Traditional & Original Songs with John Kirkpatrick & Maddy Prior

TITLE: Traditional and Original Songs with John Kirkpatrick & Maddy Prior

DATE: Friday 10th July 2026 2PM - Sunday 12th July 2026 (3 days)

PRICE: (NON-REFUNDABLE Deposit to secure place £150)

- non-residential ticket £359

- RESIDENTIAL ticket £479

LED BY: John Kirkpatrick and Maddy Prior

VENUE: Stones Barn, Cumbria, CA6 6PW

PARTICIPANTS: Maximum 22

IMPORTANT INFO:

*** £150 IS THE NON-REFUNDABLE DEPOSIT PAYMENT ONLY. This will secure your place on the course. We will ask you to pay the remaining course balance 3-4 month before the course start date. ***

*** Accommodation (£60 PP/PN) and lift booking fees (£40 PP) ***

Hot & cold breakfast is included for those staying with us residentially. Lunches & Evening meals are provided for all course participants (except for possible pub evening meals on the Friday).

COURSE DESCRIPTION: John Kirkpatrick leads a weekend of singing workshops, looking at traditional singing styles, as well as a look at how to write a song that might sound traditional.

WHO IS IT FOR? This course is SUITABLE FOR ANYONE who wants to sing in a group, learn traditional and original songs by John and it is also ideal for people who want to bring instruments with them to play. If you can play a bit in a session or perform with your instrument, please bring it along. Similarly, if you do any traditional dancing, feel free to bring your gear!

COURSE LEADER: John Kirkpatrick
John Kirkpatrick was born in 1947 into a London family that loved music, and
especially loved singing. Every family gathering involved a sing-song round the piano, and there was no option of not joining in. Several years as a treble in the church choir followed, with the occasional solo at school, and once the yodelling of his voice breaking had settled down, John slid down the parts to join the men’s voices.

Discovering folk music was John’s Road to Damascus, when in 1959 he joined the newly formed Hammersmith Morris Men. With the team he began playing the melodeon, the button accordion, and the Anglo concertina, instruments on which he was to become a virtuoso, and which have kept him in business ever since. He was around at exactly the right time to be swept up in the explosion of folk clubs and folk festivals that was, happening all around him, and was able to dance, play, and sing to his heart’s delight.

He has become one of the country’s leading interpreters of traditional English folk song, music, and dance, and as well as continuously performing as a soloist, has been a member of a wild variety of duos, bands, and groups, working with Sue Harris, Roy Bailey, Martin Carthy, and Chris Parkinson (as The Sultans of Squeeze). He’s been a member of The Albion Country Band, Steeleye Span, The Richard Thompson Band, Band of Hope, Brass Monkey, Home Service, and country dance bands The Rhythmics, Dingle’s Chillybom Band, Umps & Dumps, and currently Kirkophany, where he calls the dances and plays with all four of his sons.

You can hear him on hundreds of recordings, both as a featured artist and as a backing musician, in settings that go from strictly trad to folk rock to mainstream pop to “avant garage”! John has also contributed to soundtracks on film, television, and radio, and worked extensively in the theatre, providing incidental music, original songs and choreography, and arrangements for the acting company.

He has been a prolific creator of new work in all his fields of activity, writing songs,
tunes, and dances. In 1975 he started the first group to concentrate exclusively of the Morris Dances of the Welsh Border - The Shropshire Bedlams. With a radically
different approach to the dancing, this team caused quite a revolution in the Morris
world, and nearly fifty years later, John is still dancing and driving the team onwards.
In 2002 - Made an honorary lifetime member of the International
Concertina Association.
In 2003 - Awarded the Gold Badge of the English Folk Dance & Song Society
for his outstanding contribution to English Folk Music.
In 2010 - Named Musician of the Year in the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.
In 2016 – Made an honorary lifetime member of The South West
Shropshire Historical and Archaeological Society.
In 2021 – Appointed MBE in the New Year’s Honours list.
www.johnkirkpatrick.co.uk

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

https://forgottenlands.org/local-events

https://stonesbarn.co.uk/

https://stonesbarn.co.uk/how-to-choose-a-course

https://stonesbarn.co.uk/course-timetables

https://stonesbarn.co.uk/cancellation-policy

https://stonesbarn.co.uk/stay-onsite (important info)

https://stonesbarn.co.uk/where-to-stay(some suggestions)

Bookings@stonesbarn.co.uk 01697748424

CANCELLATION POLICY:

We allow just a deposit payment to book and secure your place on any and every course. This deposit amount is currently £150. If you notify us of your cancellation within 3+ months of the course you will receive £100 of your £150 deposit back.
Any Notification after this time, regardless of reason, shall not be deemed a reasonable amount of time for us to try to re-fill your place so all of the deposit will be withheld. For this reason, we strongly advise you to book separate event/travel insurance so that you may recover all of your expenses should unforeseen circumstances arise.

We can no longer afford the costs of last-minute refunds in terms of admin or advertising or empty places. Around 5+ people per course are now dropping out for reportedly very serious reasons. This is unsustainable for us because we are a micro business with very fine margins and have not taken this decision lightly.

We will email you four months before the course, to inform you that you have 2 weeks to pay the balances. After the 2 weeks has expired, you may lose your place if payments have not been received. Non-payment of invoices is at your own risk and we will not/ cannot be held responsible for missed payments.

Add emma@stonesbarn.co.uk as a ‘trusted email’ to make sure emails arrive.