After the need for a couple of postponements, Rob and I were finally able to make our return to the Baldock and Letchworth Blues, Folk and Roots Club.  As one of the club organisers, Alan Hewson, noted in his kind introduction before we took to the stage, it was ten years ago that we first went along to the club to do a floorspot; to quote the beautiful song by Sandy Denny, Who Knows Where The Time Goes?

As we walked in ahead of the show, it was a pleasure to see John and Di Cullen from Nellies’ Folk Club in Tonbridge and to discover that they were providing the support slot for the evening.  This they did with aplomb covering a mixture of British and American folk songs, including a tribute to the already sorely missed Vin Garbutt.  Ahead of our second set, Alan provided a trademark Johnny Cash song which was then followed by the beautiful voice of club regular, Dorry, singing an Irish classic ballad.

Because of our familiarity with the club and many of its members, we settled into our first set quickly and throughout the evening provided a mixture of established and new material which seemed to go down very well with the audience.  In honour of Dorry, we later performed The Maid of Culmore as our encore.

Many thanks to Alan and Sue Hewson for the invitation to perform again at the club and for their enduring support over many years and we look forward to returning to the Baldock and Letchworth Blues, Folk and Roots Club in due course. 

Following Na-Mara’s successful participation in the Bromyard Folk Festival last year, we were approached by a friend of a friend, the organiser of a series of concerts in the village of Yarpole (Music at St Leonard’s), to perform one of the concerts in the current series.  This is something we were naturally delighted to do. 

Knowing that we were going to be in Herefordshire in early May, we then contacted Genevieve Tudor who had invited us to perform at last year’s Festival at the Edge in Much Wenlock and who broadcasts the excellent Sunday folk programme on BBC Radio Shropshire to see if she was interested in us participating in her show given that we would be in the vicinity.  To our delight, she said she was interested.

So, last Friday, we set out on a bright sunny morning to get ourselves over to BBC Radio Shropshire studio in Shrewsbury to perform for, and be interviewed by, Genevieve, before moving on south to Yarpole for our evening concert in Yarpole.

The journey west was mercifully uneventful, and we arrived in good time at the BBC studio in Shrewsbury where Genevieve was working on aspects of her forthcoming Sunday broadcast. We were warmly welcomed by her and a number of her very friendly colleagues at the station and soon had a much-needed cuppa in our hands.

Pretty immediately we were then invited to perform an impromptu number for the current ‘drive-time’ programme and moved quickly into the relevant studio and within a minute or so were performing live – great fun!   I hope the late afternoon commuters enjoyed our newly translated song , If I Had But One True Love, and it wasn’t too much of a shock following on as it did from Gladys Knight and the Pips. Certainly, the very friendly producers of the drive-time programme seemed delighted with what we did.

We then sat down with Genevieve in her studio and talked with her about our music, interspersing chat with live versions of our songs Only For Three Months and Black Widows.  With this May being the 80^th anniversary of the evacuation of the Basque Children from Bilbao, Only For Three Months was an obvious song for us to perform. 

Stopping then only for a few photos with the great lady, we got back in the car and set off on the short journey to Yarpole for the evening concert.

We arrived in Yarpole in good time and our first question was whether or not to use the p.a. system for the gig.  As we arrived, the concert organiser Rose Jenkins also arrived and between us we decided that the acoustics in the truly gorgeous church of St Leonard’s were such that a p.a. system was surplus to requirements and that it would be a far more intimate evening if we performed without it.

This made the evening set up a lot easier.  We knew from ticket pre-sales that we had a guaranteed good attendance coming along for the show and, with that in mind, we set the stage up and did some preliminary tuning of the instruments before going off to have some food. 

Rob and I are blessed with great friends in the village of Yarpole, Adam and Hetty.  This is a friendship rooted in my days at university. Knowing that we were performing that evening, they had organised for another half dozen friends from the old days to come along to the concert and stay for the weekend.  To facilitate this, they had rented a nearby converted barn that slept ten or more people and furbished it with food and drinks for the weekend.   So, it was a delight for Rob and I and my wife Gill who was travelling with us to be reunited with such longstanding friends. 

We grabbed a quick bite to eat before returning to the church for final preparations for the concert. When we got there, the venue was already filling up rapidly.  By the appointed time, the seats were all filled.

There was no support act for the evening so, after some kind words from Rose, we went onto the stage to perform our first set. 

This was an ideal audience for us.  They were attentive to and appreciative of the songs and, although most were not regular followers of folk, seemed more than willing to get into the swing of the choruses.  It was also lovely to see so many of my old university pals sitting in the audience  - most of whom hadn’t heard me play since hearing my ‘moon-in-June’ love songs at a student’s union ball decades before.

