Shoreham guitar virtuoso Richard Durrant confirms festive dates

His 2020 December tour can't take place because of Covid.

Instead there are just four socially-distanced shows booked in at Ropetackle Arts Centre, Shoreham on Sunday, December 6 and Sunday, December 13 (3pm and 7.30pm) and two live streamed performances on Thursday, December 11 for Theatr Clwyd, Mold, Wales (6pm and 8.30pm). The main event will be on the Solstice itself live-streamed from Richard’s studio from 3pm on December 21.

“Christmas 2020 will be different for all of us, but we must still look for the magic that hangs in the air at this time of year,” Richard said.

For the past 16 years Richard has toured his Candlelit Christmas shows, and since 2016 he has heralded the start of the Christmas season with his special guest musicians, the singer Amy Kakoura and master fiddler Nick serving up a festive feast of acoustic music in a show that mixes solo guitar works with chart-topping Christmas songs, early music repertoire, British folk and traditional carols.

In 2018 live tracks from the tour were played on BBC6 Music, and in 2019 Richard welcomed his oldest son Django to the band to play percussion on what became his most successful Christmas tour to date playing to packed venues.

Richard not only likes to mix things up musically but he views the festive season through a Pagan as well as a Christian lens.

“I love midwinter and I carefully mark the solstice, but I’m also drawn to the true meaning of Christmas itself. And then there’s that crazy music that re-emerges each year. As the nights draw in I face that seasonal musical dilemma: do I listen to a 12th century carol or 1970s chart music?”

The four live dates and three live streamed events for Christmas 2020 will feature solos from Richard as well as appearances by the Durrant children Rooney, Daisy, Django and Felix who will join their dad playing diverse instruments and singing. Amy and Nick will also appear in four specially filmed numbers along with Brian Gulland, who also plays on Richard’s 2020 album Rewilding.

www.richarddurrant.com