Chris Wood

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" background="043fd5a3.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#CC0066" FACE="Arial" ><B>Alan Bearman Music</B></FONT><B>    </B><B> |  </B><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B>   </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Alan Bearman Music"><U><B>home</B></U></A></FONT></div> <div> <A HREF="id44.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Eliza Carthy"><U><B>Eliza Carthy</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id48.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Martin Simpson"><U><B>Martin Simpson</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id20.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Waterson:Carthy"><U><B>Waterson:Carthy</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id31.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Altan"><U><B>Altan</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id43.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Lau"><U><B>Lau</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id50.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Kris Drever"><U><B>Kris Drever</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id47.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Battlefield Band"><U><B>Battlefield Band</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id49.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Flook"><U><B>Flook</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><B>Chris Wood</B><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Martin Carthy"><U><B>Martin Carthy</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id29.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Demon Barbers"><U><B>The Demon Barbers</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id28.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Peggy Seeger"><U><B>Peggy Seeger</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id42.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Spooky Mens Chorale"><U><B>The Spooky Men's Chorale</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id36.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Morris Offspring"><U><B>Morris Offspring</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Tour Dates and Concerts"><U><B>Tour Dates and Concerts</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id33.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Artists photo downloads"><U><B>Artists' photo downloads</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Festival Programming and Consultancy"><U><B>Festival  Programming and Consultancy</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id25.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links"><U><B>Links</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id30.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About Alan Bearman"><U><B>About Alan Bearman</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id27.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact"><U><B>Contact</B></U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFCC66" TEXT="#080000" background="044d2b03.jpg"> <div> <B><IMG SRC="06843340.gif" border=0 width="67" height="52" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="06992a30.gif" border=0 width="146" height="163" ALT="Alan Bearman Music logo" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="3a69ca00.jpg" border=0 width="156" height="160" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B> </B></div> <div> <B>To book the artists</B></div> <div> <B>please telephone or </B></div> <div> <A HREF="mailto:bearman@btinternet.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:bearman@btinternet.com"><U><B>email here</B></U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B><A HREF="javascript:newWin=window.open('http://www.patronmailuk.com/bnmailweb/P atronSetup?oid=106','patron_signup','height=500,width=640,scrollBars=1,resiz able=0');newWin.focus();">Join Our Venue/Promoters' Mailing List!</A></B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="073a0a03.gif"> <bR> <div> <I><B> <a href="HTMLobj-1013/John_Ball_mp3_edit.mp3"><u>Listen to John Ball</u> </a>  </B></I></div> <div> <I><B> <a href="HTMLobj-1014/England_in_Ribbons_mp3_edit.mp3"><u>Listen to England in Ribbons</u> </a>  </B></I></div> <div> <I><B>Chris Wood</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B><IMG SRC="3f9a9d00.jpg" border=0 width="425" height="208" ALT="Chris Wood" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></I></div> <div> <I><B>Chris Wood's new album</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>TRESPASSER</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>4 star review in Observer's Monthly Music review</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>5 stars in Maverick magazine</B></I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Current availability</B></div> <div> <B>Chris Wood</B> solo September 20th – November 6th 2008 some dates available. March - April 2009</div> <bR> <div> <B>Christmas Champions ~ </B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="arial" >Chris Wood and Hugh Lupton's fantastic Christmas Champions will be touring over the festive period in December 2008. </FONT></div> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="arial" >This is a multi media show featuring the fine British tradition of the Mummers Play.  A real seasonal treat. </FONT>4, 5, 10, 12, 13th December 2008<B> </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Current gig list</B><B> </B><A HREF="id21_chris_wood_solo_dates_1.