Keith Kendrick (link)

Image©Andy Basford 2006

Keith is a long established and widely celebrated performer within the folk world and live music scene generally in both Britain and abroad, with an equally long and well documented history of presenting English folk music in most of its forms.

Keith's unique, yet traditionally sympathetic singing style and natural, unpretentious stage manner is widely praised by all and sundry and one of his revered and rare specialities is the playing and mastering of two different systems of the only English invented chromatic musical instrument - the 'English' and the 'Anglo German' concertina - his workshops on the playing techniques of these instruments are extremely popular and are much sought after - largely due to his 'laid back' and 'student agenda' based style of approach... He's not short of the odd Derbyshire dialect poem or story either! This all amounts to an unquestionable and extraordinary versatility.

2005 saw him into his 40th year as a gigging singer/musician/story teller - a career that has taken him all over the world with visits to the USA, Japan, New Zealand, Cyprus, the Baltics and all over Scandinavia and Europe in general. All this and with a string of recordings and radio and TV appearances to his credit (including recently, participation in the new BBC 2 Radio Ballads series.) He has also, over that time enjoyed several collaborative associations and partnerships with the likes of: John Tams, Jim Boyes & Lester Simpson, Barry Coope, Jo Freya, Lynne Heraud (CD-'Stars in my Crown'), Derek Gifford & Geoff Higginbottom (CD-'All Tide Up'), Ralph Jordan and more recently Sylvia Needham.

Keith's third CD for Wildgoose (a record label that is dedicated to the promotion of predominantly English roots traditional songs and music), 'Songs from the Derbyshire Coast' was released in August 2006.

Keith is also no stranger to the theatre. Over the years he has appeared in Allan Cullen's 'Ring O' Roses' at Derby University Theatre for Roger Watson (M.D.), the EFDSS national touring production 'Everlasting Circle' and more recently as joint M.D. (with Jon Boden) playing the character of Orpheus in the Auldwich based Schtanhaus Theatre Company production of 'Jason and the Argonauts' which toured the U.K. from November 2005 through to March 2006.

For further details please visit www.keithkendrick.co.uk