It was both an honour and a delight last night to participate in a moving evening of music and storytelling in the Trinity Fare Cafe in Dartford on the evening of Day 4 of the annual walk organised by the Refugee Tales organisation.

Taking Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales as its inspiration, the Refugee Tales walk this year is from Canterbury through to Westminster, over a period of 6 days.  The walk is undertaken to show solidarity with refugees, asylum seekers and immigration detainees and each evening the walkers are addressed by leading writers with newly written tales that offer new insights into the ongoing plight of refugees and others.

As such, we were delighted to be invited to perform and we shared our musical duties with Mike ‘Dr John’ McKeon, a first-rate blues singer based in the Brighton area.

Expertly compered with wit and wisdom by the host for the evening, Sameena Zehra, we were treated to two new tales by leading writers.  The first was The Voluntary Returner’s Tale delivered by Caroline Bergvall and the second was The Barrister’s Tale presented by Rachel Holmes.

I am pleased to report that our own contribution to the evening was well received, and we were pleased to include within our brief set our new composition ‘The Poor Refugee’.

Many thanks to Anna Pincus for both the invitation to perform at one of the Refugee Tales’ events and for the hospitality shown to us on arrival. Thank you also for the excellent food and company. We wish Refugee Tales well with its ongoing work and hope to perform to its walkers again sometime in the future.

As it has been in years past, it was a great honour for us to be invited to perform at the Annual Commemoration event for the International Brigades, held by the IB Memorial Trust at Jubilee Gardens last Saturday lunchtime.

In addition to presentations from senior figures in the IBMT and the Asociación de Amigos de las Brigadas Internacionales, it was a delight to share the podium with Spanish rap artist Perro Lobo, with two members of the cast of Neil Gore’s new play (Dare Devil Rides to Jarama - about the amazing Speedway rider Clem Beckett who volunteered to fight in Spain), the respected historian and author Prof. Paul Preston, the leading Trade Unionist Rodney Bickerstaffe and internationally renowned actress Maxine Peake. 

We were asked to kick the event off with two songs and, in recognition of the bravery of both the soldiers and the medical staff who volunteered to travel to Spain and fight fascism, we sang our compositions, The Bite and The English Penny.  We were also asked to accompany those attending in a rendition of the marching song, The Valley of Jarama, after the laying of wreaths and a minute silence. 

Other accompanied music was provided from Dare Devil Rides to Jarama, which begins its lengthy tour of the country on 24^th September.  Details of what sounds like a great show can be found at http://www.townsendproductions.org.uk/feedback/test .

Perro Lobo gave a bravura performance in Spanish of one of his compositions which internationally recognised actress Maxine Peake then powerfully delivered a translation of.  Maxine later returned to the podium at the end of the event to read two very moving poems in honour of those who volunteered to fight fascism in Spain. 

At the end of the event, many of those attending the Commemoration retired to the Camel & Artichoke in nearby Lower Marsh Street.  Despite a few spots of rain, it had been hot out in the open in Jubilee Gardens and many were glad of some shade and a cool drink or two.  We were able to stay for a short while but, having another musical engagement that evening, we had to say our goodbyes and leave late afternoon. 

As always, many thanks to Jim Jump and Marlene Sidaway for the invitation to participate in this important and moving event

We both saw an enjoyable end to the month of June last night with our gig at the new home of the former Hove Folk Club.  Now called Railway Roots, the club is held in a spacious room at the back of the famous Railway Inn at Portslade, near Hove (picture attached).  Located almost adjacent to Portslade station, the pub’s beer garden contains an old railway carriage and much of garden furniture is made from railway sleepers.  If we hadn’t been performing, it looked a good place for a pint or two on a summer’s night. 

Despite the M25’s best efforts to stop us, the (three hour) trip to Hove allowed us to meet up with friends and family in nearby Shoreham for a cuppa and a catch up before heading off to the gig.

We knew in advance that well known club organiser Robb Johnson was going to be away gigging himself that evening, but we were very fortunate on arrival to be looked after by MC for the night, Roger Stevens and his partner Gill.  Together we all decided to go acoustic rather than use the club’s p.a. system.

