Past Events at Morden Tower
MORDEN TOWER XMAS REVELS: COMEDY FOLKLORE & POETRY: Friday December 7th
John Hegley, the country's most innovative comic poet, returns to gladden the Tower and host our xmas revels with Tom Pickard reading from his latest book 'Ballad of Jamie Allan'. Based on the eighteen-century piper and legendary rogue described by Ange Mlinko-Poetry Foundation as 'the most thrilling book of poetry'. The evening will also feature some of Tynesides allstars and new talent Ellen Pheathan and Stevie Ronnie. Visit Morden Tower Blog for pictures of John's last visit to the Tower
Doors Open 7.30: Entry £8.00 and £5.00 (concs)
Jumpin Hot Club Morden Tower Christmas show:Thursday 13 December
LAURA CORTESE - from Uncle Earl (USA) + NEIL CLEARY (USA): A lovey Double bill for our Christmas Morden Tower gig Two top American songwriting multi- Instrumentalist's Neil Cleary played a few shows for us in The Tyne a few years ago and is a very special talent. He's played with Essex Green, Erin MacKeown & his brand of Country/indie roots rock is unmissible. Laura Cortese will have played for us with Uncle Earl before she goes solo for this Christmas special. She deftly strums, plucks and chops her fiddle behind her raw and rootsy voice. Cortese's mix of modern and traditional folk styles creates an explosive sound that favors melody and rhythm over overtly technical performances.
8.00pm Start - Tickets £8.00 in advanced. On the door £10.00
NAKED CITY: Friday 26th October 8pm
RENSE SINKGRAVEN (Groningen) and NICK J SWARTH (Tilburg) are both official City Poets from the Netherlands. NEV CLAY (Newcastle) PAUL SUMMERS (Newcastle) two of the North East's finest
Please join us for the launch of Naked City Poems (Tilburg, Netherlands: tele xpress 2000) Nick Swarth's new collection of city poems translated into English by WILLEM GROENEWEGAN
Doors open at 7.30pm. Tickets price £2.50
Entrance fee is redeemable from cover price of Naked City Poems
GRAYSON CAPPS ( USA ) + Bob Frank and John Murry: SUN 7 OCTOBER Jumpin Hot Club
New Orleans songster Grayson Capp’s stunning performance in the Tower in late Jan was so good; we’ve had to bring him back!Like a whiskey-soaked, back alley poet sired by Tom Waits and Robert Johnson, Capps' stripped-down blues is rooted in the dark side of the Delta." - Razor Magazine
UNCUT Magazine called veteran songwriters Bob Frank & John Murry's new album “a dazzling collection of blasted country folk and grimly haunting murder ballads, shot through with harrowing images of death, damnation and eternal suffering
Start 8pm: Tickets £10
ERIC TAYLOR ( USA ) + Eric Hisaw & Chrissy Flatt: WED 3 OCTOBER Jumpin Hot Club
People have been talking about Eric Taylor and his poetic songs since the early 70s, when he was part of a Houston songwriting scene with Townes Van Zandt & Steve Earle, Taylor is simply one of the most influential songwriters to ever come out of Texas & has had a profound effect on many many artists including Nanci Griffith, Lyle Lovett & Robert Earl Keen.
Bluecollar barroom country rock with a dark heart. Anybody who thanks the spirits of Gene Clark, Eddie Hinton and Doug Sahm for inspiration has good taste And that's Eric Hisaw
Start 8pm: Tickets £10
DIALECT DAY Saturday 8th September
Morden Tower joins the Heritage Open Days Project with another opportunity to learn about Dialect with the Durham and Tyneside Dialect Group. Make a recording, browse and explore and buy books. Hosted by Bill Griffiths .
Bill Griffiths is a poet and Anglo-Saxon scholar. In 1987, he obtained a Ph.D. in Old English from King's College London. He has since published a number of editions and translations of Old English texts. Griffiths is a prolific poet and has published widely in Britain and the United States. His most recent publication is Pitmatic: The talk of the North East Coalfield.
All day event 10am - 4pm
Free entry
WYCKHAM PORTEOUS and support: Thursday September 13th Jumpin Hot Club
Wyckham Porteous is an acclaimed singer/songwriter from Vancouver Canada.
"A lyrical genius," Great words, great music, great singer. what more could you ask" and ‘an exceptionally talented songwriter; equal parts Tom Waits, Robbie Robertson, and Boz Scaggs’ are just a few of the recent quotes. Bob Harris played his version of 'Please, Please Me' and received an amazing response. Andrew Loog Oldham (Rolling Stones etc ) is his manager.
