Rattlebag

Love & Monsters

2012-01-29T09:48:00.002Z

Two updates for you today....

First up is the news that Rattlebag will singing alongside massed fiddles, melodeons and other sundry instruments at the monster February Rattlin' Good Squeeze session. More songs and tunes than you'll know what to do with. This is at The North Star in Clarence Road, Bohemia, Hastings on the 11th of February at around eight.

Following that - on Thursday February 17th - Rattlebag will be hosting their regular lively old Singaround in the back room at The Stag in All Saints Street, Hastings. This is a few days after Valentine's day so any songs of love and courtship that you'd care to bring along would be welcome. That's it for now. Thanks for reading.

First Singaround of 2012...

2012-01-15T14:28:00.003Z

....is on Thursday the 19th of January at half past eight. Where? Why the world famous Stag Inn, of course, in Hastings' All Saints Street. It being sort of nearly almost Burns Night, you are invited to prepare a song with a Scottish feel. Or not. Whatever you like. Please come along and help us to start the new year as we mean to continue it: Singing with a drink in our hand.

A Happy New Year....

2011-12-31T10:46:00.002Z

..........from Rattlebag. See you in 2012.

Be Merry All.......

2011-12-16T18:15:00.002Z

Ratters will be out this very night in Hastings Old Town, serenading various diners and drinkers with carols, wassails and seasonal songs. Its all in the name of charity!

If we don't speak again until after the day: Merry Christmas to you all!

Seasonal Singaround

2011-12-14T22:35:00.004Z

Rattlebag's not at all legendary Christmas Song session is here. Come to The Stag at Hastings' All Saints' Street at half past eight armed with a Christmas song to share. Drinking, laughter, seasonal snacks and more besides shall be yours if you do.

Rattlebag at Lewes Folk Club

2011-10-28T13:23:00.003+01:00

We had a great evening at Lewes Folk Club last night. Meg, back from France, joined in remembering all the words which is pretty impressive considering she's not sung with us for over a year and she was on the wine.
We thought we'd have a quick run through before the folk club to check Meg still knew the words. We found a quiet dark corner of the car park at Lewes station, and apart from a few rabbits (!) we were alone. Singing with our usual gusto, we launched into the second verse as the commuter train from London arrived, deposited some bewildered looking office workers who disembarked to the chorus of Collier Lads. The rabbits ran away.

October Singaround

2011-10-17T13:11:00.004+01:00

The monthly singaround is here again. You know the details by now: Thursday October the 20th at the usual place and time - The Stag in All Saints Street, Hastings at half past eight. See you there!

Birthday!!

2011-09-15T15:33:00.006+01:00

Bit late, this one.....

Tonight - that's the 15th of September - is Rattlebag's sixth (how did that happen?!) birthday singaround. Lots of fun and games and all starting at the Stag, All Saints Street, Hastings from half past eight. We were so excited we forgot to blog about it. However, as you can see, our new promotional airship has been spreading the celebratory word.

Rattlebag at Towersey

2011-08-22T22:30:00.004+01:00

Not much else to say, really. Rattlebag are very excited to be performing at this years festival and listening to some great bands.

http://www.towerseyfestival.com/

We'll be appearing all over the place across the weekend. Hope to see some of you there.....

July Singaround

2011-07-16T12:34:00.005+01:00

Well, it's the height of Summer and Oh! the dreadful wind and rain!
We are looking forward to our next Singaround on Thursday 21st July 2011 at the Stag, Hastings Old Town. Starting at the usual time of 8.30pm.
All welcome to sing or just listen.
Bring a song and maybe an umbrella.....

Another rattling Good Sing (and hopefully A Rattling Good Harmony Workshop too)

2011-06-14T10:36:00.007+01:00

Time flies and here we are again. This month's singaround is on Thursday, the 16th of June, at the usual venue: The back bar of The Stag in All Saints Street, Hastings.

This time, we're going to begin with a workshop. It's called "Learn A Song With Harmonies" for reasons that we hope are obvious. It'll begin at 8-30 and the proper singaround will then kick off at 9-00 as usual. So, if you'd like to take part in the workshop, please make sure you arrive before half eight in order for us to start things off on time and not run into singaround time. Cheers!