If I say so myself, the concert went wonderfully well.  We enjoyed ourselves and it was clear from the comments afterwards and the excellent CD sales, that the audience had enjoyed it too.  We were invited to talk about the instruments we play and we finished with robust calls for an encore and we willingly obliged.  Rose then finished off the evening with some more kind words.

With no p.a. and lots of willing helpers, we were able to pack up quite quickly after spending some time chatting with audience members.  Poor Rob had to get back to St Albans that night, but my wife and I were able to stay on for that and the following night.  We had great walks, great weather, great food, great accommodation and a chance to catch up with close friends – the weekend could not have been better.  It was also nice to meet villagers again the following day and to receive their continuing excellent feedback about the Friday night event.

Many thanks to Rose Jenkins for the invitation to participate in the Music at St Leonard’s concert series, and to Hetty and Adam for their unbounded hospitality.  It was truly a weekend to remember. 

Many thanks also to Genevieve Tudor for the invitation to join her on her show.  If you haven’t listened to Genevieve’s Sunday Folk programme, check it out.  She has both an encyclopaedic knowledge of, and excellent taste, in folk music and this is evident every week in what she puts on her playlist. We are not yet sure when exactly our interview will be broadcast but expect it to be in the next few weeks. Have a listen!

Jon and Hilary McNamara (no relation) have given long and dedicated service to the promotion of folk music in and around Hertfordshire for over forty years.  Sadly, as the lease runs out on the Royal British Legion club in Windhill, Bishop's Stortford where the club takes palce, it looks like Stortfolk will be closing in July this year.

With this as background, it was lovely to be invited to play in the club’s final season last Thursday.  Jon and Hilary have been very supportive of Na-Mara over the past decade, and it was lovely to see them both again.  It was similarly nice to see three separate groups of our friends there having travelled from London, Rochester and Cardiff(!) to see us perform. 

Jon kicked the evening off with one of his trademark humorous music hall ballads, then other floor singers came up and performed, warming the audience up very well.  The banter has always been of the highest quality at Stortfolk. 

Our own performance was well received in what is the intimate setting of a side room in the clubhouse and the feedback at the break was very encouraging. The second half followed a very similar pattern but, this time, with additional input from a singer from Lancashire who sang some very funny songs indeed. Again, our second half went well, and our new material was well received with audience members then proving very generous in purchasing Na-Mara CDs.

Thankfully, we had the chance before departing to pay our own tributes from the ‘stage’ to Jon and Hilary for their longstanding promotion of folk music and traditions in the county before saying a personal thanks to all of the friends that had travelled to see us.

Many thanks to Jon and Hilary for this invitation to perform one last time at Stortfolk and we wish them both well for a long and musical retirement.  I know they both have plans to bring folk music to the town and, if these come off, we would love to support that venture. 

We have always enjoyed our trips to Barnet Folk Club.  Organiser JJ Dunne and his partner Jenny have always been most welcoming and their enthusiasm for the widest range of folk music has been evident throughout the time we have known them.

So, it was very nice to be invited to perform in what is the club’s spiritual home, namely, The Bull Theatre on Barnet High Street.  After ten years away, operating out of various parts of the Arts Depot in North Finchley, Barnet Folk Club recently returned to its roots.  Now a theatre school and a concert hall, The Bull Theatre affords the club an intimate space for performances (and a well-stocked bar).

Having arrived nice and early, we were able to talk with JJ and Jenny and catch up on all the club news. With audience numbers up, the need for a p.a. removed and the performance space reduced, the venue for the club has a very nice, intimate, feel to it. 

JJ kicked the evening off with three songs.  Interestingly, as Malcolm Hobbs had done the evening before at Redbourn Folk Club, JJ started with Victor Jara’s Hands.  This was followed by a trademark lively rendition of Christie Moore’s Viva La Quinta Brigada and he finished off with a rousing composition of his own.  On the last two of these songs, JJ was joined by young Steve Turnbull.

Steve then took over from JJ and provided three songs himself.  For those who haven’t seen Steve, he is a fine guitarist and mandolinist with an excellent voice.  Vocally, he has a superbly controlled delivery that reminded me a little of Chris Wood.  This is a name for the future; when you do see him, you are in for a treat.

Rob and I then took to the stage and were pleased to give another run out to all our new material. The more intimate nature of the new space makes it much easier for the Barnet audience to join in on choruses and engage in banter than was possible in the foyer of the Arts Depot, and everyone had a lot of fun.  It was also great to see that a number of local friends who hadn’t been able to make it to Redbourn the night before had come along to join the evening in Barnet. In short, we had a great time and, from the calls we had for an encore, it sounded like the audience did too.

