A trip to Cambridge is almost like a trip to a home club. The welcome is always guaranteed to be warm and the acts are almost universally of the highest standard. This night was no exception. We shared the evening with two other acts – local heroes - The Ouse Brothers – who, as usual, played some truly excellent blues material, mostly self-penned, intimate and exceptionally well performed – and Sunday Driver, who are a most unusual band, blending successfully Asian sounds from tablas and sitar with harp and other more conventional folk instruments, to provide a very interesting sound. Stimulating songs, very well performed – no wonder they are listed for the Cambridge Folk Festival in 2009.

We introduced some new material to the act –we like to do new things for Cambridge. The audience is sophisticated and demanding and so it is a great challenge to get things right for presentation there. So, we introduced ‘Billy Don’t You Weep For Me’ which Rob and I have fallen in love with after hearing the wonderful Nic Jones version. We are very keen to engender variety in our act and, as such, Rob plays this on mandola and I sing without guitar – very relaxing for me as it allows me to concentrate on the vocals (and getting the lyrics right!) We also gave the northern Irish song, The Flower of Magherally, its first run out.

Even more amazing, we were told that our friends Chicken Lickin, residents at Cambridge have decided to cover our translated French song, When I took my horse to water, which we took from the music of Malicorne. This is a great honour and we wish them well with it.

A trip home to north London for Rob. The Barnet Folk Club, run by JJ Dunne, now holds its events in the Arts Depot – in North Finchley. A surprisingly warm venue this, given that, to all intents and purposes it is in the Lobby of the Arts Depot. But, with an array of cafe tables and comfy sofas, and an excellent p.a. system, well managed, the venue wasn’t intimidating or remote, but was very cosy and welcoming.

JJ had asked us to come along and finish the evening off for them with c50minutes of material. We had an evening of French poetry and some great blues guitar, by two of the resident members of the club, and then Rob and I did a mix of British, Asturian, Galician and Breton material. Overall, there must have been 30-40 people there, including some of Rob’s good friends from the da Capo foundation who have a school nearby.

JJ Finished the evening off with us with what seems to be a traditional rendition of Whiskey in the Jar. 

I very much hope we will get a return invite to Folk in the Lobby at Barnet. We enjoyed ourselves and it appeared that those attending enjoyed what we did – we sold a pleasing number of CDs at the end of the evening which is always a good sign of how well we have done.

An early escape from work, this one - St Albans to Ely to be there for an 8.00pm! However, the night itself made it well worth munching a soggy Morrisons sarnie in the car on the way over. Rob and I had met Ruthie, who is one of the people running the Ely Folk Club, when she was calling for us and our friends from Tam Lin at a recent ceilidh. Very kindly, after hearing our CD, she invited us over and provided us with a wonderful support slot – namely supporting the wonderful Mawkin-Causley.

It is clear that Mawkin Causley are going from strength to strength and, I have to confess, prior to the evening, we were unfamiliar with their work – but class will out, and they were superb that evening. Our abiding memory is of a satisfaction that such a young and skilful band is there to carry on the tradition going forward. There was an excellent attendance of 50-60 to watch and, to our satisfaction, they were very much a listening audience.

We acquitted ourselves well and, unusually for professional bands with a growing reputation, it was nice to see (Gentleman) Jim Causley come in towards the end of our set and have a listen. Naturally, at the end of the evening, Jim was surrounded by well-wishers, but he still took the time to congratulate us a good set and wish us well for the future and a safe journey home. Since that time, Rob and I have heard more and more about the band, and we similarly wish them well.

A definite petrol station pee stop and a bar of Cadbury’s to keep us awake going home – getting up at 6.00am the next morning wasn’t too much fun.

10th August 2008: Supporting Cara Dillon, 

This is it, this was what we had been looking forward to, and boy did we enjoy it!

