Is this the way to… St Nicholas’ Church?

Legendary singer Tony Christie will be making his way to Beverley rather than Amarillo later this month with a performance at St Nicholas’ Church.

Christie’s show rolls into town on Saturday 26th November alongside folk band Ranagri performing their popular show ‘The Great Irish Songbook’ from the album of the same name.

The project came about by a chance meet in the late 1990s after a gig when Christie produced an old accordion heirloom from County Mayo and told the band of his Irish heritage.

“We sat around the kitchen table until the early hours of the morning, having a few drinks and singing old folk songs from a shared heritage, ” said Ranagri’s piper Eliza Marshall.

“These were songs we remembered our parents singing; songs of great joy and deep sorrow, many of which we would go on to record on this album.

“As we sang the old songs, we wondered if there’d ever be a way we could shine some new light on them.
“In the morning, we laughed and said ‘maybe, someday’.”

“We recorded The Great Irish Songbook at Stockfisch Records with some amazing people and, whilst it’s great to have finally made the album that we’d spoken about 20 years ago, it seems the only conclusion we can draw is that the journey hasn’t ended, it’s merely begun,” concluded Donal Rogers, Ranagri’s frontman, singer and guitarist.

Ranagri are no strangers to Beverley, having played to a packed house at the Parkway Cinema back in 2019.

“We’re so looking forward to hosting not only the legendary Tony Christie, but the great band Ranagri with him for what promises to be a very special night,” added Reverend Mike Peatman, vicar of St Nicholas’.

St Nicholas’ Church has been presenting live music throughout 2022 and has proven a popular venue for acoustic and roots music.

Tony Christie and Ranagri perform at St Nicholas’ Church, Holme Church Lane, on Saturday 26th November.

Tickets are priced £20 and available from stnicholaschurchbeverley.co.uk/concerts.