Rejoice the Voice News

29 January 2012

It's with great regret that we must back out of our annual Rejoice the Voice workshop tour this year. As While and Matthews are in Australia for March and April, we had hoped to reschedule the workshops for September but unfortunately Chris has to have a knee replacement in the summer followed by a 3 month recuperation period, so in order to avoid complications and possible setbacks we are going to defer until 2013. Hope this isn't too much of a disappointment and that we'll see you all next year.

Happy New Year!

21 January 2012

So here we are three quarters of the way through January already and we haven't even wished you all...HAPPY NEW YEAR! 2011 finished in such a fine fashion, a brilliant duo tour followed by a fantastic St Agnes Fountain tour. The Aggie phenomenon seems to go from strength to strength, gathering new friends each year and following the release of 'The Best of..." we gained even more momentum getting several plays on BBC Radio 2 and lovely feedback for the music we have produced over the last decade. Once again, everyone was so generous in the charity raffle this year, raising £2,776 for Alder Hey's Ronald McDonald house. The Ukulele was won by a lovely member of the Marlborough audience. ( We won't print her name here lest she gets begging letters for the beautiful little instrument, probably from Chris Leslie and David Hughes!) Thank you so much everyone for digging deep in such hard times.

So since the holidays, Chris and I have been busy on all sorts of stuff. I did a delightful solo house concert near Leek at the home of our lovely friends, Vanya and Graham (where we do all our Aggie rehearsals). Chris is also flying solo next week at the Black Swan in York and fitting in a gig with Kellie TONIGHT in Stocksbridge, Sheffield so our guitar playing callouses aren't going too soft!

I've had a mad busy writing and recording time for the new set of BBC Radio Ballads that I'm once again involved in, this time, all about the Olympics. I've found it all fascinating and much more engaging and challenging than I thought it would be covering topics like the Berlin Olympics in '36, and Munich in '72. Both incredibly powerful and full of inspiring and moving interviews. So far I've written 10 songs for 4 of the ballads and there's still another 2 to write for! Phew! Might have to do a bit of writing on an Aussie beach...which brings me onto the other thing that's been taking up a lot of our time...preparing for our long awaited tour down under to Australia and New Zealand.

It's been three long years and we can't wait to be back on those fabulous festival stages and see all our lovely friends again. (Not to mention getting a bit of sun on our winter white skin). We fly out on the 5th March and the tour kicks off at one of the best festivals in the world, Port Fairy...woo hoo hoo! Provisional dates have started to go up on the tour dates page with more to follow. We'll endeavour to do a 'tour down under' diary again so you can follow our adventures.

So for now we'll wish you all a peaceful and prosperous 2012 and hope to see you some time in the year, north or south of the equator.

New albums for your Christmas List!

22 November 2011

We are very excited to announce that the new 'Best of St Agnes Fountain' album is now available to order from our shop. It is a double CD commemorating 10 years of touring and includes tracks from the first two albums 'Acoustic Carols' and 'Comfort & Joy' which have been unavailable for a number of years. 32 tracks of the very best Christmas music beautifully presented in a full colour digipack. Order your copy early, especially if you live outside the UK.

We also have for sale 'Younger than that now' another double album which is a tribute to Bob Dylan performed by various artists in celebration of his 70th Birthday. Chris & Kellie While perform 'Mississippi' and Julie performs 'Make you feel my love'. Click here to order this album. All proceeds to Oxfam.

Party on the Lawn

16 October 2011

Hi everyone,

We are sorry to announce that there will not be a POTL next year due to several things. There will however definitely be one in June 2013, we will announce the date in the new year.

See you out there..........Chris

Powell and G7th

12 October 2011

Julie and I would like to say thank you to the craftmanship of Ken Powell of Powell Guitars and the beautiful engineering of Nick Campling of G7th Capos for supporting us. British companies like these two are enhancing the music that we make.

All Along the Wall

05 September 2011

Don't miss out on this very rare opportunity to see the 'All Along the Wall' project that Julie was involved in in 2010. Featuring the full line up of Julie, Jez Lowe, Boo Hewerdine, Ruth Notman, Rory McLeod, Kate Fox, Elvis McGonnagal and Kate Bramley. There are only three dates to choose from in September; Bury Met (23rd), Biddulph Town Hall (24th) and The Sage at Gateshead (25th). For tickets and info follow the links on our tour dates page.

New duo dates

07 July 2011

Check out the tour page for the latest confirmed dates so far for the 2011 autumn tour, keep looking as there are more to come.

Chris & Kellie double CD

21 June 2011

The double album that Chris and Kellie were selling on their tour is now available to buy in our shop. It's the first two CD's in a budget priced double pack for only £12.00

Rare trio concert with Kellie While

09 June 2011

Please come and join us for a rare and, what promises to be, a very special trio gig with Kellie While. This will be a unique performance featuring lots of new arrangements of new and old songs, original material and covers too.

This very special night is a celebration of women and will also feature performances by Ruth Angell and Becky Mills. All the profits go to DIAS and Greater Manchester Women's domestic abuse helpline. The event is on Friday 17th June at Wigan Parish church, just 5 minutes from Wigan Wallgate Station, Crawford Street, WN1 1 NL. Concert starts at 7.30pm. Tickets £15 in advance and £17 on the night. Contact 01942 824291

Chris' new guitar!

30 May 2011

Chris has just taken delivery of a new cutaway Powell Guitar and she is delighted with it! You will be able to see and hear it on a stage near you over the coming months. Julie also plays a Gazouki made by Ken Powell. Check out his beautiful instruments on his website or follow him on Facebook