The Imagined Village at Glastonbury
Watch the performance from Saturday 28th June on the
Jazz World stage of theGlastonbury Festival.
The Imagined Village win three Hancock Awards
The Imagined Village have won three Hancock Awards from the 'Talk A While' web site and forum.
Visitors to the forum recently voted for The Hancock Awards 2008. In the final count The Imagined Village came out top in the categories of Best Album, Best Original Song (Cold Haily Rainy Night) and Best Traditional Song (Tam Lyn Retold). The group will be presented with the awards on stage when they perform at the Wychwood Festival on June 1st.
Initially brought together by Fairport Convention and the Cropredy Festival the website has expanded to cover many artists and festivals. The forum section has some of the heaviest traffic in the online folk community with around 1000 visitors every day.
The Imagined Village on Later with Jools Holland
The Imagined Village band recently recorded 'Cold Haily Rainy Night' at the BBC studios for this Friday's episode of Later with Jools Holland. The energetic live performance lasts well over 6 minutes, which is apparently something of a rarity on the show. The full touring line up, including The Young Coppers on backing vocals, perform a rousing rendition of this award winning version.
The show goes out this Friday night at 11.35 on BBC2.
The Imagined Village Take the Prize!
Last night The Imagined Village opened the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards ceremony with an outstanding performance of Cold Haily Rainy Night. It was this unique and hugely entertaining version of this song that then took the Award for Best Traditional Song. A packed crowd of folk luminaries at The Brewery in London gave The Imagined Village a standing ovation. The song celebrates a new expression of English folk that can embrace dhol drums and sitar alongside less unexpected instrumentation. You can catch up with news of the evening by clicking the link below.
Listen to the Awards ceremony on BBC radio 2's Mike Harding show on Wednesday 6 February.
Peter Gabriel Honored With MIDEM Award
Peter Gabriel was honored with the Award of MIDEM Personality of the Year 2008 at the industry conference in Cannes and the event was celebrated at a fantastic gala evening. Guests from all areas of the international music industry gathered in the Carlton Hotel for a banquet supper. Music was provided by Real World artists The Imagined Village who performed an outstanding and energetic version of Tam Lyn from their recent album (in spite of arriving with little time to spare from a foggy London Heathrow airport and a day of cancelled flights!). Maryam Mursal, the legendary Somali diva sang one of Peter's best loved songs, Kufilaw, from the Real World album 'The Journey' while Peter managed to maneuver himself onto the stage (in spite of his broken leg!) and join in with backing vocals and banging his crutches overhead to the amazement of the audience! Charlie Winston ended the showcase with a rousing 'Hobo' - another of Peter's favorite songs - and lead a trail like a troubadour through the audience and out of the banqueting hall. A pretty unforgettable evening!
Peter Gabriel Honored With MIDEM Award
Peter Gabriel was honored with the Award of MIDEM Personality of the Year 2008 at the industry conference in Cannes and the event was celebrated at a fantastic gala evening. Guests from all areas of the international music industry gathered in the Carlton Hotel for a banquet supper. Music was provided by Real World artists The Imagined Village who performed an outstanding and energetic version of Tam Lyn from their recent album (in spite of arriving with little time to spare from a foggy London Heathrow airport and a day of cancelled flights!). Maryam Mursal, the legendary Somali diva sang one of Peter's best loved songs, Kufilaw, from the Real World album 'The Journey' while Peter managed to maneuver himself onto the stage (in spite of his broken leg!) and join in with backing vocals and banging his crutches overhead to the amazement of the audience! Charlie Winston ended the showcase with a rousing 'Hobo' - another of Peter's favorite songs - and lead a trail like a troubadour through the audience and out of the banqueting hall. A pretty unforgettable evening!
The Imagined Village on the Charles Hazelwood show
The Imagined Village band did a pre-recorded session on the Charles Hazelwood show last night, BBC Radio 2 at 10pm. The link below takes you to the listen again page, you can also see a video of this performance on a freezing cold winters day in a drafty somerset barn on the outskirts of glastonbury in the middle of our last november tour. It's all unplugged, and we play an acoustic, shortened version version of john barleycorn going into england half english, followed by scarbourh fair sung by chris wood with Billys introductory talk at the front. As an end of year round up the project has been nominated for 2 radio 2 folk awards: best album and best traditional track 'Cold Hailey Rainy Night' and we will be performing this song at the awards in february. We also came joint 8th in the Froots new albums of 2007 and 5th in the Mojo folk top 10 for 2007.
