A co-commission with Parliament, Folk by the Oak & EFDSS to celebrate the 750th anniversary of Parliamentary democracy in the UK in 2015 - resulting in live shows and a studio recorded CD, released October 2016.

Six artists were commissioned to use 750 years of Parliamentary democracy as a catalyst for creating new songs.

Martyn Joseph
Nancy Kerr
Sam Carter
Maz O'Connor
Nick Cooke

Patsy Reid

The artists were given full access to the resources from Parliament, and used this research to create a new concert performance around the theme of democracy.

 

The artists were able to write songs prior to a short residential in November 2015 that was used to rehearse and prepare a performance, and then took the show to 6 venues in England and Wales.
 

Junction, Cambridge
Colston Hall, Bristol
The Met, Bury
St David's Hall, Cardiff
Cecil Sharp House, London
Sage, Gateshead

 

The artists reconvened in April 2016 to record an album, released 7th October 2016 on Quercus Records.

The final performance of the project was Folk by the Oak in July 2016.

 

Selected coverage

The Independent, 16th November link
Folk Radio feature link
PRS M Magazine link
The Times, concert review link 

Gua

 

".....the blend of voices was effective too, Kerr's pure timbre flickering in the shadow of Joseph's rugged phrasing. And amid praise for the Levellers and other figures from the distant past, there was a glimpse of multicultural realisty in Tootenham on O'Connor's 'Broad Water'."  The Times, 27th November 2016

 

 

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