Music
Like the Creative Writing Group, The UWALS Music Group was convened to develop a range of musical responses to the Presenting the Past photographic collection. The original group included a number of varied instrumentalists, singers and musical enthusiasts.
One element of our activity has been the exploration and performance of a number of traditional dance tunes, whilst other members of the group have composed and arranged a number of original songs inspired by the pictures in the exhibition. One member of the group has also been working on the creation of electronic soundscapes featuring extracts from the oral history recordings.
Rehearsals for performances of these pieces were inevitably curtailed by Covid restrictions, but members of the group are now meeting again to ‘re-boot’ their activities. Some of the work was shared at the Presenting the Past exhibition and will be performed at an Evening of Words and Music on Friday 10th June. We also hope to be able to upload some audio files of the work on our website at a later stage.
New for 2022:Glass Shadowsby Ron NormanA suite of 10 original songs inspired by the Inman Roberts Photographic archive Ron has been making music in one form or another for most of his life. Locally he is known as the founder/leader of our very own Funk Wire. In a previous life he played with groups of various genres – country, blues, pop and rock - and for 14 years played keyboards for legendary veteran Halifax-based indie rockers Fez. He has also co-composed a rock musical and created incidental music for several productions of Shakespeare plays. Glass Shadows is his first completely solo venture. As well as the music and all but one of the lyrics, Ron has arranged, performed and recorded the 10 songs during the isolation of lockdowns. For someone who grew up breathing the air of 1970’s rock, it was a natural progression for Glass Shadows to emerge as a kind of bespoke concept album for the Present in the Past exhibition. The 10 highly varied songs embrace an eclectic range of influences, from folk to pop and prog to jazz, and all tell stories inspired by the photos ranging from simple but affecting ballads such as The Excursion and The Mother’s Tale, to the electro-pop pastiche Electric, the noir jazzy-funk Motoring,and more ambitiously conceived mini-epics like Bird in the Box and Views from a Bridge. Some of the songs will be demoed at the Present in the Past exhibition and the subsequent Evening of Words and Music, and you will soon be able to sample excerpts on the UWALS website, but to enjoy all 10 songs … |
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The Glass Shadows special limited edition CDincluding illustrated booklet is exclusively available @ £10 at these events and via the UWALS website from April 29th |
The Funk Wire
Please note the change of venue for the first few meetings while Kilnsey with Conistone Hall is repaired.
The next dates April 4th and 18th will continue at the Octagon, Graassingon.
Further dates and their venue to be confirmed.
2024 Subsidised Workshops
Details of workshops in felting, tapestry and lino-printing are to be found on the What's On pages.
Presenting the Past
If you missed the exhibition weekends don't worry, you can enjoy much of it here: