the common and it's cow pats and boggy bits this morning, ahhh country ways...

We have got some videos up on youtube and though I'm not convinced they are putting accross our normal presentation, I am pretty happy with the playing on them.

Tomorrow I will drive down to Suffolk picking up Adrian on the way for a rehearsal with Philip and then the same the next day and then it is Sunday and we get to do the concert which I am looking forward to. There is just so much else invoved in putting on a concert than just the music and the playing!!! that's why I like the idea of the Rampant Horse Collective, just turn up and play some tunes.

Home again home again jiggedy jog...

2008-10-05T05:26:00.000-07:00

Saturday 4th
I got home just after midnight last night after a six hour workshop for the North Eastern Early Music Forum in Hexham, a five and a half hour train journey and 1/2 and hour drive in the windy rain. I'll work back in time.... so that was Saturday.

Friday 3rd
We went take part in The Cuthbert Songs Project - the education and schools workshops part of Hexham Abbey Festival. Over the past couple of weeks we have been going to a middle school and a high school in Northumberland and helping them prepare a song for performance in the Abbey. We arrived at Hexham Abbey (after staying in a local skanky b&b) and it was full of about a hundred children and teachers. Anyway, did a run through, some people hadn't rehearsed very much! but it was okay, then we had a quick lunch at one of the many millions of tea shops in Hexham and then went back for the schools performance.... though to be honest most of the time I was trying to stay focussed on the fact that we had a full evening concert to do and I wanted to make sure I was mentally prepared for that.

The concert went really well, we needed the P.A. Adrian and I can make quite a lot of noise but filling an entire abbey is a challenge! It's definitely the tallest largest building I've ever performed in but despite this I think we managed to make it quite an intimate performance, Adrian was funny, I just kind of babbled on as usual... it's just unavoidable. If you're trying to be as honest as possible in performance then it dissolves any pretences when you stop playing, that's what I find anyway, so I make no apologies for any silliness :) as long as it doesn't distract from the music. (I may need to re-assess this though!)

We sold quite a lot of CDs which is always a good sign.

After the concert we went for a curry with our friends Nat and Geoff and with the band Landermason who we met at Folk on the Water Festival last year, it was Paul's birthday and they came to our concert and then for dinner.... this was all a bit of a blur after what seemed like a very long day, but we sang happy birthday and it was one of the most musical versions I have ever heard! there were 10 people altogether, and the harmonies were brilliant! I think I also shared a really wierd coconut ice-cream with Nat which was in half a coconut shell.....!

Thursday 2nd
We went to the high school to try and rehearse with the a level students for the next day. Schools are horrible. People are nice, but I still can't handle the rules and regulations and I always feel like I'm going to get told off. For some reason I still feel like I am a student rather than a teacher. We were borrowing Nat's car and driving around the National Forest, it was brilliant.
Bit of a knackered start though as we had done a gig in Scotland the night before....see Wednesday.

Wednesday 1st
Workshop in a middle school in the morning, I had a little ensemble of recorder, clarinet and violin, three nice little girls who imrpoved greatly and performed really well in the schools concert. Afternoon - back at Nat's with Adrian (my dad and Geoff having gone to Edinburgh in the morning), then a drive to Denholm, and here the name dropping begins (only if you are into the folk world) Rob (from Tarras) invited us to play at his new venue The Meet with the Bruce MacGregor Trio (Blazing Fiddles) and Catriona MacDonald (also Blazing Fiddles) lives down the road. We geeked out about baroque Scottish crossover and stuff. I really enjoyed performing this one after initially dreading it and being full of stress and nerves, but that's normal for me to go through a huge dip. I need to get it all out of the way so that I can get on with it, which I did. Met some other lovely people.

Tuesday 30th
Went to Raveningham, picked up Adrian on the way through. Got in the van with my dad and drove from South Norfolk to Scotland.

AND.... I think I'm going to have to learn to play the Leicester Smallpipes ( I had a go yesterday and I loooove them)

new crumhorn piece

2008-09-17T09:57:00.000-07:00

We finished that tune today, it rocks! Hopefully the crumhorn will be okay after 3 hours of continuous playing and the same yesterday, I think I will give it some time off now.

I'm very tired, and that tune just keeps going round and round and round and round along with some bits of songs from choir.

