A group of adults and some young people have been meeting weekly for over 4 years now as they wanted a space to try out tunes, and practise outside of a public folk session. They are now popular as a performance group adding their own relaxed folk feel for free to many local events.
BlueJam Folk is a group of up to about 15 musicians, playing a wide range of instruments, with various levels of experience and a mutual enthusiasm for playing music and developing our skills together. We organise ourselves on a collective basis, sharing responsibility for running the group and also taking on specific jobs as individuals when needed. We feel that we are are a friendly, supportive and welcoming group.
We play mainly traditional tunes (Irish, Scottish and English in particular) and modern tunes written in a traditional style. We have a core ‘repertoire’ and a large number of other tunes and sets which we play regularly. All members have access to the sheet music for these online via our Dropbox account. Some people play by ear and others use sheet music to play from. Members are encouraged to introduce new tunes and sets to the group.
We play once a month at Kirkoswald Farmers’ Market and also play at an increasing number of outside events, such as Apple Day at Acorn Bank, Woolfest and Greystoke Craft Fair. We have also started playing some fundraising ceilidhs. We prefer to play at community and charitable events and for ‘not for profit’ organisations. We don’t charge a fee though do ask for an amount to cover our travel expenses etc.
If you would like us to play at your event please get in touch to discuss.
We meet to play tunes each Wednesday evening from 7.30pm to 9.30pm at BlueJam Space, Mostyn Hall, Friargate, Penrith CA11 7XR. We each pay £2.50 per week to cover the cost of the room. We have a tea break in the middle, when we also discuss any admin matters etc.
If you’d like to join us just turn up (first session free) or get in touch beforehand for more information: di.wallace11@btinternet.com
BlueJam has run various Blue Acoustic sessions for adults and young people. These incorporate any acoustic instrument as well as voices and look at a wide variety of folk, early music and roots music from around the world.
We are available to run workshops for you in your school or club for a moderate fee. Please get in touch on bluejamarts@gmail.com or through the contact form on this site.
An acoustic band can be a small group of BlueJam tutors or participants or a combination of both.
We can handle professional gigs, though generally do not do Ceilidhs as we don’t have a regular caller.
We play throughout November and December at Whinfell Forest Centerparcs with a 7 – piece band, singers and “audience interactors”. Our set of early music, folk, winter and traditional songs has proved really popular.
We are also playing at local Winter Festivals.
