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Concerts: Band

songdreaming Tour: Philharmonic, Liverpool

Philharmonic Hall
Liverpool, UK

March 2024 sees the release of Sam Lee’s fourth studio album, ‘Songdreaming’, the follow up to 2020’s ‘Old Wow’, an album variously described as ‘A dazzling fusion of nature and song’ (The Observer) and a ‘sublime album that demands to be heard in the 21st century’ (The Daily Telegraph) amidst a host of critical acclaim.

‘Songdreaming’ represents the latest stage in the development of Sam Lee’s music, from its roots in traditional folk song to a new way of imagining and performing these old songs, making them relevant for a modern audience.

The album sees Sam continue his work with producer Bernard Butler and long term collaborator, arranger and composer James Keay in creating an album rich in musicality and invention, building on the backbone of double bass, percussion and violin with a world of instrumentation including the Arabic Qanoon, Swedish Nyckelharpa and more. In doing so, Sam delivers an album that ranges from more immediately identifiable acoustic songs to drone soundscapes to the electric guitar and gospel choir propelled lead single, ‘Meeting Is A Pleasant Place’ which features the recording debut of Trans Voices, a London based transgender choir.

With a lyrical focus on the perilous state of the natural world that has informed Sam’s work since his debut, ‘Songdreaming’ represents the most expansive and fully realised Sam Lee album to date, capable of switching from the beautiful balladry of ‘Sweet Girl McRee’ to the gospel tinges of ‘Leaves Of Life’ and the whiteout noise close of album opener ‘Bushes and Briars’. It is a full expression of Sam Lee as an artist and of his relationship to his muse, the natural world. As he notes:

'I wanted to sing a vision of what a conversation between us and the land could be, to restore and inspire a practice of songful immersion in nature that brings with it healing, something we need now more than ever'


Venue:

Philharmonic Hall
Hope Street
L1 9BP
UK

Date:

28th Mar 2024

Time:

8:00 pm

Concerts: Band

songdreaming Tour: Komedia, Brighton

Komedia
Brighton, UK

March 2024 sees the release of Sam Lee’s fourth studio album, ‘Songdreaming’, the follow up to 2020’s ‘Old Wow’, an album variously described as ‘A dazzling fusion of nature and song’ (The Observer) and a ‘sublime album that demands to be heard in the 21st century’ (The Daily Telegraph) amidst a host of critical acclaim.

‘Songdreaming’ represents the latest stage in the development of Sam Lee’s music, from its roots in traditional folk song to a new way of imagining and performing these old songs, making them relevant for a modern audience.

The album sees Sam continue his work with producer Bernard Butler and long term collaborator, arranger and composer James Keay in creating an album rich in musicality and invention, building on the backbone of double bass, percussion and violin with a world of instrumentation including the Arabic Qanoon, Swedish Nyckelharpa and more. In doing so, Sam delivers an album that ranges from more immediately identifiable acoustic songs to drone soundscapes to the electric guitar and gospel choir propelled lead single, ‘Meeting Is A Pleasant Place’ which features the recording debut of Trans Voices, a London based transgender choir.

With a lyrical focus on the perilous state of the natural world that has informed Sam’s work since his debut, ‘Songdreaming’ represents the most expansive and fully realised Sam Lee album to date, capable of switching from the beautiful balladry of ‘Sweet Girl McRee’ to the gospel tinges of ‘Leaves Of Life’ and the whiteout noise close of album opener ‘Bushes and Briars’. It is a full expression of Sam Lee as an artist and of his relationship to his muse, the natural world. As he notes:

'I wanted to sing a vision of what a conversation between us and the land could be, to restore and inspire a practice of songful immersion in nature that brings with it healing, something we need now more than ever'


Venue:

Komedia
44-47 Gardner St
Brighton and Hove
BN1 1UN
UK

Date:

3rd Apr 2024

Time:

7:00 pm

Concerts: Band

songdreaming Tour: Quarterhouse, Folkestone

Quarterhouse
Folkestone, UK

March 2024 sees the release of Sam Lee’s fourth studio album, ‘Songdreaming’, the follow up to 2020’s ‘Old Wow’, an album variously described as ‘A dazzling fusion of nature and song’ (The Observer) and a ‘sublime album that demands to be heard in the 21st century’ (The Daily Telegraph) amidst a host of critical acclaim.

‘Songdreaming’ represents the latest stage in the development of Sam Lee’s music, from its roots in traditional folk song to a new way of imagining and performing these old songs, making them relevant for a modern audience.

