A Salute to May Day

This event will take place in EartH Theatre.

Broadside Hacks Folk Club & Weird Walk presents: Salute to May Day feat. Shovel Dance Collective & guests. Hosted by Bridget Christie

**Bridget Christie**

Bridget Christie is a multi-award winning British stand-up comedian, actor, writer and producer. She has written and performed thirteen critically acclaimed stand-up shows, four BBC Radio Four series, one book, a Netflix special and has appeared in numerous TV and radio shows. Her career-defining feminist-themed show A Bic for Her won the Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Show, a South Bank Sky Arts Award and in 2022 was hailed as one of the defining comedy shows of the decade by The Times newspaper. Her Brexit-themed Because You Demanded It was named as The Guardian's No 1 comedy show of 2016. Awards for her radio work include a Rose D'Or International Broadcasting Award and a BBC Audio Drama Award. TV-wise, Bridget stars in BAFTA nominated Taskmaster Series 13, BBC One hit Ghosts and in Channel 4's new comedy drama The Change, which she also created, wrote and executive produced.

**Shovel Dance Collective**

Shovel Dance Collective are a group of nine musicians united by a passion for the beauty, force, and political charge of the traditional musics of Britain, Ireland and beyond. They are committed to Folk music not as an archaeological artifact to be unearthed, but as a living communal activity - inviting and generous to those it speaks to. They arrange the source material into a kind of musique boue (mud music), simultaneously traditional and experimental they engage a deep, cross-temporal synthesis of free improvisation, tape manipulation and field recordings. Their music appears as a patchwork as pieces are stitched together, rearranged and recontextualised. The yarn is threaded with their sense of aesthetic innovation, and with a deep sense of the ways in which traditional music holds the voices of the oppressed and those who, by their labour, create the wealth of the world.

**Milkweed**

What do we know of Milkweed? On the face of it their musical concerns are transatlantic - they follow the rich creative line that runs between British traditional music and the songs and tunes of the eastern United States. In reality their scope is global, and rooted in deep time, with influences from prehistory bleeding into a troubled and troubling anthropocene. As a result their music doesn’t sit easily anywhere, but ricochets between bewitching Appalachian folk music and disconcerting hauntological experimentation.

**Spitzer Space Telescope**

Take note of Spitzer Space Telescope’s arrival on English shores. The folk singer has a knack of being in the right place at the right time – he’ll soon be the musician on everyone’s lips. Having spent the last decade travelling across America and Europe, instigating vital collectives, delving deep into existing traditions but unafraid to shake them up, now he settles upon an erupting English scene, armed with the charisma, the intensity, the experience, the power, the presence – and of course the straight-up songwriting chops, to push it to the next level. His is the kind of folk music that hits straight to the heart, that grabs you at the collar, that pushes you back against the wall. It makes sense, given that he’s taken the brash, soul-rattling singing of The Clancy Brothers as his model ever since encountering them as a teenager in an isolated Midwestern town.

**Resonant Bodies**

Resonant Bodies is an improvising duo consisting of Zebedee Budworth (hammered dulcimer + electronics) and Rob Bentall (nyckelharpa and electronics). They aim to explore the spectacular sonorities of the ancient instruments they play, and how they interact with each other. They aim to marry these old technologies with new ones, processing the rich resonant instrumental timbres through electronic effects. The duo seeks to reimagine folk tunes through an improvised musical dialogue, allowing the rich sonority they piece together to lead their creative output.

For more information on access at EartH, please see our FAQs here: https://bit.ly/44dzl75 or contact us at access@earthackney.co.uk

EartH is a social enterprise committed to supporting new musicians, with music studios in the venue that are completely free for young artists in Hackney to use. Find out more here (https://earthackney.co.uk/about/studio-36/).

This is a 16+ event. 

EartH

This is a 16+ event. All attendees 16-17s must be accompanied by a responsible adult who is 18 or older (1:1 ratio). To verify age, ID may be requested. We advise all customers to bring valid ID. For further information, see Age and ID in FAQs. Right of admission reserved.

What are the age restrictions for this event?

Shovel Dance Collective, Bridget Christie + more

Shovel Dance Collective - The Merry Golden Tree

Shovel Dance Collective

Bridget Christie

Milkweed

Spitzer Space Telescope

Resonant Bodies

Gigs

London

A Salute to May Day: feat. Daisy Rickman, Goblin Band, Belles of London City & Tea Leaf

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Daisy Rickman is a self-taught multidisciplinary Artist and Musician from Mousehole, Cornwall.

Rickman, known for both her captivating music and striking paintings has recently released her latest album, “Howl”, which reflects her deep connection to the landscapes of Cornwall, blending influences from folk pioneers like Vashti Bunyan & Nick Drake with the droning psychedelia of bands like The Brian Jonestown Massacre. In her live performances, Rickman’s hypnotic low vocals and masterful instrumentation transport audiences to a sun-soaked realm of sound, where mystical and earthy melodies intertwine. With her profound lyrics and evocative storytelling, she creates an immersive experience that celebrates the interconnectedness of nature and the human spirit.

“Reminiscent of those long lost folk gigs of the 1960s, Rickman and her band put together a mesmerising performance. Truly, it was the kind of performance that her cult-like following will hold dearly in their memories for years to come.” – Hard Of Hearing Magazine

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Relative newcomers on the thriving UK traditional folk circuit, Goblin Band are a collection of queer, musicians based around Hobgoblin Music, a folk-instrument shop with a branch located in central London. Inspired as much by medieval and early music, as they are by the folk traditions of Britain and abroad, the six-piece set their stall on re-energising timeless, much-journeyed songs for an ever-growing new community of young folk enthusiasts.

Debut EP ‘Come Slack Your Horse!’ - featuring songs dating back as early as the mid-17th century - sees the band doing just that. While some tracks here - such as instrumental opener ‘Black Nag’ or

‘Widecombe Fair’ - express a boundless, escapist joy, and the band’s deeply infectious enthusiasm for traditional music, many tracks across the collection, despite their age, bear startling parallels with the travails of contemporary society.

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Vibrant, energetic, challenging and delightfully eccentric, the Belles of London City will break all of your stereotypes about Morris dancing. Dressed in trademark red and white corsets, the Belles of London City have captured the attention of the national press and delighted audiences around the country with Morris Dancing for the 21st Century.

Traditional folk rhythms, high jumping, audience participation and general horseplay mix to deliver a toe-tappingly infectious dance spectacle. Our entertainment can be tailored for all kinds of events - nightclubs and venues in London's East End, stage performances, private parties, weddings, corporate events, festivals, and school workshops.

As well as our public performances, we also provide traditional dance and music school workshops, which aim to build confidence, coordination, and curiosity.

Collection

A Salute to May Day