Roger started the evening off very agreeably with a few of his own songs, accompanied by his friend Mike on cajon.  Roger is both a poet and an author and it is no surprise that his music is well written and infused with insight and humour.

Later in the evening, alongside a second set from Roger and Mike, local singer-songwriter and excellent guitarist, John London, performed a very interesting set touching on a range of contemporary issues.  Look out for John in the future.

For our part, we took the opportunity to try a few new things out in the set.  In particular, we played in public for the first time the new arrangement of our song about the plight of refugees, called simply The Poor Refugee.  We also played our new version of The English Penny, which recounts the experiences of nurse Penny Feiwel in the Spanish Civil War.

In contrast to our appalling journey to get to Hove, our return journey was plain sailing.   The journey flashed by as, like a medieval monk, I read out the latest BBC news live feeds about the political machinations taking place in Westminster to Rob as he drove. That story of political intrigue is going to take more than six verses of four lines to write, and heaven only knows what the chorus might be!

Thanks to Robb Johnson for the invitation, to Roger Stevens and Gill for looking after us so well and to Tom Cutler for only taking one raffle prize - even though, from memory, he won five out the eight.  We hope to see you all again, soon.

After a couple of hours working up some new materials for the heavy schedule of gigs in the weeks ahead, we set off early to get across the Dartford Bridge before the evening rush hour for our performance at Tonbridge Folk Club, known to many as 'Nellies'.

Arriving in the town early allowed us time to have a walk around the delightful castle and town centre.  The castle (picture attached) features in the logo of the Tonbridge Folk Club.

After a quick bite to eat we headed over to the folk club, newly relocated to a room upstairs at Ye Olde Chequers Inn in the centre of the town.

With club organiser Roger Resch performing elsewhere that evening, we were welcomed and looked after by John and Di Cullen, experienced club and session organisers in their own right and now running a folk evening every other Monday at the Boar’s head Inn at nearby Crowborough. Not long after we arrived, an old acquaintance from Watford Folk Club, Dave Auld arrived. Newly arrived in the area, Dave has quickly established himself as a well-known figure in the Kent folk scene.

With various people unable to attend, the evening ended up being quite intimate.  However, this allowed Dave, John and Di and other club regulars more time to perform and show the rich variety of talents existing in the club.

Our own sessions seemed to go well and, given the dismal goalless performance by the English football team at the European Championships, they remained undisturbed by any cheers or hurrahs emanating from the bar below.

Many thanks to Roger Resch for the invitation to perform again at Nellie's and many thanks to John, Di and other club members for sharing the evening with us.  We very much hope to see you all again soon, perhaps at the forthcoming Broadstairs Folk Week.

It was fun to be involved in a ‘hometown’ gig over the weekend.  With the Town Hall being redeveloped, the traditional venue for this year’s St Albans Folk Festival sessions was unavailable and the organisers had negotiated performance space with half a dozen of the town’s best pubs.

We performed a half hour concert down at the White Hart Tap.  We decided to keep the energy up with a high octane set and were rewarded with an attentive and appreciative audience. 

Before and after our performance we managed to catch some very different sets by Graham Swannell, Pete White and, all the way from Bournemouth, Polly Morris.  Master of Ceremonies, Julian Mount was on characteristically great form.  His ‘Multicoloured Blues’ was a standout. 

Many thanks to all our friends for popping along to see us.  Especial thanks go to local banjo expert and school chum of mine, Rick Payman, for breaking away from his music session to come along and see us play.

Finally, well done to all the organisers from both St Albans and from the very active and involved Watford Folk Club for making the day a success.  In particular, thanks go to both Alison Raymond and Alison MacFarlane for all their hard work, with others, over many months to make and shape this event. Let’s hope it has kindled a new interest in folk music amongst casual attendees at these pub sessions.

On a high from an excellent day at the Gate to Southwell Festival, Rob and I set off mid-afternoon to play live and be interviewed on Doug Welch’s Sunday evening Kent Folk programme on BBC Radio Kent.  We had jointly selected this date with Doug ahead of our gig at nearby Tonbridge Folk Club (Nellie’s) on 20^th June.