As always, many thanks to JJ and Jenny for the invitation.  We wish the Barnet Folk Club all the very best for the future in their new home! Many thanks also to all those who came along and were so generous in their post-gig support.

It was a real pleasure to return to Cambridge Folk Club last Friday evening and to see so many old friends. 

We were there to support Brooks Williams.  Brooks has a widespread reputation for excellent guitar playing, finely wrought songs and for being a very friendly guy and we certainly experienced all of that. He was generous with his time and comments and was clearly and rightly loved by his many followers there to see him.

I’m pleased to report that our own brief set seemed to be very well received, and it felt like we had connected with a mainly new audience for us.  The comments made to us at the break and at the end of the evening were most encouraging.  We were able to introduce a new song to the set, translated from the original French, called ‘If I Had But One True Love’ and we performed our substantially reformatted song about Spanish Civil War volunteer nurse, Penny Fyvel, ‘The English Penny’.

It was a lovely night and we would like to thank Jim for his kind introduction and his comments from the stage, to Marion, Andy, Robin and others on the club committee for the original invitation, and to Chris Collett for producing an excellent sound for both ourselves and Brooks Williams throughout the evening.  We are already looking forward to our next trip to Cambridge Folk Club.   

Those who know our music will be aware that we do a lot of work with the International Brigades Memorial Trust. As such, it was a great honour to be invited to participate in one of a series of events to commemorate and remember the courage and sacrifice of the brave men and women who went to fight and to care for fighters in the battle against Franco's fascists in the second half of the 1930s.

On this particular evening, we were afforded time to perform the fullest range of our music relating to the Spanish Civil War and the history of the Basque Children of 1937. So, in addition to our own material we were able to perform other songs like Ewan MacColl's Jamie Foyers and the Brigaders' marching song, Valley of Jarama. 

The event was hosted at the Marx Memorial Library in Clerkenwell Green in London which, if you are unfamiliar with it, is a hugely interesting and important archive of left-wing materials, including a stunning collection of archive material on the British contingent of the International Brigades and their involvement in the Spanish Civil War.

In addition to our own contribution to the evening, IBMT President and actress Marlene Sidaway read a number of poems written by both combatants and commentators at the time. 

There were also two films shown, one of the International Brigades, including their march through Barcelona and La Passionaria's address to them, and another showing a commemoration of the Dabrowski Battalion of Polish International Brigaders at the Polish Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Warsaw earlier this year. The latter film reminds us of the appalling rewriting of history that the current right-wing government in Poland is undertaking with respect to the International Brigades and their fight against fascism, and the brave fight that some individuals in Poland are leading to ensure this re-write doesn't gain credence. 

The evening was both intimate and thoughtful throughout. We would like to thank Jim Jump, Meirian Jump and all those involved in the IBMT for the invitation to perform.

(At the end of the evening, I managed to buy a book written by Penelope Fyvel about her experiences leading up to, during and after the Spanish Civil War. This is a fascinating read by the hero of our own song, The English Penny.)

You can’t beat spending an evening with friends and that is what we had last night in our hometown of St Albans, courtesy of Folk at the Maltings and event organiser, Alison MacFarlane.

As can be seen from the accompanying photos (with many thanks to our pal Ray Smith for taking them and sending them over), the Maltings is an intimate auditorium that invites a listening atmosphere.  This is ideal for us and the stories we tell.

Enjoying the luxury of proximity, there was no necessity for us to negotiate motorways to get to the venue – just rush hour town traffic – and, with military precision, Rob and I met up at the backstage door at exactly 7.00pm.  We ferried the gear in and got set up and tuned up for an 8.00pm start. A pre-concert trip into the bar (to get some water!) soon showed us that lots of our friends had turned up to see us and it proved possible to have a few snatched conversations before the evening’s proceedings began.

The show begun with a 30-minute set from St Albans Folk Festival New Roots finalist, Sophie Crawford. She was a delight to listen to, performing British and French traditional songs and some of her own compositions on melodeon, ukulele and dulcimer.  As well as being a musician, Sophie is an actor, and her stage presence was wonderfully strong.  We wish her well with everything she does.

Looking through our set list, we strove to put as much of our newer, unrecorded, material into the performance as we could.  So, ‘We Met Upon the Barricades’, ‘The Recompense’, ‘Time Wears Awa’ ’, Black Widows’ and ‘The Poor Refugee’ were all given an airing.  I’m pleased to say that they were all well received, as was the show in general.  Conversations were animated at half time and after the show, and the feedback was upliftingly positive. 

