Singer celebrates community of Brierley Hill
The famous Brierley Hill Song Book has added a new chapter from singer-songwriter Dan Whitehouse.
Dan's song book is a collection of stories in song celebrating the town's heritage.
He was at the recent Great Big Green Week events in the town, with a collection of new songs about Brierley Hill, written by him and members of the local community and this week, he was again leading a workshop with local people on updating his song book at St Michael's Church in Brierley Hill.
Previously, budding songwriters attended the first two days of Dan's workshops at St Mary’s Church on the High Street – and the first song they wrote is called ‘The Sun Always Shines On Brierley Hill’! a story about one participant’s love of a pint of ale at the end of a long working day.
Dan, who is from Wolverhampton, added: "We also unearthed a poem from Samuel Paskin from 1852 called ‘The Pubs of Brettell Lane’ and set this to music, adding our own sing a-long chorus.
"In the poem they call a pint of beer ‘a pint of Wobble’ and pubs are referred to as Wobble shops! One participant commented: “I’ve learned so much I didn’t know about my own town”
Dan was one of the stars at the final event held at Hawbush Community Gardens on June 18 which brought the curtain down on nearly two weeks of activities.
Dan is now looking forward to the two concerts which are part of National Heritage Week in September
He added: "On Tuesday September 12, we are performing at the Brierley Hill market on the High Street at midday, and then the next day, Wednesday September 13 in the evening at 7pm at St Michael’s Church – part of. Hope you can make it!"
All these workshops and events are free to the public and funded by Historic England as part of the Heritage Action Zone working with Brierley Hill Community Forum.
