Grace will lead me home

On new year's day 1773 John Newton introduced a new hymn to his congregation. It was Amazing Grace. 

Today Amazing Grace is universally loved and yet its writer, John Newton had been a slave trader and later an abolitionist. Today his involvement in the slave trade is problematic. I wanted to examine these dichotomies. We interviewed widely, creating a series of 13 podcasts and we invited Angeline Morrison and Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne to write a musical response to our findings. 

We thank the Cowper and Newton Museum for their loving support and the Arts Council for making this possible. 

"A triumph. Such great vision to pull this together, glorious work by the musicians, the atmosphere was lovely. So glad we got to see it."

Dave Artus

Grace will lead me home starts with a hymn, Amazing Grace and our first step as musicians is to play it. In March 2023 I was joined by Angeline Morrison and Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne to spend a few days in Dartmouth House in Olney. It was originally home to the Earl of Dartmouth, the man who gave newton his first clerical posting. 

We researched Newton's life in Olney, his involvement in the slave trade and the abolitionist movement. We played and wrote music and we filled our heads and hearts with stories that will be alchemised into songs over the following couple of months. 

On Friday 23rd June Angeline and Cohen will be running a workshop for the Fusion Choir, a children's choir from Queens Park in Bedford and then we will join the Invisible Folk Club Band for a concert in the Courtyard of the Cowper and Newton Museum on Saturday 24th June 2023. (tickets via the museum.)

Photo here and below by Ian Yarwood

Pictures of the Invisible Folk Club Band below by Matt Fleming

Grace will lead me home is a wide ranging project. We mark the 250th anniversary of the writing of Amazing Grace and explore the life of its writer John Newton. 

We have recorded interviews with Tom Jones (pictured by Chris Madeley) on Newton's life. We talked to Marylynn Rouse of the John Newton Project about his faith and to Martin Clarke of the OU about the evolution of the melody. When he was young John Newton was the captain of a ship that traded slaves and later in his life he was an abolitionist. We talk to James Walvin about slavery. And we talked to Judy Collins on sining this great hymn. Each of these is a separate podcast available on most streaming services or via www.invisiblefolk.com .

We also wanted to think about what impact the Transatlantic Slave Trade might have on today's society. We spoke to three people of Caribbean descent to hear their experiences. Cohen Braithwaite Kilcoyne, Sharon De Leonardis and Pea Stepney.

Our museums, libraries and research institutes shape the past into stories that we equate to the lives we live today and so they can influence the way we understand difficult issues like slavery. We spoke to three heritage professionals to hear about the challenges they face and the ways in which they tell us our story. We spoke to Lydia Saul of the Higgins Bedford, Amanda Molcher of the Cowper and Newton Museum and Sally-Anne Huxtable who was the head curator of the National Trust.

You can find these on streaming services including Spotify and Apple Music and if you subscribe to the Invisible Folk Club channel you will never miss a future episode.