Random Acts of Art - Hope in a Jam Jar

Photo - Steve Tanner

I am now able to share with you my project “Hope in a Jam Jar” which was created as part of Kneehigh Theatre’s Random Acts of Art or RAA!

My act of art was based on my Granny’s memory of the Winter of 1933. Granny was nine years old and from her bedroom window witnessed an original act of art - the curate of Nanpean Church, The Reverend Ralph Perry-Gore collecting candles in jam jars and ice skating on the frozen clay pit behind her house. This happened against the backdrop of the great depression. Granny recalls queues of men outside the Methodist Sunday School who were queuing to go onto the dole and miners from ‘down west’ coming up at Christmas to sing carols to collect anything they could to ease their situation.

Mona Whitford (Trethewey) aged nine in 1933.

I worked with Kneehigh Theatre and in particular Anna Murphy who linked me up with Automata maker Tony Crosby to create a moving model of Rvd. Perry-Gore which I would be able to take through the village singing a song I wrote for the project. As you can see from the photo, he did a fantastic job - the level of detail is fantastic and it was exactly what I pictured in my head when we first talked about the idea.

Automata maker Tony Crosby - photo by Steve Tanner

On Sunday the 16th of May I took the automata, safely mounted on it’s cart, my violin and the beautiful soundtrack created by Freya Jonas and Dave Harbottle and processed through the village singing the song for anyone who chanced to see and hear it. It was such a moving experience meeting many of the villagers and passing on this wonderful story. The most moving moment of the night and one I will never forget was reaching the millennium memorial in the village and being able to sing the story to my Granny 88 years after she witnessed the original moment of magic. Her story now lives in the minds of many other children of the village who perhaps will tell their grandchildren of this night one day.

Mona Trethewey (97) - Photo by Steve Tanner

Alongside my Random Act of Art I was thrilled that The Story Republic wanted to work on this beautiful story and create a video bringing this wonderful night to life. The brilliant Connie Crosby and Neal Megaw had a very similar vision of how this story could be brought to life and with the help of writer Olivia Lowry and Jon Turner we all convened at the playing fields in Nanpean, the site of the old clay pit and shot this gorgeous video, so beautifully directed and filmed by Connie and Neal.

Photo - Steve Tanner

This has been a wonderful project to be involved in and one I am extremely proud of. I would like to thank the staff of Nanpean School who were very helpful and welcomed me in to speak to Year 2 about this story and who are going to display the automata to allow the children to get further inspired by this wonderful story.

Pictured with pupils from Prosper Class, Nanpean School

Giving Prosper Class at Nanpean School a sneak preview of my Random Act of Art

I am also already following up some exciting leads to come out of this project and have some fledgling ideas for what could be next for Rvd Perry-Gore.

Richard

It's all about that clay!

It’s great to be able to write a post about how many great things are happening artistically in the clay country at the moment - It doesn’t always get the attention it deserves!

I was thrilled to be asked to be involved in artist and ceramicist (and all round lovely person) Zenna Tagney’s Masters Degree project ‘An Altered Landscape’ which focused on the impact of landscape change on local culture and folklore, due to the China clay industry. It is a beautifully shot and thoughtful look at the area of mid Cornwall which often gets overlooked when even locals are exploring the Duchy!

I was honoured that Zenna chose to include extracts from my song ‘The Clay Workers’ Strike of 1913’ as well as filming me playing some music at the top of my very local landmark - Foxhole Beacon. Watch her film below.

Another wonderful project focusing on the clay country, researched and put together during the pandemic was Kemeneth by Storylines.

Kemeneth was project which wanted to focus on those living in the clay country with amazing stories to tell. They particularly wanted to try to reach those living in the area who were particularly isolated and effected by the pandemic. As my granny has lived in the clay country all her life and is nearly 97 (!) I thought she would be a great candidate to take part. I was able to safely collect some of her photos from her door step and take them home to scan for her and then spoke to her about some of her memories over the years. One of her memories links to the next project I will mention!

It is a wonderful book full of amazing stories, photographs, dialect and recipes. Storylines were extremely imaginative in the prompts they gave out to participants and it has resulted in a very rich and varied book. Do follow the link to their website above and check it out!

The final project I would like to tell you about is Kneehigh Theatre’s latest project ‘Random acts of art’. Kneehigh say :

“This Spring, see St Austell Bay differently. In celebration of 40 years of Kneehigh, we invite you to enjoy 40 wonder encounters; from parading lanterns and drive-by puppetry to projection installations and epic sand drawings. Keep your eyes peeled and share what #RandomActs you spot. Let's spread some unexpected joy!”

Many of the acts of art have already started to take place from Par to Mevagissey, Charlestown to Tywardreath! Here is a fantastic photo of the wonderful Laura Martin performing her act of art ‘The Hoss’s Lament’

Laura Martin - The Hoss’s Lament

My own ‘act of art’ is based on a memory my Granny, Mona Trethewey has of the winter of 1933 when she was nine years old. There was such a hard frost that the claypit in the village froze over and the local curate at St George’s church in Nanpean, the Rvd. Perry-Gore ice skated on it with many of the boys of the village. He set jam jars with candles around the edge of the pit to keep off the night that little bit longer!