You can also listen again to the Tom Robinson show from last Tuesday 18/Dec on the Radio 6 website, he played 3 live tracks from the IV RFH gig: Acres of Ground, Cold Haley Rainy Night, Hard Times of Old England
We wish everyone a great Christmas and a happy New Year and well see you all hopefully in a field somewhere on the summer festival circuit.
The Village People
Award Nominations for The Imagined Village
The Imagined Village hasreceived nominations in two catagories of the BBC Folk Awards: Best Album and Best Traditional Song (for Cold Haily Rainy Night).
The nominations were announced last night on BBC Radio 2's Mike Harding show. The winners will be annonced in February next year.
Songlines Features The Imagined Village
The newly released Imagined Village album is the cover feature of Songlines magazine Issue 48 (December). An article by Tim Cummings and extensive photo coverage by York Tillyer from the Real World studios session gives the full story behind the project. To complete the picture, the free covermount CD features 5 tracks chosen by Benjamin Zephaniah - who brings an outstanding performance to The Imagined Village album with his re-working of Tam Lyn.
BBC Radio 4's Front Row talks to The Imagined Village
Jump 11m11s into this piece available on the BBC's listen again service to hear a great section on The Imagined Village projects with contributions from Billy Bragg, Martin Carthy and Simon Emmerson
BBC Previews The Imagined Village
It may have been a momentary mention (and rather curiously slotted in the middle of a feature about archive Dylan footage) but BBC 2's Newsnight Review on Friday 12 October included a live clip of The Imagined Village. A short cameo of Martin Carthy being interviewed and Billy Bragg launching into England Half English at Real World can be viewed again on line.
The Imagined Village Album Release!
October 15 sees the release of the much anticipated album 'The Imagined Village'. Outstanding reviews so far have been very exciting for everyone involved. The November tour starts on November 11 so check in again for news of details of what will be happening live.
The Imagined Village featured on Newsnight Review
The Imagined Village will be featured on BBC2's Newsnight review tonight (11pm) as part of a discussion about folk music. The show will also include a live performance by Martin Carthy.
Billy Bragg discusses The Imagined Village with Simon Mayo
Simon Mayo recently interviewed The Imagined Village featured artist Billy Bragg for the latest edition of The Radio 2 Music Club.
Billy discusses the artists involved in the forthcoming album and the re-invention of the English folk songs 'John Barleycorn' and 'Hard Times Of Old England'.
Click the link below to listen again online.
Album release date announced
The Imagined Village 11 track album is to be released in the UK on October 15th. A stella line up gathered together by Simon Emmerson includes Paul Weller, Billy Bragg, Sheila Chandra, Benjamin Zephaniah, Martin Carthy, Eliza Carthy, Tunng, Chris Wood, The Copper Family, Johnny Kalsi plus The Gloworms and Tiger Moth. The CD is now available to pre-order online here.
Take Your First Trip to the Imagined Village!
If you think you know about English folk music, think again! The Imagined Village project, the brainchild of producer and musician Simon Emmerson, has recast age-old traditions in the shape of the twenty-first century. A daring mix of ancient and modern, The Imagined Village fuses fiddles and squeezebox with dub beats and sitars.
Now available exclusively online is the Imagined Village limited edition 4 Track EP, featuring an extraordinary array of talent - Martin Carthy, Eliza Carthy, Sheila Chandra, Billy Bragg, Chris Wood and Simon Emmerson.
EP Track Listing:
1. 'England Half English Meets John Barleycorn' was recorded and mixed by producer Simon Emmerson with Billy Bragg featuring Martin Carthy and Eliza Carthy. The spirit of the track, with its meeting of two songs, seemed in perfect keeping with the overall sentiment of The Imagined Village project
2. 'Acres of Ground (Beats Mix)' is an original song by Eliza Carthy, based around old traditional counting songs. Created through collaboration between Simon Emmerson and mix engineer Mass in their London Studio and Ben Ivitsky and Eliza in their Scottish studio. Another version of this song which will appear on the final album in a very different guise.
