July Tour in Britain 2018

Summer Tour in Britain! Plus notes on my newsletter privacy!

Jeni Hankins: Born-the-bone twang Summer Tour in Britain starts this weekend!   First, let me say THANK YOU to all of my hosts, friends, and fans who made my tour in the USA completely wonderful. I came away with so much inspiration for new songs about my home state and the SOUTH which was my secret hope when I flew across the ocean. Let's see what happens!  My summer tour in Britain starts on Saturday with a concert in Crystal Palace (London) and ends with a concert in Carnforth at the end of July. All of the dates are listed on the flyer above and you can find all of the details on my website. This year, I am playing far fewer dates than usual because I have lots of other projects going and I am trying to strike a balance between performing, which I love so much, and the new work I am creating. So, if I'm not coming to your area this time around, how about a mini-break to Liverpool or the Yorkshre Moors? OR we could plan something for late fall or next year? You can always write to me and we can dream up a concert together! jeniannhankins@gmail.com When I was visiting Mawmaw on Smith Ridge, I went to see our old family cabin – a pilgrimmage that I have made for many years now. You can see the cabin it in its heyday in the photo at the top of this letter. The man in the photo, John Rufus Smith, built it. He was my great great grandfather, killed in cold blood in the line of duty as Justice of the Peace at the age of 60. He's the fella I sing about in the song "Aunt Erma" on Heart of the Mountain, which you can order directly from me by email, if you'd like. I have been looking after the cabin in my own quiet way over the last five or six years and was shocked to find that, since last November, vandals had cut five large timbers out of a wall of the cabin. After getting my wits about me, talking to the sheriff's office, and the fella who checks the gas well near the cabin, I went and spoke to the gas company about my concerns. And you know what? They were kind, helpful, efficient, and started an inquiry into the vandalism since their well is near the cabin.  I'm not saying that I support hydro-fracking, so hang on there in case you are getting any ideas. Anyhow, the Englishman and I spent a big long and beautiful day working on the cabin and shoring up the damage as best we could. Mawmaw's trusty dog, Rusty, was a big help. Joe, from the gas company, said something to me when we were talking about the cabin. He said, "We build roads into places here that have been forgotten about for a long time, maybe fifty, sixty, even a hundred years. Things that were hidden are exposed and then they become vulnerable. It's our job to protect them as best we can." I think there's a song in there. I also went to our family reunion which was rained out and a bit of a comedy, but I met some relatives I'd never met before including Aunt Ada who was completely glamorous and told me a story about having only two outfits during her last year of high school – two skirts and two short-sleeved sweaters. So, she and my Aunt Princess and Aunt Katherine and their friend Ellen from down the ridge all traded clothes around to look like they each had more outfits than they did. I've been working on a song about that! Here I am with glamorous Aunt Ada! For a long time I've heard about the legendary sewing skills of my Aunt Fanny who also kept a general store, but I actually got to meet her daughter Geneva, who told me about regularly pointing to a skirt in a catalog before school and asking her mother to hurry up and make it before the school bus arrived. She would put the skirt on right there at the sewing machine and run out the door to catch the bus. These are the kinds of things I love to hear about and I hope I will be equal to writing songs about them. Below, I have written about how this email list works because it's privacy awareness time in the cyberworld, so give that a look, if you don't mind. But, always, if you don't want to get my emails anymore, just "Unsubscribe" at the bottom. I look forward to seeing you or hearing from you. If you're on Facebook (I know, Cambridge Analytica, oy, but I have chosen to remain -ha- since it's the only way I can reach some friends), Instagram (owned by Facebook, you know, oy again), or Twitter, then you can find me there, too. Or occasionally, I will post on my blog, but am a little miffed that the blogspot app seems to have disappeared and am at a loss about how to update it using my phone, therefore it's a bit moribund right now . . . ahh, technology. Back to the autoharp! Hugs! Jeni I started this email list back in 2005. When Billy and I started touring together in 2008, we combined our email lists. You are on this list because you signed up at a Jeni or a Billy or a Jeni & Billy show over the years. Or you put your email in the sign-up box on the home page of the Jeni & Billy or Jeni Hankins website. Or, on rare occasions, you gave me your business card or wrote a note on a piece of paper and asked me to add you to this list. No one has ever been added to this list without their permission. I will never share this list or your contact details with anyone else. And Hostbaby, who host this list on their server, cannot share your information either. This email list is a simple one. If you are subscribed, you will get all of my newsletters. I don't have software for sending newsletters to specific geographic regions, dog-lovers, onion-avoiders, or fans of Strictly Come Dancing. So, if you are in Bora Bora and this email is about a tour in Greenland, you will get it anyway. But when I play in Bora Bora, the Greenlanders will have to hear about the upcoming Bora Bora shows and see the photos of warm sandy beaches and grass-roofed huts while they sit over a fire in their down jackets. I cannot exempt people from getting certain emails, etc. So, you are all in or out. If you get this newsletter at an email address that's old and smells of socks, you can always update your profile using the button at the bottom, and add your new shiny email wearing it's bow-tie or best hat. Thanks for reading and for being interested in what I make! You are receiving this because you (or someone you know) subscribed the email "bkjh1743@gmail.com" to the "Jeni Hankins" mailing list. Not interested anymore? Unsubscribe. For a more pleasant email experience, complete your profile.

