Following our visit to the Lost Horizons Folk Club back in mid-April 2011, organisers Trish and Paul had invited us back to play as part of the Leytonstone Festival   - something we were very pleased and willing to do.

Our blog record for the 15^th April 2011 records what a lively place this is to play – this is no ordinary folk club.  We were again upstairs at The Sheepwalk pub on Leytonstone High Street, and the atmosphere was similarly buzzing to the last time we had been there.  Trish and Paul were wonderfully welcoming again.  The upstairs room in the pub was once again filled with young people meeting and greeting each other, and the support they gave for the acts drawn from their group of friends was great and very touching –the young talent on show at the club is truly excellent.

Steve O’Donoghue started the night and was superb at getting everybody up and going.  I don’t know whether he has ever recorded his song ‘Accident of Birth’ , about the various ways in which ‘they’ are just the same as ‘us’ – but I love it and think it very very insightful.  Amongst others, Steve’s son Will did a great set of numbers. Paul and Trisha’s son, James did similarly – with friends knowing all the words, etc.  George Gilman did an excellent set, as his brother had done earlier – these are two very talented siblings!

The other support guests for the evening were the virtuoso duo Bow and Bellows, playing music from across central and eastern Europe.  If you haven’t seen Bow and Bellows, you should go and have a look – they play with both humour and great musicality.

We played a variety of loud and soft, and both got a wonderful listening to.  After the Fringe in the Fen gig, we were on top of our game and felt we did really well.  Russ, from Walthamstow Folk Club was on sound, and did an excellent job for us and, somehow, his sound mix and the atmosphere generally seemed to draw a little bit extra from us.

Top of the bill was Robb Johnson with his high energy, high powered songs about the plight of Britain today – all with great rhythm and memorable lyrics.  This was the first time I had seen him play – and he really got the jive jumpin’.  How his hand doesn’t drop off from the complex strumming patterns he does, I’ll never know!

With Rob driving and us finished with a while to go before the bar closed, a couple of pints of Speckled Hen then went down very well – a nice way to end a hardworking musical week – and no 6.00am start the next morning! 

Thanks to Trish and Paul, and all the home team at Lost Horizons for another enjoyable evening and looking after us so well again.

It is always a pleasure to play at the Watford Folk Club.  The organisers are so welcoming and friendly, there is so much talent amongst the floor singers , and they are listeners - the ideal audience for our music.  It had been some 18 months since we and, as such, we very much looked forward to the relatively short trip across the M25 to get there.  We were not disappointed. 

Floor singers all performed to the highest quality.   They performed both unaccompanied and armed with guitars, dulcimers, steel guitars, proved very entertaining, and with songs drawn from across the British Isles and North America, as well as one excellent song sung in Spanish.  It was lovely to see organiser Helen Chinn now accompanying her wonderful folk voice with nice guitar work as well.

Despite a headcold which increased the chances of my turning into anything from Sam the yodelling cowboy to Barry White dramatically over the course of the evening, apart from a few rusty moments in the first couple of songs, my voice settled down and didn’t appear cause too many issues.  We had the chance to play songs like The Silver Duro, The English Penny and Avery and the Merchants of Bristol for the first time at the club and they seemed to go down very well.  Very kindly, we were asked to do an encore at the end of the night and finished with Tri martolod/Three matelots.

We wish all at the Watford Folk Club well.  They have an excellent venue with easy parking, the organisers are very friendly, and they have some great talent in the club.  If you are in the Watford area and you like folk music, get along to this lovely club!

Mike Blair of the Bedford Folk Club has reviewed all three of our albums for Unicorn Magazine and, in so doing, has provided us with excellent feedback and constructive criticism that we have valued enormously.  Following his recent review of ‘The Bite’, we got in touch with Mike to properly thank him for both his kind words and for the help he had inadvertently given us over recent years.  In the correspondence that followed, Mike mentioned the Bedford Club and Rob and I thought it would be a great idea to finally meet Mike and visit one of the nearby clubs that we had not yet visited.

Bedford is a singers club for its members, rarely (if ever) inviting guest artists.  The members of the club all clearly know each other very well and the banter between them is absolutely top notch.  It was a real pleasure to meet with Mike and his fellow club members, who made Rob and I feel extremely welcome.  There is a lot of talent sat around the room at Daley's Club, just off the Bedford Road in Kempston. We had everything from a wonderful unaccompanied version of the Bruce Springsteen classic ‘A cautious man’, to a Noel Coward song, through Joni Mitchell, Tom Paxton and traditional songs from around the British Isles and North America.   Some extremely funny self penned songs were sung also – including one about Sweeney Todd – who had ‘a finger in every pie’.

