Seventeen years ago, husband-and-wife team Alan and Sandra Surtees decided to put their love of folk music to good use and create ‘the sort of festival that we would want to go to ourselves’. In fact, it was music which had brought the couple together in the first place. Alan and Sandra met at Bromyard Festival some twenty-odd years ago - and, as Alan pointed out, it was ‘love at first hear’.
Starting life in Bridgnorth in 1997, Alan and Sandra’s folk music event moved to Shrewsbury’s Quarry Park nine years later and became the Shrewsbury Folk Festival. The move saw an immediate increase in its attendance by an impressive sixty percent. The following year saw the festival move again, this time to its current home at the West Mid Showground. What’s On recently met up with Festival Director Alan over a cup of coffee to discuss the festival’s past, present and future...
To what do you attribute the festival’s continued success, Alan?
I think it’s the diversity. I’ve had a lot of stick from the ‘old school’ who say ‘It’s not folk music’ or ‘It’s all got too big’. I think people want to ‘discover’ at festivals. They want to say to their mates, ‘Did you see the Carolina Chocolate Drops? Weren’t they bloody brilliant!’ It’s almost one-upmanship. Recently, a bloke in a pub near to where I live came up to me and said, “You’re Alan Surtees, aren’t you? I bring all my mates who hate folk music to your festival and they go home loving it’. That’s what I want to do to people. I’m like a folk evangelist!
Personal artistic preferences will always play a part in programming a festival, but how easy or difficult is it to strike a balance between those personal preferences and ensuring the event has commercial appeal?
It’s not difficult because very often the two meet. Commercial appeal appeals to me, so that comes together. The great thing about a festival when you’ve got four days is that you can present all the traditional artists who’re in demand, you can put new and quirky things in, and you can still bring in bands like Bellowhead and Show Of Hands who draw big crowds. I don’t feel I’ve ever compromised the word ‘folk’. I may have put a rock’n’roll band on, but as far as I’m concerned rock’n’roll is folk music. It’s more about quality than genre. We had Molotov Jukebox on last year. Nothing to do with folk - there were some acoustics there - but they’re punchy and we knew they’d get the party started. We try to build up to a crescendo each night, where it gets more vibrant and probably a little bit louder.
The end of Bellowhead leaves a big gap in the festival market. Is there an upcoming band you’d like to champion who you think might fill that void?
I want to see Jon Boden and Sam Sweeney bring something together. I can understand a thirteen-piece band is going to be hard to keep together. They’re working on several things. Jon always has so many irons in the fire. Sam’s a pal, so we keep in touch. Things will evolve, I’m sure. Lots of things will come to the fore. Looking ahead, I’d like to get more involved in world music, and we are this year. We’re bringing artists over from India, Canada and Africa, so it really will be a multi-national affair.
Which artist are you most looking forward to catching at this year’s festival?
Dawes from Los Angeles. They’ve got that lovely Laurel Canyon sound. Great music, very thoughtful words and they suit me down to the ground. I’m also looking forward to the Folk Slam on the Monday afternoon. It’s a pet project of mine and I’ve actually persuaded Richard Thompson to stay over and play in it as well. We’ll have all of these wonderful artists getting together to rehearse side two of Abbey Road. It’s going to be great.
Purely personal choice - which artists would you choose to headline a Friday, Saturday and Sunday night?
I’d bring Blackie And The Rodeo Kings back. Then there’s a marvellous band called Tedeschi Trucks from America. They’re a husband-and-wife team. They’ve got a horn section, two drummers and are absolutely fabulous. I also want to get Daryl Scott, another American, but I’d like to get him with Tim O’Brien. Together they’re just magic.
You’re feeding your hunger for American music there then, Alan...
Yeah, I’m thinking of doing an American Day for 2016, to get it out of my system. I was looking at a fantastic player yesterday, Texas Martha And The House Of Twang. They’re great.
Where does your research for these artists take you?
We go to Folk Alliance in the States every other year, and we went to the East Coast Music Awards last year. That’s where we met The Barra MacNeils and Ten Strings And A Goat Skin, who’re coming this year. I’ve seen La Bottine Souriante quite a few times and they’re just terrific. Sometimes we book them there and other times we just give them our card.
Who have you persistently tried to get to the festival without succeeding?
There are a few. Not many at the moment. There are a number of American acts that I’d like to get. We’re working on it. There are three hundred folk festivals in the UK and, apart from Cambridge, I think we’re the only folk festival that spends money flying people over from America. You double up your costs if you fly someone like Blackie... over. They were a nightmare. They all came from different airports.
Were they your most expensive booking?
No. Probably Afro Celts, and for several reasons. The fee is high, and then you have to bring in a new sound desk for them. They want their own side of stage monitors. They want side fills, which gives them a feel for the auditorium. If you have a band like that, everything gets expensive.
How about the logistics of programming?
You can’t imagine how complicated the programming is, especially when I cock things up. We’ve got Gordie McKeeman and his Rhythm Boys coming this year. They’re a Canadian bluegrass group. He’s an East Coast Canadian who dances. He’s like this man with rubber legs and he’s absolutely brilliant. Anyway, I booked him in on the Saturday and he’s in Belgium Saturday. So I had to swap him into Sunday and persuade Callan to come on Monday. So the logistics can be a nightmare.