Also.... a technical thing: Because one or two of us have recently acquired clever phones that can do the internet among other things, we've become a bit more aware of the fact that there might be people out there who have similarly clever phones and might even want to use them to read this very Blog. With this in mind, we've optimised the content so that it looks good on a mobile as well as your home computer..

Going Green

2011-05-20T17:18:00.001+01:00

Here's a clip we found on YouTube of Rattlebag singing onstage at this years Jack In The Green festival.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HdZCjqFbkc&feature=related

Late News - Singaround Time Again!

2011-05-19T15:01:00.003+01:00

We've been a bit slack with our updates lately. So with that in mind here's a last minute reminder: Tonight - Thursday May 19th - is singaround night once again. Come along and bring us a song.

Please note that the photograph is a serving suggestion only. Actual contents of singaround may vary.

New gadget

2011-04-12T16:30:00.004+01:00

Take a look over to the right. There's a new box on the blog. No, the right.... Just above the photo. That's it. Where it says, "Follow by Email". Apparently, if you put your email address in that box, you will be immediately notified by a sweaty, wild eyed messenger every time the Blog gets updated. Or so we're told. It's almost too thrilling to comprehend, isn't it?

Hare Tonic

2011-03-10T17:17:00.004Z

The next Rattling Good Sing will be on Thursday the 17th of March at our usual venue, The Stag, All Saints Street, Hastings at our newish start time of half past eight.

Yes it is St. Patrick's night so why not bring an Irish song or two?

We're also going to do a bit of fund-raising and having a collection for the legendary Norma Waterson who has recently been seriously ill.

We will also be practising our songs and giving out lyric sheets for March Hare Day on Sunday the 20th. This is a fun afternoon of guising and dressing up which will end in another Stag based song session. Go here to learn more....

https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=144083672322281

See you at the Stag!

Singing and drinking the night away. Again

2011-02-17T09:39:00.005Z

The monthly Singaround is here again. Come to the Stag in All Saints Street, Hastings, tonight (February 17th) at around half past eight for the most fun you have with vocal chords. Possible themes? Irish songs or maybe - in honour of the just passed Valentine's day - luuuurve songs. If you like.

Rattlin' Good Squeeze: The Birthday Edition!

2011-02-04T19:41:00.003Z

There will be the usual evening of fun and frivolity that happens when the Good Squeeze guys get together along with some songs this time as Ratttlebag will be joining Goose, Chris, Trooper and Alan for the fist time in ages.
This one is particularly special as Jacqui and Sian are both celebrating birthdays and so is our friend Big Jon. Join us at the North Star Inn, Clarence Road, Bohemia on Saturday 12th February at about 20:30.

Happy New Year!

2011-01-05T20:21:00.002Z

Our next Rattling Good Singaround is on Thursday 20th January starting at 8.30pm at the Stag Inn, Hastings Old Town.
New for 2011 - Our Rattling Good Singaround Raffle. Yes, The Rattle Raffle. The revival of this tradition dates back to our early folk clubbing days. I knew something was missing from my life and this was it. Our raffle is open to anyone at our Stag Singaround. Prize galore! When we have raised enough money to book a guest, guess what, we'll book a guest!

Does anyone know a song about Raffles?

"While You've Still Got It Out, Barry...."

2010-12-17T10:41:00.003Z

Big thanks to everybody who made the Rattlebag Yule song session such a great evening. Pretty much all our regulars braved freezing weather to be there and we had some new faces (and voices) too. Drinks were drunk, mince pies were scoffed and the atmosphere was really rather special.
Special thanks must go to Barry Dransfield who played and sang so beautifully that we didn't really let him stop. Absolutely brilliant.

Christmas Song Session!

2010-12-04T18:34:00.003Z

Our next "Rattlin' Good Sing" at the Stag in Hastings' All Saints Street will be on Thursday the 16th of December. We'll begin at the earlier time of 8.30. The theme is, of course, Seasonal Songs.