The good humour evident in the room was later followed up by a laugh-out-loud Newsletter – somebody somewhere has missed their vocation in life.  We were warmly welcomed and, having travelled, were given more than our fair share of time performing.  Everyone seemed to enjoy what we did, and the invitation remains open for us to return – something we absolutely will do.  May thanks and best wishes to all at the Bedford Folk Club.

What an interesting venue! What an interesting club!

For Rob and I, this was the first time we had ventured into Cecil Sharp House, the home of the English Folk Dance and Song Society, near Regent’s Park in London.   Every Tuesday, the Sharps Folk Club has a singaround and, in line with our desire to become better known in the London Folk scene, this was an obvious place for us to want to visit.

For those who haven’t been to Cecil Sharp House it is a lovely, if rather imposing, venue. Fortunately, we were playing in a snug little bar on the lower ground floor where the hosts were friendly and the atmosphere was warm.  The room soon filled up and the small bar was selling good beer 

As one might have expected for such a venerable venue, the quality of the floorsinging was excellent and varied.  It seemed like almost everybody in the room was going to do a turn, and that wasn’t far off the truth of it.  There was music from all parts of the British Isles and North America.  The thing that struck me most was the very obvious knowledge that was held by those in that room.  I have listened to folk music, almost exclusively, from the age of 17 and I confess that I only recognised every fourth song that was performed over the course of the evening.  So, it was great to hear (to me at least) new material.

Rob and I appeared to go down well and, having expected to only get chance to play one possibly two numbers, we were eventually given space to perform four, with the hostess for the evening allowing us to finish the night off and saying some very kind words about our performances.

One of the songs we played was our composition Nellie Torrence and Jeannie Waldie, which is about the first (female) body snatchers in Edinburgh.  A fellow floor singer paid us the ultimate compliment at the end of the night when he asked me to remind him of the title of the song as he was intending to go upstairs to the library at Cecil Sharp House at some stage to find the song and possibly research it in a bit more detail.   He explained his own name was Burke and so he had an interest in such matters.  However, it was a great accolade to have a well versed folk singer thinking that one of our songs was traditional.  It suggests we are getting the tone and the delivery of our songs about right. 

Early on the morning immediately after the Knights of Harmony concert I had to set off to Washington DC on ‘day job’ duties.  I did not return across the pond until the morning of the 19^th October and so it was that evening that  I went straight into another gig; this time at Jon McNamara’s (no relation) Stortfolk folk club at Bishop’s Stortford.  Thankfully, I hadn’t had to go back into work that morning.  So, I had managed to grab a couple of hours sleep in the afternoon after not sleeping too well on the ‘red-eye’, before Rob picked me up.  So, I was feeling OK by the time we got to the gig.

Stortfolk is in a new venue now and very nice it is too; a cosy room at the Royal British Legion club in the town.  For those that don’t know it, Stortfolk is a club with some excellent instrumentalists - certainly on accordion and whistles of every hue.  Jon himself does a nice line in music hall numbers, and the whole club is always and universally very friendly.

Numbers were small that night but everybody enthusiastically joined in on our choruses and Rob and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.  Jon has always been very supportive of our work and it was great to see him again. He was most kind to us, both privately and in his introductions to the audience.  We also sold a few CDs which was very encouraging too.

Now wide awake, I wasn’t quite sure how the night’s sleep was going to go.  However, with Rob driving and him having recently bought me a birthday present of a bottle sized cool bag, I had my ‘night medicine’ with me, nice and cool – a bottle of Hook Norton Gold, to drink in the car on the way home.  We tend never to drink before we perform but a glug on the way home is very nice. Poor Rob had to keep his eyes on the road as I slurped my pint.  That night I can report, I slept like a baby!

Saturday 15^th October, saw Rob and I off to the Elgiva Theatre in Chesham to take part in an evening of Barber Shop music organised by the Barber Shop choir known as The Knights of Harmony.  Every year the Knights hold a concert and every year they invite a musical act from a different genre to add a little variety into the evening.

Rob and I have been lucky over the years to have been well treated by a whole range of folk club and festival organisers.  However, the welcome from the Knights of Harmony was truly remarkable.  They had thought of everything and they were kind and helpful to us throughout.  We were given a superb green room, which we shared with national Barber Shop champions Steel and next door to the national female champions, Miss Demeanour.  When we got in there, there were sandwiches, fruit and water waiting for us.  We were given a hand to get our kit in and out of the building, and on and off the stage – all done with the cheeriest of smiles and good humour.   We had chance to do a full and proper sound check with an excellent p.a. and sound technician while the Knights of harmony, who would be confined to their dressing room once the show began, taking the chance to listen to us and cheer us on.  We likewise took the chance to watch Steel, Miss Demeanour and the Knights of Harmony all do their sound checks.  This is a kind of music which I am very unfamiliar with - other than seeing it on films in my youth.  So, it was a real treat to see it up close and in colour!  There is so much skill in those arrangements and harmonies.