Anyway, Horses Brawl action is that we're having a rehearsal on Sunday with Jennie Cassidy to finalise the programme for the paston festival and then a rehearsal with Philip on monday and then a gig at the arts centre on tuesday and then off to hexham on wed to friday.

That question has come up again of where do we fit in? the answer is that we don't and I see that as very positive because we can make our own rules but it's also much harder than a snugly fitting pidgeon hole but also much less restricting, but the benefits out-weigh the negatives, but it still makes that question hard to answer.

There's a bit of a nip in the air. Tonight I am going to see Jason Dixon about a new work he is going to compose for me to perform at my recorder concert next year.

2008-09-16T15:37:00.000-07:00

We are going to do workshops in Hexham and the area around next week. We have been planning the pieces and trying to imagine situations and hoping for lots of recorder players (well I have!) We've also got our new album recording booked and our launch date and venue booked! more on that nearer the time, since it isn't even christmas month I think it's a little early to discuss next year's projects..... but soon.

An another thing, how do you tell someone what you really think about their music? this is an interesting question I feel and especially when confronted drearsomnity.

We've nearly written an entirely new crumhorn piece today, I think it will work, it's such a great tune. It's good to play music, I'm feeling on top of it all again now (after a brief dip in feeling like my fiddle was completely alien to hold) fingers and tonguing is working much better and I've just found out that my contemporary recorder concert is going ahead in March next year so I'm hoping to perform a couple of new commissions.

My perfect note is...

2008-09-15T15:02:00.000-07:00

D. I have found my best singing note and I can announce it is D, not the one under the bottom line, the one on the 4th line up. I have just discovered this because I was singing the 'Introitus' to Orazio Vecchi's Missa in Resurrectione Domini 1607 (altus part) and it just kept working, I think it's partly because we were short of a few parts so I was on my line solo and actually started to enjoy it and get it! We also worked on the 'Kyrie', and the 'Gloria', and there is an incredible Flamenco feeling section for two and a half bars, but I did start to feel a bit dizzy from all the breathing and long notes and stuff.

It looks like we are going to be recording the 3rd brawl album at the end of January and will have a mahusive launch party gig in early May, very exciting, though also feels like a long way off, lots to do and perform between now and then.

I saw an fantasitc hedgehog in Raveningham today, their legs are always so much longer than you would imagine, it was taking a leisurely stroll down the road, it was so cute and reminded me of Jennifer and her membership of the society for the preservation of hedgehogs.... and a time I went to her house and they had created a hedgehog sanctuary in the bathroom and there was a baby hog standing on it's hind legs looking over the top of a box.

rehearsing tomorrow with Adrian, we're going to run our new pieces I hope and be really focussed, I've got new cinnamon tea so that should help.

London and Devon and fizzy drinks

2008-09-14T10:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went to London and back first class, the tickets were cheaper than standard (that in fact is not true but they were only about £2 more each way and it is much comfier and loads more room to stash recorders, fiddles etc so to me they were cheaper, it's all about quality of life and what's 4 quid? .....a glass of prosecco actually!!). We performed in Colourscape it was interesting and some of it was fun, and some of it made me really cross. We had some delicious chocolate brownies and Adrian, Lydia and I had a glass of prosecco at Canteen in spitalfieds market to sooth the madness it sort of worked, we were tempted to by a bottle but it was slightly out of our range.

Last time we were in Canteen we were playing for the grand opening, it was freezing and we were playing outside and then we were asked back to play for the opening of their second restaurant on the South Bank part of Royal Festival Hall, we couldn't be heard, but I'm sure we added something just by waving a crumhorn around being performing monkeys, that was a while ago though... we tend to have audiences nowadays!

Anyway, it does all make you question the line between earning money and performing situations, it wasn't all bad at all, just left me with a lot of thoughts to process (she said diplomatically trying to be positive and not have issues).

The album is coming along... I think we have only a couple more pieces to refine and hopefully some more will appear. Some rehearsals with Philip coming up, plus all the touring. Philip is joining us in Devon for a few dates. As we are going to be there about a week, we have hired a kind of log cabin as our base near Exeter, much cheaper than a couple of travelodges so that will be wierd and fun. The dates are looming and so are the workshops, though I am looking forward to it all I am definitely feeling like my head is focussing yet needs a day off. The antiques market at mum and dad's helped, I now have a lovely jumper that was Jen's and a set of 6 silver plated wine goblets which I am looking forward to trying out.

