News & Dates
NEWS
Over the past year, as well as returning to the unique Sidmouth Folk Festival in England, playing with the great Polish / Ukranian band DagaDana in the Reykjavík Arts Festival and organising and playing in the Vaka Folk Arts Festival, here in Reykjavík, I have been really enjoying regular activities here at home, such as the Reykjavík Trad Sessions and Sagnavaka sessions at Ægir bar in Reykjavík.
England Solo tour November 2024
Summer and autumn of 2024 saw me playing in England for the first time in a while. In August, I played in concerts and led a workshop at the 70th anniversary of the Sidmouth Folk Festival, and then in November, I did a very enjoyable little 10 days tour that garnered some very complimentary reviews.
Photo from Bodmin Folk Club by Kathy Wallis
Bodmin Folk Club had a great night when he recently visited us ... we cannot wait until he is back in the UK, touring again, so we can re-book him.
Speedwell Hall, Crewkerne
We had loads of messages of thanks, one comment, which I thought rather lovely: "you said he would be good but I didn't realise just how good he was going to be."
Cellar upstairs, London
Chris Foster did an excellent night for us, as he always has done when he's played at the club. Though perhaps best known for his superb renditions of less common versions of traditional songs, in fact he sings a wide range of material, from the big ballads to music hall and Leon Rosselson songs, most with masterly guitar accompaniment.
Tigerfolk, Leicestershire
...we were privileged to be present, this evening, with an exponent who beautifully crafted singing with sublime guitar accompaniment. ... this was a night of a balladeer. What a version of “The Cruel Mother” ...This was a tour de force by Chris.
Soundbox, Chester
What a privilege and a pleasure to witness one of England’s most accomplished traditional singer-guitarists playing in Chester last Saturday. Chris Foster's compelling performance immediately established an easy rapport with the audience, and his distinctive vocals and captivating guitar work was proof - if proof were needed! - of why he has been described as 'one of the finest singers and most thoughtful, inventive guitar accompanists of English folk songs'.
Leon Rosselson at 90 not out
In my view Leon is one of the greatest songwriters in the English language over the past 60+ years. I have admired his work and performed many of his songs throughout my singing life, so it was a special honour to be invited to be part of a concert in July 2024, it celebrating Leon's 90th year. I performed 'Wo sind die elefanten', the source of his memoire title, 'Where are the elephants.
Where are the elephants?
2023 has seen the publication of Leon Rosselson's long awaited memoir. It's a fascinating read, and I highly recommend getting a copy.
You can buy it online from the publishers PM Press here:
European Folk Network Conference
In September, I was very pleased to be able to attend the annual conference of the European Folk Network, which was held in Kaustinen, Finland. I was invited to give a short presentation about the 'folk scene' in Iceland, where I have been living for the past 20 years. It was interesting to compare experiences with fellow folk music activists and musicians from across Europe. I was left feeling inspired and also that Iceland has much to learn from the varied experiences of people across Europe, where the folk music infrastructure is much more developed than in Iceland.
Kaustinen and its long term celebration and passing on of local fiddle traditions was an inspiring place to hold this conference. Next year Medeira might be a bit far.
Nordic Harp Meeting
October saw Bára and I heading back to the excellent Nordic Harp meeting held in Sweden in 2024.
The Nordic Harp Meeting is an extremely useful and inspiring annual meeting, known to its regular attendees as the Nerdic Harp Meeting. The meeting brings together skilled and expert performers, teachers and researchers, who are all involved in making music with a big variety of old stringed instruments, such as lyres, kantele, hummel, langspil, langeleik, jouhikko and of course more varieties of harp than you can shake a stick at.
Living in Iceland, we are very isolated from the range of skills and expertise that we are able to access at NHM. To be able to meet with all these people under one roof is a great privilege, and we try to go as often as possible. The meeting takes place in a different country each year.
As usual it was good to spend quality time making music with old NHM friends and colleagues and also to make new friends. Among the many highlights for me this year was hearing our friend Marit Steinsrud and her sister with two of their friends (also sisters) playing langeleik together, as they have done ever since they were teenagers.
