There’s a chatty bit about how I got started in music and a brief outline on the About page.
If you really want the full nitty gritty, with a blow-by-blow account of my projects and activities, read on.
| 1977 | · Bought first melodeon
· BA Hons in Linguistics, University of Lancaster |
| 1978 | · PGCE in Primary Education
· Moved to Suffolk |
| 1979 | · Started first teaching job
· Founded Suffolk Bell & Horseshoe Band |
| 1980 | · Founded Old Hat Band |
| 1981 | · Organised Snape English Country Music Weekend |
| 1982 | · First national outing for cross-generational troupe of East Anglian performers: the Old Hat Concert Party, to Sidmouth Folk Festival
· Collaboration with Eastern Angles theatre group – the first of many |
| 1984 | · Organised Mendlesham English Country Music Weekend |
| 1986 | · Old Hat Concert Party album released |
| 1987 | · Founded Old Hat Dance Band |
| 1989 | · Old Hat Dance Band Live in Bracknell released (limited edition, cassette only release) |
| 1990 | · Founded Katie’s Quartet
· Featured solo guest on the first night of the new Musical Traditions Club, London · Lecture – Women in Traditional Music at Sidmouth Folk Festival · Touring with Jeannie Harris |
| 1991 | · Old Hat Dance Band CD Mellophone released (and one wax cylinder made!) |
| 1992 | · BBC Radio 2 Arts Programme: Katie’s Quartet featured in a broadcast from Wingfield Barns, Suffolk, supporting George Melly. |
| 1993 | · Archives education assistant & history advisory teacher, Suffolk County Council
· First melodeon workshop for Folk South West · Accompanied Bob Davenport in ‘Wait till the Work Comes Round’, Science Museum · BBC Radio 1 programme: Andy Kershaw – Old Hat Dance Band live studio guests |
| 1994 | · Freelance music educator
· Commissions for Suffolk County Council in continuing professional development – history, music and dance departments |
| 1995 | · Advanced Diploma in Local History, University of Cambridge |
| 1996 | · Katie’s Quartet CD released |
| 1997 | · Tutor at Hands On Music (also 1999, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2013, 2015, 2018, 2020) |
| 1999 | · BBC TV drama: All the King’s Men – musician and actor |
| 2000 | · Set up East Anglian Traditional Music Trust as a charitable trust
· Organised first Melodeons and More event (-2017) |
| 2001 | · Organised Stowmarket English Country Music Weekend |
| 2002 | · Organised first Traditional Music Day (-2017)
· Performance in the English music series at the Horniman Museum, London · Created, managed & produced ‘Tuning In’ – year-long project for EATMT |
| 2003 | · Tutor at Folkworks Workout Weekend, Darlington (also 2004)
· Created, managed & produced ‘Blyth Voices’ – year-long project for EATMT |
| 2004 | · Contributing artist to Stepping Up: A History of the New Wave of English Country Dance Music (Topic Records)
· BBC Radio 4 programme: Blyth Voices, with Paul Heiney |
| 2005 | · Tutor at Lewes Saturday Workshops, Sussex (also 2012, 2015)
· Created, managed & produced ‘Playback’ – year-long project for EATMT |
| 2006 | · English melodeon tutor for Trek-er-es-Uut, Netherlands (also 2007)
· Tutor at Folkworks Summer School, Durham · Lecture: ‘The Dulcimer in East Anglia’ at English Country Music Weekend, Bishop’s Castle · Created, managed & produced ‘North End Voices’ – three-year community arts project with BBC Radio Norfolk and True’s Yard Museum involving 1,000 school children |
| 2007 | · Guest & tutor at Button Boxes & Moothies, Aberdeen
· Awarded 75th Anniversary Award from English Folk Dance & Song Society · Consultant to Barry Callaghan’s book Hardcore English and contributing artist on accompanying double album of influential English traditional musicians · Musician and choreographer for educational dance DVD Soil Dances for Suffolk County Council · Organised first ever Melodeon Makers week in the UK, with Emmanuel Pariselle. Also 2008, 2010, 2013 & 2014 |
| 2008 | · PolkaWorks band starts – at a party!
· Katie’s Quartet plays at the opening of the new British Galleries, V&A Museum, London |
| 2009 | · Organised first ever Melodeon Maintenance course in the UK (also 2011, 2014, 2016)
· Lecture about traditional singing in Suffolk at the George Ewart Evans Centenary Festival, Suffolk · Solo CD The Green ‘Un released (limited edition only) · Mentioned as an influential English melodeon player in A Companion to Irish Traditional Music by Fintan Vallelly · Created, managed & produced traditional music project for Cambridge Music Festival |
| 2010 | · Awarded the Gold Badge by the English Folk Dance and Song Society |
| 2011 | · Contributing artist to: Banquet of Boxes – an album celebrating the best of English melodeon players ‘Great music played with drive, dexterity and sensitivity by some of the finest English melodeon players around today. A landmark collection.’ John Jones, Oysterband.
