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Dick emigrated to California from his native
Sittingbourne, Kent, in the south of England,
with his parents and two brothers. It didn't
take long before he fell in love with American
country music. He spent hours trying to
perfect an American accent with some limited
success. He performed old timey music with
"Mother Lode And Her Four Diamond Studs"
for a few years, but even in those days,
he interspersed an occasional British ballad.
As news of the British folk music revival
slipped through to expatriated Dick, he
started to sing more and more of the songs
from his roots. As a solo performer, he
developed a reputation as a shanty singer
at sea festivals up and down the West coast
of the US. and Canada. Dick and Allan met
at the 1976 Santa Rosa Folk Festival where
they were both doing solo gigs. From that
point on, they have developed a lasting
friendship and lasting musical partnership.
Dick continues to work on his collection
of British broadside ballads and enjoys
performing California Sea Songs with his
wife, Carol.
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Allan came to the United states from Armadale,
West Lothian, Scotland. He brought with
him some wonderful experiences from the
early days of the British folk song revival
including singing under the critical eye
of Ewan MacColl and Bert Loyd in London.
He was also closely associated with Scotland's
singing Fisher family. He performed with
Arnold Wesker's "Center 42" Traveling Festival
of the Arts and founded the Nottingham Folk
Song Workshop.
In California, he founded the popular Singers'
Circle in Berkeley and performed in several
music groups including "Black Waterside,"
and "The Wild Geese." He also
performs solo, appearing at the Berkeley,
Newport and the Mariposa folk Festivals.
Alan performs his Scottish songs alone,
with Scottish fiddler Peter Kasin, or with
Dick Holdstock. He also performs at folk
clubs in Britain where he goes every year
to see his mum, gather more current Scottish
jokes and polish up his brogue.
As a true Scot Allan plays golf with a
low handicap, Tells incredible stories of
his fishing exploits, and is a great judge
of single malt whisky.
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Carol Holdstock is well known today as
an exciting performer of traditional music.
Her extensive repertoire of songs about
women and the sea, as well as her
songs of social significance, are always
bound to please her audiences. Whether accompanying
herself with her autoharp, singing acapella,
or singing with others, Carol delights her
audiences with images of bygone times and
words of hope for a more compassionate future.
A native of San Francisco, Carol began
singing as a child in children's theater.
She went on to perform in New York as an
actress. With Alan Arkin and Brooks Jones,
she recorded an album called "Jeremy's
Friends" on Warwrick Records. More
recently, Carol has appeared in festivals
and concerts in California, Oregon, Washington,
Connecticut, Maine, Canada, England, and
Germany. With her husband, Dick Holdstock,
Carol recorded "Shanties and Sea Songs
from Way Out West."
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A fine singer and multi-instrumentalist,
Tom originally hales from Augusta, Georgia.
He has performed from coast-to-coast with
a wide range of folk groups, including the
Kingston Trio. He is a favorite shanty singer
at the San Francisco Maritime Museum. and
performs in a variety of venues throughout
the Bay Area. Most recently he has teamed
with Dick and Carol Holdstock to produce
a lively CD of traditional California sea
songs. When not playing his music, Tom is
employed as a computer programmer extraordinaire,
developing software and unusual web sites.
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