With a huge thanks to further donations we are delighted to have awarded eight Micro Grants of £500 for professional folk artists who live and work in England.
The Micro Grants for Professional Folk Artists, aims to support artists in any way that will help develop their professional career. Applications range from time to develop creative projects, support for the production of new albums and instrument or equipment purchases.
Micro Grants have been awarded to:
Christina Alden and Alex Patterson
Purchase of a new mixing desk and a powered stage monitor
“We are looking to upgrade and replace our PA system. Our mixing desk recently stopped working mid gig and we’ve been unable to fix it / afford another. As a small independent band travelling with our own PA greatly increases our take home income as well as providing consistency of sound quality for each performance”.
Germa Adan
Recording costs of a set of songs for the second album
“My second album is inspired by themes of roots, bloodlines and ancestral connections where I focus more into my ancestral identity and the multifaceted links to West African, Caribbean and European influence. The album will feature the Senegalese virtuoso Kora player Kadialy Kouyate as well as other new collaborative sounds and approaches that will link to the theme and inspiration behind the album”.
Lambrego
Recording costs for new music project the Migrant Song Cycle
Lambrego is an Anglo-Brazilian songwriting duo formed of Fernando Machado and Hannah Dunster.
“In January 2020 Lambrego completed a residency at Cecil Sharp House with support from the Alan James Bursary. We worked in collaboration with visual artist, Akhila Krishnan and this was an incredibly fruitful week resulting in the creation of five original pieces of music and four original artworks entitled ‘Migrant Song Cycle’. Inspired by the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library’s archive, we wrote 5 songs on the theme of modern-day migration with a view to celebrate and reflect the diverse landscape of folk musicians in England. We performed these songs at Cecil Sharp House at the end of the residency and felt inspired by the response to continue developing the project… We would like to invest our Micro Grant on recording these songs and include them on our next album that we are planning to release in 2022”.
Finn Collinson
Studio recording for a new recording project and costs towards guest musicians
“A new recording project, aiming to broaden the use of recorder with contemporary folk, to produce new music based around old melodies, and to create a diverse fusion of musical styles and eras for a wide audience. I firmly believe folk music is not just about preserving old traditions, but should respond to the issues and conflicts of contemporary society; as such, the material I’ve amassed makes reference to topics including climate change, and even the pandemic”.
Miranda Rutter
Compose and record a suite of folk tunes inspired by birdsong
“Musically, I am hugely inspired by birds and their song. I’m not alone - there is evidence that birdsong has been an inspiration to humans for over 800 years. In English folk music, the old written collections are littered with tunes named after birds; eg. The Rising of the Lark, The Woodycock, The Cuckoo and The Nightingale. I want to contribute to that canon, but I also feel there is something contemporary I have to offer here. I want to help raise awareness of the fragility of their habitats in an ever more human world and the global interconnectedness”.
Simon Roth
To purchase a Tsimbl, Jewish cimbalom
“I work a lot as a percussionist playing Klezmer... I have realised that the logical step forward for me as a musician is to connect my piano and percussion skills to Tsimbl playing. I will bring a huge amount to the UK’s Jewish folk scene through the acquiring and study of this instrument”.
Richard O’Neill & George Hoyle
Two days studio time at Axis studios in South East
A collaboration between Richard O’Neill, Storyteller, Author based in Lancashire and George Hoyle of Cunning Folk.
“We want to spend our grant on studio hire to record our songs and spoken word pieces professionally in order to have a tangible record of our work which we can also use to further promote this traditional Romani entertainment and as a tool for empowerment”.
Mike Ruff
Cost of a small Computer Tablet and Bluetooth Speaker
“Since Lockdown restrictions ended earlier this year nearly half my gigs have come from Dance Calling and Teaching workshops and few of these have been using live music. At present I am using my … quite old, collection of CDs and either my own CD players or those provided by particular venues. This has restricted not only what music I can use … but has also meant that I have been reluctant to use public transport because of what I need to carry.”
For more details please visit the EFDSS Micro Grants page.
