An evening of folk music, storytelling, and wassailing to mark Tu B'Shvat, the Jewish New Year for trees.
Hosted by storyteller Rachel Rose Reid and featuring performances from renowned folk musician Lisa Knapp and contemporary-folk duo Lost Chimes, this joyous, communal experience celebrates the affinity between British and Jewish earth-based traditions, reimagining the ancient custom of the wassail – the ritual practice of visiting orchards to sing to the trees and ensure a good harvest - for an urban context.
Rachel Rose Reid
Rachel Rose Reid is an award-winning spoken word artist who has performed for Billy Bragg, BBC Radio and the London Symphony Orchestra. She is also co-founder of Yelala, which renews and revives knowledge and practice of Jewish folk customs and rituals. Rachel is the founder of The Willesden Green Wassail, dubbed by the Lonely Planet blog as "one of the UK's most inspirational winter events"
Lisa Knapp
Since her striking debut of folk songs mixed with self-penned original pieces (Wild & Undaunted 2007) musician and singer Lisa Knapp has gone on to win a coveted BBC Radio 2 Folk Award, and appear numerous times on radio and television. Her work is steeped in traditional song and music, folklore and mysterious customs of old England, yet her refreshing experimental and often unconventional approach to interpretations, arrangements, songwriting and modern manipulation of sound across three lauded records has made her a unique and much in demand artist in the folk realm.
In 2017 Lisa released her third album ‘Till April is Dead-A Garland of May Songs’, featuring collaborations with the likes of Graham Coxon (Blur) and David Tibet (Current 93), Her latest collaborative work, recorded under lockdown with renowned folk artist Marry Waterson and singer/sound artist Nathaniel Mann, will be released in March 2023.
Lost Chimes
Lost Chimes are Gemma and Nicky Kirk - blending traditional folk with a contemporary dream pop twist. 2020 saw the release of their debut single, a paired-back, atmospheric cover of Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart”. Their self-titled album was released in May 2021 and is an alluring escape into an indie folk soundscape, filled with stories of hope, loss and the energies in between life and death.
Astral Pierrot
Astral Pierrot, (Christina Nteventzi & Antoni Tashev) is a balkan freak folk duo,voice & strings, infused with entheogenic lyricism, minimal instrumentation,laments and tales of rebirth as light in darkness, embracing catharsis of feelings too unbearable to hold.
The project founder, Christina Nteventzi, born in Greece, began their creative journey as a silent artist. In 2020 they broke their silence and pursued vocal exploration as healing practice.
Antoni Tashev, born in Bulgaria, who accompanies on guitar, began his musical journey at a young age, developing a neo psychedelic folk guitar playing style inspired by balkan roots, he has released numerous solo darkwave folk albums.
