Chris at the Bideford Folk Dance Club.
"If you get up and have a go, you are almost guaranteed a good evening!"
Touchstone 2016
Options For Your Event
There are numerous possibilities to choose from. The most basic is just me with CD's. I would just bring my computer along with good quality Yamaha PA system and microphone, and would call the dances to recorded music. This is great if you want me as part of a wedding party, or if you are trying to raise money for your charity. The cost would be from £155.00 + petrol for gigs in the North Devon area. I could also offer to do a couple of the dances with me providing live music on melodeon or fiddle, and there is also the possibility of a couple of songs with me playing guitar if required.
The next level up would be 2 musicians with me playing and calling. The price for this would be from £280.00 plus petrol and travelling time from North Devon. I could not guarantee which musician and what instrument they would play, because this all depends on availability, but it would usually be fiddle / guitar / or flute.
After that you can add more musicians up to your required level. For 3 people the price would be in the region of £390.00 and for 4 approx £510.00 + petrol. (see 'contact' page for details of bands I regularly work with.)
In addition, for an extra £25.00 per 30 minutes on all the above options, I can stay for an extra hour at the end so that you can use my high quality PA system for your own DIY disco. Ideal for wedding parties! For this you would have to supply the music, and something to play it on and plug into my system.
40 years of experience!
Chris has been involved with folk music and dance ever since he can remember. From the age of 8 he was playing fiddle in a band with his parents, and from then on, was playing regularly weddings, Barn Dance and ceilidh's, as well as for the established EFDSS clubs. This continued for many years, and explains his deep knowledge of both repetoires. Since those early years, he has played in and led numerous bands - all the while - observing how, and how not to call! For many years, he worked with the late great Ray Taylor - and still uses many of his jokes - but he has also been in bands playing music for callers such as Colin Hume, Bernard Chalk, Nigel Barrel, Hugh Rippon, Gordon Potts, John Turner and many years ago - Gordon Brooks.
In 1990 he joined electric Folk Rock band Touchstone. With them, he took on the role of calling for the very many ceilidh's they played for during the 90's, including 25 years at Crawley Folk Festival as well as hundreds of weddings and appearances at Chippenham, Gosport and Broadstairs festivals. In the 90's, he was also playing fiddle for Broken Ankles, and appeared at festivals in Sidmouth, Towersey and Omagh. With Touchstone or 3 Sticks, he had clients including Glyndboune Opera, American Express and the launch party of Windows '95, and played at venues as diverse as Cecil Sharp House and The Savoy Hotel in London, The Grand Hotel in Brighton, and probably hundreds of barns in and around Sussex.
Chris has been a regular Folk Camp musician since he was 18, and is still to be found on the staffing lists. He also regularly leads at English Folk Camps, and has run their 'Session Music Weekend' for the last 6 years.
He has also led and been musician for the German Folk Camps held in Zeilitzheim each summer. The first was in 1984, and the latest was in 2019.
At the present time, Chris lives in North Devon, and works regularly with Amber Fire, The Barnstormers, The Folk Camps Party Band and Sheer Hopody - sometimes to call - and sometimes to play either melodeon, fiddle or guitar. He also calls occasionally with 3 Sticks from the Milton Keynes area where he used to live, and still with Touchstone in Sussex.
