Birth
XiM was
born in 1998 when co-organisers of the Massif Village Orchestra,
Frank Vickers and Paddy Shaw, saw the potential for a new angle
on central French dance music. They were looking for an opportunity
to write and perform original material with a fresh perspective
on groove and instrumentation. Frank and Paddy asked friends (and
fellow members of the MVO) Nick Carpenter and Kate Ross if they
would be interested in the project, and (needless to say) they
said yes. Since then the group has been writing and arranging
hoards of Mazurkas, Schottisches, Bourrées, Waltzes etc.
and performing at festivals, folk clubs, dances and concerts all
over the place.
Life
Where
and when
Since birth, XiM has forced people onto dance floors at: Sidmouth
International Festival of Folk Arts, Ely Folk Festival, Thoresby
Park Fest Noz, Lancaster Clocks Back Festival, Bergues Festival
(France), Norwich Arts Centre, Reeling in Ealing, Greenpeace Fair
(Suffolk), IVFDF (Cambridge), Worstead Festival, King Street Festival
(Norwich), Fair on the Green (Diss, Norfolk), Norwich 01 Festival.
Concert performances have made people sit up and listen at: Folk
in the Fall (London), Towersey Village Folk Festival, The Royal
Festival Hall, Hale End Folk Club, Castle Acre Folk Club. '989'
has been played on the airwaves by: 'Late Junction' (BBC Radio
3), BBC Radio Norfolk, BBC Radio (Midlands),Prairie Ceilidh Radio
(Cananda) and in numerous homes around the world.
Click on the instruments
below to find out more about each member of Xim