It was also lovely to have an audience member come up at half time and tell me that, coming from north Devon, she was intrigued by our song about pirateer Captain John Avery saying that she herself knows four John Averys in her home area near Bideford.

After the audience had drifted away, Rob and I were able to pack up our gear and be home by 11.15pm. This certainly left me time for a couple of beers, catching up with a couple of episodes of BBC Alba’s superb Scots folk programme, Horo Gheallaidh, before going off to bed.

Many thanks to Alison MacFarlane for the invitation to again play Folk at the Maltings and thanks to all those who came to support us.  We sincerely hope that we have more evenings together at the Maltings in years to come. Our performance was the start of Folk at the Maltings’ autumn season.  With the Devines and Harp and a Monkey next up in November and December, local folk fans clearly have much to look forward to.

For the final day of our four-day trip to Yorkshire we had been invited to perform at an event to raise funds for a more fitting memorial than currently exists to eight International Brigaders who left the city to fight in the Spanish Civil War.  It was an honour to be invited to perform, and we very much looked forward to performing alongside punk folk hero Joe Solo.

After a mighty breakfast we set off along the M62 to Hull.  We arrived in good time, parked up near the venue - the magnificent St Mary’s Lowgate - and had a quick bite to eat in the nearby Three John Scotts pub, so named because St. Mary’s had had three successive vicars all called John Scott in the 19^th century.

On the stroke of three o’clock we went across to the venue to meet up with event organisers Gary Hammond and Joe Francis, and to work with Marshall Mateer to take some video footage and stills of us in action ahead of the formal event which began at five o’clock.

At five, the church filled up and, through words and song, we gave a very brief history of the Spanish Civil War, the role played in it by the International Brigade and the story of the Basque children of 1937.  There were many relatives of the eight fighters who had fought in Spain in what was now a full church, and it was an emotional event to be involved with.

After we had finished the first half of the programme and everyone had refreshed themselves with tea and coffee, Joe Solo performed for an hour.  If you don’t know Joe Solo’s work, seek it out.  His delivery is compelling, his lyrics and song structures are of the highest quality, and he has a beautiful sense of melody.  He held the audience rapt for the whole time he was performing.

As the light through the stained glass faded and the church lights came on, this emotional event came to a close. After chatting with audience members, we said our goodbyes to Joe, Gary and Joe, and to Marshall and his son Patrick who had also been taking footage of proceedings, and we packed the car up for the long journey home to St Albans. I am pleased to report that the event raised a decent amount of money towards the memorial statue.  Many congratulations to all those involved!

Many thanks to Gary Hammond and Joe Francis for inviting us to perform alongside Joe Solo and to remember the eight men from Hull who left the city to fight Franco’s fascists in the Spanish Civil War, Jack Atkinson, Jim Bentley, Morris Miller, Robert Wardle, Joe Latus, Richard Mortimer, Sam Walters and Leslie Wilson.   Every best wish to those raising funds for a proper memorial to these eight brave individuals, the first four of whom listed were killed in Spain.

After two excellent nights at the Topic Folk Club in Bradford and Folk at the Grove in Leeds, we set off in good time from our base in Rawden to travel, first, to have something to eat in Saltburn with senior club member at The White Hart Folk Club, Kevin Hall, and then to travel on to the club itself.

This was a nostalgic journey for me and a voyage of discovery for Rob.  As a boy living in Middlesbrough, I used to go camping near the beautiful villages of Castleton and Danby.  So, having pretty much the full day to ourselves, we chose a route that would take us over the North York Moors through Castleton and Danby and on to the folk mecca that is Whitby.  This was Rob’s first time on the moors and the weather for the trip could not have been better to show him the immense beauty of this area.  Whitby was similarly ravishing in the clear autumn air and the 199 steps to the ruined Abbey were a joy to climb and the view from the top every bit as stunning as I remembered it.

We then travelled up the coast road, stopping briefly in the lovely village of Staithes, to meet up with Kevin who provided us with a great meal.  Kevin’s knowledge of folk music generally and Teesside-based music in particular is compendious, and it was wonderful to hear him talk of both the recent celebrations in the Teesside area of the songs and artwork of the sadly departed local folk hero and polymath, Graeme Miles, and his ongoing work to ensure Graeme’s legacy is properly remembered.

Fully nourished, the three of us set off for the White Hart Folk Club in Mickleby. 

