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PERSONNEL
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GRAEME MEEK BSc(Hons), Cert. Ed. Ø
Voice Ø
Hopf
Acoustic Guitar Ø
Epiphone
Acoustic Guitar Ø
Epiphone
Thunderbird IV Bass Ø
Wilson
Rapier Bass Ø
Fylde
Bouzouki Click here Graeme’s
traditional idiom songs form the mainstay of a Life & Times performance.
One of his songs has been performed by John
Kirkpatrick and another has been recorded by Carolyn
Robson. A third has been used in a film submitted to the Cannes Film Festival and a fourth was used by |
Graeme is a member of the
E.F.D.S.S. |
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BARRY GOODMAN M.Ed. Ø
Voice Ø
Saltarelle
Connemara Melodeon Ø
Castagnari
Tommy Melodeon Ø Excelsior Melodeon Ø
Lachenal
English Concertina See www.myspace.com/musocallersinger
With over 30
years in folk behind him, he has been described as a Folk
Polymath. Besides Life & Times he calls and plays for the
E-Ceilidh band Time of Your Life. Has also
called with other bands including Random, Grand
Union, Mawkin, Stomp, Fendragon,
The Woodpecker Band, Moondance, Triality
and Laughing Gravy. Has called at Sidmouth, Towersey, Wimborne and Rhythms
of the World Festivals. Has danced with Ampthill’s
Redbornstoke Morris since 1977 and has been a
musician for The Outside
Capering Crew, Rockhopper Morris and Bedfordshire Lace.
For many years he has been MC and caller for The
Hertfordshire Folk Association's annual Summer Dance Festival for
children at Hatfield House. Serves on the Festival's organising committee and
also runs Folk Dance Workshops for teachers and children. Is involved in the New Roots young musicians’ competition. Has been an
MC at Sidmouth, Towersey, Chippenham, |
Barry is a member of the
E.F.D.S.S., Folk Arts England and FolkWISE |
BIOGRAPHY
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Formerly
a trio, Greg Lindsay (flute) left in the late 1980s and was replaced,
briefly, by Sara Fox (who became Sara Hack and a member of Time of Your Life)
Before Graeme and Barry decided to continue as a duo. Life & Times has
also occasionally featured Debbie Chalmers (who now works regularly with
Bella Hardy and Suntrap) on fiddle in performance. Life & Times
celebrated their Silver Jubilee in 2008. Awards Life & Times won the FATEA Tradition 09 Award
which… “…is presented to the act that have traditional
folk at the root of their sound and use it to inspire new songs, tunes and
arrangements.” Previous winners have included Jackie Oates. Prestigious
Mentions Life & Times feature in the Guinness Who’s
Who in Folk and in The Official Music Maker Folk Music of the British Isles
catalogue. Highly
Regarded Folk Performers Who Have Used Our Music Ø ASHLEY HUTCHINGS (founder
of STEELEYE Ø JOHN KIRKPATRICK (former member of
STEELEYE Ø CAROLYN ROBSON (former
EFDSS Education Officer) Both John Kirkpatrick and Carolyn Robson
have performed Life & Times’ songs. John played The Bridge of Iron at The Ironbridge Gorge Museum (he would have played more if
there had been time!). Carolyn sings the song The Ghost of Lady de Grey (which
appears on Life & Times’ CD Charivari) and she has also recorded it on
her own CD: Dawn
Chorus (Reiver Records RVCD03). You can
hear the song at her website. Ashley Hutchings et
al’s CD: The Grandson of Morris On concludes
with Barry and the band performing his own tune Four Up. Radio and
Life & Times Life & Times’ music has been featured
on national radio and local radio stations around Britain and beyond. Their
radio documentary of Shropshire Iron was broadcast – appropriately –
in Other Users
of Our Music The song Brickmaking has been included in
a Berkshire Education history package, music from Shropshire Iron has been used for
a promotional video by a Shropshire Theatre Company and Barry’s tune Plaiter’s Polka
appeared on TV’s The Canterville Ghost.
In October 2006, Life & Times were approached about the use of their song
The
Bedfordshire Clanger in a short
film by Dunstable-based Five Feet Films, which it is hoped will be
shown on Channel 4 TV at some time in the future. Around the same time it was
proposed to include the song The Markyate Highwayman
in a history project in Ferrars Junior School,
Luton (named after the Wicked Lady:
she of the film and of the story in the song). At Hogmanay 2007, Graeme’s
song The Stonehaven
Fireballs was reproduced in the brochure that accompanied the age-old
ceremony at Stonehaven,
Grampian and in January 2009, Barry’s song Follow The Straw Bear was printed in the programme
for the Whittlesey Straw Bear Festival. Who Writes
The Music? Although Graeme has been the main songwriter
for the duo, Barry has also contributed songs and tunes; a growing number
since 2006. Graeme has occasionally taken on commissions to write songs. In
1986 he wrote a few songs to assist in a bid to open a museum in a
Bedfordshire town. One of those songs A Working Boatie Man appears on their CD Charivari
(recorded in April 2001) and on the CD Where The Working Boats Went (recorded in
January 2009). In 2003 he wrote a song for the opening of a restored bridge
in a Bedfordshire village and The Bridge Down The Meadow together with
Barry’s tune Over
The Bridge have proved to be very popular well beyond the village
for which they were written. 2009 saw a commission to write songs for the
Greensand Trust’s Sands Of Time
project which resulted in the CD of the same name (see Recordings).
