John Roberts and Tony Barrand (Monthly Program)

Widely acclaimed for their lively and entertaining presentations of English folk songs, John Roberts and Tony Barrand have performed at major festivals, colleges, clubs and coffeehouses throughout the United States, Canada, and their native Britain. They sing the ballads and songs of the sea, of rural pursuits, of social and sociable situations, of industrial toil and strife, and much more, typically arranging their material thematically to better illustrate the lives and the social history of the people who made and sang the songs. Their songs are punctuated with tales, monologues, dances and tunes, giving a more complete appreciation of the wealth, diversity, and vitality of the English folk tradition.John and Tony met at Cornell University in 1968, as fellow graduate students in psychology. They discovered that they shared a common interest in folk song, and started performing together the following year. Unaccompanied two-part singing was always a primary staple of their repertoire, and the stark harmonies of their well-balanced voices soon brought them to the attention of the folk music community. They also draw upon a variety of instrumentation: John is a leading exponent of both Anglo and English concertina, as well as being a fine banjo and guitar player; Tony is a skilled percussionist, on drums, bones and spoons.Both are active in the folk dance arena as well as in song. Dr. Anthony G. Barrand is an active teacher, Morris and clog dancer, singer, and scholar based in Brattleboro, Vermont, USA. Currently, he teaches folklore and esthetics via the University Professors Program at Boston University. Much of Tony's research and teaching has focused on various forms of the seasonal display dances now known generically as Morris dancing. More recently, Tony's interests have shifted to the presence of Lancashire mill culture in New England. John, an able dancer himself, is more often found providing the music on concertina. John is also a freelance music engraver and desktop publisher.John Roberts and Tony Barrand have delighted audiences across the USA for almost three decades with their "a capella" duets of English folk bawdry and balladry, morris and clog dancing, monologs and storytelling. Their most recent releases are Heartoutbursts: Lincolnshire Folksongs Collected by Percy Grainger and Naulakha Redux: Songs of Rudyard Kipling. Hail Smiling Morn is the 5th recording in a series over 25 years with the Christmas pageant, Nowell Sing We Clear, with Andy Davis and Fred Breunig.