Hamish Currie's Personal Pages

Biography

These days, Hamish is The Main Man behind Berkhamsted Campign for real Music

" 'Cos it's fun, that's why." Hamish loves the folk scene in all its variety – 'cos it's fun. The participation, the interaction, the spontaneity: the total "live" performance thing.

Having appeared as the guest artist at clubs from Cumbria to Sussex and featured at festivals from Yorkshire to Dorset, he is equally at home in a small, intimate acoustic setting with whites-of-the-eyes contact right up to bigger stages with audiences in hundreds and thousands. "Seeing them floundering about in all those little coloured sugary balls is such a hoot" he says. (Okay, so he's never actually played to thousands. But that's not going to stand in the way of a fantastic joke about cake decorations.) Meanwhile, back at the profile... communication is what it's all about. Whether it's putting over the drama of a traditional ballad or setting up a rousing chorus, the audience is always an integral part of the performance.

He doesn't like to mention his self-deprecating sense of humour. "Because", he says, "it's not very good."

Originally from the east coast of Scotland, folk music was always part of the landscape. But it was on moving south half a lifetime ago and discovering English folk music that his performing really took off. His repertoire is now taken from the traditions on both sides of the border, laced with some original and contemporary material. And fun. And cake decorations.

Billed gigs include:

• Towersey Folk Festival (six times) ukulele workshops
• Bude & Stratton Folk Festival (too many times to count...)
• Holmfirth Festival of Folk (four times...)
• Banbury Folk Festival (several times)
• Kirkby Fleetham Winter Warmer and/or Big Birthday Bash (three or is it four times?)
• Cambridge Folk Festival. Yes, really. Not main stage, but, hey...
• Otley Black Sheep Folk Festival
• Bridgnorth Folk Festival
• Swanage Festival of Song and Dance
• Priddy Folk Festival
• Cromer's Folk on the Pier
• And too many clubs to list, from Ulverston in Cumbria through the Topic in Bradford to Chichester on the south coast.
• And, in 2015, I had a paid gig at Glastonbury. Okay, so it was in the Chai Tepee and the payment was chai and cake, but it counts!