Charity

2008-09-06T04:29:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow we are playing at the Waveney Greenpeace Fair, apparently the biggest annual single fundraiser for greenpeace.
It will be full of hippies and East Anglian creative types playing wholesome music on a couple of stages including a human dynamo stage. I'm performing 3 times, with Rampant Horse Collective, Leading a set by Norwich Fiddle School and then later Half an hour on the main stage with Horses Brawl and in fact so is Adrian.

Some good festivals have just come in for next summer, almost confirmed so can't put them up until official, but will be rather lovely.

I tried to offer my services as an overqualified recorder teacher to a local school, but was met with all the tedious baggage that accompanies the recorder... a load of rubbish... they've lost their chance now. apparently people wouldn't feel happy paying for recorder lessons as it isn't really a proper instrument... Grrrrrrrrrrrgh.

I have new boots to perform in, I just wore them on their first outing to the farmer's market in Aylsham, very comfy and some lovely local veg.

Practice makes complicated

2008-09-03T15:43:00.000-07:00

What happens is we meet half an hour or so after we've arranged to meet (usually me being late as I haven't got the hang of how long it takes to migrate from county to city.... but today it was Adrian), and then we talk about gigs and what's coming up and what we will be playing and how we need to rehearse the whole set, and then we start playing/writing a half finished idea for 3 hours. Today we had to have a lie down and some beetroot salad to enable us to keep going.

New piece made from Ludwig Senfl's Ave Maria, beautiful amazing and totally absorbing arranged with another of the tamboura tunes Adrian was learning from a Plovdiv Conservatoire book. It isn't a building up piece, it is focussed and delicate.

Music and Madness

2008-08-22T13:56:00.000-07:00

A lovely outing on BBC Radio Norfolk today on the Roy Waller show, we were slightly aprehensive but Roy had slightly more serious approach this time round. He asked us things like 'Are you where you'd like to be in your career", "what would you like to do next, how would you like it to progress?" and heavier questions. We played one of our newest pieces, who knows how it went down out the end of a radio...hopefully better than the Cliff Richard lookilikey tribute man who was on before us... (you see our aprehension?!?!)

Anyway, lots of discussions about what's next for Horses Brawl and how to get gigs further afield and how to make enough money to pay the rent without compromising or doing other gigs which are totally depressing.

On another note...Andre and I potted about 20 pepper plants yesterday and are looking forward to an enormous crop (after planting rather too many seeds and then being surprised at how many and big they are! I may have to brand them and sell them at Horses Brawl gigs).

The cat is on a new fitness and food regime after becoming a bit too docile and plump, Shoogs now has organised excercise with a ball of string and one of us at the other end.

But what I'm actually doing is...

2008-08-21T06:21:00.000-07:00

...thinking about new tunes which could be the next brawl favourite. We're getting to close to haveing an album's worth of music, it's a long process, sometimes tunes and ideas just come together in a day and sometimes it can take weeks and then not be anything. It has to be how we feel about a piece of music, there is also a piece I don't want to use called 'Hang Sorrow', it's a really good tune from Playford's Dancing Master, but It makes me too sad because of it's title, I will never be able to dissassociate it's meaning or possible origins.

I've been a bit slack with writing this blog, although I really enjoy it. I've felt in a bit of a muddle, with a few things. Letting thoughts get in my head and in the way of focussing on what i'm doing.

A couple of new pieces I am soooo happy with, so I hope that the two dance books I ordered will give me at least a piece each and then I will be happier.....

We may make a return visit to Machaut but I am aware that I want to keep all the different elements working together, if we stay more with one composer or style then sounds become similar, I want to keep making pieces which each have their own identity.

what am i doing?

2008-08-21T06:19:00.000-07:00

I've just sent this out to our mailing list....

Dear Brawl Friends,
Just before we head off on tour to Hexham, Devon and London over the next couple of months, we have a selection of performances in East Anglia.

Friday 22nd August - 3pm ish - Horses Brawl will be appearing live on BBC Radio Norfolk
Sunday 24th August - 10pm ish - Norwich Playhouse Bar - An eclectic mix of music presented by Howlback Hum - FREE ENTRY
Sunday 7th Sept - The Greenpeace Fair - Nr Bungay - main stage 5pm (music all day inc. The Rampant Horse Collective at 11am and Norwich Fiddle School at 12.30pm)

Then we are off to London for the Colourscape Festival - An amazing sensory experience, followed by a couple of trips up to Hexham to run workshops and perform in the abbey for Hexham Abbey Festival, then a North Eastern Early Music Forum workshop - Horses Brawl styles, plus a double bill with The Bruce McGregor Trio at The Denholm Meet on the Scottish borders.

