Memorandum submitted by Michael Ross, Flash Company

 

I am writing on behalf of a Morris Dance Side whom I play music for, Flash Company.

 

Within the 2003 licensing act, although Morris Dancing has an exemption it is only for unamplified music.

Several of our musicians (for example the harmonica player) perform with small battery operated amplifiers to bring their instruments up to the volume level of the louder, unamplified instruments eg. Melodeons, whilst an amplifier is essential for other instruments, eg. the electric guitar.

 

It its current state, the 2003 Act is discriminatory, allowing louder acoustic instruments to play freely whereas quieter instruments or those that require amplification are excluded.

This is not just affecting ourselves but hundreds of other Morris Dance sides across the country. One side I know of near Wales has a sole Harmonica player as their musician and without small amplification he simply cannot be heard.

I would like to ask that the committee revisit the Morris Dance exemption clause in the act and amend it to allow the use of all music, whether unamplified or amplified for the accompaniment of Morris Dancing.

 

March 2009