Roy Clinging - a brief biography
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Roy is a full time singer and musician with experience of folk clubs, and festivals all over the UK and in the USA. He has been involved in folk music for the last 30 years during which time he has been instrumental in setting up and organising a number of folk clubs and other events, has been a resident and MC, has guested both solo and in groups (most notably Filigree, with Mary Clinging and Mal Waite), has played in local country dance bands, is an active(ish) member of the Chester City Morris Men, and still maintains strong contacts with his local gang of Soulers with whom he was once a regular performer (Souling, or Soulcaking, is the Cheshire version of a mumming play). He has carried out extensive research into the songs and traditions of his home county of Cheshire and has a wide collection of maritime material which has seen him regularly involved in sea song and shanty sessions, as well as specialist maritime events. He performs ballads and songs from all over the British Isles and, while his songwriting is not prolific, he still has a good number of compositions under his belt, some of which have been performed by other respected artists such as Mal Waite, Jim Mageean and Keith Kendrick. Roy is involved in other areas of music as well as the folk scene including Residential Homes, Hospitals, Day Centres and Schools. He collaborated with Prescot Museum who were working with a local school learning about North West Traditions and has taken part in a project which aims to replace piped 'muzak' with live musicians which has seen him playing the concertina in the wards and waiting rooms at the Countess of Chester Hospital. He has recently returned from a very enjoyable, if all too brief, trip to the USA where he appeared at The Portsmouth Maritime Festival in New Hampshire along with House Concerts in Maine and Boston. "Roy was well received at several house concerts here in New England and he was an excellent addition to our maritime folk festival in Portsmouth (US). Roy's material from his native Cheshire is especially noteworthy. Besides his maritime songs and stories, the English concertina workshop that he led at our festival was appreciated by many." - Peter Contrastano, Program Director, Folk Horizons In 1999 he released his first solo CD, 'Cheshire Born', a collection of material from his home county, which was generously supported by Cheshire County Council, who saw the importance of the work and wanted to make it more widely available. "This is an excellent CD" - Folk North West "Roy Clinging's fine voice and excellent phrasing will be heard more widely" - The Living Tradition December 2001 saw the release of his second CD, 'An Honest Working Man'. This is a more diverse collection of mostly traditional songs and tunes (although a couple of Roy's own compositions have crept in) and he is joined on the album by guitarist Phil Hare, Gina Le Faux on fiddle and his wife, Mary Clinging, who provides vocal harmonies. "some of the best traditional music you will ever hear." - Folk North West "performed with the skill & confidence of a craftsman." - Pete Coe "a performer of real stature, good taste and integrity." - The Living Tradition Discography with Filigree, |