Launch of new music telling stories of Stourbridge glass workers
Stories of glass workers will be told in word and music on a new recording featuring country, rock, hip-hop, folk and pop tunes.
The album titled Voices From The Cones retells in a song cycle and narration the experiences of staff from the old Stourbridge Glassworks,which closed in the 1990s.
Created by musician Dan Whitehouse it will be released on September 30 followed by an official launch concert on October 21 at The Glasshouse Arts Centre, in Wollaston Road, Amblecote.
He was invited by Alan Ellsmore, of the Ruskin Mills Trust, to write a narrated song cycle about the history and community of the glassworks three years ago.
His efforts comprised research of an archive of interviews with 100 former glass workers alongside new interviews with narration by storyteller John Edgar.
For more than 400 years the glassmaking industry was a staple of the Stourbridge area due to the skills of immigrant French Huguenots. In recent years the industry has declined with the last factory apprentice, Malcolm Andrews, now teaching the skills the others.
Participating musicians include John Elliot, Chris Cleverley, Kim Lowings, Gustaf Ljunggren, Nicole Justice, and Lukas Drinkwater.
To book tickets for the launch event visit webpage dan-whitehouse.com/live