Summer Tour in Britain 2018

New Record & September Tour, plus how it's all going . . . !

Finding my new melodeon in Berlin!

Jeni Hankins is an artist to believe in.

– Three Chords and the Truth

I am delighted with this first review of my new solo record from the man behind Three Chords and the Truth. Read more here. 

Now you can buy either an actual CD or a digital download of The Oxygen Girl directly from me, the girl who wrote the songs, here.

All sales of the physical CD come with a digital download of the album and the artwork. So, you can go ahead and listen while you wait for the record to arrive in the mail. 

I’ve just spent a week in Berlin where I saw an exhibit at the Brohan-Museum on Kissing in art. Here I am at the comment board where I left a kiss.

The gorgeous glass and steel addition to the Deutsches Historisches Museum housed a very clever exhibit on press photography. They mounted the photos and text on newsprint which scrolled from giant rolls of paper around steel drums throughout the exhibit space. Dad, Mom, and Grandaddy, the newspaper crew, would have loved the presentation. They also would have agreed that when freedom of the press gets quashed by political agendas no one is safe. So, speak up.

How are things with you all? I still get lovely notes from many of you and also people take me aside at concerts to ask how I’m doing. Thank you all. I truly appreciate your care. As I say in my new song “Hey, Dad,” “I’m trying to make my way. I’ve got friends here who all say, I’m doing alright.” 

I take more pleasure than ever in going over my repertoire in my room, messing around with a fiddle that my friend George let me borrow (thanks George!), trying not to let the melodeon get the better of me (that's the melodeon I found in a flea market in Germany at the top of this newsletter!), sewing things for my shows, and mooching around charity shops and carboot fairs (sort of like a flea market to my USA friends).

Here I am sewing with a little fan at a private festival I played in Norfolk back in July. I sing with this sewing machine in my show which has proved to be incredibly fun! See it here thanks to a fan who captured this performance in Beverley, Yorkshire. P.S. I am playing in Beverley on September 29th, if you missed the first show.

“We had things we wanted to do. Adventures – me and you.” Dad and I had lots of ideas about things we were going to do. We thought about going back into the court files and writing a book about the death of my great great grandfather. We thought about keeping bees again. And we thought about having our own letterpress business. We used to dream together about possibilities and making stuff. 

I am sorting out what of those things I’d like to do on my own, if any, or if there are some other adventures awaiting me. Mainly, right now, I am keeping my antenna up for new songs and stories.

I have been thankful over the last few months for the concerts, the time to share my new songs, and to enjoy your reactions. I’ve also written a few new songs that are popping up at shows, too. And I am looking forward to the concerts coming up this month in the UK, and in October & November in the USA. Most of the details are up on my website and I’ll be filling in more info soon! So, have a look and come along. 

I love what I do and I feel incredibly lucky to make art for my vocation. You all make that possible because you sing with me and you carry me along on your kindness!

THANK YOU. 

LOVE,

Jeni

Twin across the sea

 

You know what's fun? Having a twin in another country. This is my friend Philippa from York. Once I was in the loo when the audience started to stream in for the show and Philippa was minding my little merch shop. Lots of people thought she was me and hugged her as they said how much they were looking forward to hearing her sing again!

Mending

If only we had such magical mending services in the USA, we could employ them to patch our hearts. We will miss our British friends so much. Big Ben sized thanks to you all for making this our best tour yet! Here we go! 

Cupboard Dry

Once again enacting the mysteries of "Cupboard Dry" in Britain, having no idea what it means, but sensing it has the most fairy tale potential for our clothes. 

Ancestors cross the sea

Bringing the songs and stories of Appalachia across the ocean! We arrive in Britain tomorrow! Concerts Friday thru Monday in Filey, Ainderby Steeple, and Barnsley (two shows)!

All details on our website at www.jeniandbilly.com/tour

Dansko had no red Mary Jane shoes this season, so I painted my brown ones. Pictured are my great great grandmother, Sarah Catherine Margaret Nipper Hylton, and my second cousin Charley Smith, or as I call him, Baby Charley, the Lightning Boy. More about them both at our shows! 

Love and hugs to you all!

