Rochdale Music Service's folk musicians create original song for online event

Young folk musicians from the Rochdale Music Service have had their own original song ‘Brighter Days’ showcased as part of an online event by the Music for Youth festival.

Led by tutor Cliff Woodworth, the folk groups – ‘That's All Folk!’ for high school children, and ‘Little Folk’, for primary school children – wrote the track after meeting remotely to compose a song about their lockdown experiences and hopes for the future.

The initial chords and melody were formed and then built on by the groups – broken down in smaller teams – with lyrics added and ideas shared.

 

Brighter Days from Music for Youth on Vimeo.

 

Both That’s All Folk! and Little Folk usually enter several competitions each year, both regionally and nationally, including the national Music For Youth festival.

This year, because of the pandemic, Music For Youth took the festival online and asked for submissions for the ‘Future is Now’ showcase of the various youth groups that would have entered the usual tournament.

The tournament usually has regional festivals which take place around the country – including in Wardle and at Rochdale Town Hall. From this, the Music For Youth judges pick groups to go forward to the national tournament. Rochdale Music Service has had several entries over the years, with the brass bands and folk groups being particularly successful.

Cliff Woodworth, musical director at Rochdale Music Service, said: “It’s been really important for me to keep the momentum going with the groups so we have been rehearsing online over the lockdown period.

“When the opportunity arose from Music For Youth to take part in the ‘Future is Now’ project, I realised that this would be a great opportunity for the children to work together to create a song related to the current times. They worked in teams and completed the song in just three-four weeks.

“The song was entirely written by the group and I am extremely proud of what they have achieved.”

Brighter Days even received airtime when it was played on Emma Sweeney’s weekly radio show for BBC Radio Lancashire before Christmas, where she also interviewed Orladh Dunne, 15, one of the singers and violinists on the track, who also features in a second showcase video alongside her musical partner, Leo Howard-Cofield, 15.

The award-winning duo, who play acoustic folk, country and Americana, submitted a socially distanced version of ‘Crossing Muddy Waters’ by John Hiatt, one of the earliest songs they played together and a favourite performed live.

Leo even featured in a third video showcased, collaborating for the first time with another member of the Rochdale Music Service, Sam Ewens, for a remote version of Pixies’ ‘Here Comes Your Man’.