Tanglethread
Tanglethread are Ruth and Des Hart, a husband and wife duo playing a selection of traditional folk music from around Britain. Ruth plays descant and tenor recorders and Des plays cuatro, guitar and sings. Our music is performed acoustically and is suitable for folk clubs and festivals. We also play at events where folky background music is needed to provide an interesting atmosphere.
Recent gigs include appearances at Bury Folk Club and Henley Folk Club in Suffolk as well as various sessions in local pubs.
If you are interested in booking us for your club or event we can be contacted at
artshed.24@gmail.com
Below are three tunes we have recorded recently to give you an idea of how we sound.
Tanglethread are playing at the following venues:-
Earl Soham Fete 3rd August
Laxfield Market Saturday 7 September 2024
The Hut, Felixstowe Sunday 4th August
Sailing Barge Victor Tuesday 6th August
Battisford Punch Bowl Sunday 25th August
Trimley Mariners Shanty Festival Saturday 31 August
Cratfield Acoustic Music Night Saturday 2nd October
Henley Folk Club Friday 15th November
Hadleigh Folk Club Friday 6th December
Private Function Monday 23rd December
Henley Folk Club Friday 17th January
Henley Folk Club Friday 14th March
We have recorded a CD of traditional tunes that we have called Warp and Weft, which seemed suitable and we have them for sale at the gigs we play.
The Cuatro
I'm often asked what it is that I'm playing and the answert is, a Cuatro. What's a Cuatro? This is:-
It's basically a ten string guitar with a sound that is somewhere between a 12 string guitar and a mandolin. The pairs of strings are tuned in unison and run from low B to E A D G so similar to a guitar. The neck is wider than that on a mandolin which, as a bass player, I find rather narrow and squiffy and I like the unfussy, simple appearance of the instrument. The name Cuatro might infer that it should have four pairs of strings but this is a Puerto Rican Cuatro so it has five, don't ask me why! I found my first Cuatro in a music shop in York and this one in the photo came from Thomann.
Any Yes fans out there might have realised that this is the same instrument that Jon Anderson used to play occaisionally in the late 70's when it was simply referred to as a ten string guitar.