As the time for the show approached, we retreated to the green room feeling more than slightly under-dressed for the occasion.  This was a proper show with co-ordinated suits and things!  However, no-one seemed to mind.  We watched the Knights and Miss Demeanour perform on the TV provided in the green room.  We then tip-toed to the back of the stage and, with military precision and the very kindest of words from the MC, were brought on stage to do our first 15 minute slot, which seemed to go down very well – ours were the only instruments played all evening, the rest was all acapella.  Then Steel came on, wearing their national medals, and took the concert to a rousing first half end.

Following the break, a slightly different order was adopted but we did a further well appreciated 15 minutes, retreated to the green room to watch the rest of the show.   We then returned to the stage to re-join with all of the other acts for the grand finale – a song called The Irish Blessing. Thankfully, we had had an earlier rehearsal of this, new-to-us song and, as such, we did a better job of joining in than John Redwood, the former Tory Minister did when caught on telly trying to sing the Welsh National Anthem when he was Secretary of State for Wales.

After the show, as is the tradition with barber Shop concerts, Steel and Miss Demeanour did some further song renditions in the theatre bar amongst members of the audience. This is something that is known in Barber Shop circles as the ‘afterglow’ – which seems a very apt term for that time after a good live performance.  To join in with the spirit of the evening, Rob and I did a few extra danzas.

There was genuine interest all night from the most genuine of people in our music and instruments. We also saw some good CD sales and gathered a few names for our mailing list.  This was a really lovely experience and we are very very grateful to all at the Knights of Harmony for giving us such a night to remember, and we hope they will remember us  too for our contribution to what a truly excellent event.

A Toast to Friends and Family, 

Readifolk, the Reading Folk Club, is one of our favourite clubs.  The organisers, Una and Colin and their friends on the Committee, have consistently been generous to us, giving us an early showcase and one of our first full, ‘headliner’ gigs.  So, it was with great pleasure that we set off on Sunday evening to go and visit the club in the RISC centre in central Reading.  The pleasure was doubled for me because my daughter, now living in Reading, was coming along with friends, plus some of our very closest and longstanding friends had also said they were coming along.

The last time Rob and I had been to Readifolk it had been a wintry night in February 2009, with snow threatening, and (not surprisingly) a few regulars staying at home.  Tonight was different.  The club was pretty full by the time the proceedings began.  The evening began with compere Ian and friend doing some amusing self-penned material to liven up the audience.  The hilarity was then taken up a notch with the next performer, a young woman, performing Captain Coulston.  It being a pirate song, she had brought along a toy parrot with an internal microphone to repeat everything she said.  Very amusingly, the switch on the parrot then broke and its mimic function couldn’t be turned off.  After a few minutes of great hilarity, the parrot had to be put out of the room – but friends tell me that, for the whole first half, it could be heard replaying bits of na-mara, as we went through our paces.  (Does that mean double PRS?) At half time, some electronic evisceration was administered – the parrot, like a slaughtered chicken, was eventually brought back into the room– with its battery in the owner’s other hand.  Ouch! 

The second half kicked off with some good floorspots, including a fitting and rightful tribute to the recently deceased Bert Jansch. 

After good nights at Barton and St Neots, Rob and I were well rehearsed and raring to go.  We played a full range from our repertoire in both halves and the audience responded very warmly to it all.  In the second half, we again took the chance to further embed The English Penny and The Silver Duro into the repertoire. Readifolk likes a good sing and they really helped make The English Penny a special moment.

Once again, it was nice to be asked to play an encore, which we were happy to oblige with Three Bonny Ships. Compere Ian then closed the night with some very kind words about our performance, for which we thank him. Time allowed me to quickly catch up with friends and family, before setting off home.  Rob bought me a little cool bag for my recent enty-enth birthday. So, the slightly chilled bottle of Hook Norton Gold in the car on the home was very welcome after a lovely (but very warm) evening with Readifolk.  We are already looking forward to going back to the club and fervently hope it won’t be too long.

We are still working on the video material we have been capturing on recent gigs.  Once we have them, we will send out notification.

On the 5th we were off to Ross Scrivener's folk club at The Bull in Barton-le-Clay. We always enjoy playing at Barton and, given this was a mixed guest night and ‘sing around the room session’, it was an informal setting to play on. In addition to catching up with some old friends at the club, the evening gave us the chance to introduce a couple of new tunes that we are keen to get into the repertoire (a Breton Gwerziou coupled with a new danza - the Danza Quiemada).  We also reprised The Maid of Culmore, which we haven’t played for ages.  There were some lovely songs sang around the room and Ross sang a very lovely song about his father’s time in the Navy in the Second World War.

