Musicport On Tour

For the third year Musicport Festival takes to the road visiting villages in the Whitby area.

As it is not half term this year concerts are only happening in the evenings over 5 nights from Monday 22^nd to Friday 26^th with daytime school workshops & only one daytime concert this time.

Namibian jazz singer Erna Chimu and her band on an exclusive visit to the UK to perform at Musicport kick things off on Monday night with a concert at Fyling Hall school where they will have been working with the students during the day. Contact the school to reserve places as the Barn venue has limited capacity. Erna will also perform a concert in the gallery at Danby Moors Centre on Tuesday afternoon.

Tuesday sees young Yorkshire-based duo Old Time Rags doing a school workshop during the day and a concert at Shanti Café, Saltburn in the evening. Their combination of Lawrence, a one-man band, and Phoebe a recognised expert Appalachian flat foot dancer, is both engaging, awe-inspiring in its virtuosity & totally fun-packed.

Wednesday evening sees two seasoned Musicport performers in a trio format with award winning singer Katie Doherty. Dave Gray from Swedish-based Varldens band who are one of Musicport’s all-time favourite acts and Shona Mooney the Northumbrian fiddle player who has worked with Addictive TV at Musicport previously are collectively Katie Doherty & The Navigators and play The Ley Hall Lealholm with local trio The Nightjars (Magda Phillips, Steve Cooper, Phil Martin) in support.

Thursday sees the highly acclaimed Hannah Sanders & Ben Savage at The Hut, Goathland. Huddled around a single microphone, singing intimate duets with just mountain dulcimer, dobro and guitar Hannah Sanders & Ben Savage are a folk duo that look & sound classically timeless, yet feel refreshingly unique. American influences abound but rooted in their Cambridgeshire home. Support comes from the young mainstay of the Whitby music scene Mackie in one of his last gigs before he leaves town on an adventure tour around the UK and further afield.

Finally, Friday night’s Festival Finale at St Margaret’s Church Aislaby sees the astonishing Martha Tilston (trio) returning to Musicport after too long an absence. Her last appearance at Musicport left a lot of the audience speechless such was the power and emotional intensity of her performance and we expect no less this time around. Support comes from the young Saltburn singer/guitarist Natasha Graham whose phenomenal voice is destined to take her far.

Organiser Jim McLaughlin said “We and the artists love taking some of the spirit and the wonderful music from the festival out into the glorious landscapes of the area surrounding Whitby & are very grateful to Arts Council England & The Normanby Trust for helping this to happen. We hope local residents will join us as they have done in previous years to ensure we can make this an ongoing and ever-developing part of the festival “