Tam Lin have played the Broadstairs Folk Week for many years and Alan and Sue Hewson had invited Rob and I down to join them not only to play as Tam Lin but also to do some na-mara gigs as well. Indeed, Rob was also leading a mandolin workshop as well. So, we set off early on the morning of Sunday 10th August (me fresh back from holidays overseas and frantically hardening those finger ends up again) to join Alan, Sue and Georgina at Broadstairs for our first folk festival. As mentioned previously in this blog, the real na-mara highlight for the few days we could be at Broadstairs, was that we were going to be the first of two support acts for ...Cara Dillon in the main marquee on that Sunday night! To suggest excitement was high would be an understatement to end all understatements.

So, after a two hour drive we reported to the conference organisers, were given a key to our accommodation, where we went straightaway. Fiona’s sister Rhona welcomed us into the house and, it still being reasonably early, we took the chance to do an hour’s rehearsal before setting off to join Tam Lin for our first gig of the day, at a nearby pub. I think we all agreed afterwards that that was a swell as the new Tam Lin has played and the modest but enthusiastic sized crowd really lapped it up.

Then it was straight off to the mandolin workshop that Rob was running. Rob had decided to introduce budding (and as it turned out, some pretty experienced) mandolin players to Asturian music. I went along to just play some of the accompaniment. Rob did really well to engage 20 people of markedly different standards of playing, for a 90 minute session. (I’ve only seen one blog of the Broadstairs festival and to Rob’s credit, it mentions his mandolin workshop directly as one of the events the blogger had really enjoyed.)

Then it was time to grab a nice cup of tea and ready ourselves for the big one. So, we headed back towards the marquee area –we wouldn’t want to be late would we? – and found a nice little cafe to wind down a bit. And then we went over to the marquee to find Cara Dillon and her band doing their sound check. Alan and Sue had kindly taken the bulk of our stuff straight there from the Tam Lin gig.

The marquee had seats for c 550-600 as far as I could estimate and there, at the front of the then empty auditorium was Cara herself just watching her partner Sam Lakeman and the others get the sound right. This was great experience and I enjoyed watching the pre-show show. Clearly, we didn’t want to bother anybody but Cara gave us a nice smile and seemed very approachable.

As is usual in these circumstances, the top of the bill does the sound check first, the warm up acts then do theirs in reverse order. So, we were doing our check last after the other band on the bill – the excellent and phenomenally talented (and extremely nice and supportive) Skyhook.

Time passed and time passed and, of course, when it came to na-mara, there was already 500 people outside queuing up to get in. So, I think we might have had three minutes - but our needs are simple and we were done fine and luxuriously. One mixing desk for the front of house and another for the monitors....wow.

And then, fifteen minutes later, the crowd had come in and filled every seat in the house, Chris Sandler had introduced us, and we were on. Interestingly, the increase in numbers – this was by far the biggest gig na-mara had played – did not translate directly to an increase in nerves and I have to say we both felt pretty relaxed. We kicked off with Three Bonny Ships which we knew well and was a cracking starter. We followed that with Anada Pa Julia – to slow the mood down. We then played Solo Por Tres Meses, which we knew would go down really well with the sort of listening audience that would typically come to see the wonderful Cara Dillion. Then we finished off with Willy Taylor. And that was us – off we came. We felt we had done really well and the sale of CDs and the requests to have those autographed, and the insistence of one lady that we had been ‘fastastic’, were all huge fillips for us.

So, with a benign smile on our faces we proceeded then to watch the rest of the show for the ‘green room’ just to the side of the stage, behind the banks of speakers. Skyhook were hugely talented and did a lengthy and powerful set, and then Cara came on. Her band started with She Moves Through the Fair, the first atmospheric minute or two of which she stays off stage. So, Rob and I had the pleasure of her company before she went on - to give a sublime performance both of that song and many more. Interestingly, since we are now singing it in our Tam Lin (and occasionally na-mara) repertoire, she is now doing The Verdant Braes of Screen. I notice she doesn’t do the sixth verse that we do – I’ll have to research that one.

