Thursday 5th November 2015
Tickets £14 (£16 on the day)
Doors open at 7pm – 7.30pm start
Kettering Arts Centre is pleased to announce the addition of an extra event this Autumn.
The name Peter Knight will be familiar with lovers of folk music and on Thursday, 5th November his trio Gigspanner will be performing a full set at Kettering Arts Centre.
The world is fond of labelling everything, putting everything into neat little boxes, but the music of Gigspanner has yet to be categorised. It is not folk, it is not rock, it is not pop, classical or whatever other genre you care to think of, the only description available is the one word which the trio themselves have coined – GIGSPANNER.
At the end of 2013 the classically trained fiddle player Peter Knight, left the pioneering folk-rock band, Steeleye Span, after being with them for almost 42 years. He had been literally instrumental in helping to create the sound that distinctly set the band apart from any other.
In recent years, whilst still in the band, he started a new project and together with Roger Flack (guitar) and Vincent Salfass (congas, djembe) formed Gigspanner, and with them, a new musical concept. While Peter’s founding in traditional British music is still fundamentally at the core 
the new format allows him to explore different avenues. The trio incorporate elements of Cajun, African, Aboriginal and Eastern European music into the tunes which led the late author, Terry Pratchett, to write: “Peter Knight can spin the world on his bow” and Folkcast writer Phil Widdows commented that audiences are transported on a “blistering pace of a musical world tour”. The debut album released November 2008, called Lipreading The Poet, was named by The Wire magazine as one of the best 15 ‘Global’ Albums of 2009.
The music IS different, these three professionals create a feast of sound to engage your aural senses – indeed, Remember, remember for this 5th of November it will be fireworks for the ears – a gig not to be missed. As Simon Rowan ((Folk in the Barn, Canterbury) aptly said: “Great, innovative music, encompassing a variety of influences drawn from an invaluable career. Don’t let it be history that tells you how good. Be there.”
If you would like to read our exclusive interview with Peter Knight by Pete Austin please click here.
Reviews:
“Magnificent…a feast of imaginative music” The Telegraph
Since his departure from folk-rock pioneers Steeleye Span at the end of 2013, legendary fiddle player Peter Knight has turned his full attention to his trio Gigspanner, and in the process has firmly established their burgeoning reputation as one of the most innovative acts on the folk/roots scene.
Justifiably met with significant critical acclaim, Gigspanner’s riveting new album ‘Layers of Ages’ sees the band blowing the dust from a collection of well-worn traditional music and song to reveal authentic moments of staggering originality and great beauty, and has been added to the Telegraph’s ‘Best Folk Albums of 2015’ list.
Hailed by Songlines magazine as “another milestone in folk’s rebirth of cool”, Gigspanner present a carefully curated and skilfully narrated program of material that goes way beyond the folk genres usual boundaries. Modern in interpretation yet classical in its virtuosity, it is music that continues to inspire audiences of all leanings, bringing them back for more.
Peter is joined by Roger Flack on Guitar and Vincent Salzfaas on Percussion.
“With his trio, Peter Knight breaks new ground and is second to absolutely nobody…ground-breaking, engaging, frequently astonishing, Gigspanner deliver a quite simply superb set”
Maverick Magazine
“Gigspanner has taken traditional tunes as a starting point and rearranged, orchestrated and improvised around them to create fascinating new works, leaving no doubt that Gigspanner’s increasingly impressive sound is like no other” Folk Radio UK
“Gigspanner work together in musical genius” EFDSS Magazine
“A glorious musical tour de force. Simply exquisite” – Spiral Earth
Tickets for this event are available from Waterstones (From Monday 7th September 2015), High Street, Kettering, by post from Becky at St Andrew’s Church (cheques made payable to “PCC of St Andrew’s Kettering”) to St Andrew’s Vicarage, Lindsay Street, Kettering NN16 8RG
You may also buy or reserve tickets from Jaime Ferreira by email at office@ketteringartscentre.com or online at We Got Tickets (subject to a booking fee).
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