Start Time 8.00pm. Tickets £8.00
All Tickets on Sale from The Cluny Tel: 0191 2304474 (The Cluny) & RPM in Newcastle City Centre & online wwwticketweb.co.uk
A New Writing Group with Laura Burdon: Next meeting Thursday August 16
If you're writing furiously and have no forum for getting your work heard, then you might be interested in a new writing group that will be meeting fortnightly over the summer at Morden Tower. It's going to be an open-floor arrangement, and a chance for people to share original stories and poetry; it's also open to anyone who just wants to go along and listen. See our calendar for all dates.
For more information on the LIPS Writing Group contact Laura Burdon
7pm-8.30pm. Entrance £2.00 includes drinks.
Les Cox (Sportif), Twentymen and Rachel Lancaster:Friday August 3rd
Les Cox (Sportif) Spawned by the spirit of the Star And Shadow cinema, these three boys avoided the cull of the foot and mouth epidemic, and have since mutated into musical genius. With a night class certificate from the D.Boon international school of word cram, Les Cox' will rock your socks off, then back on, then back off again with sick knowing pleasure. Join Les' and friends for their farewell-for- now concert, in the place were it all began. www.myspace.com/lescoxsportifs
Twentymen 'A man who walks like he is twenty men'. Brothers in arms James and Jock Mooney bring in the hits 'Ikea Society', 'The Two Backed Beast', 'Gosforth Mums' and more. Brilliant, operatic, Lothian beasts. www.myspace.com/twentymenmusic
Rachel LancasterRachel is more commonly known as 1/3 of instrumental heart breakers Chippewa Falls and Me And The Twins. Rachel returns to the tower to debut new material of her own, and some achingly gorgeous covers. www.myspace.com/chippewafalls
Entry £3.00 on the door
Doors Open 7.30pm starts 8pm don't be late
BRING YOUR OWN BOOZE
JOHN HEGLEY: Edinburgh Preview and Workshop: August 1: Presented by Morden Tower
A real treat at Morden Tower on August 1st when one of Britain's top performing poets John Hegley will be performing his Edinburgh Preview. We are pleased to announce he will also be running one of his writing and performance workshops. If you would like to take advantage of this rare opportunity learn from one of Britain's most well known poets - come along. Places are limited so don't leave it to long
John Hegley is widely known as one of the country's most innovative comic poets with seven best-selling volumes of poetry to his name.
Performance Starts 7.30pm. Tickets £8 and £5
Workshop Starts 12am -2pm. Ticket £10 - age range double figures
Tickets available from Alt Vynl
61-62 Thornton Street (just off Westgate Road) 0191 222 1213
Map to Alt Vynl
And The Cluny, 36 Lime Street, Ouseburn Newcastle NE1-2PQ -0191 2304474
Towers and West Walls Sunday 29th July: City Guides
City Guides Walking Tours will be offering a guided tour "Towers and West Walls". Starting at St Andrews Church Newgate Street. The tour will include visits to Durham Tower, Heber Tower and Morden Tower. A lovely opportunity to learn about these medieval towers.
Meet at St Andrews Church 2.30
Tickets £3.00 and £ 2.00 consessions
All Tickets on Sale Tourist Information Centre, Market Street and Guild Hall or available on the day
Tourist Informatio Centre 0191 2778000
JOHN HEGLEY Sunday July 1: Presented by Morden Tower
West Walls in Wonderland - Come and see John Hegley at Morden Tower. He is working in Sunderland in the last week of June, but is squeezing in a gig at Morden Tower on July 1st. - So come and get squeezy with John Hegley.
John Hegley is widely known as one of the country's most innovative comic poets with seven best-selling volumes of poetry to his name.
Start 7.30pm . Tickets £8 and £5
All Tickets on Sale from The Cluny Tel: 0191 2304474 (The Cluny) & RPM in Newcastle City Centre & online wwwticketweb.co.uk
AJ ROACH TRIO ( USA) & Jack B Burness Tuesday 26 June: Jumpin Hot Club
AJ Roach was raised in the deep hollows of mountainous
Scott County, Virginia, USA, home of such legendary acts as
The Carter Family. He’s a fine singer and
hugely accomplished musician whose well-crafted,
thought-provoking songs are a pleasing sour mash of
Appalachian country, folk, &bluegrass. Roach is a deep woods
troubadour with a cunning wit and a southern
gothic spiritualism that sounds older than voodoo.
Start 8.00pm. Tickets £8.00.
