St Andrew's Folk

Over the past couple of years, St Andrew’s has enjoyed concerts from national and internationally acclaimed folk artists and bands, including Ralph McTell, Martin Simpson, Cara Dillon and favourites Fairport Convention (twice).

These are musicians who play to several thousand people at festivals and in venues such as the Royal Albert Hall. But they also like coming to St Andrew’s.

What makes St Andrew's a good venue for folk music?

The acoustics need to be clear and highly regarded. A full-house capacity of 160 people is perfect – small enough to make the artists accessible to the audience, but big enough to attract top names in the business.

A welcoming atmosphere with beer and wine and generous hospitality for the musicians helps to create a sought-after destination. And a reputation for having a good time is essential.

Folk music favourites keep coming to St Andrew's, and who can blame them?!

You'll find reviews of earlier gigs at St Andrew's here (see the menu to the side or below)...

Forbes Mutch
 

Gigs at St Andrew's

Past, present and future

Like many churches, St Andrew’s actively pursues the priority of seeking to engage our local community. We want people to come into the church building, feel a sense of welcome and realise the reality of the statement (on our website) that “no one belongs here more than you”.

How it all began
Before Covid came amongst us, we decided to run the occasional folk concert featuring high profile names who would attract an audience. Folk music appealed because we felt there was a gap in the local market and because having solo singers and/or small sized bands was going to be much easier to organise than big bands with excessive technical demands. In those early days, we quickly discovered that folk artists are used to playing in church buildings, enjoy our acoustics and respect the space with its opportunities and limitations. We are not a commercial theatre, we rely on our church members as volunteers and toilet facilities are very limited!

Through difficult times
As with so much else across society, March 2020 brought a nasty interruption to our work. Planned events had to be cancelled and, for the next couple of years, it was hard to organise anything with certainty. However, we have come through those difficult times and now have organised a succession of successful, often sold-out gigs. Artists such as Fairport Convention, Ralph McTell and Cara Dillon have graced the building and offered enrichment and enjoyment to our audiences (we even had visitors from the USA whose tour of Europe was organised to fit with the specific date of Martin Simpson’s gig - we offered them front row seats!).

Team work
To make a success of the gigs has required support, team work and lots of learning. We have relied greatly on Pat, a near neighbour of the church with a passion for folk music and a generous heart, to help out with PA and tech requirements - we could not have undertaken the programme without him. Tickets sales through Ticketsource work beautifully, coping with re-funds and providing confirmation of ticket income for artists’ agents when it comes to settling final payments. Also, we set up a St Andrew’s Folk newsletter which currently has nearly one hundred recipients and is sent approximately every month.

Beer in a church?
An important attraction is a licensed bar which operates before the show and at the interval, with soft drinks, wine and real ale from a local brewery (thank you to John at New River Brewery). It took us a long time to realise that we should refer to it on our publicity - people were not expecting refreshments and often went to the nearby pub pre-show. Now they come to the church for their drink and while, for many, consuming beer in a church pew came as a culture shock, after a few years’ experience, they are getting used to it!

A warm welcome
Talking to the musicians has helped us understand the demands of touring and how they appreciate a warm welcome and hospitality (something they do not always experience). The offer of a cup of tea, some cake and a warm meal makes a huge difference and has led to St Andrew’s becoming known on “the circuit”. Indeed, in the past year, we have been asked for gigs by musicians and their agents who have heard good things about us. One consequence of this has been reaching a point where we may have to say “no” to an artist because we cannot make excessive requests to our pool of volunteers who give their time so generously to ensure the events are successful.

However, undoubtedly, our music programme (which also includes Beer and Carols at Christmas and Harvest Fest in October), has brought together a great team from our worshipping community. They enjoy offering the hospitality, working together and seeing the enjoyment of performers and audience alike. We all feel part of something quite special

The future's bright
Risk assessments, evacuation plans, first aid provision and marketing all need to be prioritised. However, with bands booked into 2025 and the prospect of welcoming high profile folk artists such as Spiers and Boden, Julie Fowlis and Gigspanner, there is a lot to look forward to. It is important that everyone in the church community (not just those most involved in organisation) recognise the role of the music programme in the life of St Andrew’s. Prayer and encouragement help to make it work and if it didn’t exist, in many ways, we would be much the poorer!

Chris Seward