3. 'Welcome Sailor', a beautiful atmospheric collaboration between Sheila Chandra and Chris Wood, is a recording based on Lal Waterson's traditional interpretation of the original folk tune. This track will appear on the forthcoming Imagined Village album.
4. 'Cold, Hailey, Rainy Night - It's Turned Out Nice Mix by Stabilizer' grew out of a challenge set by The Imagined Village project on the Real World Remix website . The idea was to take this track - Transglobal Underground's interpretation of Martin Carthy's original track - and re-mix it. This song has been passed down from generation to generation through the oral tradition of folk music. It has now been re-invented in a radical fashion by the mysterious, uniquely- talented Stabilizer!
Those who were lucky enough to survive the mud at this July's WOMAD Festival in Charlton Park and were in the Siam Tent on the Saturday night were witness to the premiere of the live show - for many festival-goers this was the gig of the weekend!
'Cold Hailey Rainy Night' from 'The Imagined Village'
Coming soon to Real World Records and to a venue near you is The Imagined Village, an ambitious reinvention of the English Folk tradition, embracing the modern-day nation in all its cultural diversity. Fiddles and squeezebox breathe easily alongside electronica and ambient effects, ancestral songs are brilliantly updated with the sounds and voices of today.
You can get a preview of things to come, and become part of the village yourself over at Real World Remixed where 'Cold Hailey Rainy Night' has just been made available as a remix sample pack.
Simon Emmerson from The Imagined Village says "We are looking for the most Imaginative and inventive re-mix of one of England's oldest stories of love, sex and betrayal: Cold Hailey Rainy Night. This song has been passed down from generation to generation through the oral tradition of folk music. We are now passing it on to you in the Imagined Village of cyber space to be re-invented by the Real World Remix community.
Alongside Simon Emmerson the project features The Copper Family, Sheila Chandra, Benjamin Zephaniah, Martin Carthy, Eliza Carthy, Paul Weller, Transglobal Underground, Tunng, Chris Wood, Billy Bragg, Tiger Moth, Gloworms, and the Dhol Foundation.
'Cold Hailey Rainy Night' from 'The Imagined Village'
Coming soon to Real World Records and to a venue near you is The Imagined Village, an ambitious reinvention of the English Folk tradition, embracing the modern-day nation in all its cultural diversity. Fiddles and squeezebox breathe easily alongside electronica and ambient effects, ancestral songs are brilliantly updated with the sounds and voices of today.
You can get a preview of things to come, and become part of the village yourself over at Real World Remixed where 'Cold Hailey Rainy Night' has just been made available as a remix sample pack.
Simon Emmerson from The Imagined Village says "We are looking for the most Imaginative and inventive re-mix of one of England's oldest stories of love, sex and betrayal: Cold Hailey Rainy Night. This song has been passed down from generation to generation through the oral tradition of folk music. We are now passing it on to you in the Imagined Village of cyber space to be re-invented by the Real World Remix community.
Alongside Simon Emmerson the project features The Copper Family, Sheila Chandra, Benjamin Zephaniah, Martin Carthy, Eliza Carthy, Paul Weller, Transglobal Underground, Tunng, Chris Wood, Billy Bragg, Tiger Moth, Gloworms, and the Dhol Foundation.
'Cold Hailey Rainy Night' from 'The Imagined Village'
Coming soon to Real World Records and to a venue near you is The Imagined Village, an ambitious reinvention of the English Folk tradition, embracing the modern-day nation in all its cultural diversity. Fiddles and squeezebox breathe easily alongside electronica and ambient effects, ancestral songs are brilliantly updated with the sounds and voices of today.
You can get a preview of things to come, and become part of the village yourself over at Real World Remixed where 'Cold Hailey Rainy Night' has just been made available as a remix sample pack.
Simon Emmerson from The Imagined Village says "We are looking for the most Imaginative and inventive re-mix of one of England's oldest stories of love, sex and betrayal: Cold Hailey Rainy Night. This song has been passed down from generation to generation through the oral tradition of folk music. We are now passing it on to you in the Imagined Village of cyber space to be re-invented by the Real World Remix community.
Alongside Simon Emmerson the project features The Copper Family, Sheila Chandra, Benjamin Zephaniah, Martin Carthy, Eliza Carthy, Paul Weller, Transglobal Underground, Tunng, Chris Wood, Billy Bragg, Tiger Moth, Gloworms, and the Dhol Foundation.