The album sees Sam continue his work with producer Bernard Butler and long term collaborator, arranger and composer James Keay in creating an album rich in musicality and invention, building on the backbone of double bass, percussion and violin with a world of instrumentation including the Arabic Qanoon, Swedish Nyckelharpa and more. In doing so, Sam delivers an album that ranges from more immediately identifiable acoustic songs to drone soundscapes to the electric guitar and gospel choir propelled lead single, ‘Meeting Is A Pleasant Place’ which features the recording debut of Trans Voices, a London based transgender choir.

With a lyrical focus on the perilous state of the natural world that has informed Sam’s work since his debut, ‘Songdreaming’ represents the most expansive and fully realised Sam Lee album to date, capable of switching from the beautiful balladry of ‘Sweet Girl McRee’ to the gospel tinges of ‘Leaves Of Life’ and the whiteout noise close of album opener ‘Bushes and Briars’. It is a full expression of Sam Lee as an artist and of his relationship to his muse, the natural world. As he notes:

'I wanted to sing a vision of what a conversation between us and the land could be, to restore and inspire a practice of songful immersion in nature that brings with it healing, something we need now more than ever'


Venue:

Quarterhouse
CT201JT
UK

Date:

4th Apr 2024

Time:

7:00 pm

Concerts: Band

songdreaming Tour: St Mary’s Church, Totnes

St Mary's Church
Totnes, UK

March 2024 sees the release of Sam Lee’s fourth studio album, ‘Songdreaming’, the follow up to 2020’s ‘Old Wow’, an album variously described as ‘A dazzling fusion of nature and song’ (The Observer) and a ‘sublime album that demands to be heard in the 21st century’ (The Daily Telegraph) amidst a host of critical acclaim.

‘Songdreaming’ represents the latest stage in the development of Sam Lee’s music, from its roots in traditional folk song to a new way of imagining and performing these old songs, making them relevant for a modern audience.

The album sees Sam continue his work with producer Bernard Butler and long term collaborator, arranger and composer James Keay in creating an album rich in musicality and invention, building on the backbone of double bass, percussion and violin with a world of instrumentation including the Arabic Qanoon, Swedish Nyckelharpa and more. In doing so, Sam delivers an album that ranges from more immediately identifiable acoustic songs to drone soundscapes to the electric guitar and gospel choir propelled lead single, ‘Meeting Is A Pleasant Place’ which features the recording debut of Trans Voices, a London based transgender choir.

With a lyrical focus on the perilous state of the natural world that has informed Sam’s work since his debut, ‘Songdreaming’ represents the most expansive and fully realised Sam Lee album to date, capable of switching from the beautiful balladry of ‘Sweet Girl McRee’ to the gospel tinges of ‘Leaves Of Life’ and the whiteout noise close of album opener ‘Bushes and Briars’. It is a full expression of Sam Lee as an artist and of his relationship to his muse, the natural world. As he notes:

'I wanted to sing a vision of what a conversation between us and the land could be, to restore and inspire a practice of songful immersion in nature that brings with it healing, something we need now more than ever'


Venue:

St Mary's Church
9 High St
TQ9 5NN
UK

Date:

5th Apr 2024

Time:

8:00 pm

Concerts: Band

songdreaming Tour: The Gate, Cardiff

The Gate
Cardiff, UK

March 2024 sees the release of Sam Lee’s fourth studio album, ‘Songdreaming’, the follow up to 2020’s ‘Old Wow’, an album variously described as ‘A dazzling fusion of nature and song’ (The Observer) and a ‘sublime album that demands to be heard in the 21st century’ (The Daily Telegraph) amidst a host of critical acclaim.

‘Songdreaming’ represents the latest stage in the development of Sam Lee’s music, from its roots in traditional folk song to a new way of imagining and performing these old songs, making them relevant for a modern audience.

The album sees Sam continue his work with producer Bernard Butler and long term collaborator, arranger and composer James Keay in creating an album rich in musicality and invention, building on the backbone of double bass, percussion and violin with a world of instrumentation including the Arabic Qanoon, Swedish Nyckelharpa and more. In doing so, Sam delivers an album that ranges from more immediately identifiable acoustic songs to drone soundscapes to the electric guitar and gospel choir propelled lead single, ‘Meeting Is A Pleasant Place’ which features the recording debut of Trans Voices, a London based transgender choir.