Here is a sneak preview of some of the music from my act of art. Towards the beginning of May, I will be walking down through Nanpean with a cart carrying a moving model made my Tony Crosby. I will be singing a song I have written especially for this event, telling the magical story! I can’t tell you exactly when this will happen as it is… random! The idea is that people will happen upon these acts of art unexpectedly which will spread some joy and creativity during a very difficult year!

I can however share this preview as a teaser for what is to come!

Article from The Truro Voice - March 2021

'Story Singer' - New song and tune book OUT NOW!

Hooray!

Here it is! This has been a lovely lockdown project which has certainly kept me busy!

It has been a great experience looking back at songs and tunes I’ve written since 2004 and compiling them all together so that they cannot be lost or forgotten now! This book wouldn’t have come about without the skill and kindness of my bandmate Neal Jolly who helped me to transcribe and harmonise most of these songs! I couldn’t have done it without him!

I have to thank Steve Hobden for the cover photo that was taken at the launch of ‘Kolar’s Gold’ a year ago now! The picture inspired the great cover design by mandolin virtuoso and long time friend Nic Zuppardi who did a fantastic job creating the design and making sure it fit all the stringent design criteria!

Molly Biscoe came up trumps again and has designed a fantastic new logo inspired by the view of Goonvean’s Clay Tips I can see from my bathroom window, incorporating my website into the design brilliantly.

Thanks must also go to many people who have been kind enough to let me use their photographs in this book. There are lots of photos which accompany the different tunes and songs which try to bring the inspiration or back story alive. All are acknowledged at the back of the book.

Anyone who buys a copy of this book can get in touch via the website and will be sent a link to midi mp3’s of the whole book.

“A collection of thirty-six songs and tunes written in the Cornish tradition by fiddle/cittern player and singer Richard Trethewey. Richard is a Bard of the Cornish Gorsedh who's Bardic name 'Kaner Drollys' means 'Singer of Stories'. It is when Richard finds an incredible story from Cornwall's unique history that he is moved to write a song or tune to help protect it's legacy. All the tunes here are notated and suggested chords and some harmonies are given as well as information on the stories behind each song along with some photos to accompany some of the songs too. Songs include tales of smuggling, fortunes won, eccentric characters from Cornwall's past, industrial strikes, songs of fishermen , Cornish emigration, love and loss.”

ORDER NOW by clicking HERE

New song!

So I have kept my promise and managed to put a new news post before another two years past!

I have to say I am quite proud of this! It's a song I've been working on during lockdown but had the idea and parts of it for years!

It's about the incredible story of William and Joe Trethewey who left the St Dennis area in the mid 19th century with their family to start a new life in Ontario. The family then moved west to British Columbia before William was drawn back to Ontario.

This song imagines William's letter back to Joe asking him to join him at the Trethewey Mine. The chorus imagines their Cornish life as children in the Clay Country and partaking in feast day dances. There is part of The Rescorla Snail Creep at the end - a traditional Clay Country tune used for such dances!

It's been fascinating researching this and speaking to people in Canada about this shared history. Huge thanks to Cobalt Historical Society for their enthusiasm and their kindness in using some of their images. Huge thanks for the China Clay Historical Society and Tony Mansell for some of the Cornish ones. Thanks to Tom Fosten for his beautiful guitar playing!

Two yearly update!?

So it’s been two years since I updated the website!

I am not going to try and remember everything that has happened in the past two years but will point you to a few things you can search out if you so desire!

Since I last updated this the band ‘The Grenaways’ decided to not continue to make music and perform in the same way we had done for many years before. The band had built a fantastic reputation and has many fantastic albums and releases from long before I was involved but it is always hard to keep that energy going and to coordinate a lineup that sometimes numbered eight on stage!

At least three different groups have come out of the band and I am playing in two of them, The Rowan Tree and Brother Sea.

To name a couple of highlights from the last couple of years, without thinking about it too much I would jump to winning the Liet International European minority language competition in 2018 as one. This was an incredible achievement for a band from Cornwall and a first in the competitions history! You can read more about The Rowan Tree’s time in the Netherlands here.

Performing with Cousin Jack’s Theatre has also given me some fantastic memories since 2017. I have continued to perform down in Mousehole each year in our mamouth run from mid December until New Years Eve, performing to sell out audiences every time. During the last two years we have toured primary schools across Cornwall as well as performing in London and then also taking Mowzer on tour to the USA and performing in Wisconsin and Minnesota. A truly fantastic experience.

I have had some wonderful gigs with Kris Lannen whether as the Brother Sea duo (check out our video of ‘September’ from a magical evening down at Caerhays beach in the music section!) or performing as the full band. We took Brother Sea on tour to Scotland in 2018 and had a truly amazing time in the Scottish Highlands, surrounded by Snow! We even took in the Six Nations at Murrayfield and then partied with the Welsh at Edinburgh Waverley - there is a video of a particularly unique version of ‘Delilah’ doing the rounds somewhere! We also released a self titled E.P in 2019 which you can find on Spotify etc.