Then, it was time to go home (Fiona and Rhona’s) for the night. Thankfully Skyhook had organised transport to get themselves home and they very generously helped us shift some of our stuff. By the time we got home, the house was quiet and given Rob and I were completely knackered, it was probably a blessing that we just went straight to bed and switched the lights off. Usually I can’t get off to sleep after playing – but that night, I was straight out.

August 11th 2008 

Monday morning and a different sort of workday ahead of us. Furnished and filled with a couple of fried eggs on toast, we began Day 2 of our Broadstairs baptism. After a bit of a stroll round, a rummage in a couple of local book shops, it was back to the house, pick up our stuff and then down to the Charles Dickens pub for a one-hour session. As with the Sunrunner in Hitchin, Alan and Sue looked after us p.a. wise again, and as at the Sunrunner and the main marquee the night before, friends from Baldock and Letchworth came along to support. On arrival, Rob and I were a bit worried that the lively and busy environment of the pub might not be the best setting for our quieter oriented music. However, over time, a folk crowd entered the pub - some of them as a result of our gig being announced in the marquee the night before - and by the time we started, there was a really nice atmosphere conducive to mid-day music playing. We got a good reception and we played well, especially given the very tight space we had to operate in. Nearby Morris rhythms weren't exactly in synch. but hey that's festival life for you - as we were coming to learn.

Then Rob and I went off with the rest of Tam Lin to support Alan with his bodhran workshop - which acted as a nice bit of extra rehearsal for the rest of us - and we could sit back and enjoy Alan hard at work.

After that, we had a little time to ourselves before Tam Lin went for a sound check down at the bandstand, where we were doing a 30-minute slot later. Sound check over, we sloped off for a beer and then returned to watch the Morris men and the other acts. Again lots of friends came down. Rob's son Ben and Rob's brother in law Ian came over from Margate to watch and in a nice boost to 'Dad's street cred', Ben witnessed a middle aged couple passing by and pointing Rob out as being 'one of the guys who'd been on the main stage the night before'. It made Rob and Ben's night. It was then a windy and p.a. problematic set but very enjoyable. Fiona and Rhona and family came down to watch which was really nice of them.

Finally, after getting the instruments home, Rob and I wandered the pubs of Broadstairs, had a few pints, watched Ian Cutler and band on at the Tartar Frigate - where Tam Lin was playing the following night, and then stayed to watch the wonderful Morris-men song rounds at one of the town centre pubs. The atmosphere was very different but brilliant in each pub. Then it was a long march home up the hill, and then up the wooden hill to bed.

12th August 2008,

A virtual day at leisure - what a luxury! The chance to soak up the atmosphere, do the bookshops properly, have capuccino in Morelli's and Fish and Chips later on. Our only commitment was the Tartar Frigate for a two hour Tam Lin gig, so we had a restful festival day just doing a bit of rehearsal and messing around with a bit of new stuff at Fiona and Rhona's.

The Tartar Frigate gig went well - not quite as heaving as for Ian Cutler but still a very busy, sweaty night. The big drawback was that after the gig it was a two hour trip back to St. Albans and early into work the next morning. Thankfully, we were buzzing after the gig, Rob's son Ben helped us with the gear and we were on the road by 11.00pm and home just after 1.00am Wednesday.

As a follow up to the gig that Rob and I played at in London to celebrate the Spanish Republic, we were kindly invited by the organiser Marlene Sidaway, to play some music as people assembled for the Annual Re-union of the International Brigade. This year it was in Jubilee Gardens in London, near the statue commemorating those Britons who gave their lives to fight fascists in Spain in the 1930s.

Clearly, this was a great honour. Marlene had sent us a DVD of the event the year before and whose face should be on the front (and who were following in the footsteps of – none other than Billy Bragg. So, we certainly wanted to do something special and Rob worked hard to gather together some Spanish tunes to ensure that we did an entirely relevant Spanish set. So, we needed to rehearse pretty hard for this and I’m pleased to say that we played well. The place we were playing was right next to the queues for the London Eye and so we not only had the 200 or so people who had come to the memorial service but another couple of hundred people queuing up. The leading war veterans were there, including Jack Jones. The Spanish Ambassador was there and gave a brief speech, and some leading Labour politicians also spoke. Rob and I then returned to lead the communal singing with the soldier’s song The Valley of Jarama and, of course the Internationale.