Graeme and Barry both contributed songs to this project. Graeme celebrated
his 25th year of writing Bedfordshire songs in 2006. Can Anyone
Find Our Music Printed Anywhere? Luton Museum & Art Gallery published
the song book of Strawplait & Bonelace
in 1984 and much of Life & Times’ material has been reproduced in Bedfordshire
County Life Magazine since 1999. The Beds., Herts., Bucks., &
Cambs., folk magazine Unicorn has also printed many of Graeme’s songs
over the years. His songs have also appeared in several other folk
publications including the NWFFC Newsletter and Joe Smith’s Midlands Folk
Diary: the only song ever printed in that publication. Barry’s
songs have also appeared in Unicorn magazine. Barry’s
Award As a regular contributor to EFDSS events,
promoter of folk in education and host of the children’s dance festival every
summer at Hatfield House, in 2006, Barry won Hertfordshire’s Bill Ranscombe Award for services to folk in the
county. Recordings (see our Life & Times main website for more details) Ø
Where
The Working Boats Went Wixamtree Ø
Charivari
Wixamtree Ø
Sands
of Time
Wixamtree WIXD 104 Ø
Ø
Strawplait
& Bonelace Fellside
FE043 Ø
A
Select Few
(dance music) Ø
Marston
Vale Community
Project Some other recordings that include our music: Ø
Grandson
of Morris On (Ashley Hutchings et al.) Ø
Dawn
Chorus (Carolyn Robson) Reiver Records RVCD03 Ø
Keep
Dancing EFDSS Recordings EDCD07 (dance music) What Else
Can We Say? Ø
Life
& Times were part of the EFDSS Full English project, in 2014. At a
Milton Keynes school we taught dance and a local (adapted) May song. We also did
some song writing workshops and created May garlands and a hobby horse which
the children took to Birmingham Town Hall in June as the culmination
of the whole country-wide project. Ø
Life
& Times appear regularly at Hitchin
Folk Club, Radio 2’s 2005 Folk Awards Best Folk Club, where they are
resident artists. Ø
Life
& Times have represented Bedfordshire at The EFDSS National Gathering in Cecil Sharp House,
London. Ø
Several
of Life & Times songs and tunes are now incorporated into traditions,
mainly, but not exclusively, local to Bedfordshire. See Traditions
below for more details. Ø
Life
& Times’ first recording Strawplait & Bonelace was sponsored by The Eastern Arts Association. Ø
Many
Life & Times songs and tunes can be seen displayed in pubs, libraries and
museums in Bedfordshire and beyond. Ø
Life
& Times have appeared the length of the country from Hartlepool to Wadebridge. Ø
Life
& Times are founder members and form two fifths of the E-ceilidh/barn
dance band Time of Your Life who have been performing since
1984. Ø
Life
and Times formed half of the band for the March 2008 youth theatre production
of Lark Rise at Hitchin’s Queen Mother Theatre. Barry was the Musical
Director. Oddest
Performance Venue A
live |
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SONGS
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Many
of Life & Times’ songs and tunes chronicle the history, legends, customs
and folklore of the area in which Graeme & Barry live, and particularly
the Charles
Wells and Josephine Grimbley
concerns the story of Chief
Officer, Charles Wells, who gave up a promising sea career to return home and
marry his sweetheart, Josephine Grimbley, and to
establish the Bedford
Brewery that still bears his name. (Known as Wells & Youngs from October 2006). The Ghost
of Lady de Grey.
Lady Elizabeth de Grey was the daughter of the owner of Wrest House, a
country mansion in Silsoe, Bedfordshire. Her father
took a dim view of his daughter’s elopement with a humble coachman from The
George Inn. In a hasty escape, she fell from a carriage and drowned in a
lake. Her ghost returned to The George where her happiest times had been.
There are still stories of ghostly appearances at the hotel which still
stands in the village. This song is also sung by Carolyn Robson
and is recorded on her CD Dawn Chorus, Reiver
Records RVRCD03. (Recorded on the CD: Charivari). You can hear
the song on her website. Plough
Monday Song tells of
an ancient tradition which took place on the Monday after Twelfth Night, the
first working day for agricultural workers after Christmas. Ploughboys with
blackened faces paraded a plough around local pubs, singing and begging for
money; and were often accompanied by dancers. The tradition was continued by
ploughboys of Thurleigh, Bedfordshire, into the 20th
century and, it has been revived around the Ampthill area by local Morris
teams Bedfordshire Lace and Redbornstoke Morris, accompanied by the Brafront Guizers who perform
their Plough Play. (Recorded on the CD: Charivari) The Life
and Times of Henry Claydon, Highwayman. Henry Claydon was a highwayman who plied his trade on the
Watling Street, but lived in the Bedfordshire village of Flitwick.