The Rowan Tree’s project Kolar’s Gold has been a major feature of the last two years which officially ran between Feb 2019 and Feb 2020 but in reality started way before that and will never really be finished I don’t think! It turned out to be such an amazing life changing experience for everyone involved. We created an album featuring over 60 musicians from this country but also India, including choirs here and there, a brass band, shanty group, Indian instrumentalists and vocalists and of course us lot! Head to The Rowan Tree’s website to read blogs about the process and to search through the wealth of information there! You can also check out when we were interviewed and played live on Spotlight news!

In September 2019 we were given an award from the Cornish Gorsedh for our ‘outstanding contribution to Cornish music’. Kolar’s Gold has also contributed and significantly changed the current knowledge and awareness of Cornish emigration and the Cornish diaspora which is something to really be proud of.

I was also awarded an individual award from the Gorsedh for promoting Kernow through music which was very humbling to be recognised for the different projects I have been involved in over the past years.

One final highlight to mention is the writing, recording and production of ‘Harbour Walls’ for Children’s Hospice South West. This was a project asking the staff what the word harbour means to them, what is special about our work, and what would we want to say to someone we loved who had died if we had the chance. I took their answers and then transformed them into our song which we then recorded with the kindness and expertise of Phil Innes . Kris Lannen filmed the process with the help of our good friend Max De Franco and then put together a wonderful promo video and then full video for the song.

The song is available to buy here. the promo with explanation can be watched in the Music section of this website and the full version below.

There will be many things I have not mentioned but thought I would keep it fairly short and mention a few highlights! I will try to add more news before 2022!

All the best,

Richard

Echos Et Merveilles, Toulouse

Kris Lannen and Tiny Tom Fosten from The Grenaways

So I am back to reality after another fantastic musical adventure! This time playing with The Grenaways and The Rowan Tree at the amazing festival Echos et Merveilles near Toulouse, in the south of France. What a joy!

We were treated so well and did two wonderful shows to a packed audience of around 1,200 people! We were introduced to many wonderful new experiences and heard some great music! Highlights were Fanel, Eirdan, Faun, Niko Light Orchestra and especially Franz Robert Wild not just for all their musicianship and performance skills but for their warm generous spirit. The whole festival from staff to audience to performers had a very special feel of community and being part of something together.

Here is a clip of the Rowan Tree performing Deugh Deugh, written by Richard Gendall and made famous by the late Brenda Wootton.

Pan Celtic Competition - Donnegal, Ireland!

We won! .......Sort of!

I am back from a week away in Ireland representing Cornwall with 'The Rowan Tree'. 

We travelled via Shropshire to take part in a charity gig in aid of the Lingen Davies Cancer Fund. After a great night of music we are proud to say that the grand sum of £2000 was raised for this amazing cause and we met some truly lovely people along the way!

In Ireland we came joint first with the Irish (again!) but an 'independent' judge voted that the Irish should win. Aside from the competitions we took part in we had amazing fun meeting performers from Cornwall and all the other Celtic nations too.

Special shout outs to 'The Aggie Boys' and Deliah and Dave Brotherton (Tir ha Tavas) from Cornwall who were our housemates for the week. It was great to get to know everyone and share lots of music together!

We returned to England and met up with the rest of 'The Grenaways' for a gig in Poynton at The Acoustic Lounge, a great venue we have played before! 

We have come back inspired, full of plans and excitement for some exciting opportunities coming up!

Later in April we are off to Toulouse in the south of France with the Grenaways to play at 'Echos et Merveilles' Do check it out! Some great bands including Faun  who we are all excited to see!

The Rowan tree are then off to Liet International - a song contest for minority languages! We are the first Cornish act to represent Cornwall since Gwenno, in 2003. I will keep you updated on how that goes!!

The Aggie Boys

Tir ha Tavas - Deliah and Dave Brotherton

The Rowan Tree - escaping to watch 'In Their Thousands'

The Rowan Tree win Kan Rag Kernow!

Photo by Gill Jolly

We are the winners of Kan Rag Kernow 2018 and are off to represent Cornwall at this years Pan Celtic in Ireland!

It was a fantastic evening with great worthy songs from every competitor and we feel blessed to have been selected to go forward to compete against Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Isle of Man and Brittany!

You can see our winning song here!

Photo by Gill Jolly - The Rowan Tree pictured with Anne Kennedy Truscott

Photo by Gill Jolly

The Mousehole Cat

Mowzer's selling fast! Here's some great shots by Gordon Scammell.

https://www.cousinjacks.org/the-mousehole-cat

www.gtsimages.zenfolio.com

Full Cast on stage singing 'Tom Bawcock's Eve' - Photo by Gordon Scammell

Mowzer and Bec - Photo by Gordon Scammell

Performances have been going really well and selling out which has been fantastic! We've been getting some amazing feedback and some exciting developments for the future potentially!

Most of the pre Christmas shows are mostly sold out but some tickets left for after Christmas. Get in touch and see what's left anyway!

https://www.cousinjacks.org/the-mousehole-cat

Photo by Gordon Scammell

Tom Bawcock and Mowzer (Rory and Bec) Photo by Gordon Scammell