Iris

I am so happy that we were home for the irises this year. This one smells incredible – like muscadine grapes. But now, it's time for some adventures! MerleFest first and then over the sea we go. Our tour in Britain starts May 13th in Filey!

Britain, 2016 Tour

We are tickled to pieces about spending our seventh summer in Britain! Thank you to all of our friends, fans, and hosts across the sea for welcoming us back. Details of all concerts on our website at www.jeniandbilly/tour

New posters from my scribbles!

So chuffed about these posters that Peter Knipe made with my scribbles! 

Jeni & Billy Concerts hosted by Chris Lee

Filey, The Coffee Shed, 13 May

Beverley, St Mary's Parish Hall, 4 June

Scarborough, Woodend Gallery, 2 July

Short Doc of our Recording Session in Barwick-in-Elmet

File under the category of how great you are, friends! Christine and Ian Butler came to one of our recording sessions near Leeds, looking like Valentines in red sweaters, beamed at us as we sang, and then Ian made this terrific short film about it all. I feel practically like I'm in a Pathe film. Thank you, Ian!

More Toast & Tea, please!

Thrilled to say that we've booked our plane tickets for our 2016 Toast and Tea tour of Britain and we will be giving concerts in England, Wales, AND Scotland this year! 25 shows on the books as of right now and several more in the works! We arrive on May 11th and depart on July 7th! Can't wait to see all of our friends! This time around, we'll be playing MerleFest​ the same weekend as the 2016 Filey Festival where this photo was taken, but there are rumors we will be there for Filey Folk Fest in 2017! Bring on summer!

Solidarity

We send love and strong thoughts to our friends in Britain who have experienced record floods for the last few weeks. So many of the places that have welcomed us including the Lake District, Hebden Bridge, and York are overwhelmed. This photo of York comes from our friend Sarah who lives in York. She lives on a hill, so her home is safe. But so many people are devestated. A small group of volunteers, the Cleveland Mountain Rescue, have been everywhere at once to bring food, clean up in the aftermath, and lend a hand - http://www.clevelandmrt.org.uk They are one of many small groups across the country doing their utmost in a situation that grows more dire every day.

Solidarity and strength to our sisters and brothers of our ancestral island home.

Session in Thurlston

Report from The Huntsman in Thurlston near Barnsley: Thanks to all of our friends in Barnsley who made our stay such a lovely one - from the Barnsley Folk & Acoustic Night on Monday to the session at the Huntsman last night with plenty of sewing and guitar picking in between -- oh, and a gourmet veggie lasagna! Particular thanks to Dave  & Joy Bottomley who look after us every year and Sarah Greenwood who lights up the room with her smile and her fiddling! Thanks to Andy, the landlord of The Huntsman, who made us feel so welcome and to all of the singers last night, much much love! 

See you all again in June!

Here we go to Ipswich for the Orwell Bluegrass Festival!

Tumbling in Britain

Report from Barnsley, South Yorkshire: I've just seen my first tumble dryer in Britain and I am completely in love with these settings: "cupboard dry, rotary iron dry, smoothing, and woolen fresh." There's a water container for removing condensation, I am guessing. And it fits tidily under the kitchen cabinet. Homewares rhapsody! P.S. The weather in Barnsley is positively Bronte-esque. It's been chucking it down all morning and now blue skies, fluffy white windswept clouds, and moments of sun. I love Britain. Oh, here come dark clouds and gale force winds again.....now Sunshine. 

Tea & Toast! First Concert!

Report from Filey, Yorkshire Coast: Join us tonight at Saint Helen's in Ainderby Steeple, 7:30, for our first concert of our Tea & Toast Tour of Britain! 

Billy will shift from his pajamas to stage attire and I will trade one pair of red shoes for another. Plus we'll do some singing, dancing (me, Billy says to make that clear), and storytelling. 

Love from Loughborough

Report from Loughborough, Leicestershire, Great Britain: When you are seriously jet-lagged and can laugh like this then it must mean you're in Loughborough, sock capital of Britain, land of giant wooden shoes, gorgeous flower displays, Maggie's laugh, Pete's minestrone soup, and a very soft bed. Day 1 augers well for the next 72! On our way to Doncaster to see Ray and pick up my posh Walsham-le-Willows dancing board kindly donated to the Jeni & Billy tour by Thomas  & Iain last year! Time for some flatfooting, folks!

Tea&Toast2015

Here we go! See you soon!

Bees & Toast

Hi everyone! Just buzzing around like bees, getting all of the new goodies ready for our tour in Britain and for the rest of the year in the USA. So excited. Also mountains (very, very tall mountains) of admin to do to gather up the threads of where we are going to stay, perform, and travel for 73 days in one of the kindest and most beautiful places in the world. Love our summers in Britain so much. Can't wait to see our friends! Back into the paperwork I go.