Age to Age- Songs for a Pilgrim People at Penshaw
Listen to sound bites from the latest album by Boyce and Stanley, Age to Age:
Sweet Heart of Jesus (MP3 800K)
For more information, to buy the album go to
Two contemporary Catholic songwriters – who sent their new album to the Pope have performed at a church in Penshaw.
Jo and Mike performing at Our Lady Queen of Peace, Penshaw
On September 29 Our Lady Queen of Peace RC Church, Penshaw was the venue for a concert performed by Boyce and Stanley on their national tour promoting their latest album.
The church was filled with over 250 people who came from all parts of the diocese and beyond to enjoy a brilliant concert. Jo Boyce and Mike Stanley performed songs from "Age to Age".
Jo and Mike said at the start of the evening: "One of our hopes is that people will join in the singing." The audience certainly needed no encouragement to join in their favourite well known hymns with great enthusiasm and the atmosphere in the church was electric.
Jo and Mike and their band are on the second leg of a pilgrimage promoting "not our songs but your songs", as they put it - traditional Catholic well loved hymns sung in a contemporary style.
A special "Friends Choir" joined Jo, Mike and their band for selected songs; this choir was made up of people from different parts of the diocese, and a team of local diocesan musicians took part in some of the songs.
The 'Friends' Choir join the Band for some of the songs
Boyce & Stanley, who are based in Birmingham, have sent their latest album Age to Age on iPod for the Papal seal of approval, and have been asking supporters what other music they would suggest the Pope listen to.
Mike Stanley, who plays guitar and sings in the duo, said: “We’d be delighted to know that the Pope enjoyed our versions of classic hymns, and it got us wondering what he listens to himself. My guess would be classical or choral music, but it would be fascinating to find out what other tunes he would add.”
Boyce and Stanley and full backing group sing tracks from 'Age to Age' at Penshaw
Joanne Boyce, the second member of the duo, added: “There is much talk in church circles at the moment about the inappropriateness of contemporary instruments like drums and guitars in favour of the more traditional sounds of organ and choir. However, our experience over the last 11 years suggests it need not be an ‘either/or’ situation but rather ‘both/and’. What really matters is the standard of musicianship and the truth it seeks to express.”
Jo Boyce and Mike Stanley The Age to Age album marks ten years for Boyce & Stanley recording and playing together. It features beautiful, new arrangements of many of the well-known and well-loved classic Catholic hymns that will be familiar to churchgoers of all ages. It was officially released in the UK on September 15 after two launch concerts in Birmingham and London, after which Boyce & Stanley also presented an iPod to Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor.
More information, as well as national tour dates and extracts from the new album, can be found online at www.agetoage.info