Duo bring Celtic connections to Thatcham Festival
IT was great to hear from Thatcham musician Mark Turauskis – he of Mark T and the Brickbats – that he’s having something of a “resurgence” after lockdown with a new solo album out February 2022 plus gigs in Bath, Ipswich, Bracknell, Hereford and Reading – “Yes gigs!,” he jokes. “I remember them!”
In fact, Mark and Paul Hancock have played quite a lot recently – in Lambourn at the end of August and they did the music for Romeo and Juliet in Reading Abbey in
July as part of their 900th Abbey celebration. “Not sure we will be able to do their 1000th celebration though!”
West Berkshire will get a rare opportunity to see Paul and Mark T perform at the Thatcham Festival, at the Old Bluecoat School, on October 12 (8pm).
Paul Hancock and Mark T play instrumental music from the Celtic nations of Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Brittany.
They first started playing together in 1980 and became resident performers at The Cap and Gown folk club in Reading and the Nettlebed Folk
Club.
In 1981 they had their first major exposure when they became South of England busking champions.
This led to radio and TV appearances and write-ups in all the major music and entertainment magazines of the time.
In 1981 and 1982 they toured
Brittany twice as well as the North of England. Since then they have continued to play together, albeit intermittently, as a duo and as part of the world music group Mark T and the Brickbats.
In 1996 they released the critically acclaimed CD A Parting Gift and in 2015 they were commissioned to write a cycle of tunes to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Thatcham Nature Discovery Centre – which became Song of the Wetlands ,a mixture of original and Celtic music.
Entry free. For tickets and more information visit Mark’s website https://www.marktmusic.co.uk