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Tour Dates and Concerts"><U><B>here</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>"One in a Million" by Hugh Lupton and Chris Wood</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>  Winner BBC Radio 2 Folk Award for Best Song 2006</B></I></div> <bR> <div> "Contemporary hero of the English folk tradition...radical, fierce, compassionate, humane, political, proud, tender, humorous, critical and frank. Wood's work speaks directly to anyone concerned with English life and society... his impact is immediate and direct." <I>Bath Festival 2006</I></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <I><B> <A NAME="the_irish_times_regard_him_as__the"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></B></I></div> <div> The Irish Times regard him as 'the renaissance man of English folk'   Back in the UK he is known as 'The Mouth of the South!'  Either way Chris Wood is an uncompromising writer whose music reveals his love for the alternative history of the English speaking people. His appeal goes way beyond those who think they like English folk music - even to those who think they don't.  His album <B>T</B><I><B>he Lark Descending</B></I> is set to become a milestone.<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <A HREF="#reviews" TITLE="Chris Wood"><U><I>Read w</I></U></A><A HREF="#reviews" TITLE="Chris Wood"><U><I>hat the critics said</I></U></A><A HREF="#reviews" TITLE="Chris Wood"><U><I> </I></U></A><I>  </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I><B>Radio 3 - World Roots Playlist Number 1;  fRoots - Playlist Number 1;  MOJO  folk album of the month </B></I></div> <bR> <div>  <I><B>Chris Wood </B></I>is a remarkable composer and musician (violin, guitar and voice). Immersed in English church music and later in the traditional music of England, Quebec and France, he has worked with musicians from both the folk and classical world, as a player, composer, arranger and teacher. He toured all over the world in a duo with Andy Cutting and has performed in the highly acclaimed 'Wood, Wilson and Carthy' and `The English Acoustic Collective'. Now his solo album <I>The Lark Descending</I> has received remarkable acclaim and Chris tours solo in 2006.</div> <bR> <div> <I><B>Chris </B></I>started his career playing with an embryonic form of the Oyster Band, from where he went on to play for the RSC and the National Theatre before forming the influential partnership with Andy Cutting. He is also a composer and Visiting Fellow at Newcastle University.<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> Eight years ago he formed EnglishAcousticCollective.org.uk as an umbrella for his teaching activities and this has now established itself as a leading collective for young musicians, choreographers and writers. Recent collaborations with writer/storyteller Hugh Lupton have yielded commissions from Radio 3 <I>Late Junction</I> and Chris was a co-producer of Verity Sharp's Saint George's Day program <I>England In Ribbons. </I>His latest work has included sessions for Real World's <I>Imagined Village</I> project and a slot in Billy Bragg's Barbican concert, <I>Which Side Are You On</I> as part of the BBC's <I>Folk Britannia</I> series. </div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <I><B>Chris also tours with On English Ground and The English Acoustic Collective ~</B></I><A HREF="id21_chris_wood.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Tour Dates and Concerts"><U><I><B>dates here</B></I></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <I> <A NAME="reviews"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></I><I>REVIEWS</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>MOJO</I><B> </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >*****</FONT></div> <div> "A lot of wimpy garbage is being hailed as part of a brave new world for folk music - they might want to listen to this guy. In a warm, dark brown voice with sparse, minimalist accompaniment, Wood is an intimate story teller, applying such nuance and gravitas to every phrase you are imperceptibly lured into his world. Some of the stories are old - John Barleycorn, Our Captain Calls and, especially, Lord Bateman are familiar traditional tales born anew with fresh, bold arrangements. Yet what perhaps marks this album as one of the best of the year is Wood's own songs. Whether about his daughter (Hard), suicide (Albion) or a chip shop (One in a Million), he seamlessly knits the spirit of the tradition into his very contemporary parables. And it's magnificent."  <I>Colin Irwin</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>The Times ****</I></div> <div> "...it is his own compositions, which share the same timeless quality as Richard Thompson's best writing, that make this CD special. Most striking of all is <I>Albion</I> ... <I>The Lark Descending </I>is not for the faint-hearted."</div> <div> <I>Nigel Williamson</I><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I> </I></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <I>The Irish Times </I><I>****</I></div> <div> "Solo recordings don't come more solitary than this one from the renaissance man of English folk, Chris Wood. His is a world populated by glorious minor chords, life-affirming songs and stomach-churning tales of urban decay.  It's a stark terrain he navigates, melding his own tales of fatherly affection (<I>Hard</I>) and alienation (<I>Albion)</I> with an uncannily timely reading of the traditional <I>Our Captain Calls,</I> a four-minute distillation of the idiocy of warfare.  "How can you go abroad fighting for strangers?", a question as apt in Downing Street as it is in dimly lit folk clubs. Wood's ferocious musicality is everywhere: from the fiery cello scaffolding <I>John Barleycorn</I> to the somnolent guitar of <I>Bleary Winter</I>. Unapologetically and quintessentially English - and unmissable."</div> <div> <I>Siobhan Long</I></div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="#the_irish_times_regard_him_as__the" TITLE="Chris Wood"><U><I>Back to top</I></U></A></FONT><I>           </I><A HREF="http://englishacousticcollective.org.uk/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://englishacousticcollective.org.uk/"><U><I>Visit Chris' own website</I></U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>