The Paston Festival follows with a morning workshop (for singers and instrumentalists A=440) and evening concert with special guests Philip Thorby and Jennie Cassidy (voice), followed by a tour in Devon and back in time for Tune-Up Folk Day at The Raveningham Centre - workshops for fiddle, flute, whistle & guitar plus folk orchestra and performances from Horses Brawl and the Rampant Horse Collective.

So hopefully see you soon.

Laura & Adrian

HORSES BRAWL AUTUMN/WINTER TOUR 2008

7th Sept THE GREENPEACE FAIR South Elmham, Suffolk

13th Sept COLOURSCAPE FESTIVAL Clapham Common

1st Oct THE MEET, Denholm

3rd Oct HEXHAM ABBEY FESTIVAL Box office: 01434 652477

4th Oct HEXHAM ABBEY FESTIVAL Workshop

12th Oct *THE PASTON FESTIVAL Norfolk

15th Oct DEVON TOUR South Zeal, Victory Hall, Box office: 01837 840564

16th Oct DEVON TOUR Abbotskerswell Church, Box office: 01626 334445

17th Oct *DEVON TOUR Diptford Parish Hall, Box office: 01548 821704

18th Oct *DEVON TOUR Awliscombe, St Michael’s Church, Box office: 01404 43480

19th Oct *DEVON TOUR Hartland Parish Church

1st Nov TUNE-UP FOLK DAY The Raveningham Centre, Norfolk

16th Nov *GREENWICH INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF EARLY MUSIC Blackheath Halls - 11.30am Box office: 020 8463 0100

4th Dec NEWBURY CORN EXCHANGE Box office: 01635 522733

6th Dec THE NATIONAL THEATRE Concert Pitch 12.45pm & 5.30pm

7th Dec THE NAVE London, N1, 11.30am Box Office: 020 7704 2158

9th Jan 09 *THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY London 6.30pm

* With Philip Thorby

Up the City

2008-07-30T01:07:00.001-07:00

Just about to leave for a rehearsal at our studio in Norwich, we wrote alot of Dindirin at the factory, you'd wouldn't think it inspiring to look at, an old 70's office block, but for some reason one small room was painted yellow, and so we put some twinkly lights and a kettle in there and a couple of chairs and a rug and it was perfect. The big room we're in now is great for running groups like Norwich Fiddle School. But big isn't necessarily better, I like the old room.....

Yesterday we played around a lot of pieces, I think there are the makings of a piece but sometimes you can spend ages, weeks on an idea but it never quite makes it. It has to feel right and sound right, you can't go for beauty over content it has to be something you can imagine growing into and something you want to play indefinitely. We also may have discovered why Adrian likes to start after the first beat....

The cat has resumed normal service, a poke in the face with a furry clawry paw and determination to get her breakfast delivered into her bowl mean she is happily munching away right now.

Merula, that name of a composer whose piece we have just used is also the name of the male blackbird. That's what I discovered yesterday. The unassuming songstrel. Turdus Merula - That somehow isn't quite as beautiful!

Wide bore recorders and fur balls

2008-07-28T14:25:00.000-07:00

Not in the same room I hasten to add. I'm trying out some renaissance wide-bore recorders and I can't believe I didn't do it earlier.... I think money has been the main prevention, but now I've found some good second hand ones I think. Normally I don't like the idea of a secondhand recorder, something to do with spittle and strangers! But anyway, I've been playing through a book of 14th century Italian instrumental and vocal music, pieces by Isaac, Magister Piero and some anonymous's.
Am very excited about next weeks music at the Cambridge Early Music SUmmer School (am doing a bit of tutoring...may have already mentioned that) But anyway, such inspiring music.

Fur balls belong to the cat..... well not any more, poor Shoogs, she is looking a little peaky but has come in from the soon to be flower bed (currently pretty weed bed) and is having a doze on the towel I've put on the rug by the bed. She loves the towels, comforting texture for a one time abandoned kitten.

