Wrestling the Wild Gods

Find tickets on Eventbrite here.

 "It's often not easy to breathe, let alone speak, when Nigel and Tommy wind their magic around a room. Nigel's music is a prayer to the beating heart of the land. A great remembering. A bridge between the world we have and the one we long for. Tommy's words — these ancient bardic incantations — are both a doorway through to the otherworld and an urgent invitation to awaken to the shimmering dream that lives in the centre of your chest. Seeing these two together in ceremony is not to be missed." — Mac Macartney, Speaker, Author & Founder of Embercombe  

An evening of Music, Myth and Magic 

We're delighted to welcome back Dartmoor-based musician and custodian-of-old-ways Nigel Shaw and twinkly-eyed wordsmith of rapturous poetry Tommy Crawford to the Hearthside — this time with the otherworldly vocals of Bethan Lloyd.

Together we will embark upon an adventure: riding alongside ancient folktales, whispering bardic incantations in hopes of courting the shimmering spirits of the land, and taking sweeping rides upon the wings of sound.

The evening will be held in the slate quarry's earthly arms if the weather is fine, and the tin barn's sheltered embrace if wet.

Either way, we advise you bring warm clothes, blankets, and something that will protect you from the elements — while still allowing the untold mischief and magic that Tommy, Nigel and Bethan always stir up to enter the beating temple at the centre of your chest.

This will be an intimate event, so while we will be selling tickets on the night, we warmly encourage you to buy your tickets online to avoid disappointment.

 Wrestling the Wild Gods 

It is an Old Celtic idea that before we can even begin to contemplate the possibility of marrying another human being — with all of their unreasonable opinions and beautiful failings — we must first wed ourselves to the land and its wild denizens.

But having spent years grievously ignoring and exploiting the wild, what kind of bride or groom can we expect to find waiting for us?

Could it be that such a union will require not only a courtship, but also a willingness to tussle with beings greater than ourselves — not in service of victory or further subjacation — but to allow ourselves to be shaped, tempered and forged into a human being vast enough to face the inevitable tragedy and heartbreak that life will throw our way with a wily smile and a fierce grace that will leave even the Old Gods purring with delight.

 "Performing alongside Tommy and Nigel, watching them hurl love-language and wild melodies into the night air — with a stream flowing behind us, and a great oak watching over us — was like waking inside some ancient dream. It is rare to meet those who remember the old ways, who hold a storm-cloud of images in their chest, whose breath can become praise-song, and whose hearts still beat with the rhythm of this pulsing land. It was such an honour to create a night of magic with them both. Seeing these two perform together is not to be missed." — Nalini Blossom (Singer of The Water Blessing Song) 

Nigel Shaw is an acclaimed composer and international performer, whose reputation as one of the most inspired creators of ambient music in Britain has been achieved through his many recordings, including albums such as The River, Requiem: Well of Souls and Dartmoor Journey. His latest album, FLOW ≈ honours the sacred rivers around the world. He has performed concerts all over the world including the USA, Japan, Australia and Russia. He is also a flute maker and many of the instruments used in his concerts are made out of wood from Dartmoor, a beautiful national park in the Southwest England, where he lives. He teaches others to make their own instruments so they can follow their flute journey and enter a sacred world of sound.

Tommy Crawford is a Poet, Shamanic Storyteller, and Founder and Creative Director of the international mischief-making organisation, Dancing Fox. Combining his love for mythology, street art and improv theatre, Tommy works with artists and activists around the world to create "beautiful disruptions" — moments where the wonder of the world can flood in, and the bubbling magic that lives inside each of us can pour out.He has curated and led workshops in Lebanon, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and across Europe and the USA, and his poetry has been featured in galleries in London, exhibitions in New Delhi and wheat-pasted by artists as love-notes from the streets of Belfast to the crumbling temples of Sri Lanka. He has performed at Into The Wild, Shambala and WOMAD festivals, amongst others, and toured his poetry across the UK, Indonesia and New Zealand. His work is deeply inspired by the year he spent sitting at the feet of wisdom-keepers from different Indigenous Peoples from around the world, Islamic mysticism and poetry, and the wild and sensuous beauty of the British Isles.

Bethan Lloyd will be singing Welsh a cappella songs written in solitude and inspired by the ancestors of her native land. From Theology and Religious Studies at Cambridge to living with the Pataxo indigenous tribe in Brazil, Bethan has been exploring the channeling of voice on and off stage since her childhood in Wales. Her exploration has included training as a classical singer and learning with both shamans, masters, and the ancient teachings of the natural world. Bethan teaches vocal exploration with her current project ‘Wild Voice’ and is currently studying at the Celtic Mystery School, ‘Dadeni’ in Snowdonia.Bethan Lloyd 

For more information on the event, please contact Freddy Weaver: contact@thehearthdevon.com