People we have sung with on BBC TV & Radio!

Mega congratulations to Sam Lee in particular and also Oznat Schmool for the BBC's Radio 2 Folk Awards last night - what a show and so many people we know and have actually worked with in the last year!

Next year lads, maybe we won't just be watching...

Workshop with us

Just in case you haven't already got your tickets can we encourage you along to the workshop that precedes our gig with the mighty Glorious Chorus this coming Saturday in the P. R. of Stroud?

By all accounts Helen Yeomans is a very special choir leader and we are all very much looking forward to seeing and hearing her in action and judging by the joint piece the blokes have been working on it will be something very special.

Book your Workshop tickets from the Sub Rooms website at http://www.subscriptionrooms.org.uk/whats-on/singing-workshop/ and show tickets from http://www.subscriptionrooms.org.uk/whats-on/from-the-ridiculous-to-the-sublime/.

From the Ridiculous to the Sublime, via Magnificent?

Just a quick plug for a couple of events featuring us truly in the People's Republic of Stroud where we welcome the rather wonderful Glorious Chorus from way down south.  

More shall be muttered but suffice for now to warn you that it is on, it will be hot, and possibly quite sublime, and we will be quite possibly ridiculous whilst being utterly Magnificent.

Find out more at http://www.subscriptionrooms.org.uk/whats-on/from-the-ridiculous-to-the-sublime/ and stick this one in your diary.

Giant Turnips celebrating local culture

Swindon and Wiltshire are much "under-known" in UK culture.  Both are often seen at best as cultural backwaters, or worse according to some sources, but in actual fact both are vibrant areas that have made immense contributions to national and international heritage.  Swindon was a fulcrum of the Industrial Revolution and despite misconceptions to the contrary is full of culture, boasting a lively music, film, fringe theatre scenes, including its own opera about the town, snappily entitled Swindon The Opera!

And recently one of our co-correspondents saw the above photo at Swindon (Old Town) Museum and Art Gallery where they are holding an exhibition of pictures (paintings, photos and postcards), 175 in all, to celebrate the 175 anniversary of the GWR Works in Swindon. 

To quote from the Museum's own website at http://swindonmuseumandartgallery.org.uk/

"Our Swindon in 175 Images exhibition shares the history of Swindon during the last 150 years.  With 175 rarely seen images from our local art, photographic and postcard collections, many original, it will show the variety and vibrant nature of life in Swindon, both urban and rural, at work and leisure, and major events and celebrations.

The exhibition builds on work carried out by the Heritage Lottery funded project ‘Hidden Potential’ and features works usually cared for in store.  As part of the Hidden Potential project dozens of volunteers have been working on cataloguing and caring for Swindon’s stored collections. This exhibition will showcase images rediscovered through the project and reveal some of Swindon’s hidden history!

Swindon175 is being celebrated across the town with a series of events and activities planned throughout the year. Swindon175 is a celebration for the whole of Swindon to be proud of our town’s achievements, heritage and future.

Swindon in 175 Images is sponsored by Friends of Swindon Museum and Art Gallery It's well worth a visit, and don't miss the Art Gallery, which contains some of the best modern art outside of London."

So get along there if you can and discover more than you might imagine.

What ARE they doing?

What ARE they doing?  

You may well ask yourself, and possibly others too...

Could it be

• They are thinking whether they left the gas on at home?
• They are pondering as to why any self respecting bloke hasn't already got his ticket for BlokeFest?
• They are desperately trying to remember the words?
• They are practicing hard for what promises to be a memorable Grand Day Out on board the SS Great Britain and singing in and around Bristol Docks?
• They are practicing hard for what promises to be a Magnificent workshop and show in Stroud with the devastating Glorious Chorus in a couple of weeks' time

What do you think it might be??

What connects The Croutons and The Proclaimers?

What connects The Croutons and The Proclaimers?  And possibly Genesis?

Well the answer is easy when you know...  it is Ripples, the monthly local magazine from around these parts, or a rather lovely song.

The Magnificent AK47 feature heavily on pages 26 & 27 of this month's Cricklade edition after our sell out show in St Sampson's Church, Cricklade back in March.

Shed shaped and Bristol Fashion?

Don't be misled by the banner in this photo encouraging you to "Eat Britain", we are not about to do that (!) but we are about to go and visit the SS Great Britain for a Grand Day Out round the world famous docks of the great city of Bristol.

One of our number loiters around this world famous landmark of our industrial heritage on the grounds that he works there and after a bit of pubtalk an idea came together that it might be a wizard wheeze to go visit, learn a bit, soak up a bit of our history, and sing in some unusual places.

So this very Saturday 9th April we venture out of our land-locked sheds towards the maritime capital of the South West that is Bristol, more specifically the dockside area and the SS Great Britain itself.

We have a very rough schedule as follows:

1. From 12:00 - Assemble at the SS Great Britain Cafe
2. At precisely 13:00 - Go into the SS Great Britain for a guided tour and singing in various places
3. Roundabout 15:00 - Exit and meet up with other miscreants at the Nova Scotia and see what happens from there

You can either join in the experience or warn others to avoid the area - we hope it is the former.

BlokeFest is unleashed

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It's been officially unleashed!  The biggest gathering of the clans of BlokeSong in the known universe, or so some might claim.  It certainly will be the biggest set of blokes given the amount of food that is on offer this year, and Birthday Cake too!

Whatever it is, it is great fun and the highlight of many people's summer so get yourself over to the BlokeFest 2016 website as it is now available to register for the general public at http://www.blokefest.net/register-2016.html to #getmensinging & #getmencycling.