12th January 2010 at The St. Neots Folk Club
Following an extensive period of rehearsals following our time in the studio, Rob and I were raring to go. As such, it was with great concern that we watched the snow pile up, the roads become more difficult and the ice and slush get worse. Thankfully, the weather eased to make it certain that we could get on the road and start what looks to be a busy and exciting 2010 for us.
Into the studio, mid-December 2009
The main reason why we have been relatively quiet over the final quarter of 2009 is that we have been preparing to go into the recording studio and record our current repertoire. Some might wonder why it has taken us so long to do this. We are passionate about our music and our ‘project’ and devote a lot of our free time to it. However, both of us have full-on, full-time, work and family commitments. As such, we are ‘time poor’ and finding the requisite amount of time to go into a studio and do things properly is very hard to do.
Herga Folk Club, 30th November 2009
We had visited the renowned Herga Folk Club in 2008 where we had the honour of meeting the great Johnnie Collins, who had been very supportive when we explained to him what we were trying to achieve through na-mara. It was, therefore, with great sadness that we heard that Johnnie had died earlier in the year; neither of us knew this and had been really looking forward to seeing him again. He was a major figure in the folk world and will be very sorely missed.
King Harry Pub, St Albans, 6th October 2009
There is a nice sing-around session held first Tuesday of the month in the King Harry Pub and, having not said hello to friends there for a while, we decided to drop in and play a few songs and tunes in the session. Always nice to see friendly faces and Rob and I want to do more in our home town.
Tudor Folk Club, Chesham 28th September 2009
After a restful summer in which we both recharged batteries and moved on to seeking out and developing new material, it was good to be back playing again and it was particularly nice to be back at the excellent Tudor Folk Club in Chesham. We had played in a sing-around there earlier in the year and had kindly been invited back to do a couple of extended sessions at the end of another of their sing-arounds.
The Cambridge Folk Festival, 31st July 2009
Well, the day arrived. Cambridge Folk Club had honoured us by asking us to join with others and represent them in the Club Tent at the Cambridge Folk Festival. For both of us, this was the most exciting of invitations. Neither of us had visited the festival before and had only the most hazy idea of what to expect - but, clearly, the reputation of the festival goes before it and we knew it would be a very big deal!.
The Bull at Barton-le-Clay, 15th July 2009
It is always a pleasure working with Ross Scrivener and, as such, we were very pleased to travel to The Bull at Barton-le-Clay to give support for his new venture there. A very encouraging turn-out for the evening - inlcuding one person who had made the trip especially to see us. Dedication indeed!
Following some excellent floor spots we perfrormed around a 40 minute set. This gave us chance to continue to work up some new material, including Nellie Torrence and Jeannie Waldie, as well as get some much needed performing in prior to the CAmbridge Folk Festival club tent.
Two tales of one city, 1st and 4th July 2009
You win some, you lose some – not every experience can be enjoyable and we witnessed the extremes of performing in central London this week.
Tudor Folk Club, 29th June 2009
Rob and I had the pleasure of travelling across to Chesham for our first visit to the renowned Tudor Folk Club in Chesham. As we like to do initially when introducing ourselves to a club, we attended one of the club’s round the room singers’ evenings. It didn’t surprise us, knowing the reputation of the club, that there was a lot of talent on show. There was some great guitar, bouzouki, and accordion playing, and music everywhere from Caribbean calypso to Woody Guthrie, to our own mix of French and Asturian music.
Portland Arms, St Albans, June 28th 2009
Rob and I made our small contribution to the St Albans festival on Sunday evening. There was a lot of folk music in the festival – not surprising given the strength of the folk music community in the town. As St Albans citizens, we are probably not as close to the local folk music community as we could or should be, so we were really keen to join old friends like Alison McFarlane, Ross Scrivener from the Barton-le-Clay and Cathy for a pub session.
