I will be giving a talk at the upcoming Song Collectors Gathering, where I will be speaking about my experiences collecting jew's harp music around the world, as well as the role of song collecting in the international jew's harp revival. There will be plenty of great music and interesting speakers. A must for anyone interested in traditional music!

Taking place over two days 21st & 22nd March in the beautiful Blackheath Conservatoire and St Mary Old Church for the Sat interviews and conversations, we present a celebration of the art of song collecting, this year under the theme ‘Collecting sounds from cultures internationally’. 

 As in previous years we will have insightful talks on various aspects of song collecting from esteemed invitees such as Shirely Collins MBE, Alistair Anderson and Lucy Duran, Deirdre Morgan as well as a visit from some unique and last of their kind ‘song carriers’ from the Irish and Scots Traveler and Gypsy community. It will be a day of phenomenal stories, experiences, lives and melodies

11.am event starts opening panel

11.20 Lucy Duran – Griot families and transmission of oral culture in Mali

12.20 Alistair Anderson – Passing the tunes on – Roots of Northumbrian culture

1.20pm – lunch

2.20 – SCC films featuring cuts of some of the footage shot on the SCC field trips

2.45pm - Deirdre Morgan – Collecting Jews Harp music in Europe

3.30pm - Shirley Collins MBE – In Conversation with the first lady of folk about her travels with Alan Lomax in the Southern States of the USA

5.30pm end of Gathering

Head over to The Nest Collective’s website to get your tickets:

For Saturday at St Mary Old Church: http://thenestcollective.co.uk/shows/events/21-mar-15-song-collectors-collective-gathering-st-marys/

For Sunday at Blackheath Conservatoire: http://thenestcollective.co.uk/shows/events/22-mar-15-song-collectors-collective-gathering-blackheath-conservatoire/