TQ writer Jude Rogers has set up a new night of music and literature called Bright Field in Hay-On-Wye on the Welsh/English borders, where she now lives – a place she calls "a brilliantly fertile place for all kinds of fantastic strange music".
The night takes its name from the R.S Thomas poem about a moment in nature he briefly saw, and knew he needed to seize. The night is also dedicated to the memory of friend of tQ, Pat Long, who died in 2018, whose exploratory music nights Jude enjoyed in London in her 20s. She hopes to fuel that spirit in her new "quarterly night of music and spoken word celebrating the start of each season, from the borders and beyond".
For the first Autumn edition on Friday 27 September, The Bright Field Organisation presents:
A homecoming gig for Sam Lee of Craswall, Herefordshire ("Britain’s most inventive folk singer" according to Songlines magazine; Mercury Prize nominee; musician on RSPB’s top 20 single ‘Let Nature Sing’; who has a new album coming early next year, produced by Bernard Butler).
Also featured is Emma Daman of Newchurch, Powys from Welsh psychedelic experimentalists, Islet and Richard King of Erwood, Powys whose recent book on Faber, The Lark Ascending, explores landscape and music after Vaughan Williams in the 20th Century.
Plus psych/folk/kraut music from Jude’s new favourite DJs Sproatly Smith and Jus’ Jay from Hereford’s Weirdshire collective. (You can enjoy a July mix from Sproatly here.) There will also be more seasonal wonders on the night.
The gig will be held at the globe, a gorgeous old 200-capacity converted church in Hay-on-Wye. Tickets are on sale now for £15. Bright Field is also kindly supported by Night Out / Arts Council of Wales, and artwork is by Welsh artist Catrin Saran James.
Follow Bright Field on Instagram too for seasonal murmurations.