· Katie’s Quartet performance at the South Bank, London – ‘These Lands are My Lands’ · Created, managed & produced folk music and folklore aspect of ‘Managing a Masterpiece’ – three-year heritage project with Suffolk County Council involving 1,000 children · BBC TV series: ‘Escape to the Country’ – musician in the ‘local interest’ spot featuring traditional music and stepdancing from East Anglia. This programme has been aired at least ten times since its original broadcast, with an audience of millions. |
| 2012 | · ITV series: ‘Ade in Britain’ – musician in the ‘local interest’ spot featuring traditional music and stepdancing from East Anglia. A minor role as food critic (verdict: best not to ask!) |
| 2013 | · Early outings for the Michael Sheehy Band, playing Sliabh Luachra music |
| 2014 | · The Valiant Dance Band arises out of the ashes of Katie’s Quartet
· Lecture about traditional singing in King’s Lynn in the twentieth century to the Traditional Song Forum |
| 2015 | · Lead musician with Cambridge International Baccalaureate students performing arts project: ‘Love Me or Kill Me’ (part of the EFDSS national Full English project). ‘The presentation that has stayed with me so vividly was Impington Village College, and their dance drama Love Me or Kill Me. The use of the Full English archive to identify a local version of the incest ballad, Lucy Wan, and the translation and expression of the difficult and challenging themes it deals with, in a fusion of contemporary dance, Morris and Molly, was nothing short of inspired, and deeply moving. The commitment of those young performers was very impressive, and the artists with whom they’d worked had clearly done a great job in helping them to understand the validity of the folk forms, and in accomplishing them so effectively.’ Sandra Kerr, Senior Lecturer on the Traditional & Folk Music BA course, Newcastle University.
· Guest speaker at World Dulcimer Congress, Malvern, UK, presenting original research on the history of the dulcimer in East Anglia to an international audience · Launch of East Anglian Dulcimers website |
| 2016 | · Consultant and lead traditional musician for the ‘Lullaby Concerts’ series with City of London Sinfonia and Orchestras Live
· Valiant Dance Band performance at Eliza Carthy’s Legendary Nights, The Sage Gateshead |
| 2017 | · Left the East Anglian Traditional Music Trust at the end of September, to be a freelance musician, researcher, writer and events organiser
· Guest performer at Willie Clancy Summer School, Co, Clare (harmonica, with Martin Brinsford) · Solo performances at Sidmouth Folk Week |
| 2018 | · New musical partnership with Martin Brinsford – two harmonicas and melodeon: Sidmouth and Towersey festivals
· Featured musician on BBC Radio 4 ‘Instrument-Makers’ programme with Andy Cutting and Emmanuel Pariselle · Valiant Dance Band collaboration with Instep for a Stepdance Spectacular at Sidmouth Folk Week · ‘The Brightest of Entertainers’ – book on the history of jig dolls, which I wrote jointly with Pat Pickles, published by EATMT · Tutor for BorderBox and Hands On Music workshop weekends · Musician and actor in a specially commissioned Armistice Commemoration concert, Covent Garden, London (harmonica) |
| 2019 | · Director and researcher of ‘I Looked East and I Looked West’ – Julia Clifford memorial project and festival
· Contributor to ‘All My Life’s Buried Here’ documentary about the life of George Butterworth. Interviewed in the film and contributed local information at regional screenings. Contributor to booklet accompanying the DVD release of the film · ‘The Brightest of Entertainers’ shortlisted by the Folklore Society for the Katharine Briggs Award · Panel member at ‘Stepping On’ conference, Camden, London and Instep group presentation at Sidmouth Folk Festival |
| 2020 | · UK agent for Irish musicians Jackie Daly and Matt Cranitch
· Tutor for Melodeons-on-Sea and Hands On Music workshop weekends |
Also: tutor at innumerable festival workshops, regular tutor 2001-2017 at Melodeons and More, Suffolk, evening class tutor 2000-2017; innumerable talks for local community groups and at folk festivals; innumerable performances at festivals, clubs and multifarious community events, with various line-ups – just a few highlights included above.
See the Bands page and Discography page and the Old Hat Music section for more ‘stuff’!