Get a rare insight into Britain’s history with Hack-Poets Guild at More Music in Morecambe

Inspired by historic broadside ballads – daily song sheets sold for pence from the 16th to 20th centuries – Hack-Poets Guild band members Marry, Lisa and Nathaniel rejuvenate and reinvent these stories.

Fascinating interpretations and original compositions tell intricate tales of birth, love, conflict and death, with all the imagination of the folklore from which they’re based.

Arguably the forerunners of our modern news media, broadsides (also known as a broadsheet) often contained ballads and rhymes, which were sung daily in Britain’s streets and inns.

Although part of living traditions of folksong, popular art and literature, these illustrated printed sheets are now rare and preserved in only a few libraries.

They offer a vivid insight into the past whilst striking a chord with universal themes still relevant today.

Songs about love, loneliness and kindness are interwoven with intriguing, humanist and dark stories.

Before the music starts, at 8pm, the audience will have the chance to enjoy a pre-concert talk (recorded) from musician Lisa Knapp and historian Steve Roud, filmed at the Bodleian Printing Workshop. Come along and discover more about Broadside Ballads.

As an additional treat, Charlotte from Morecambe Risopress will be at the gig demonstrating and making prints with a letterpress before the gig (from 7.30pm) and in the interval.

Doors: 7.30pm. Tickets range from £8 - £16 from www.moremusic.org.uk or by calling 01524 831997 (weekdays 10am – 2pm).