Singing out for Somerset
Singing out for Somerset
Somerset singers and songs, old and new, have found a
new voice through Yvette Staelens. Tessa Gates met
this folk singer whose workshop sessions
develop more than the ability to sing
SINGING is good for you. Its a great stress buster and whats more, we can all do it, says Yvette Staelens, one half of the folk singing duo Roots Quartet.
Easy for her to say, with her pure, clear voice that needs no musical backing or technical wizardry to hold a tune. But this charismatic woman can inspire the most unlikely people to stand up and sing, even in public, just for the joy of it.
"Singing is a wonderful release and singing with someone else is even better, it gives you real energy," explains Yvette, who was preparing to host a St Georges night celebration – involving plenty of singing – in the Canal Inn, Wrantage, Somerset, when Farmlife met her. The pub is just a quick chorus from the 89ha (360-acre) dairy farm she shares with husband Charles Totterdell and their daughters Katherine (5) and Juliette (3).
A bit of spontaneous community singing is an uplifting thing and more people are gaining the confidence to join in through the workshops she runs throughout the county with the other half of Roots Quartet, (a duo despite the name), singer and musician Michelle Hicks.
* Confidence
All sorts of people come along and the workshops are about giving them confidence and the chance to make a noise. No musical ability is necessary and no-one is expected to sing solo. Yvette and Michelle work their magic with traditional songs from around the world and by the end of the day up to 50 people will be singing in harmony.
Last year The Family Learning Millennium Award Scheme funded some workshops for parents with children under five. "About a dozen young mums and one dad, Paul – who was only 17 – came along. It was amazing how the workshops changed his perception of himself. Now he is one of our best sing-ers and will be singing in the pub with us tonight," says Yvette, who finds it a joy to share her love of singing.
"Song is integral to the human culture. We sing in joy and sorrow, in praise, in protest. We sing to lull children to sleep, we sing to maximise and synchronise effort for work, we sing to make something of boring jobs, womens work – think of Dashing away with the smoothing iron.
"In the past sailors would sing at sea and I have heard tales that on long voyages ships would come alongside one another to swap songs because they had worn their own ones out."
* Male voice choirs
But in these self-conscious times, singing while you work is less than common and the lyrical history of folk songs is less likely to be made. "It is very hard to get men to come back to singing, yet we have a wonderful tradition of male voice choirs and think of all the songs on the football terraces and rugby clubs. I would like us to have a song for the Countryside March if it is held later this year. I wont be writing it but it would be lovely to have something we could all sing together."
Yvette does write songs. "At the moment I feel the need to put across the true feelings of the farming community because it has no voice. Farmers are too busy working at it to vocalise." Earlier this year she sang Who understands the land at a conference. The song was written in frustration at the misinformation and pontificating about agriculture that goes on in the media by people who have more opinion than experience of farming. It went down very well but you wont hear it on the current CD from Roots Quartet, Somerset Sisters. This draws on songs and singers from an altogether different era.
Cecil Sharp, a London music teacher, notated the tunes and lyrics he collected on visits to Somerset villages between 1903 and 1916. Sharp was introduced to over 240 singers – many of them women – and Yvette researched his manuscripts and notes for the songs that make up the CD.
"It was wonderful to find out that Somerset has such a legacy of song. Some of the singers Cecil Sharp met recalled learning songs from older women while making gloves. Yeovil was a major centre for glove making and the work was often done communally in the home."
The history of singers and songs forms part of the show when Roots Quartet perform, but at Higher Wrantage Farm, mummys singing is part of life for Katherine and Juliette and they naturally sing along.
"We have all got a pulse, a basic rhythm keeps us alive," says Yvette. "We can build on that to regain a great tradition."
For more information: (01823-481257) or www.rootsquartet. dangermedia.com
Professional Roots: Yvette Staelens (left) and Michelle Hicks on stage.