Mickleby is a small village but boasts a fantastic pub with the White Hart Inn.  The landlord is demonstrably very supportive of the folk club and it is clear that the club members relish getting together in a cosy side room in the pub for a good singsong on a Saturday night. 

We arrived with plenty of time to say our hellos and to tune up properly.  Kevin had already told us about the excellent chorus singing in the club and that proved obvious from the very first song of the evening (led by him) and lasted for the entirety of the evening.  The floor singers were consistently excellent throughout the evening.  We weren’t the only visitors for the evening. There was a young man now based in Norfolk who came along and performed an excellent version of Richard Thompson’s song Beeswing and, gracing the evening with a beautiful solo, was Hazel Richings from well-known Hull-based folk duo, Hissyfit. 

I am pleased to report that our own two 45-minute sets went down extremely well.  There was something about the warm atmosphere in the room that brought the best out of us. 

Knowing the chorus singing abilities of the club, we decided to put our song (English Penny) about Spanish Civil War medic and hero, Penny Feiwel, second in our set.  As we began to introduce the song, we could see two club members become particularly agitated until one called out “We know her. She stayed with us.”  Giles and Mary then proceeded to tell us how, when they were young and living in London, Penny Feiwel had lived with them.  They also recalled how she came to be called Penny in the first place.  This was a most delightful intervention and, in truth, an emotional one – to meet people who actually knew the great Penny Feiwel.

Not surprisingly, after the show we stayed on for a long time chatting to Giles and mary and to a number of other club members.  The feedback on our music was very supportive, and the atmosphere was so lovely.  However, eventually, we had to say our goodbyes and set off back to Rawden; our third late night in a row.

The history of our being booked at the White Hart Folk Club was that Kevin Hall had attended a Folk 21 showcase event for North Yorkshire and thought that we would be a good fit for the folk club in Mickleby.  So, not only would we like to thank Kevin for his invitation to perform at The White Hart but we would also like to thank Folk 21 for organising the original showcase event that led to this booking.  As I wrote in my blog for October 4^th 2014 the idea of facilitating folk acts to get gigs outside their home regions is beneficial not only for folk acts but for folk audiences and folk music in general.

We would like to thank Kevin for all of his wonderful support in getting us to The White Hart Folk Club and for nourishing us in advance with a fine chilli con carne, and we would like to thank all the club members, including MC for the evening, Alan, for their warm welcome and kind words throughout the evening.  Finally, we would like to thank club members Giles and Mary for telling us more about a hero of ours, Penny Feiwel.  

We sincerely hope to make our return to The White Hart Folk Club at some time in the future.  It is a great club, in a great location. 

What a pleasure it was to perform at the famous Folk at the Grove last Friday evening.  After a morning walking at Almscliffe Crag - a millstone grit outcrop between Leeds and Harrogate - and an excellent pub lunch in the sunshine in Ilkley, it was a fine end to the day to get involved in an evening of good music at The Grove Inn in central Leeds.

Accompanied by my brother, we parked up close to the pub and made our way to a cosy room in The Grove Inn decorated throughout with large black and white etchings of folk heroes from the last sixty years, and a spotlighted stage at the far end of the room. Club organisers Brenda and Norrie Spence welcomed us warmly and club members were quick to say hello.  We never drink when we perform but so convivial was the atmosphere in the room, I can confess to being sorely tempted!

At the appointed hour, the club came to attention and the good music (and excellent banter) flowed. Folk at the Grove is endowed with a lot of talent amongst its members; too much for me to try and list here.  Suffice it to say there was both quality and variety with everything from humorous poems and songs, great rousing choruses and shanties, to delicate classical and traditional pieces played on guitar and concertina.

We played a couple of songs in the first half ‘round-the-room’ and I am pleased to report they seemed to go down well.  For the second round-the-room, MC Brenda accorded us the honour of closing the evening with two songs.  Just before we took to the stage a group of young people quietly took up residence at the back of the room.  Our two chosen numbers to close the evening were Only For Three Months, about the experiences of the Basque children of 1937 and two Galician muiñeiras.  When we returned to our seats, we were greeted by a few more young people enthusiastic to talk to us about the music.  It turned out they were overseas students visiting Leeds - with some amongst them from Galicia and the Basque country.  They were very emotional to hear songs about and tunes from their homeland.  It was similarly very kind of the regular club members to take time to tell us how much they had enjoyed our music and visit.

Many thanks to Brenda and Norrie for looking after us so well throughout the evening.  Similarly, many thanks to all the club members who sang along so heartily with our choruses and were so generous in their feedback at the end of the evening.  We sincerely hope to visit the Folk at the Grove again at some time in the future and, until then, we wish the club all the very best!