We then returned to a nearby hotel and had a buffet lunch and, as we do find these days, Rob and I fell into an interesting conversation with an Irishman who had been passing the event and had got completely involved in what, for him, was a story that he knew virtually nothing about. This well-read man knew very little about the Spanish Civil War, the role of Britons in that fight or that Irish fighters had fought on both sides of the conflict.

Marlene and the organisers kindly gave Rob and I a commemorative mug to thank us for our involvement. Amazingly, given that we had only met Marlene once before, it turned out that she had lived in my hometown of Middlesbrough and knew my half-brother. It is indeed a small world.

Despite threats of showers, it turned nice in the end and was a boiling hot afternoon - and I’m afraid my thinning locks did nothing to save my emerging pate from a good roasting. Just what I needed before going off on holiday!

Thanks to our good pals Alan and Sue Hewson, na-mara played a two hour set at the Sunrunner pub in Hitchin town centre. On a balmy night, the pub was packed inside and three deep outside. Alan and Sue provided the p.a. and many of our friends form the Baldock and Letchworth Folk Club came along to support us – which was really nice and gave us a wonderful lift. There were also some friends from my workplace who live in Hitchin, some people that I had met at a party a few weeks before who seemed interested in hearing us and had made the journey to Hitchin to do so and our very good friend Robert Taylor travelled up from St Albans.

Two hours' worth of stuff is pretty demanding on the old brain cells but, again, allowed us to try out some new material. Rob has been working on a couple of Greek tunes which are real toe-tappers (and a sod to play). So, they had an outing. Thanks to Alan and Sue for an excellent job on the p.a. and, as they say, a good night was had by all. We hoped we might follow the gig up with a slot at the Hitchin Rhythms of the World festival but somehow, it never came to pass.

A  return to our old friends' Alan and Sue Hewson's excellent Baldock and Letchworth Club to support the excellent Vikki Swan and Johnny Dyer who were over from their Essex (?) base.

We started the evening off with some material that was new to Baldock which was very well received. We are making some real friends there now.

Vikki is of Swedish extraction and played a variety of instruments, including the nyckelharpa. Rob, polylinguist that he is, had some banter with her in Swedish and the audience was treated to some great ballads and some wonderful Scandinavian tunes. This was very opportune really given that I was off to Stockholm for the first time ever, early the next morning. In this regard, as per usual, I managed to find a few minutes in a busy work schedule to try and get into a record shop and check out more of this fabulous music. Sadly, the local information I was given was poor in that, having gone up five escalators in a major Department Store, found only workmen at work, refurbishing the floor and the music department was shut. By which time it was necessary to dash to the main station and get back out to the airport - sweaty and unsatisfied. But, so wonderful was the music we had heard from Vikki and Johnny, that I intend to pursue more bands and artist to hear more.

Once again, we had been asked to do a showcase set at the Cambridge Folk Club - always a pleasure and this was no exception. The club is starting to know is and our music better now and so we had a couple of requests we were asked to play. We also took the opportunity to try out some new material. We were extremely happy with what we did and got some excellent feedback from the modest but enthusiastic audience.

The welcome was as friendly as ever, and we began the evening. We were then followed by Samantha Marais who was described in the programme as having a voice that was 'lighter than a Malteser in a flotation tank'. Ethereal indeed and she is clearly going places, destined for an outing at Glastonbury this year! We wish her all the very best.

The evening was concluded by local club favourite Robert Brown. We had seen Robert before at the Cambridge club and looked forward to seeing him again. He has a terrific voice and a great guitar player - so, it is puzzling as to why he isn't better known than he is. He did a terrific set and included some traditional material in his set of self-penned songs and occasional covers. He was playing with a similarly talented guitarist and gave a great set.