Apart from Shrewsbury Folk, what’s your favourite festival?
Warwick - but that’s because I meet all my friends there. I try to get to as many other festivals as possible. You learn something from every festival and they learn from us. That’s how we all work.
Away from the music, what’s your favourite aspect of the festival?
I think the parade has really got me over the years. The biggest buzz I get out of it is watching people watching what we put on.
Have you ever been starstruck?
Yes. Richard Thompson. I can’t talk to him because, to me, he’s God. I’ll make sure I chat to him this year, though.
Do you play an instrument?
Not very well. I would say yes, my wife would say no. I play a little bit of melodeon and a bit of guitar. I know the rudiments but I’m not very good. I wouldn’t dare play in public. It’s playing-in-my-bedroom stuff. I sing a bit of choral and I’m not too bad. Even John Jones turned round to me when I was on stage with him and said, “You’ve got a pretty good voice, Surtees”.
If you’d had the talent, would you have liked to be a musician?
Oh my God, yeah. I was talking to another promoter a couple of weeks ago who said, “You know why we do this, don’t you? It’s because we want to be them”. And that’s exactly right. I want to be that star on stage, but I haven’t got the talent to do it.
What’s the biggest mistake you’ve ever made?
We had no communication radios the first year, so we had to run everywhere. Sandra lost half a stone in a weekend. We were dashing everywhere, but I learned a good lesson. When people run up to you and say, ‘We’ve got a problem’, take your time getting there because by the time you do, someone else will have sorted it. I still do that - and then if they don’t sort it, I will. There’s a fortnight of problem-solving leading up to the festival. I’m there a week before for the build-up and it’s great fun. You’ve got loads of stewards on site and we have sessions in the bar. They’re all your mates because they’ve been working with you for years. I think the comradeship of the build-up washes into the festival. We’ve got lots of lovely, smiley stewards because they enjoy being there with us.
How do you schedule your own weekend at the festival so that you see the groups you really want to see?
I just get thrown hither and dither. The card that we put in the programme - we invented that for me, so that I’ve got a little time-frame to work to.
Finally, what’s your long-term vision for the festival?
Not to grow it an awful lot because I think we’re maxed out on the showground site. But I’ll continue doing it until I drop. While I’m still loving it, I’ll carry on doing it. My mission is to make the festival as good as I can make it.
Seventeen years ago, husband-and-wife team Alan and Sandra Surtees decided to put their love of folk music to good use and create ‘the sort of festival that we would want to go to ourselves’. In fact, it was music which had brought the couple together in the first place. Alan and Sandra met at Bromyard Festival some twenty-odd years ago - and, as Alan pointed out, it was ‘love at first hear’.
Starting life in Bridgnorth in 1997, Alan and Sandra’s folk music event moved to Shrewsbury’s Quarry Park nine years later and became the Shrewsbury Folk Festival. The move saw an immediate increase in its attendance by an impressive sixty percent. The following year saw the festival move again, this time to its current home at the West Mid Showground. What’s On recently met up with Festival Director Alan over a cup of coffee to discuss the festival’s past, present and future...
To what do you attribute the festival’s continued success, Alan?
I think it’s the diversity. I’ve had a lot of stick from the ‘old school’ who say ‘It’s not folk music’ or ‘It’s all got too big’. I think people want to ‘discover’ at festivals. They want to say to their mates, ‘Did you see the Carolina Chocolate Drops? Weren’t they bloody brilliant!’ It’s almost one-upmanship. Recently, a bloke in a pub near to where I live came up to me and said, “You’re Alan Surtees, aren’t you? I bring all my mates who hate folk music to your festival and they go home loving it’. That’s what I want to do to people. I’m like a folk evangelist!
Personal artistic preferences will always play a part in programming a festival, but how easy or difficult is it to strike a balance between those personal preferences and ensuring the event has commercial appeal?
It’s not difficult because very often the two meet. Commercial appeal appeals to me, so that comes together. The great thing about a festival when you’ve got four days is that you can present all the traditional artists who’re in demand, you can put new and quirky things in, and you can still bring in bands like Bellowhead and Show Of Hands who draw big crowds. I don’t feel I’ve ever compromised the word ‘folk’. I may have put a rock’n’roll band on, but as far as I’m concerned rock’n’roll is folk music. It’s more about quality than genre. We had Molotov Jukebox on last year. Nothing to do with folk - there were some acoustics there - but they’re punchy and we knew they’d get the party started. We try to build up to a crescendo each night, where it gets more vibrant and probably a little bit louder.
The end of Bellowhead leaves a big gap in the festival market. Is there an upcoming band you’d like to champion who you think might fill that void?
I want to see Jon Boden and Sam Sweeney bring something together. I can understand a thirteen-piece band is going to be hard to keep together. They’re working on several things. Jon always has so many irons in the fire. Sam’s a pal, so we keep in touch. Things will evolve, I’m sure. Lots of things will come to the fore. Looking ahead, I’d like to get more involved in world music, and we are this year. We’re bringing artists over from India, Canada and Africa, so it really will be a multi-national affair.
