Keith’s Kolumn autumn/winter 08/09

Howdy Potato Diggers. We’ve had a busy and varied programme during the cold season…

A wedding dance in the Essex triangle (west of Chelmsford… in the middle of nowhere for us townies) 

Dave’s party at Southend’s Ekco Club featuring an Elvis impersonator. The dance was featured as part of the Big National Ceilidh night (http://www.bignationalceilidh.co.uk/site/) with the band making a donation to Water Aid

Angela’s party in North Stifford village hall featured many cowchildren and pots and pots of delicious home made food

Works staff party in Dunmow featuring a fancy dress contest, a bucking bronco and Paddy Beadle’s debut on melodeon for the Potatoes. One of the punters likened my microphone style to that of Tony Blair

Couple of bar appearances in the Smack at Old Leigh

Hoy at Anchor folk club and Hornchurch Queens theatre shows where enthusiastic and responsive audiences listen to our numbers

Jan 09 – party for birthdays and anniversary – young Dolly Parton fans (and lookalikes), a morris dancer and an MP were among the dancing guests

Most recently there were at least five sets dancing on the tiny Ceilidh club dancefloor at Southend Rugby Club… a booking we’ve now done for 30 years!   http://www.southendbarndance.org.uk/

Hope to see you at the next dance!

Keith

We're based in Leigh-on-Sea, four miles west of Southend-on-Sea, Essex - 40 miles (65 km) east of London, England.

"One of Britain's best barn dance bands" - Andy Kershaw

"I enjoyed the band very much" - Jon Boden, BBC Radio 2

Forthcoming Events

If you arrive here and get an out-of-date forthcoming events list, please visit our MySpace site.

We are playing a barn dance on Saturday 31 July at the Salvation Army Farm in Hadleigh, Benfleet, Essex. 7-10 pm, bring your own food (please note that as it is Salvation Army premises, no alcohol at all may be brought onto their grounds). Tickets £10 available from 01702 552963.

On Saturday 11 September we are playing for a public barn dance at the Wat Tyler Folk Festival in Basildon, Essex. Ticket details will be posted here when known. Here are some details but please note this page relates to the accompanying folk festival on the day after, Sunday 12th.

The all-day Village Green festival in Chalkwell Park, Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex on Saturday 25 September will feature a Famous Potatoes set at some time in the afternoon. Free admission.

We will be organising (and playing for) a public barn dance for Water Aid on Saturday 16 October, somewhere in the Southend area. Full details later.

We're busy most weeks, but almost all our events are for private functions - weddings, engagement parties, anniversaries, birthdays, private clubs etc. We're sorry if you would like to come and see us and find that there aren't any events you can make, but this is just how the bookings go!

We play about once a quarter for the Grand Ceilidh Club at Southend Rugby Club - phone John on 01702 203695 for details. This is a club that meets every Wednesday with a live band, and is very deserving of your support. Admission to the club is free on your first visit. We're next playing there on Wednesday 10 November.

See our section featuring Keith's own barn dance instructions! There are two dances for you to try...

We're affiliated to the English Folk Dance and Song Society.

 

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If you'd like to book the Famous Potatoes for a barn dance... click here.
If you're interested in finding out more about the band... click here.
If you're interested in buying any Famous Potatoes products... click here.

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