100 up! The Saga continues, the singing gets better and better

Hitting quite a landmark with this post, 100 entries over the course of almost exactly 1 year! That is a scary "posting rate" but perhaps simply reflects just how much we have done over the last twelve months. Any how, well done to the Blokes and our regular correspondents and contributors for their dedication.

And here is the latest blurb submitted to the Ashton Keynes Parish magazine.

The Saga continues, the singing gets better and better . . .

Back in the saddle – recent Performances

After what seems like too long a gap for the Yuletide period and New Year the lads were pressed back into action with a mere couple of rehearsals in the back room of The White Hart before launching ourselves upon the now suspecting public. After two years of being able to cover up many of our vocal shortcomings by having more costume changes than songs we suddenly, and almost unexpectedly, discovered that we could sing, rather well!

This came as quite a shocking revelation to many of our number, but it may well have been helped with the swelling of our numbers by blokes from as far away as Pewsey, Stroud and even Oxford.

Saturday 25th Feb 2012 Singing for Laughs in Marlborough
This was the first gig of the year and we have been invited back for a third year, which must say something profound, if only we could think what that is . . . Whatever profundity it reveals it is nothing compared to the heights of what we achieved that night. We had watched England narrowly beaten by Wales in the 6 Nations Rugby which thankfully meant that our Welsh Choirmeister was in particularly good form and despite a little too much shouting at the TV in the pub we were in particularly good voice, as can be witnessed by the recordings from the event, available via our website themagnificentak47.com.

Sat 3rd March 2012 at St Christopher's in Bristol.
The following week it was on to another repeat event – this time we more than held our own with some highly talented kids choir and three other groups. Again it was very gratifying to be told by our Choirmeister how much he had enjoyed the performance and overhearing several other conversations, it appeared that many others shared his opinion. For reviews and photos of this and other events please see our website.

Next – more rehearsal and more gigs

By the time this newsletter hits the streets there should be a good number of additional dates posted for rehearsals and gigs – all the information can be found, you’ve guessed it, on our website.

Announcing BlokeFest

We are very excited to announce the arrival of BlokeFest, our very own festival celebrating the cult of Blokedom. For one weekend in June we’re going to sing like blokes, act like men and get to be one of the guys. Our guiding philosophy is that singing is a truly manly activity as long as you sing the right stuff, in the right way, with the right men: think Shanties not shandies; Lumberjack not Timberlake, DiY not R’n B.

We have been beavering away behind the scenes for quite some while now and things are beginning to come together with our embryonic schedule:

Friday – visit to Stroud Brewery, food, drink and singing then camp overnight

Saturday – series of workshops for all things Bloke, singing, axe throwing, hog roasting and other such activities

Sunday – more singing, some walking and a bit more eating, drinking and singing

It may surprise you to know that much more can be found on a website, namely

http://blokefest.net. If you are a bloke and would like to join in, numbers are strictly limited to 100 so if you are quick you might be able to still get a ticket.

Unlock your Inner Minstrel – Become a new recruit for our singing troupe

To quote from our constitution, page 2, section 5, paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 “From time to time The Inner Circle may let it be known that the Group may be open to new members to be invited to join. Also from time to time, those wishing to join the Group may let a member or members of the Group know that they may wish to be considered to be invited to join. These potential new members will be invited to attend a meeting, be it workshop, social event, Pow Wow or other type of meeting, to assess whether they would like to be invited to join the Group on a continual basis, and whether the Group would like to invite them to join the Group on a continual basis.

This continued extension of the invitation to be a member will be dependent on the following criteria being achieved:

1. the member can hold a tune to a level appropriate for the rest of the group

2. is a decent bloke and fits in with the rest of the Group and does not do anything untoward

3. pays any subscriptions as may be required, all subscriptions being payable on demand and within a reasonable time frame (even allowing for poor memories and general incompetence).

Members are expected to demonstrate a commitment to Blokiness and gestures of pointless grandeur. In addition, wearing of hats commensurate with the subject matter that is being performed is to be encouraged at all times.”

But don’t be put off by this pseudo-seriousness, we take our singing, fun and silliness just as seriously! We have many, many hours of entertainment and Bonhommie with a great bunch of Blokes who really enjoy each others’ company. We have some truly inspirational teachers and as we learn more about the art of singing we make an increasingly sophisticated sound which we unleash on unsuspecting audiences with around half a dozen or more performances a year. If you are a bloke who is interested in joining in then email us at themagnificentak47@gmail.com or visit http://www.themagnificentak47.com/ to find out more about what we get up to and all our forthcoming events. Which leads us nicely on to

Forthcoming Events

At time of going to press, current plans for rehearsal dates include the following dates in the back room of The White Hart pub, High Road, Ashton Keynes, unless stated otherwise:

Sunday 22nd April 5-7pm - Workshop with Chris Samuel

At The White Hart back room

More information and up to date listings can be found at our regularly updated website.

Come and join us

If you are a Bloke who might like to join in the mixture of heartfelt lyrics, (intentionally) “tricky” harmonies, occasional beer and magnificent silliness, then to find out more about “The Magnificent AK47” from http://www.themagnificentak47.com/ or email themagnificentak47@gmail.com.

The Inner Circle
Sing Like a Bloke Chapter
Ashton Keynes
aka The Magnificent AK47