This isn't very brawly news! Ahem.... rehearsing with Adrian tomorrow, putting ours heads, instruments and ideas in one room and seeing what happens. Perhaps some Rose Pouchong will aid the writing and if nothing happens we can blame the tea.

Reepham Festival

2008-07-26T13:12:00.000-07:00

A random picture of a church we played in a couple of years ago, didn't get a photo today, but this was from 'Music in Quiet Places' concerts series in Lincolnshire.

Today we performed at Reepham Summer Festival... two sets, first - in St Mary's Church about an hour and a half after we were supposed to go on... them bloomin campanologists!!!!!! Anyway, we performed a 45 minute concert and programmed in two very new pieces, Maggots (working title!) and Merula. there's nothing like the first time with a new piece, it's when you find out whether it is performable. It's one thing to write a piece and perform it to each other but it becomes an entirely different creature with an audience! That's when you know if it is going to work.

Conclusion.... Maggots is the new 'Shave the Donkey' and Merula is very exciting, the sunshine helps too.

The 2nd performance was in the Town hall to a small but very appreciative audience. Slightly muddly organisation, too many cooks and all that, but really friendly main organiser and lots of nice people to meet. Next year will be better!

So next is more writing, the next few weeks are going to be a bit crazy. this one coming = three days of writing together plus a funeral for me to go to, and to play something, a very hard situation, but the only thing I feel I can offer as words are so completely useless at times like this, some movements from a Handel recorder sonata for someone who loved early music, maybe this isn't the place to write about such things, but it is part of life and this brings home the need for live music, it's something for others and I hope, a present to an important person.

next week (4th-10th I will be tutoring on the Cambridge Early Music Summer School - Renaissance week, very exciting! and then rehearsals with Philip, Adrian and I to write together.

The autumn tour is also coming together and bookings for next year too, I'm having a big Monteverdi moment - very dramatic and now..... his majesty's Sagbutts and Cornetts.... utterly fantastic!

Up all night...

2008-07-19T15:07:00.000-07:00

Well sort of. The trouble with having your bedroom in the eves is that it sounds as loud as a tent when it rains, and last night it was the biggest fattest rain drops i've seen in a very long time. The result is of course, feeling slightly over tired all day and wondering if there are any parts of Vivaldi's 4 seasons which could be used in a brawl piece without being to obvious.

My sister is at Latitude and it was on Radio 4 this evening, sounded very good except for the rain. My chocolate buns are ready so am going...

Folk on the Water

2008-07-18T09:53:00.000-07:00

Last week's tour....
We had a great weekend on 5th, 6th and 7th July playing at Saul Canal Festival - Folk on the Water. We performed on the mainstage and the Sabrina Theatre (huge barge) on Saturday and the Drum and Monkey (Beer marquee) on the Sunday, and then on to The Bell in Bath on the Monday night. The best thing aprt from performing was that people kept coming up to us throughout the weekend and giving us compliments.... you can see why I liked it :)

It did of course rain pretty much the entire time, ( and I discovered that my tent looks nice but is crap!) but it was great to have a listen and watch other people, my highlight being Nancy Kerr, James Fagon and Rob Habron, who were on straight after us on the main stage. Nancy is such a fantastic fiddler (and singer), and she said she though our music was fantastic, so there was lots of excitedness.

Autumn Tour

2008-07-18T09:37:00.000-07:00

Adrian is at Budhafields festival playing with Mog (Bodhran maker and teacher) and so I'm catching up on all things Brawly and adminny. We seem to have quite a healthy Autumn tour schedule, and dates are coming in for next year.

This may be more of a Laura Blog than Horses Brawl, but having said that.... we have just had a 5 date tour of Devon confirmed for 15th - 19th October which is very exciting.

Also on the cards is a workshop at The Hexham Abbey Festival in association with NEEMF North Eastern Early Music Forum, plus a side project we're calling TUNE-UP Folk Day, which is happening on November 1st at the Raveningham Centre in South Norfolk. This is much more traditional folk than HB stylee, and will include the first ever rehearsal of the TUNE-UP Folk Orchestra.

Two swifts just flew into the house and sat in the pepper plants we're growing on the windowsill. Yesterday one flew into the door (french window) and almost had cartoon stars and birds spinning round it's head, it got better and waddled off into the grass. See that wasn't about the band, but I was in the middle of doing tour stuff when it happened.

I listened to very rough versions of our newest pieces just now and I'm really excited to see what people think when it's all done!