The BBC Radio Kent studio being situated in Tunbridge Wells allowed us to stop off on arrival in the town for a cuppa, a chinwag (and a Tunnocks!) with family friends ahead of meeting up with Doug.

Fully refreshed we arrived at the studio to be met by Doug and his producer Casey whose warm welcome put us at our ease immediately. With a minimum of fuss, we were set up to record some live tracks and to talk with Doug and we both feel the relaxed atmosphere helped us give of our best. 

Once finished, we packed up, said our goodbyes and set off home. Travelling back home through Essex we were met with the most ominous stormy sky either of us has ever seen.  Looming curtains of rain and multiple lighting strikes flashing ahead of us made us feel like participants in one of those ‘twister chasers’ documentaries that are shown endlessly on cable TV channels. However, although aquaplaning on the M25 alongside the juggernauts and the speed junkies was a bit too interesting for comfort, it did nothing to dispel the augmented high we were now feeling at the end of a very satisfying weekend.

Many thanks to Doug Welch both for the invitation to visit him at BBC Radio Kent and for his kind words on the show.  Thanks also to the show’s producer, Casey, who did a great job.  We very much look forward to performing more in and around Kent and, we hope, running into Doug again when we do so.

It was Crowded House who sang that you should 'always take the weather with you'.  So, we did our best yesterday to take some sunshine with us from sunny St. Albans.  We certainly had 'four seasons in one day' on the drive up the Gate to Southwell Festival on Saturday but, as we arrived, having driven through torrential rain and thickening mist, the rain eased, and the sky brightened beyond its Tupperware grey.  So, we didn't do too badly.

We arrived at the Gate to Southwell’s new festival site on Southwell Racecourse as early as we could to make the best of the day.  The Gate to Southwell is a great festival with a fantastic line up and this year was no exception, and we were keen to make the best of it.

We were booked for two performances, one mid-afternoon on the Folk Stage and one in the evening on the Barleycorn Stage.  The time in the middle was our own and we used it actively to see some other performers not to forget noshing a very fine Burrito from the Tex-Mex stand.

In terms of bands we hadn't seen before the stand outs, not surprising given our interests, were the multi-talented Vishtèn and Meaghan Blanchard.  Two of the members of Vishtèn and Meaghan Blanchard originate from Prince Edward Island and fiddler Pascal Miousse comes from the nearby Magdalen Islands on the Eastern coast of Canada.  What musical riches must exist in that area! Is there anything that the members of Vishtèn can’t play well?

In terms of bands we knew well, The Jackie Oates Trio was superb as always and, at the 75th birthday celebrations for Bob Dylan organise by Jim Moray, we saw many of the festival headliners doing tributes to the great man.  These included Show of Hands, Pete Morton, The Henry Girls, Paul Downs and Mick Ryan and The Ooks of Hazzard.  Quite a line up when they are all on stage together.

For our mid-afternoon performance, we had the honour of following The Jackie Oates Trio on to the Folk Stage. We had chosen an upbeat set that attracted and maintained a good audience throughout the session.  Feedback from audience members (and CD sales) after the set were very encouraging. It was also lovely to see friends from Carrington Triangle, Cambridge and Loughton Folk Clubs in the audience.  Many thanks to them for coming along to support us.

In the evening session, we followed the irrepressible Isambard's Wheel onto the Barleycorn Stage.  The Sheffield-based foursome was on fine form and really got the evening off to a great start.  Watch out for them in the future.

Our own set was again upbeat.  With the weather closing in again, the rain beginning to teem down and a lot of ambient bass and drum noise from the nearby main stage we felt our quieter material risked being compromised.  Again, the audience appeared to enjoy what we did and showed a wonderful ability to pick up choruses quickly.

As we packed up and made way for our friends, Two Coats Colder, the rain began to ease but had already done damage. We had had a 30 second power failure during our set and, on the way out of the Barleycorn Stage area we passed more festival stewards fighting to make parts of the Beer Tent marquee waterproof again.