He made quite a success of his “trade” until one of his companions turned
“King’s Evidence” and betrayed him, leading to his eventual execution at the
end of the 17th century (or was it a rope…?). The song is told
from his own point of view. (Recorded on the CD: Charivari) Dunstable
Downs Midsummer’s Day Song
is based on a custom which used to take place on the downs until the early or
mid 19th century. At dusk on midsummer’s day, huge bonfires were
lit to celebrate the solstice. They were seen for miles around and burned
late into the night. Similar customs apparently still exist in some other
parts of the country. (Recorded on the CD: Charivari) All In The
Wintertime is a song
which effectively explains the story behind the Mummers Play performed by
Bedfordshire’s Brafront Guizers.
It was written when it became obvious that after several years of performing
the play, audiences were amused but still mystified by its content! (Recorded on the
CD: Charivari) The Witch
of Conger Hill tells
of an old custom in the village of Toddington,
Bedfordshire. It is said if you venture up onto Conger Hill, an old castle
mound, on Shrove Tuesday and put your ear to the ground, you will hear an old
woman or witch frying her pancakes. The custom persisted into at least the
1970s when school children were taken up onto the hill to listen. The
practice ceased with the introduction of The National Curriculum! A framed
copy of this song can be seen in Toddington Library
and also next door, on the wall at The Oddfellows
Arms which is on the corner of Conger Lane. The tune of this song is used for
a dance by The
Outside Capering Crew who appear on the CD: Grandson of Morris On. (Recorded on the
CD: Charivari) More
details on the stories behind Life & Times’ songs can be found at Graeme
Meek’s Bedfordshire Songs website. |
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LISTEN TO
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To
hear some of Life & Times’ music go to these websites: Violin
accompaniments on these recordings are provided by Debbie Chalmers, schooled
by Joe Broughton. Recordings made at Debbie
is a member of our dance band TIME OF YOUR LIFE Once
on the website, click on The Film and
then Music To
hear some of Time of Your Life’s music go to these websites: All
the tracks on the Time of Your Life websites above are taken from the CD Keep Dancing, a recording by Hertfordshire District
EFDSS of dance music for use in schools, which is now available. You
can also hear us on the Wareham Court Leet website at: where
we are singing Graeme’s song Wareham Court Leet
over an embedded YouTube slideshow of the Court Leet’s
activities over the years. You can also go directly to the YouTube page by
clicking here. |
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TRADITIONS
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There
are a number of living traditions that now include Life & Times’ music. Ampthill,
Bedfordshire’s Redbornstoke Morris has adopted the song Toddington Tour
as an integral part of their dance tour of the village in July each year and print
the words in their booklet that is available to spectators and visitors.
Other Morris sides now expect the song at the end of the proceedings and are
ready to join in the chorus. Barry’s
song All in
the Wintertime is regularly sung at performances by Ampthill’s Mummers Players, The Brafront
Guizers. Plough Monday
Song is usually sung at
the Plough Monday gatherings of Redbornstoke Morris and Bedfordshire Lace at
The Cross Keys, Pulloxhill, Bedfordshire on Plough
Monday each year. On
May Day morning every year at Katherine’s Cross in Ampthill Park, following
the dancing by Redbornstoke Morris, Bedfordshire Lace and other invited
Morris sides, Barry’s song Ampthill Sunrise is always sung. Graeme’s
tune One Man’s
Morris together with Barry’s dance of the same name is now
performed by Redbornstoke Morris as well as by Sarum
Morris of Wiltshire. The
dance display team, Outside Capering Crew, use the tune of Witch of Conger
Hill for one of their dances. Graeme’s
song Wareham
Court Leet was used for the outing of the Court Leet around the
town of A
school dance group in Little Paxton, Cambridgeshire, have used Graeme’s tune Seven Chimneys. Barry’s
tune Four Up is
performed by many Morris sides around the country. |
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OTHERS PERFORMING OUR MUSIC
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·
The GRANDSON OF MORRIS ON band (formed by Ashley Hutchings, founder of Steeleye Span)
perform Barry’s tune Four Up ·
JOHN KIRKPATRICK
(one-time member of Steeleye Span) has performed Graeme’s song The Bridge of Iron ·
CAROLYN ROBSON (former
education officer of the EFDSS) has performed and recorded Graeme’s song The Ghost of Lady de Grey ·
HAMISH CURRIE has
performed Graeme’s songs Sand and Dobbing |
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