Shirley Collins

Bewdley Festival begins almost three weeks before its official opening night with a very special prelude evening in St Georges Hall, Bewdley on Saturday September 21st. English folk legend Shirley Collins, is coming to present her “almost” one-woman show “America Over The Water”. Shirley is now in her eighties, and the musical historical importance of this show cannot be overstated.

The Festival is indebted to the late Alan James for organising the opportunity for the West Midlands to present this show for the very first time.

In 1959 Shirley joined legendary musicologist Alan Lomax on a year-long journey through the musical heartland of the Southern States of America. During this field trip they recorded the music of religious communities, social gatherings, prisons and chain gangs, and discovered the legendary bluesman Mississippi Fred McDowell. These original recordings were featured in the Coen brothers film Oh Brother, Where Art Thou, the film where the music was organised by T-Bone Burnett.

America Over The Water recounts this journey, intercutting and complementing the American narrative with an autobiographical account of growing up in Hastings during and after the war, and of her first meeting with Alan Lomax in London. This show of the same name includes readings by Shirley, contributions from actor Pip Barnes, pictures of the singers taken on the journey and recordings made on the trip.