Wark is a small village in Northumberland, and one of only four places where vehicles can cross the North Tyne upstream of Hexham. Its Mechanics Institute and Town Hall is the venue for some remarkable gigs organised by folk singer and songwriter Ian K Brown (who is a guest in another episode of the podcast).
Musicians are drawn from across the North of England and the Borders to perform an informal concert to an audience that ranks as one of the friendliest you could hope to meet. Ian puts in a tremendous amount of work as promoter, organiser of seating, host and support act, playing his own songs and covers accompanied by singer Louise Ainsley, whose partner Dave Ainsley does the sound.
The Celia Bryce Band is based in Tynemouth and includes a member from Allenheads. Led by singer Celia Bryce, whose compositions with bassist Colin Bradshaw make up most of their repertoire, the band play carefully crafted songs featuring close harmonies. Though loosely falling within the genre of Americana, that term does not do justice to the range and melodic scope of their material.
The songs featured in this episode are: Nome, Hexham Tan and Here Before by The Celia Bryce Band, and Home Time and the traditional song Byker Hill, by Ian Brown. (We were unable to record Celia’s band well enough for the podcast, so we have included the published songs courtesy of The Celia Bryce Band and Country Music Social Media.)
Here Before, by The Celia Bryce Band, is featured on the 3tynespodcast jukebox on YouTube – go to https://youtu.be/8ZT9MvfEEFw.
You can find out about the Wark gigs by following Ian Brown on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/BrownIanK.
There is more information about The Celia Bryce Band on their website at https://www.theceliabryceband.com/ and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/theceliabband. You can listen find their music on Bandcamp at https://theceliabryceband.bandcamp.com/, YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@theceliabryceband5661 and Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/artist/4mO4k9DK60WTvQyAo9CNCa?si=EJ-U7TGAQnWOd4W9534gZg. Please contact Country Music Social Media for more information (https://countrymusicsocialmedia.com/).
As well as being a songwriter, Celia is also a talented fiction writer. You can find out more about her work at https://www.celiabryce.co.uk/.
