Token Women - ProfilesArchive

About Me

Formed out of the head of Jackie Allen as a way of featuring women who tended to be the only female in other bands, the band then took the dance world by storm. For the previous 2 years Token Women have been doing very few gigs due to the ill health of one of it's members. Now re-galvanised and revitalised we announce our return. We have become a 7 piece again. The music is predominantly British with an exotic Europeon flavour. It is performed with a degree of anarchic energy that often leaves the band breathless and the audience yelling for more. There isn't another band that sounds like us as you will hear. We have performed on the largest stages to the smallest halls and festivals have included, Cambridge, Leipzig, Sidmouth, Rudolstadt, Trowbridge, Towersy, Mistelbach to name but a few.As we all play in other bands appearances are always limited but you will see us around. That's a promise.Find myspace templates at myspace-html-layout.com

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 02/05/2007
Band Website: www.freyamusic.co.uk
Band Members: Jo Freya - Saxes/Clarinets (also of Blowzabella/Old Swan/Lal Waterson project) Alice Kinlock - Tuba/Trombone (also of The Barely Works/ Bollywood Band) Heather Horsley - Keyboard (also of Old Swan/Stokai) Jo May - percussion (also of Freyja/Zoox) Fi Fraser - Fiddle/clarinet (also of Old Swan/Lal Waterson project) Jackie Allen - Fiddle/Sax (also of The Contra Band/Kitchen Girls) Linda Game - fiddle (also of Kitchen Girls/Zoox
Influences: When the band was first formed we were all playing in other bands such as Blowzabella, The Barely Works, The Old Swan Band, The Electropathics. Those musical backgrounds inevitably resulted in a mix of British and Europeon music and therefore the influences were in the material. However the arrangements took their own direction. The band members collaborate to create an interesting and varied sound that never relies on a given formula. The dance tunes also inform the types of dances so that you get a good mix of set dances, couple dnaces and ones where you don't need a partner. The calling (or dance instruction) has always been one of the many strengths of the band. Good clear instructiions on interesting but not overly complicated dances. As we do the calling internally within the band it ensures that there is always a good match between tune and dance.Well here's a comment in relation to Sidmouth this year. We can't comment on the Demon Barbers bit as we weren't there but it is nice to be held in such high esteem. "Token Women were stonking in the Blackmore Gardens. Brilliant changes of pace without compromising the dance - eg as I recall moving from Schottiche to Reel after tops got back to place in Drops of Brandy. So sorry I had to miss them on Friday due to being in the Procession. Greatly disappointed by the Demon Barbers - seemed to have sacrificed musicality for volume, and in my mind a very loud concert is not the best used of a final LNE - which should be all - inclusive, not just targeted at the youf. Such a shame they didn't have them and Token Women the other way round."
Record Label: No Masters
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

Baby Arrives

We are pleased to announce the birth of baby Albert to Alice and Chris. As Alice plays Tuba and Trombone we were worried in the run up to the birth that an extra loud 'parp' on either instrument might...
Posted by on Wed, 16 Apr 2008 03:06:00 GMT