Which artist are you most looking forward to catching at this year’s festival?
Dawes from Los Angeles. They’ve got that lovely Laurel Canyon sound. Great music, very thoughtful words and they suit me down to the ground. I’m also looking forward to the Folk Slam on the Monday afternoon. It’s a pet project of mine and I’ve actually persuaded Richard Thompson to stay over and play in it as well. We’ll have all of these wonderful artists getting together to rehearse side two of Abbey Road. It’s going to be great.
Purely personal choice - which artists would you choose to headline a Friday, Saturday and Sunday night?
I’d bring Blackie And The Rodeo Kings back. Then there’s a marvellous band called Tedeschi Trucks from America. They’re a husband-and-wife team. They’ve got a horn section, two drummers and are absolutely fabulous. I also want to get Daryl Scott, another American, but I’d like to get him with Tim O’Brien. Together they’re just magic.
You’re feeding your hunger for American music there then, Alan...
Yeah, I’m thinking of doing an American Day for 2016, to get it out of my system. I was looking at a fantastic player yesterday, Texas Martha And The House Of Twang. They’re great.
Where does your research for these artists take you?
We go to Folk Alliance in the States every other year, and we went to the East Coast Music Awards last year. That’s where we met The Barra MacNeils and Ten Strings And A Goat Skin, who’re coming this year. I’ve seen La Bottine Souriante quite a few times and they’re just terrific. Sometimes we book them there and other times we just give them our card.
Who have you persistently tried to get to the festival without succeeding?
There are a few. Not many at the moment. There are a number of American acts that I’d like to get. We’re working on it. There are three hundred folk festivals in the UK and, apart from Cambridge, I think we’re the only folk festival that spends money flying people over from America. You double up your costs if you fly someone like Blackie... over. They were a nightmare. They all came from different airports.
Were they your most expensive booking?
No. Probably Afro Celts, and for several reasons. The fee is high, and then you have to bring in a new sound desk for them. They want their own side of stage monitors. They want side fills, which gives them a feel for the auditorium. If you have a band like that, everything gets expensive.
How about the logistics of programming?
You can’t imagine how complicated the programming is, especially when I cock things up. We’ve got Gordie McKeeman and his Rhythm Boys coming this year. They’re a Canadian bluegrass group. He’s an East Coast Canadian who dances. He’s like this man with rubber legs and he’s absolutely brilliant. Anyway, I booked him in on the Saturday and he’s in Belgium Saturday. So I had to swap him into Sunday and persuade Callan to come on Monday. So the logistics can be a nightmare.
Apart from Shrewsbury Folk, what’s your favourite festival?
Warwick - but that’s because I meet all my friends there. I try to get to as many other festivals as possible. You learn something from every festival and they learn from us. That’s how we all work.
Away from the music, what’s your favourite aspect of the festival?
I think the parade has really got me over the years. The biggest buzz I get out of it is watching people watching what we put on.
Have you ever been starstruck?
Yes. Richard Thompson. I can’t talk to him because, to me, he’s God. I’ll make sure I chat to him this year, though.
Do you play an instrument?
Not very well. I would say yes, my wife would say no. I play a little bit of melodeon and a bit of guitar. I know the rudiments but I’m not very good. I wouldn’t dare play in public. It’s playing-in-my-bedroom stuff. I sing a bit of choral and I’m not too bad. Even John Jones turned round to me when I was on stage with him and said, “You’ve got a pretty good voice, Surtees”.
If you’d had the talent, would you have liked to be a musician?
Oh my God, yeah. I was talking to another promoter a couple of weeks ago who said, “You know why we do this, don’t you? It’s because we want to be them”. And that’s exactly right. I want to be that star on stage, but I haven’t got the talent to do it.
What’s the biggest mistake you’ve ever made?
We had no communication radios the first year, so we had to run everywhere. Sandra lost half a stone in a weekend. We were dashing everywhere, but I learned a good lesson. When people run up to you and say, ‘We’ve got a problem’, take your time getting there because by the time you do, someone else will have sorted it. I still do that - and then if they don’t sort it, I will. There’s a fortnight of problem-solving leading up to the festival. I’m there a week before for the build-up and it’s great fun. You’ve got loads of stewards on site and we have sessions in the bar. They’re all your mates because they’ve been working with you for years. I think the comradeship of the build-up washes into the festival. We’ve got lots of lovely, smiley stewards because they enjoy being there with us.
How do you schedule your own weekend at the festival so that you see the groups you really want to see?
I just get thrown hither and dither. The card that we put in the programme - we invented that for me, so that I’ve got a little time-frame to work to.
Finally, what’s your long-term vision for the festival?
Not to grow it an awful lot because I think we’re maxed out on the showground site. But I’ll continue doing it until I drop. While I’m still loving it, I’ll carry on doing it. My mission is to make the festival as good as I can make it.
Shrewsbury Folk Festival takes place at the West Mid Showground from Fri 28 to Mon 31 August