The na-mara autumn 'tour' continues apace.  The 4th October saw a much appreciated return to the excellent St Neots Folk Club after a 20 month gap.  Roger and Patti are always very welcoming and appreciative of our material, as are the many club regulars.  It was also very very pleasing to see some of our friends from the Cambridge Folk Club taking the trouble on a midweek night in October to drive over from Cambridge to come and see us.

The club room at the Priory Centre was reasonably full and Roger performed a brief set of rousing and popular songs, and really got the evening off to an excellent start.  Other than that, there was just one other floor singer who performed, singing some interesting songs unaccompanied. This meant we had two good length sets to present our repertoire.

We had planned in advance to introduce some new material into this and the following night's performances.  Here, for the first time in a folk club setting played The English Penny.  The St Neots FC audience is a very keen singing audience.  They joined in wonderfully with The English Penny and made it a lovely rendition.   Determined to have it take it full place in our current set, we again played the relatively new The Silver Duro and, if I say so myself, we played it well.

The rest of the evening went really well and we were more than happy to oblige with an encore at the end - always an honour to be asked!  We have been trying to get some decent video footage of recent gigs and we hope to have something to put on the web-site in due course.
 

Despite wrapping up reasonably quickly, it was an hour’s drive home – so it was late to bed and early to rise for work the next day.  So, it was quite a challenge to cope with another late night the following evening.  

This past Saturday Rob and I were accorded the honour by the International Brigade Memorial Trust (IBMT) of opening their fund raising event to remember the 75^th Anniversary of the Spanish Civil War, held in conjunction with Philosophy Football at the New Red Lion Theatre pub in Islington in London. 

This was an evening’s worth of remembrance, education and entertainment which took place on an exceptionally hot October evening, in an atmospheric and tightly packed pub.

In addition to ourselves, there was further music from Grace Petrie, there was a homage to Paul Robeson taken from the one-man show Call Mr. Robeson, by actor Tayo Aluko , a poetry recital by the Scottish poet Jackie Kay, and there was a panel session discussing the meaning and legacy of the Spanish Civil War to the world today. This involved celebrities and academics including Andy Croft, Robert Elms, Victoria Hislop, Helen Graham and Billy Bragg.

We arrived early for the sound check and watched Tayo rehearse some of his performance.  To see such acting power close up was very impressive. We also watched the histrionics on a Norwich City fan who was watching a live stream of his team going down 2-0 to Manchester United.  I like football as much as the next man and supporting my small home town team have more than my fair share of disappointments – but I haven’t yet resorted to throwing things around and beating objects on the floor.  Most amusing.

We and Grace did our sound-checks and then we were interviewed by young film maker, Sanum Ghafoor, who was making a film of the event for a You Tube release.  We then waited for the theatre to fill up. 

The show was well marshalled and professional, starting prompt at 7.15pm.  Following a brief visual exhibition on stage, we started the evening with Rob playing his usual excellent and powerful instrumental opening to The Bite, which immediately halted the chat and captured people’s attention.  The Bite started the evening well.

Then, we moved off into the audience and waited to watch the panel session.  The very pleasant Billy Bragg introduced himself to us and said some kind words about The Bite.  There was the possibility that he would be prevailed upon to play something at the end of the panel session and, since he didn’t have his guitar, enquired whether he might use mine – which, of course, was fine.  In the event, the panel session overran (as these can do) and I didn’t get the chance to boast that my guitar had been played by Billy Bragg. Rather, it was us called back onto stage to finish this first part of the evening  - which we did with a rendition of English Penny, in honour of nurse Penny Feiwel who served in Spain and who, sadly,  passed away recently.  The song is rather hymnal in nature, with a chorus, and the audience soon picked the chorus up and we did have some singing along, which was great.

As we left the stage for a second time, the IBMT Chair, Marlene Sidaway said some very kind things about our support for the Trust.  Various audience members, including senior trade unionists also congratulated us on our music.  We were deeply honoured.  Philosophy Football also gifted us some commemorative tee-shirts which are excellent and we shall wear them with pride.

We were able to stay to watch the poignant and funny Jackie Kay perform, and Rob had a nice conversation with Billy Bragg swapping stories from their personal links to the Spanish Civil War.  Then, we needed to make for home.  So, sadly we missed both Tayo and Grace’s performance – apologies to both of them.

It was also a huge honour to see the standing ovation deservedly given to International Brigader David Lomon, the living connection between today and the dark days of the Spanish Civil War.