What a night!

This was an amazing evening in a whole host of ways. The Yaa Asantewaa Arts and Community Centre in London hosted a splendid evening of poetry, dance, film and music to celebrate the Spanish Republic, 1932-1939. It brought together the extended families of the Basque children, evacuated from Bilbao in 1937, and members of the International Brigade who had fought fascism at that time, and their friends and families.

We arrived early as the organisers were still setting up. We secured a small room out the back, to tune up, etc. However, before the hubbub really began, we had the chance and honour to meet with Jack Jones, the former trade union leader, and an International Brigader himself and had been wounded in the Spanish Civil War. Even at 95, there was no doubting this man's conviction and intellect. It was highlight of the evening to speak with him.

The evening began with the choir from the Spanish School in London. Then there was some superb dancing by an Asturian dance troupe based in London - with a bagpipe player of astonishing dexterity - and what a sweet sound the gaitas has. Jim Jump, Herminio Martinez and others gave some excellent readings of poetry and manged well to calm an audience of c300-350. There was a very interesting film shown on the rise of fascism and the fight against fascism in Europe through the 1930s - to help set the Spanish Civil War in its historical context.

Finally, we went on to play. We naturally concentrated on a mainly Spanish related set. So, we did some dance tunes and Anada Pa Julia. We sang The Bite, which went down very well. Sadly, Jack Jones had left by this time - sad because he had actually known the man to whom the song is dedicated, George Wheeler.

We sang Ron Angel's Chemical Workers' Song as an expression of the industrial link that the North East of England had had with the International Brigade.

Finally, we finished the evening with Solo Por Tres Meses. I explained that theirs was a unique audience for this song in that, in most places we perform it, it is to people who don't know the story. However, it is this audience's story and a fair number of the children that had been on the boat to Southampton were in the audience. In this sense, it was a song that we hoped would meet their approval. I am pleased to say that it did and we were applauded to the rafters at the end and asked to do an encore. This was particularly pleasing for Rob -for whom this is a very important group of people. Many friends of his parents were there alongside many friends from the world of music.

Thankfully, the new pristine copies of the new CD, with Solo Por Tres Meses had arrived in time, and we sold a lot of copies afterwards - proceeds going to the Basque Children's committee of course.

A third night home in a week; dodging double-decker buses on their last run home on a Saturday night - no wonder I sat and had a quieting bottle of beer once the car was parked up and the kit bought inside.

Attention is now turned to some upcoming Tam Lin gigs and a return to Cambridge for us - before the Broadstairs festival.

More stocks of the CD will be arriving soon, and we very much feel we are taking na-mara on to the next level. This is something we are both very excited about.

Our second of three gigs in a single week! Heady stuff for those of us with day jobs as well.

This was our chance to return to fellow namesake's Jon McNamara's club. The Bishop Stortford club is a club with real character and characters, and Jon most certainly fits that bill! After our first visit to the club, Jon had been content to book us for a full slot - some thing we are always keen to do. There is something about getting the chance to settle into a performance and deliver to the best of one's ability. This date had arisen as a result of Jon having to reschedule his Spring programme, and we were happy to oblige for him!

The other really exciting news for the week was that our new 4-track EP CD had arrived from Rightback Records. Craig and the team had done a fantastic production job and the record looked excellent. Sadly, the first batch was missing the last 4 seconds of the last track. Distraught, Craig had rushed in a new order to the factory. However, so keen were some of those attending at Bishop Stortford to get hold of 'Only For Three Months' that they were happy to put up with this glitch!

Everywhere we go now, the audiences are falling in love with Solo Por Tres Meses. The superb tune from Javier Tejedor gives the words real pathos, and the tragedy of the story tells itself. At the end of the evening, we had the kindest of words and compliments from a number of people in the audience. It is hard to convey how important such feedback is - to help one through the hard work of turning raw materials into something that moves and excites audiences.

Still, we have our sternest test of the new song, and our other Spanish material on Saturday when we play at the Viva La Republica day in London