Details of the music and the musicians:
LLDC music is provided by Change of Key
We think that live music is important for the atmosphere of a dance club so the use of CDs is indeed a rarity for our club! We have always played acoustically because we had quite a small venue. We may, however, need to be amplified in our new home, Rainford Village Hall, WA11 8HB.
It is not expected that musicians pay subs, even if you dance sometimes as well!
The Dots
I try to have all the tunes in Dropbox (email me to be sent an invite) which is then emailed to you ready in time for the Wednesday LLDC. Callers are on a rota and email their choice to me. The choice of tunes is dictated by the choice of dances. We have three main types of dances: Playford, American contras and Contemporary Barndance style. Playford dances have their own set tune, but otherwise there is a note saying 32 / 48 bar reels, jigs, hornpipes or polkas. American reels (occasionally jigs) are needed for Contras. Some callers will ask for particular tunes sometimes. As LLDC has been going for almost 12 years now we have built up quite a repertoire!
We are a lively band but no more so than you would find at a good dance during a folk festival in Chippenham or Whitby. The tunes can be demanding and at the top end of the range. Hopefully musicians will have time to practise but this of course is time consuming! However it is normal etiquette not to play whilst the caller is explaining a dance! I do feel it helpful occasionally to play softly if the dance is a waltz or if it is unusually difficult in order to help dancers whilst the caller is explaining the moves, but this is done a phrase at a time! Feel free of course to dance if you’d rather not play! In fact I think it is helpful if musicians can be dancers as well!
Finally I often update Dropbox prior to a dance as some things may change.
Thanks for playing in our band,
Frank
Change of Key