Mercifully, the A1 was kind to us - not too many travellers were out on such a rainy night - and we were home before midnight for a well-earned beer and bed.

Many thanks to the festival organisers for the invitation to play the great Gate to Southwell Festival again and especial thanks to Martin and Marion Smalley for their continuing support for us. Thanks also to Ali, Jake, Doug and his young colleague for delivering such a great sound, under time pressure, in both the Folk and Barleycorn Stages respectively. We certainly hope to make a return to Gate to Southwell at some time in the future and, if and when we do, we will do our best to bring some more lasting good weather with us.

This particular Friday 13^th turned out to be a beautiful day for na-mara to visit the seaside and Seaford Folk Club.  Seaford is a pretty little coastal town sitting between Brighton and Eastbourne and held in an upstairs room above a large and well-appointed British Legion Club, the Folk Club must have one of the best views of any folk club in the land. It takes some concentration not to be distracted into watching what is happening out on the water, especially when it lies shimmering in glorious Spring sunshine.

Although we are very familiar with the general area, this was the first time we had had the honour of performing at the Seaford Folk Club.  With the usual Friday evening shenanigans on the Heathrow section of the M25 we opted to come the ‘wrong’ way round the M25; a choice that was vindicated with us arriving successfully in Seaford in very good time.

Our timely arrival afforded us the opportunity for a cuppa, some sarnies and a stroll along the promenade to take in the stunning views, inspect the impressive white cliffs at the edge of town and watch the Newhaven ferry leaving port on its way to Dieppe.  Fully rested, we made our way across town to a very busy British Legion Club.

The striking thing about the Seaford Folk Club is the depth of folk knowledge and talent it possesses amongst its membership.  Before each of our sets, club regulars Liz Randall, John Cave, Steve and Diane Nevill, Derek Seed, MC for the evening Roger Resch and others all delivered songs and tunes, all to a very high standard and many we had not heard before. Of course, Roger, Liz and Derek are well known collectively across the folk scene in the south east, playing as threesome Hard Pressed and Roger is also one of the club organisers at Nellie’s Folk Club in Tonbridge and a lead organiser of Travelling Folk,  a song and tune collective that takes folk music into selected pubs around West Kent and East Sussex.

In terms of the evening itself, both of our forty-minute sets seemed to be well received and the willingness of the Seaford audience to join us in chorus was obvious from the outset. This was an intimate gig with a friendly audience who were good listeners and good singers. 

We thoroughly enjoyed our evening at Seaford Folk Club and, following a rendition of The Maid of Culmore as an encore, we packed up our gear, said our goodbyes and turned for home – this time going the ‘right’ way round the M25.

Thankfully, there were no motorway surprises on the return journey, but we did discover a new party game for long journeys.  Serendipitously plugging in my tablet to recharge, the audio system began to play music tracks stored on it – in alphabetical order, beginning with ‘A’. Playing our own game of ‘guess the track’ made the long journey home feel much shorter and we heard everything from Richard Thompson to Tejedor to Mozart to Indian band, Vas.  I can see us picking a random letter for many of the long journeys that face us in our busy year ahead.

Many thanks to John Cave, Roger Resch and all at Seaford Folk Club for their very warm welcome and for all their expert accompaniment.  We had a splendid evening at what is a lovely folk club, and we hope one day to return to the club and to the town of Seaford itself.

On another beautiful May evening, we travelled to Reading for our third evening performance in four days. Many years ago, Readifolk were the first folk club to engage us for a headliner spot and, through longstanding club organisers Colin and Una Waters and fellow club stalwarts, has been a consistent source of encouragement and support for us ever since.

Readifolk has now moved to a beautiful new venue, a hall in the grounds of the delightful Watlington House, which is itself a hidden architectural gem in central Reading. Of considerable age, the wood panelled hall where the club takes place has a very modern feel, has excellent acoustics and can accommodate a sizeable number of people.

With the capricious M25 being unusually benign to us, we arrived at the venue early and were able to fit in a little tour of the lovely, tulip-rich, walled garden ahead of Colin and Una arriving to let us in to the hall.  We now know a fair number of the club regulars at Readifolk and were quickly able to catch up on all the club’s news as they arrived over the next hour. It was also lovely to see a group of our closest friends who had come along to see us play.