With a lyrical focus on the perilous state of the natural world that has informed Sam’s work since his debut, ‘Songdreaming’ represents the most expansive and fully realised Sam Lee album to date, capable of switching from the beautiful balladry of ‘Sweet Girl McRee’ to the gospel tinges of ‘Leaves Of Life’ and the whiteout noise close of album opener ‘Bushes and Briars’. It is a full expression of Sam Lee as an artist and of his relationship to his muse, the natural world. As he notes:

'I wanted to sing a vision of what a conversation between us and the land could be, to restore and inspire a practice of songful immersion in nature that brings with it healing, something we need now more than ever'


Venue:

The Gate
Keppoch St
CF24 3JW

UK

Date:

6th Apr 2024

Time:

7:00 pm

Concerts: Band

songdreaming Tour: Turner Sims, Southampton

Turner Sims
Southampton, UK

March 2024 sees the release of Sam Lee’s fourth studio album, ‘Songdreaming’, the follow up to 2020’s ‘Old Wow’, an album variously described as ‘A dazzling fusion of nature and song’ (The Observer) and a ‘sublime album that demands to be heard in the 21st century’ (The Daily Telegraph) amidst a host of critical acclaim.

‘Songdreaming’ represents the latest stage in the development of Sam Lee’s music, from its roots in traditional folk song to a new way of imagining and performing these old songs, making them relevant for a modern audience.

The album sees Sam continue his work with producer Bernard Butler and long term collaborator, arranger and composer James Keay in creating an album rich in musicality and invention, building on the backbone of double bass, percussion and violin with a world of instrumentation including the Arabic Qanoon, Swedish Nyckelharpa and more. In doing so, Sam delivers an album that ranges from more immediately identifiable acoustic songs to drone soundscapes to the electric guitar and gospel choir propelled lead single, ‘Meeting Is A Pleasant Place’ which features the recording debut of Trans Voices, a London based transgender choir.

With a lyrical focus on the perilous state of the natural world that has informed Sam’s work since his debut, ‘Songdreaming’ represents the most expansive and fully realised Sam Lee album to date, capable of switching from the beautiful balladry of ‘Sweet Girl McRee’ to the gospel tinges of ‘Leaves Of Life’ and the whiteout noise close of album opener ‘Bushes and Briars’. It is a full expression of Sam Lee as an artist and of his relationship to his muse, the natural world. As he notes:

'I wanted to sing a vision of what a conversation between us and the land could be, to restore and inspire a practice of songful immersion in nature that brings with it healing, something we need now more than ever'


Venue:

Turner Sims
Building 52 Salisbury Rd
Southampton SO17 1B
UK

Date:

7th Apr 2024

Time:

8:00 pm

Singing with...

Singing With Nightingales Sussex & Glouc. April 11 – May 27th

Sussex & Gloucestershire
Lewes & Gloucter, United Kingdom

https://www.singingwithnightingales.co.uk

Each springtime, several thousand Nightingales make the long migration from Sub-Saharan Africa to reside in southern England. It is during this all-night virtuosic mating ritual, celebrated for millennia within prose, poetry, folksong and myth, that folksinger, naturalist and writer Sam Lee welcomes you to experience their sublime and much-decorated song and witness their ability to improvise with human musicians.

Singing with Nightingales is a one-of-a-kind experience. An act of immersive theatre and ritual, both otherworldly and yet something we might collectively have done since the dawn of humans. This communion with the more than human world reminds us that we are nature and nature is in us all.

WHAT’S INCLUDED
Each SWN night is unique and the end time can extend later. Guests can book overnight camping at our Sussex site by either bringing their own tents or hiring one of our luxury Bell Tents. Your ticket includes an early evening ecological and birdsong tour of the woods, a two-course vegan dinner and hot and cold drinks (including wine/beer/cider) around the campfire, post-dinner tales, songs and folklore, silent walk into the woods after dark without torches to hear our signature human-avian musical collaboration.

5:30 pm - Campers allowed onsite

6:45 pm - All guests check-in

7:00 pm -SWN fireside opens & welcome with drinks

7:30 pm -Introduction and briefing

7:45 pm - Evening chorus and nature walk

8:20 pm - Dinner and drinks served

9:15 pm - Fireside songs and stories

10:45 pm - Nightingale walk begins

00:30 pm - Return to cars and camping

You can find a more detailed scheduled
https://www.singingwithnightingales.co.uk/on-the-night


Venue:

Sussex & Gloucestershire
Secret Location - Barcombe, Lewes, Sussex
&
RSPB Highnam Woods, Gloucestershire
United Kingdom

Date:

11th Apr 2024

Time:

7:00 pm - 12:30 am

Concerts: Band

songdreaming Tour: Round Chapel, London

Round Chapel
London, UK

March 2024 sees the release of Sam Lee’s fourth studio album, ‘Songdreaming’, the follow up to 2020’s ‘Old Wow’, an album variously described as ‘A dazzling fusion of nature and song’ (The Observer) and a ‘sublime album that demands to be heard in the 21st century’ (The Daily Telegraph) amidst a host of critical acclaim.

‘Songdreaming’ represents the latest stage in the development of Sam Lee’s music, from its roots in traditional folk song to a new way of imagining and performing these old songs, making them relevant for a modern audience.