All Tickets on Sale from The Cluny Tel: 0191 2304474 (The Cluny) & RPM in Newcastle City Centre & online wwwticketweb.co.uk
Morden Tower Birthday Saturday 16th June: Presented by Stevie Ronnie
"THIS MUST BE THE PLACE"
Join us for poetry, music, and (bring your own) booze at the birthdelicious Morden Tower, with a stunning line up of local and national writers arranged for your aural pleasure:
Andy Croft
Andy has been active for many years in community writing projects in Middlesbrough , where he lives. His books of poetry include Nowhere Special, Gaps Between Hills (with Mark Robinson), Headland , Just as Blue, Great North and Comrade Laughter. He has edited the anthologies Red Sky at Night (edited with Adrian Mitchell), North by North East (edited with Cynthia Fuller), Not Just a Game (with Sue Dymoke) and Speaking English. He runs Smokestack Books and writes a regular poetry column in the Morning Star. Read more.
Kate Fox
Kate makes a living as a writer, performer and workshop leader. Her book of comic poems "Why I" was published by Zebra in 2005 and her non comic collaboration with a Finnish poet "We are not Stone" by Ek Zuban in 2007. She won the Andrew Waterhouse Award in 2006. She is learning to play the ukulele. Be afraid. Kate Fox My Space
Linda France
Linda was born in Newcastle upon Tyne. After some time living away, she moved back to the North East in 1981. She currently lives close to Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland. Her poetry collections, published by Bloodaxe Books, include The Simultaneous Dress (2002) and The Toast of the Kit Cat Club (2005), a biography in verse of the 18th century traveller and writer Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. Linda also edited the acclaimed anthology Sixty Women Poets (Bloodaxe 1993). She has worked on a number of collaborations with visual artists and musicians and over 20 Public Art projects. Linda currently teaches Creative Writing at the University of Newcastle. www.lindafrance.co.uk
W.N. Herbert
Born in Dundee in 1961, and studied English at Oxford . He adapted his postgraduate thesis into his study To Circumjack MacDiarmid (OUP, 1992). He is a highly versatile poet in English and Scots, capable of both tender lyricism and phantasmagorical satires, often wreaking havoc with cherished myths. His collections include Forked Tongue (1992), Cabaret McGonagall (1994), The Laurelude (1998), The Big Bumper Book of Troy (2002) and Bad Shaman Blues (2006), all from Bloodaxe. He was a New Generation Poet in 1994. He teaches creative writing at the University of Newcastle. 'A weird mix of Desperate Dan, MacDiarmid and Dostoyevsky…a rare and fantastic voice' – Fiachra Gibbons, Guardian. Read more
Joan Johnston
Joan was born and lives in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. She worked as a teacher and as a playworker with young people and community groups in Tyneside for almost 20 years. She has been writer-in-residence in hospitals, women's refuges, prisons and day-centres and works as a writer in schools and further education. A chapbook collection, What You Want, was published by Diamond Twig in 1998. Read more.
Luke Wright
Luke is a writer, performer and creative producer of live literature. In 2000 he founded the Aisle16 collective. In 2006 his solo stage show, the arrogantly entitled Luke Wright, Poet Laureate, debuted at the Edinburgh Fringe to critical acclaim before playing a sell out UK tour. He also programmes all poetry at The Latitude Festival, which is the biggest gathering of live poetry in Britian. His first book, Who Writes This Crap? will be published by Hamish Hamilton in November 2007. He lives in Norwich with his wife and cat. www.lukewright.co.uk
Admission Free - 7.30 Start
TEITUR (Faroe Islands) and Nev Clay Sunday 13th May: Presented by Jumpin Hot Club
From the Faroe Islands. Teitur (pronounced 'tie-tor') describes himself as 'acoustic/folk rock/alternative' but in truth his hauntingly beautiful, spine-tingling songs will seduce anyone with an ear for classic song-writing. There are similarities to M Ward and Ron Sexsmith in Teitur's voice and vision - and also in the quality of his songwriting and guitar- piano playing. Which we imagine must be why he has already toured with the likes of Aimee Mann and Rufus Wainwright. "Teitur’s music makes for a fine traveling companion for late night drives and rainy Sunday afternoons" Popworlds mag
Tickets £10.00 - 8pm Start
KATY MOFFAT (USA) and Elaine Palmer Tuesday 22nd May: Presented by Jumpin Hot Club
Katy Moffatt has never broken through to the country mainstream, but has earned a substantial cult following among roots-music fans and plenty of critical respect for her blend of country, folk, rock, pop, and blues. The younger sister of singer/songwriter Hugh Moffatt, she has been working nearly 40 years with the likes of Willie Nelson, John Prine, Tanya Tucker, and Lynn Anderson, among others. If ever there was the perfect singer/songwriter, it is Katy Moffatt. Her voice is perhaps the most searingly beautiful thing you'll ever hear. Daily Express Lots of musical artists write moving, poignant lyrics. Lots of others interpret them well vocally.. But very few artists do all of the above as well as Moffatt.- . The Oklahoma Gazette Katy Moffatt is an obscure country music vocal genius.- Blackwell Guide to Recorded Music