CROPREDY 2022 – A FOLKING.COM PERSPECTIVE REVIEW…
Well, hi all,
We all had a fabulous Cropredy this year – with the weather being the best and hottest for many, many years and it was a treat not to have to walk back to our tents, campers, or whatever you slept in, to get changed into the usual Cropredy evening wear, such as jumpers and jeans once that wonderful Cropredy sun sets over stage right every year… Not this year though – what a joy it was to look around and see everyone still in shorts tee shirts or no shirts at all! all evening throughout the festival.
A special mention must go to the brilliant organising team who had the forethought and duty of care to install extra water taps around the arena perimeter fences. Much needed and much used to drink and pour over our hot heads in temperatures averaging 30 degrees!
On a personal note for us, the folking.com team it was the first Cropredy without our wonderful, humble and beautiful founder Darren Beech – a man who has done so much for folk and folk rock music since starting folking.com way back in 1999 reaching out and touching so many lives of people and artists bringing his love, friendship humour and passion for this folk and folk rock world we exist in – reaching out across genres and bringing many, hundreds of people together that have since forged lifelong deep and meaningful friendships – there’s never going to be enough words of gratitude and praise to honour such a kind loving genuine human… we love you Darren and thanks to you, folking.com goes on….your legacy..and for that we thank you from the bottom of our hearts..
Now what a fantastic line up we had a this years Cropredy a line up that had agreed to sit it out through Covid and stick to their guns in a virtually unchanged line up from two years ago. From my point of view covering this wonderful festival as I have done for over 25 years going right back to my radio days and since 2000 for folking.com I have to send huge thanks to Stevie Horton and the Iconic press team for their love respect and understanding shown to me following Darren’s passing, the same must be said of the artists I interviewed for my usual audio interviews for folking.com.
Thank you to Chris Lesley for our now regular yearly marker interview and his kind loving words for Darren, and Jozia Longo from The Slambovian Circus of Dreams for talking so openly to me in our audio interview, about his life his song writing and spiritual collaborations with Jesus and John Lennon!
The Slambovian’s are a band, that were special to Darren – he championed them across the UK wherever he went!
So, it was fitting that I spoke to Joziah at Cropredy and thank you to Josiah for your kind words.
Part1
Part 2
On to the fabulous Rosalie Cunningham who is the sort of brilliant up and coming artist that we love to support at folking.com so if you were there this year relax and join me in re-living a little of the magic by listening to my audio interviews below from this years Cropredy
If you weren’t there for one reason or another then enjoy sampling a little of that Cropredy vibe – and if you have never been to Cropredy – then I can only urge you to come next year and join us for that magical weekend of music love and friendship – book up.. book up early… and we’ll see ya next year!…
Paul Johnson
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