The album sees Sam continue his work with producer Bernard Butler and long term collaborator, arranger and composer James Keay in creating an album rich in musicality and invention, building on the backbone of double bass, percussion and violin with a world of instrumentation including the Arabic Qanoon, Swedish Nyckelharpa and more. In doing so, Sam delivers an album that ranges from more immediately identifiable acoustic songs to drone soundscapes to the electric guitar and gospel choir propelled lead single, ‘Meeting Is A Pleasant Place’ which features the recording debut of Trans Voices, a London based transgender choir.

With a lyrical focus on the perilous state of the natural world that has informed Sam’s work since his debut, ‘Songdreaming’ represents the most expansive and fully realised Sam Lee album to date, capable of switching from the beautiful balladry of ‘Sweet Girl McRee’ to the gospel tinges of ‘Leaves Of Life’ and the whiteout noise close of album opener ‘Bushes and Briars’. It is a full expression of Sam Lee as an artist and of his relationship to his muse, the natural world. As he notes:

'I wanted to sing a vision of what a conversation between us and the land could be, to restore and inspire a practice of songful immersion in nature that brings with it healing, something we need now more than ever'


Venue:

Round Chapel
1D Glenarm Rd
Lower Clapton
E5 0LY
UK

Date:

13th Jun 2024

Time:

7:00 pm

Appearances

Songdreaming Retreat in Dartmoor 7-11th July with Chris Salisbury & Denise Rowe

The banks of the River Dart
Dartmoor National Park, Devon

Full info https://wildwise.co.uk/songdreaming/

As long as there have been people on this land there has been song, and as long as we dwell upon this land a timeless, uniquely human melody will sound from the confluence of culture and contour.

But what is that sound? From where did those lines of song and story emerge? In what language, to what tune, under what belief and through what gesture? What if there was an ancient indigenous Albion ‘dreamtime’ and what hope have we now in reclaiming any fragments of those tune-trails? Why should we even bother?

In old Ireland they say that we get ‘wise by asking questions’. So to access and activate ‘what lies beneath’, which might be our own deeper wisdom, a trail humming with questions may be just the place to start.

Questions such as these:

If below our feet there may be the footprints of the past, tracks sown by song and the passage of our ancestors, how do we, through recollection, reverie and recitation, invoke and map them and turn them into treasure for our times?
Have we the knowing, imagination and the trust in these invisible pathways to tune into those ancient frequencies?
What impact would divining them have upon our navigation of our collective and individual journeys through today’s shifting landscapes?
Impossible questions demand implausible action and this invitation is to step beyond the rational, evidential and quantifiable into a place of soft meditation with our homeland and forge new paths into the earth and into ourselves.

Chris Salisbury and Sam Lee met one another while both in pursuit of old Devon folk song. Their winding paths even unexpectedly converged in the Kalahari desert last year where they were humbled by some of the oldest (human) songs on planet Earth, sung by the indigenous Ju/‘Hoansi San Bushman people.

Their fascination in these timeless gems passed down through the Oral Tradition came from a similar dedication to nature connection practice and a curiosity in how our ancestors expressed their love of the land through song and story. Over the years these questions have tickled at both their chins of how folk songs and composed, even improvised songs, devotional in their appreciation of our natural world, can work to connect us deeper into the land and our senses. Likewise if nature connection skills and practices can be enhanced through songful expression and open up new patterns in our awareness and help orientate our inner compass.

This 5 days of playful, embodied experimentation and enquiry will afford us the sacred space to recalibrate how we engage with the land and converse with our brother/sister nations of plants, trees and beings. Going beyond mere naming and species identification we will surf the wood-wide-web, ‘truffle hunting’ for ‘songlines’ that may still pulse below us in the organic and cultural substrate of Dartmoor National Park.

You don’t need to be a ‘singer’, but we welcome those with big ears and big hearts for the deep listening and feeling engendered in our interactions with the land. If you have an artistic practice that’s a bonus, but if you harbour aspirations to write, sing, dance or just deepen your intimacy with the natural world, then you will be greeted with joy, by us and all the ‘Others’ who are hungry to hear your true name….

We will be camping in a beautiful private woodland site on Dartmoor. See Essential Information section below for more details.

Well, wow! Wow and thanks is my general message from that wonderful Wildwise week. It was literally the experience I’ve been dreaming of for years. Did not want to return from The Enchanted Wood. So a HUGE thanks both to you and Sam, as well as to those Wise Woods of Wonder.
ROSANNA LOWE
June 2021


Venue:

The banks of the River Dart
TBC
Devon

Date:

7th Jul 2024

Time:

5:00 pm - 4:00 pm