Three of the UK’s most innovative and prestigious folk artists present Blackletter Garland, a brand new album and live tour. Inspired by historic broadside ballads – daily song sheets sold for pence from the 16th to 20th centuries – Marry Waterson, Lisa Knapp and Nathaniel Mann rejuvenate and reinvent these stories. Fascinating interpretations and original compositions tell intricate tales of birth, love, conflict and death, with all the imagination of the folklore from which they’re based.

Arguably the forerunners of our modern news media, broadsides (also known as a broadsheet) often contained ballads and rhymes, which were sung daily in Britain’s streets and inns. Although part of living traditions of folksong, popular art and literature, these illustrated printed sheets are now rare and preserved in only a few libraries. They offer a vivid insight into the past whilst striking a chord with universal themes still relevant today. Songs about love, loneliness and kindness are interwoven with intriguing, humanist and dark stories.

Delving into the inky archives at the Bodleian Libraries and beyond, Marry, Lisa and Nathaniel lead a five-piece band bringing broadsides vividly to life for a new generation and offering a rare insight into Britain’s history.

Marry Waterson – voice
Lisa Knapp – voice, fiddle, autoharp
Nathaniel Mann – voice, bowed banjo, electronics and meat cleaver
Barney Morse Brown – cello w/ pedals
Laurence Hunt – percussion

Co-promoted with Folk Arts Oxford, OCM and the North Wall Arts Centre.
Produced by Sound UK. Commissioned by Sound UK and OCM.
Funded by Arts Council England. Supported by the Bodleian Libraries.

ABOUT THE GIG

This is a hybrid gig, hosted in association with Folk Arts Oxford, Oxford Contemporary Music and The North Wall in Oxford. You can join us in person at The North Wall, or watch online from wherever you are.

Online tickets are £16.50, with the option to pay a bit less (£10) or a bit more (£25) depending on what is affordable for you. You only need one ticket per household.

Online tickets - https://livetoyourlivingroom.com/events/hack-poets-guild/

In person tickets - https://www.ocmevents.org/whats-on/hack-poets-guild