As a club, Readifolk has an abundance of riches when it comes to singers and performers.  The club must have some very busy, high quality, singaround nights.  Namesakes Danny and Alison McNamara kicked this particular evening off with a couple of excellent songs on mandola and concertina. Jan followed with a well delivered and wry rendition of The Nutting Girl, and Malcolm Smith, with his East Anglian roots, provided two poignant and amusing songs from the region.

We then performed our first 40-minute set and the audience was very engaged and most generous in its chorus singing.  Again, our song ‘We Met Upon the Barricades’ seemed to be received very well.

At the break, a number of people went out into the walled garden to take in the cool evening air before returning for a second round of songs from club regulars.  Testimony to the resources the club has to hand, this second of songs was delivered by a completely different group of performers from the first half set.  Kristin, Robert and Jane provided an excellent array of traditional and contemporary songs and were followed by two rousing traditional songs from Readifolk’s next week’s guests, the fine three-piece RyeWolf.

We then returned to the stage to finish off the evening and couldn’t have been more pleased with the audience reaction to it.  We were again delighted to provide an encore at the end of the evening.

Many thanks to Colin and Una for the invitation to return to Readifolk and many thanks to Danny McNamara for his excellent MC-ing and for his very kind introduction before we took to the stage.  We wish Readifolk all the very best in their new home and we look forward to returning to this truly lovely club again sometime in the not too distant future.

The second leg of our three-gig weekend saw Rob and I on the road to revisit Hadleigh, a few miles to the west of Ipswich.  After supporting the excellent Vicky Swann and Jonny Dyer at the club back in September 2014, the organisers of the Hadleigh Folk and Acoustic Nights, Simon Haines and Val Woollard, very kindly invited us back to do a headline spot.

We set off early on a beautiful May afternoon to allow ourselves the chance to call on some of our closest friends who live in nearby Elmsett.  Despite the A12’s attempts to restrict the amount of time we had to catch up with our friends’ news, we still had plenty of time for a sarnie, cuppa and chinwag.

We said our goodbyes to arrive at the venue in good time to get set up.  Simon and Val were already hard at work laying out the venue for the night’s event and, soon after, Paddy Butcher arrived.  Paddy is a fellow member, with Simon and Val, of the wonderful, locally based, band Bof! who specialise in French and Breton music. Paddy was providing support for the evening and, given our insatiable appetite for all things French and Breton traditional, it was interesting to find out from him what Bof! were up to and what Paddy was listening to currently.

As twilight began to fall, the curtains were drawn, and the lights were dimmed in the Ansell Centre, and the mood was set for an evening of music.  A good-sized audience had arrived, and the evening began with some fine self-penned material and some Americana from two new visitors to the club, James and Angela.  In between their sets, Simon and Val themselves performed some really excellent French and British traditional material and some lovely tunes of their own composition.

In his selection of songs, Paddy showed he also has as compendious a knowledge of English traditional folk as he does of French and Breton traditional music.  We particularly enjoyed his rendition of The Blacksmith. 

We then took to the stage to conclude the evening with a sixty-minute set which went down very well, and we were delighted to be asked to return for an encore.  Our new song, We Met Upon the Barricades, which tells of the scandal of the relationships undercover policemen had with unsuspecting political activists in the early 1980s, is now establishing itself in the set. It was hugely gratifying after the concert to be told by someone with an unquestionably authoritative vantage point on the topic, that he supported both the sentiments expressed in the song and the need for the story to be told.

After a brief while chatting with audience members and saying a final goodbye to our friends who had also kindly come along to support us, we set off home.  As anyone who has driven it will know, the A12 had a few more tricks up its sleeve to keep us on our toes on the way home, but we got there in the end.

Many thanks to Simon and Val for their invitation and for looking after us so well at the Hadleigh Folk and Acoustic Nights.  With its great local musicians and venue, we wish the club every success in the future and look forward to returning there at some time in the future.