Kvæðamannafélagið Iðunn
Autumn to spring sees the return of the monthly Kvæðamannafélagið Iðunn meetings and Söngvaka, which I help to run.
Söngvaka is an open singing session that is held at Söngskólinn í Reykjavík, in downtown Reykjavík. The idea behind the session is to create a welcoming space and opportunity for people to come and sing together and learn songs from the Icelandic oral / aural tradition together. In particular, we have focused on the unique Icelandic, two voice harmony songs called tvísöngvar and the sagnadans ballad songs.
Songs are taught 'by ear' and we also have music notation available for people who find it helpful.
Full details Kvæðamannafélagið Iðunn and Söngvaka meetings, along with extensive archive recordings, can be found on the Iðunn website at:
PERFORMANCE DATES 2024/5
Here are key dates for autumn 2024
Friday 13th September
Concert at Fríkirkjan, Reykjavík
part of
Vaka Þjóðlistahátíð
(Vaka Folk Festival)
Reykjavík, Iceland
A full harvest time feast of
Concerts, Dancing, Workshops, Sessions
Tuesday 1st October
Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavík
Lecture
'Upp upp mín sál'
Hallgrímur Pétursson's
Hymns of the passion
in the oral singing tradition of Iceland
Friday 25th October
Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavík
Funi performance at the book launch of
'Hvað verður fegra fundið'
a selection of hymns & poems by
Sr. Hallgrímur Pétursson
Thursday 21st November
Árni Magnússon Institute, Reykjavík
NoFF conference
Nordiskt møde for folkmusikforskning
og dokumentation
Sunday 1st December
Árbærsafn, Reykjavík
Funi workshop and performance
Booking now for 2025 and beyond
I am always interested to hear from people with ideas for projects and performances.
I have a lot of experience as a performer and workshop leader, so I can offer all sorts of performance and workshop possibilities:
• Full length concerts and folk club guest spots.
• Shared, themed & song swap sessions, including with singers from other traditions.
• Workshops and talks on narrative song styles from the British and Icelandic traditions - ballads, rímur & vikivaki.
• Workshops on arranging songs for different levels of skill and experience.
• Instrumental workshops on guitar and Icelandic langspil.
To enquire about booking
Chris Foster either solo or in the duo
Funi with Bára Grímsdóttir
just send an email to:
chrisfoster.iceland(at)gmail.com
BBC Folk Awards nomination 2018
The track 'The life of a man / Greensleeves'
on my 2017 album Hadelin, was nominated as
Best Traditional Track in the 2018 BBC Folk Awards.
You can listen to it right here.
a music streaming platform
that treats artists fairly!
Whatever we musicians may think about streaming, it seems pretty obvious to me that it is going to be the technology that most people will be using to access recorded music for the foreseeable future. The actual process has plenty going for it. It removes a lot of plastic from the environment and cuts out a load of shipping and warehousing costs. Mind you, those servers are using a lot of megawatts and they come with their own significant environmental impacts.
My son Simon Metson in England has developed a new music streaming platform. It is called Audiotarky and it aims to put fairness and privacy in front of algorithms, advertisers and shareholders, while keeping a close eye on its environmental impact.
You can check out Audiotarky at:
Going global,
flowing with the stream
My two vinyl albums for Topic Records (Layers -1977 and All Things in Common - 1979) have been on Spotify for some time, since Topic Records digitised their back catalogue.
All my CD albums are available on multiple streaming platforms as well, so Traces - 1999, Jewels - 2004, Outsiders - 2008 and Hadelin - 2017 are all available, not just on Spotify, but also on iTunes, Amazon, Deezer, Youtube Sound Recording and a bunch of others worldwide that I've never heard of such as Akazoo, Claro Música, Kanjian, Zvooq and Shazam to name but a few.
The two albums that I have made under the Funi duo name with Bára Grímsdóttir (Funi - 2004 and Flúr - 2013) are also out there.
I doubt that the combined income from all this will run to a Mars bar, but you never know, somebody in South America or Russia might discover the delights of hearing Lord Bateman, The Seeds of Love or some traditional Icelandic songs.
Funi in action at the Estonian Traditional Folk Music Centre, Viljandi, Estonia