Please come to sing and listen, everybody's welcome.

A Reminder

2010-12-03T18:11:00.007Z

Just to let you know once again that the link to the online CD shop is now...

http://www.chipperfieldjones.co.uk/shop.asp

..so please ignore any other older links that you might be tempted to use.

Thanks!

PS You do realise what a perfect Christmas gift a Rattlebag CD would make, don't you?

We Bring You A King With A Head Of Gold

2010-11-06T21:02:00.009Z

....is the title of Cold Spring's follow up to the award winning Folk compilation "John Barleycorn Reborn" . Subtitled "Dark Britannica II" this new double CD represents 34 tracks and 146 minutes of music from what they describe as "the best of current British Folk artists". Do they mean us? I think they do!

Go here to take a first look....

http://www.coldspring.co.uk/discography/csr100cd.php

Three of the songs on the album (including ours, folks) are linked to mp3 samples so you can have a quick listen before you buy!

"We Bring You A King With A Head of Gold" is available from November 29th. Just in time for Yule!

Another Rattling Good Singaround!

2010-10-08T14:55:00.005+01:00

The Rattlebag singaround always takes place on the third Thursday of the month at our second home: The back bar at the Stag in All Saints Street, Hastings.
This means that the next one will be on Thursday October the 21st. We hope to see you all there: Bring a song or two or just bring yourself and have drink and a listen. It's always a good laugh. We'll start around nine.

Shop Update (new link)

2010-10-04T11:47:00.005+01:00

As you know, the new Rattlebag CD is now being sold at the Angles/Climax Ceilidh Band/Meridian shop.

The shop has a new link and here it is...

www.chipperfieldjones.co.uk/shop/

Get in there and buy some stuff. Hurry. Christmas will be here almost as soon as you've read this link.

Rattlebag featured on new Cold Spring Collection.

2010-09-27T12:48:00.008+01:00

Three years ago Cold Spring Records released the compilation, "John Barleycorn Reborn". Described as a collection of "Dark Britannica", this was a fascinating double CD set that included a wide range of music from acoustic to folk rock to the electronica and avant garde pieces more often associated with the label.

This combination of traditional and newly written material was a fantastic listen and critically well received. Now the same label has completed work on the follow up double CD collection, "We Bring You A King With A Head Of Gold". Rattlebag's song "The Tyburn Sisters" - a retelling of the old murder ballad "Two Sisters" given a psychogeographical twist and hot-wired into a traditional Swedish folk tune - is featured on this new collection. As far as we know, the CDs go into production this week. Watch this space.

Meanwhile, check out Cold Spring....

http://www.coldspring.co.uk/

It's a terrific label with a wide range of good music on offer, from the traditional to the dark and rather more hair raising. We've also added the label to the list of interesting links to stuff we like on the right of this page. Have a look!

Buy Rattlebag CDs Online!

2010-09-27T12:03:00.003+01:00

As many of our friends know, the latest Rattlebag CD, "Shifting Shapes" has been available since the Spring. We're pretty pleased with it and with the balance of material it showcases from the traditional songs and gospel classics to the pieces where we've sourced unusual traditional melodies and given them our own lyrics. Getting it out there to people who might like a copy has been a problem, though. Not any more. We're delighted to say that from now on, you can buy Rattlebag's "Shifting Shapes" from right here:

www.chipperfieldjones.co.uk/shop/

This is the Angles/Climax Ceilidh Band/Meridian shop and we'd like to thank Richard Jones - who also produced and engineered the CD - for sharing his online retail space with us.

Four Star review in Rock n' Reel!

