John Tams and Barry Coope contribute to Derbyshire-themed festive show online

Derbyshire artistes such as John Tams and Barry Coope are taking part in an online extravaganza to warm your heart over the festive period.
John Tams.John Tams.
John Tams.

A host of entertainers will be unwrapping traditional dance music, poetry, carols and storytelling in an online show.

Drystone Christmas is a free concert which features the music of Narthen, the poetry of East Midlands poet John Clare, the words of Derbyshire author Deric Longden, John Tams, Barry Coope, Pete Bullock, Mick Peat and the Little Stones Carollers.

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Four-part harmony group Narthen is composed of BBC Folk Award winner Barry Coope, Jo Freya of Blowzabella/Moirai, five-time BBC Folk award nominee Jim Causley and Fi Fraser of The Old Fashioned/ Polka Works, who augment some of their repertoire with musical accompaniment.

John Tams, musician, actor, and Drystone’s artistic director said: “We come bearing gifts, central to Drystone’s ethos as a community supporter and a not-for-profit provider. This is something everybody can enjoy collectively even if they can’t physically get together. We want everyone to sing along and most importantly - have a good ’un!”

You can enjoy A Drystone Christmas by visiting www.drystone.co from December 18 and throughout the festive period.

When coronavirus hit; the curtains fell, the lights went out on many artistic endeavours.

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Four friends from Derbyshire set about finding what they could do to help their creative communities. Thanks to the pandemic, the cultural landscape has shifted. But our landscape has not – drystone walls still connect communities, villages and towns.

This inspired the creation of Drystone; an initiative aimed at harnessing and encouraging creativity. The founders of Drystone have a wealth of experience and knowledge behind them which they want to share, to help build back space for creative endeavours and the arts from the ground up.

President Mick Peat, artistic director John Tams, music producer and sound recordist Barry Coope and composer Pete Bullock all have far-reaching and established reputations in music, film, television, theatre and radio. Drystone’s patron is Sir Michael Morpurgo.

Mick Peat said: “To have Sir Michael at our head is a great honour and drives us on to bring communities together, sharing our experience, learning from others and making good what has been so badly missed in this current crisis, a stone at a time.”

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