The Hotwells Howlers -

After a long Covid -driven hiatus, the Howlers are up and running (sort of) again!  Their numbers have been sadly affected at present by death, illness and ongoing Covid fears, but a  core group are meeting again at the Nove Scotia on a Sunday evening to rehearse.  Before Christmas they had successful gigis at St.Mary Redclliffe church and St.Joseph's Residential Home.  At present they are focussing on completing the CD started before the pandemic, which will also feature the late and much missed John Shaw, and working on a new project  about the folk song collectors, the Hammond Brothers.

It was with great sadness that the Howlers learned of the death of John Shaw, on June 29th, 2021.   Although John had been diagnosed many years previously with a rare, incurable but slow growing form of cancer, it had hardly slowed him down until 2018, when he begant to suffer infections and liver problems.   Even then, he had remained an active and committed member of the Howlers, and his many other musical interests (Covid allowing), but in April this year he entered  hospital with infections and a broken hip.  The latter healed well, but the infections kept recurring and by late June it was clear he was losing the ability to recover from them. His death, when it came, was nonetheless sudden, but painless and fearless.  Angela and his daughter Rosie were with him when he died.  He was a man of many talents and a generous spirit; his loss will be felt deeply by the Howlers, and by all who knew and made music with him.  

The Howlers will be performing at the Old School Hall in Chew Magna, at 7.30pm this Thursday, and Staple Hill Methodist Church in Bristol on Saturday the 8th.  See calendar for details.  A seasonal medley of carols and winter songs, joyous, tuneful and evocative- none of which you will hear in a "traditional" carol service,. Come and hear the true traditions of our ancestors! 

We will be presenting our positively last ever performances of this World War 1 commemmoration in November 2018.  This marks the Centenary of the Armistice which brought the hostilities (though not the war) to a close, and it seems right to bring our show to a close too.  We have performed it many times, always to very appreciative audiences, since we first performed it for the Friends of the Bristol Museum (who commissione it) in November 2014, and we will rememer it with great fondness.  Musically and artistically it took us out of our comfort zones; we learned a huge amount about the complex social reality of the war, discovered some moving, and some funny, stories about local people, and found some wonderful contemporary songs and poems, some of which we think are unique to our presentation. We've also raised to date nearly £2000 for the British Red Cross, in recognition of their role in bringing some humanity and care to the horrors of the various fronts. Our final two presentations will be at Bishopston Library, Bristol, on November 2, and the Old Down Inn, Emborough, Somerset on November 9.   More details in the calendar.  If you've never seen it, take this opportunity- if you have, why not come along and remind yourself how wonderful it is!

This Thursday, October 26, sees our last perormance of our World War 1 epic Stony Broke in No-Man's Land, for this year.  Don't miss this opportunity to see a show that has been warmly welcomed by all audiences to date.  We are appearing in the cyrpt at St.Cuthbert's Church, Sandy Lane Brislington, in Bristol, BS4 3PG , in a show hosted by the Brislington Conservation and Local History Group.  Admission £1, with a retiring collection for the British Red Cross, to whom all profits from this show have gone.

We have been delighted to welcome Jacqui and Brian Ross as the latest members of the group.  Jacqui and Brian have a long pedigree on the local folk scene, and we have been suggesting they join us for some time!

On Monday May 15 we will be presenting Stony Broke in No Man's Land at Clarence House, High St, Portishead  (BS20 6PY), at 7.30pm.  This event is being kindly hosted by the British Legion on behalf of the British Red Cross.  Entrance is free, and there will be a collection for the Red Cross.

We kicked off 2017 with a very pleasant gig as the "cabaret" for the Bristol Playgoers' Annual Dinner, in the very smart surroundings of the Palm Court Restaurant in the Marriott Hotel on College Green.  In March we are playing for the Wome's Insitute in Hewish, Somerset.  We have 3 open performances of "Stony Broke in No Man's Land" fixed, in May, July and October- see the Calendar for more details.  In December we have 2 performances of our Christmas Show fixed- both open to the public.  So hope to see you at one or more during the year- and there may be more bookings to come!

Yesterday we had a great time performing our Mendip Christmas show for our friends at Midsomer Norton  Library.  A very appreciative audience donated an excellent £168.50, which we will be passing on to Crisis at Christmas.  Our recent presentation of Stony Broke in No Man's Land has led to a number of enquiries about performances of this and other Howler shows next year, so watch this space!

The Howlers are taking a break from the Great War to perform their Christmas Show, A Mendip Christmas, at Midsomer Norton Library on December 6th, at 7.30 pm.  The show is a multi-media presentation, with images, readings, songs and tunes charting Christmas, secular and religious, through the ages, especially in the Mendips. Lots of wonderful songs, and chances for chorus singing!  Free entry (with a collection) but space is limited so you should contact the library (01225 39 40 41) for tickets.  Howlers profits will go to Crisis at Christmas.