Kinver folk club unlocks the power of traditional songs
Kinver Traditional Folk Song Club (KTFSC) was founded in May 2022 with the aim of putting traditional song back at the forefront of folk singing.
Traditional songs are musical threads woven into the fabric of our common culture and hold deep value. The club in Kinver celebrates these songs, sung by our forbears over the generations and perpetuated today to be preserved for future generations.
Climb the stairs at Kinver Constitutional Club on the first Tuesday of each month and you will find a group of dedicated singers and listeners who enjoy the singing of songs enriched by their connection with times past. Such songs cover all aspects of human experience; of love and war, work and play, adventure, sex, crime and punishment - and the rest!
Singing lifts the spirit, connects us to others and nourishes mental and physical health; and traditional singing connects us to our cultural heritage, reminding us of our common past and shared humanity. Club Leader, Roger Tyler, explains: “I like to think that at least some of the songs I sing were sung by my forbears over many generations. They give me a connection to my past which extends back over hundreds of years”
KTFSC is unusual in encouraging the discussion of the songs we sing, their provenance and back stories. Sometimes the songs are of historical events like General Wolfe’s triumph at the Heights of Abraham, Nelsons victory at Trafalgar, the Battle of Waterloo or the Peterloo Massacre. Many of the old songs give insight into social history too, referring to social order and the everyday lives of ordinary people. We can also find remnants of our linguistic past where words have been preserved in song which are no longer in use.
The bottom line is that we love to sing these songs together and when the voices blend in chorus, the result is magic! Spontaneous harmonies sending shivers down the spine and putting joy in the heart are experiences not to be missed whether the song is a lusty shanty, a drinking song or a gentle song originally sung at a loom or in the dairy. They are our neglected musical heritage and deserve to be preserved and honoured.
The club is open to everyone. You can bring an old song to sing, lead a shanty, join in or simply sit and listen.
We meet at the Kinver Constitutional Club, High Street Kinver on the first Tuesday of each month at 19.30pm. There is a stair lift and it will cost you nothing to satisfy your curiosity; call in and see what we do. First time visitors get free admission and after that, it’s £3 “the best three pounds-worth of entertainment you can get!”
Further details at: kinverfolk.co.uk.
By Roger Tyler - Contributor