2010-09-27T11:49:00.001+01:00

Get yourself down to your local WH Smith's and grab a copy of the latest Rock & Reel magazine where the new Rattlebag CD "Shifting Shapes" has been given a very favorable review. Or, if you'd rather save your money and not risk being informed that the shop "isn't a library", you could always read it here. This is an accurate transcript. All odd bits of prose and scandalous charges of being "middle aged" are theirs:

"Displaying eclecticism and unpredictability equally, this is the second collection by a formidable a capella quintet formed by middle-aged denizens of a Hastings pub and its folk club. They trade mostly in overhauls and, in some cases, virtual rewrites of traditional songs, but have the unmitigated audacity to throw in arrangements of, say, Cerys Matthew's 'Chardonnay' - on their 2008 maiden 'Girls Who are Drinkers - and 'The Scarlet Tide' from Elvis Costello's Delivery Man.
While the latter is sandwiched between the late Peter Bellamy's 'I Once Lived in Service' and 'The Tyburn Sisters' - Rattlebag lyrics to a Swedish melody - the run-on effect is seamless. It's the same when gospel ditty 'I'll Fly Away' follows the late mediaeval 'Auchindoun', owing to the ensemble impregnating any given musical genre with an ingrained originality.
Paradoxically the only issue I have is with the programming. Though led by Lynne Heffernan's assured soprano, downbeat 'Bright Morning Star' (from the Oysterband portfolio) might not have been the soundest choice of opening salvo, other than its evocation of the pageant of sunrise. Yet this is a minor criticism of an offering that can only enhance growing regional and, potentially, national renown."

So there you go.

Fancy a copy of "Shifting Shapes"? Getting one has just become a bit easier. More on this later!

What We Did On Our Holidays....

2010-09-27T11:44:00.002+01:00

Autumn is with us but Rattlebag are still on a bit of a high following a successful and very enjoyable Summer. We rolled up at this years' excellent Towersey Village Festival where we had a great time performing at the open stage before being asked to sing at the Church Hall. Following this, we were selected to open the final concert on the festival Main Stage. We sang 'Tyburn Sisters', our murder ballad, after which Jackie Oates took to the stage followed by Martin Carthy's group Brass Monkey. It was all rather fab.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes.....

2010-09-27T11:08:00.003+01:00

.... as David Bowie once said. Probably.

Hello again. It's been a while, hasn't it? After a few technical glitches and a very busy and eventful summer for the 'rats, we're back in the Blogosphere.

This is just the first of several updates although it's a bit of a sad one. In May Rattlebag said goodbye to Meg, who left the group. We do still miss her, but we always knew it was going to happen one day. Most of our friends are probably already aware of this change but it's worth blogging about, we think.

The good news is, we're all still in touch and Meg joined us recently at our spiritual home, The Stag in All Saints Street. The occasion was Rattlebag's fifth birthday celebration where much red wine, chocolate and birthday cake was consumed, many laughs were had and one or two songs were even sung.

A date for your diary.....

2010-01-24T18:40:00.000Z

Rattlebag are delighted with the success of the regular singaround at The Stag in Hastings' All Saints Street. Each evening has been different and every one of them has been great fun with singers of different styles and abilities bringing a wide range of songs to the table.

The next one is on Thursday March the 18th. We start at nine.

All Quiet on The Rattlebag Front

2010-01-24T18:31:00.001Z

Followers of this Blog (we know you're out there) may have noticed a lack of updates recently. As well as having a great time hosting the regular back bar singaround at The Stag in Hastings' All Saints Street (more on that later), Rattlebag have been busy rehearsing and recording material for a new CD. Early mixes, produced and engineered by Richard Jones of the Climax Ceilidh Band, are sounding very promising.

Singaround Success!

2009-09-21T13:13:00.000+01:00

Many thanks from Rattlebag to everybody who came along last Thursday to the Rattling Good Sing in the back bar at the Stag. We all had an excellent time and heard some great songs. This one's going to grow and grow. The next one will be at the same time and place - nine o'clock at The Stag Inn, All Saints Street, Hastings - on October the 15th.
See you there....

"A Rattling Good, er.... Shopping Trip!"

2009-09-13T10:09:00.000+01:00

Rattlebag will be performing at the Priory Meadow Shopping Centre in Hastings on Thursday 8th October. The girls will be singing between the hours of 5 and 7 o'clock as part of Hastings' late shopping season. Come down, have a listen and say hello.

Come to think of it, while you're out there being encouraged to spend money on things you don't really want, why not pick up a copy of something you really do want? Yes, a copy of Rattlebag's debut CD "Girls That Are Drinkers": Still available at a frighteningly low price - just £6.00 of your earth money.

