On Sunday (16th March) Brading Town Hall will reverberate to the sound of centuries-old songs of love, tragedy, and derring-do - all locally sourced from the Isle of Wight!

The Dollymopps, who are a trio of harmony singers that specialize in traditional songs from the Island, have chosen the venue as the location for a free concert to mark launch of their new CD “Wight Cockade”. The album is officially released on top English folk label WildGoose Records on 17th March.

The group’s debut CD “Long Songs” which focused upon the - hitherto overlooked - traditional song collection of Nineteenth Century Islander, W.H. Long, caused quite a stir on the UK folk scene following its release in 2011. It received very favourable reviews across the music press including a 4 star review in R2 Magazine and votes in the fRoots ‘Album of the Year’ Critics’ Poll. Multiple BBC Folk Award winner, Chris Wood, was also impressed, and chose to cover the group’s “Litttle Carpenter” for his 2013 album “None The Wiser”.

The Dollymopps' latest album features several more songs from W.H. Long but also casts the net wider to include pieces from other Island sources: such as the founder of the English Folk Song Society, Lucy Broadwood (whose sister lived in Ryde) and renowned early song collector, George Gardner (who collected from Islanders in the Hampshire workhouses).

Also featured are settings of works from the Victorian artist, antiquarian and all-round-IW-renaissance man, Percy Goddard Stone. In addition, there is an arrangement of a military march from Arreton from the early 1800s, a tall tale of the sea from Shanklin, and an intriguing piece which was recorded, in Ryde, by East Anglian singer Bob Roberts following his retirement to Island in the late 1970s. Perhaps most intriguing of all, is the inclusion of a song taken from an unheralded singing tradition that continued, unbroken, in the rural West Wight right up until the early 1970s. Having interviewed some of the surviving participants and acquired copies of handwritten songbooks, the group hope this this latest, local, ‘find’ will become a source of inspiration for traditional music enthusiasts on the iW for many years to come.

The Dollymopps are always very interested to hear from anybody might have any information about old tunes and songs tunes from Island and can be reached on: (01983) 612696 / [email protected]

Concert starts at 7:30pm. Doors at 7:00pm.