Blicking Hall... where it all started

2008-07-01T04:50:00.000-07:00

I'm just about to go to Blicking Hall with my mum, it's her birthday and she's in North Norfolk at a meeting, so it seems like a good way to spend a few hours. When I was a middle school, aged about 8 or 9, we had a day trip to Blicking Hall. We all had to dress up in period costume (i really loved this) and there were re-inactors who played early instruments like recorders (and I can't remember any others because I was obsessed with the recorder). I have such a vivid memory of the actor/musicians asking if anyone played an instrument and my hand shot up. "I play the recorder" (at this point I was about grade 3 and spent all my time playing), they let me play a tune (I played a Hornpipe by Henry Purcell, that I just happened to know from memory) and I remember being so happy. It is a big tudor house and gardens and now I live 3 miles away and have national trust membership so can go whenever I want. There's a fireplace in there which has the dates 1605 (I think!) and it's completely magical and inspiring.

For some reason, when I think about being a musician and performing and how or when it all started, this is the main event (apart from my excellent recorder teachers).... it all started in Norfolk in a funny costume.

New Album

2008-06-30T02:38:00.000-07:00

I think we have 6 pieces finished now towards the new album, the summer is going to be our main writing time and three of the pieces we've written at my new house, so the rural loaction is working. We're still spending a bit of time at the factory though, on and off. I'm trying to work out what to do with my fiddle recording, I think it'll be a short limited run CD, then I can see how I feel. It is so different to what I am doing with HB and though that's where I began fiddling (playing trad Irish), it is another world.

Arts Council, Sweden and Norwich Arts Centre

2008-06-26T07:32:00.000-07:00

It has been a particularly busy and interesting couple of months.
In May we had 7 concerts, one of which was recorded and broadcast on BBC Radio 3's Late Junction, we also found out that we have been awarded a grant from the Arts Council of England to do more collaborating with Philip Thorby and record our 3rd album. We've also been writing new pieces, two of which Adrian and I performed on Tuesday night at the arts centre... for now they are named - 'Perette et Joan' and 'Merula Telemann'.

It was a really friendly night at the arts centre, a howlback hum, with friends performing and watching each other, but none the less it was one of the scariest gigs we've done for a while, mainly because we performed our two newst pieces, which we weren't/aren't sure if we have finished.
Adrian has gone on the bus to Sweden to see his brother, and I'm trying to work out what to do with the fiddle recordings i made at the beginning of the week.

I think I must have been saving up lots of news to write down, this blog may become quite epic.....

fRoots album review

2008-06-26T03:44:00.001-07:00

We just found out that Dindirin (released July 07) has just been review in fRoots. Some people think it's a bit harsh, I think it's fine, the criticisms highlight it's sparseness and starkness and suggests that perhaps that we are playing for our own satisfaction rather than for the audience..... but if you don't like something, it doesn't mean the performer shouldn't do it! What use is there in doing something you think people will like if your conviction lies in something which not everyone will like? I can live with those comments.....

Anyway, here it is:

fROOTs Magazine July 2008, p.59.

Horses Brawl
Dindirin Brawl Records BRAWL003

A fiddle/guitar duo, Horses Brawl – no apostrophe – also make frequent use of recorders and crumhorns as well as doing odd things to guitars, like playing them with an oyster card (they don’t say if still worked afterwards). Their material is drawn from 13th – 17th centuries plus European folk traditions but the sparsity of the instrumentation aligns their music much more with the earlier end of that spectrum. Nobody sings and the effect, even in the moments of “wild abandon”, (their words) is quite stark. Unquestionably, that can work, as on Bibit which builds up some serious intensity. Whether it’s something you could happily take in 40 minutes of at one sitting, without the additional input a live performance offers, is another question. It certainly isn’t ‘all the same’ but it is using, however inventively, a deliberately limited palette – you can see why polyphonic music caught on. Lest that seem too much of a downer, individual sections have a lot to offer, especially the near seamless move between La Gamba (The Leg, if my minimal knowledge of Italian serves) and Alca. This isn’t perhaps a record that you ‘get’ instantly, and there are occasions when the musicians are maybe playing for their own satisfaction rather than your listening pleasure, but some rewarding music is here to be discovered.
Nick Beale

Introduction

2008-06-26T03:37:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the new Horses Brawl Blog, here you'll be able to find out about gigs, music, thoughts, issues and leave comments.