"A Rattling Good Sing!"

2009-09-09T13:06:00.000+01:00

...is the name of a new series of monthly folk singarounds being hosted by Rattlebag.

These are to take place on the third Thursday of each month at their local, The Stag in All Saints Street, Hastings Old Town. Dates confirmed so far are Thursday September 17th, the 15th of October and 19th November.

We'll be kicking off at nine o'clock and would love you to come along and share a song or two with us.

Hot Rats!

2009-08-26T20:58:00.000+01:00

People are saying good things about Rattlebag....

“We had a brilliant guest night at our singaround last Tuesday. The group was Rattlebag – a five piece harmony band from Hastings – really excellent!
They were superb and worth the Big Boys and Girls booking if they’re looking for fresh, energetic yet traditional entertainers.”

Ian Fyvie of Brighton's Round Georges Folk Club posting on the
Mudcat Cafe

“Fantastic day out for the family again on Saturday at the St Leonard’s Festival. A real eclectic mix of community organisations, food stalls, fun for the kids and music on stage. My personal favourite was Rattlebag, who performed acapella in front of Warrior Square Station at the end of the afternoon.”

Nick Perry Liberal Democrat Parliamentary candidate for Hastings and Rye

Many thanks for those kind words, boys.....

Ratted in Broadstairs

2009-08-18T14:33:00.000+01:00

Many thanks to everybody who came to hear us sing at Neptune's Hall, The Old Curiosity shop and the Sailing Club on the first Saturday of Broadstairs Folk Week. It was a busy and exciting day for us and we were made to feel very welcome at every venue we performed at.
Actually, we enjoyed ourselves very much everywhere we went including our impromptu turn on stage at the Pavillion!

"Girls That Are Drinkers...."

2009-07-24T17:00:00.000+01:00

....is the name of Rattlebag's debut album. Made entirely in Hastings in 2008, this shiny digital "compact disc" features 8 studio versions of songs selected from the group's live set.

You can almost certainly get your hands on a copy of "Girls That Are Drinkers" at whichever gig, folk club or singaround that the girls are to be found performing at. Rattlebag will be delighted to separate you from a mere £6.oo of your money.

The track listing is.....

Bring Us A Barrel
The Blue Cockade
Cotton Mill Girls
The Blacksmith
Maids at Eighteen
Calling on Song
Hal An Tow
Chardonnay

Of course, if you can't wait for the full-on, home stereo Rattlebag experience, get in touch with the girls at rattlebag2005@yahoo.co.uk to acquire this fine gramophone record.

Blue Movie

2009-07-24T14:24:00.000+01:00

The Door Into Summer

2009-07-15T20:30:00.000+01:00

After a short time with various members of the group away from Hastings, the girls are back together and looking forward to a number of Summer projects.

On Saturday August 8th, RATTLEBAG will be in Broadstairs. As the guests of Peter Collins and Mike Nicholson they will be helping to lead the singalong at Neptune's Hall in Harbour Street as part of the famous Broadstairs Folk Week. The girls will be staying in Harbour Street to host the "Buns at The Bayside" acoustic hour at The Old Curiosity Shop which starts at four o'clock and, for their final appearance at this years Broadstairs festival, RATTLEBAG will be appearing at the Sailing Club by the jetty for a singaround with Tom and Barbara Brown.

THE MOORS are a new band founded in Hastings, East Sussex. Their strange brew includes Balkan gypsy music, klezmer, mediaeval Sephardic melodies, Cuban rhythms, jazz, blues, folk and rock music, and encompasses original compositions as well as arrangements of traditional music.

Inspired by the rich and varied musical culture of Hastings Old Town, the band is attempting to create their own contemporary music influenced not only by those remote musics but by more variegated elements: rock, blues, jazz, even Cuban son, free improvisation and English folk music.

In this spirit of musical freedom, RATTLEBAG are looking forward to collaborating with The Moors this summer on a number of pieces based on, but not restricted to, the folk songs of England and Europe. Watch this space.