Earlier this year BBC Introducing in the West ran the inaugural “Folk Residential Weekend”. Partnering with the National Centre for the Folk Arts, as well as BBC Points West, we spent two nights at Halsway Manor in Somerset with six very talented new musicians.
The weekend involved collaborative music workshops, folk inspired song writing classes and one-on-one artist development sessions.
As a producer and presenter at BBC Introducing, this weekend was the perfect opportunity to get to know some of the new artists in the West Country, support them with the advancement of their careers and produce some new creative content.
The whole thing was recorded and filmed for BBC Introducing in the West, and broadcast last week. The response on social media has been great and the reactions from the artists involved were incredible. As part of a partnership between BBC Introducing in the West and BBC Points West, we produced a short film documenting the weekend.
Artist collaborating at the BBC Introding Folk Weekend
The artists invited to Halsway Manor included Ange Hardy, Archie Churchill-Moss, George Wilding, Hattie Briggs, Natalie Holmes and Sharon Martin from the duo Lazybird. Although all six of the artists involved varied in style, instrument and profile, they had three things in common: they were talented, ambitious and had all uploaded to bbc.co.uk/introducing.
"The weekend made me feel part of a community of musicians and affirmed my identity as an emerging musician." (Musician on the Folk Residential)
"They weren't necessarily musicians I would normally have had the chance to spend much time with." (Musician on the Folk Residential
The weekend was a chance for all of the musicians involved to really focus on their craft. The artists came together several times during the weekend, writing songs inspired by the folk traditions of the local area. They collaborated with each other, working on each other’s songs as well as group compositions. And at the end of the weekend, they performed together in front of a live audience.
"I thought it was an amazing and inspiring place to focus on music and to be creative. It is a beautiful setting and a space conducive to a project such as this." (Musician on the Folk Residential)
For me the best thing about the weekend (and possibly my favourite initiative working with BBC Introducing so far) was the one-on-one artist development sessions. Phil Day, a local manager and music professional from Bath, joined us for the weekend, sitting with all six of the acts one-on-one for up to 90 minutes, talking to them about their career to date and the possibilities for them in the future. There were no strings attached and no agendas - we just wanted to help the artists achieve their ambitions. It was pure public service!
BBC Introducing team and the musicians outside the National Centre for the Folk Arts.
"Following some of my conversations with Phil I've got an even clearer view of my career plan over the next few years." (Musician on the Folk Residential)
"It has motivated me and given me some insight into the things I am doing well as well as those that I need to improve on." (Musician on the Folk Residential)
I am really proud of what we’ve achieved with The Folk Residential. BBC Introducing is genuinely an incredible platform for new unsigned, undiscovered and under the radar musicians. But projects like this demonstrate that BBC Introducing is also the place to experiment with new content, formats and events.
Massive thanks to Jeremy Wiles, Charlie Taylor, Richard Pitt and Will Lang for their help with the Folk Residential Weekend.
Sam Bonham is a producer and presenter for BBC Introducing in the West.
- Find out more about BBC Introducing.
- Apply for the Young Folk Award 2015, closing date 28 November 2014.
- Follow @bbcintroducing on Twitter.
