So, Thursday was a fantastic evening at the Royal Oak in Lewes…what a great club….Martyn Wyndham Read and Iris Bishop were the guests…….and they were wonderful. As were the floor singers. I sang Abroad as I was Walking…a real favourite at the moment and it went down really well…had a chat with Martyn at the end of the evening about the possibility of singing with them in Oz next year doing Maypoles to Mistletoe…wow…. and also about doing some singing in Whitby at the festival in August…that would be fantastic!
Then on Friday went with Paul Downes and Mick Ryan to the Guildford Institute a lovely venue and another great evening. I managed another spot and sang Abroad as I was Walking and It was in the Month of January…and I really enjoyed it and was invited back anytime!
So today was footy and rugby catch up…..so great therapy all round….England won, Liverpool won, (so Pete was pleased!) Sunderland got a draw, Hull beat Man City and Man U only managaed 5 against Pompey!!!!!
Well, in some ways it’s good that it’s been a long time ‘cos it means I’ve been busy!!!
I’ve had a fantastic week……started on Tuesday ‘cos I’d been away visiting friends in Essex.
Four Chesnuts hosted a great eveing featuring Jim Causley fresh from the folk awards celebrations. He is a fantastic singer and kept everyone well and truly entertained. I managed a lovely song…Abroad as I was Walking…collected by George Gardiner in Axford, Hampshire back in 1907. Then had a quiet day Wednesday catching up with myself and listening to the folk awards on radio 2, followed by an unbelievably bad (just my opinion, of course) rendition of Come on feel the Noise by no other than the Imagined Village…….WHY? So reverted to the replay of Leeds v Spurs, followed by a four hour catch up of 24!!!!
And so…..instead of the Chesnuts on Tuesday evening, I went to the Hawth at Crawley in very cold weather conditions to see the Martyn Wyndham-Read production….Maypoles to Mistletoe
It was a lovely venue and everybody involved gave us a wonderful evening…. I bought the book and cd…so look out for some new to me songs!!!!! Although the production has been running for over 37years it was my first visit and I highly recommend it to everyone……and so the cold/flu has finally knocked me back…but don’t worry it won’t be long before you hear more from me!!!!!
Way back, when the sun was shining, it was put to me that perhaps in December I would like to share an evening at the Fo’c'sle with Tangle. Pencilled in and then finally confirmed, I felt really pleased with the idea. John and Angie and I have done some Gardiner stuff in the past, so I knew we would be able to put together an evening for everyone……they are accomplished musicians and singers, whereas I am mainly unaccompanied and traditional…..so a good mix…as it proved. Poor Angie had succumbed to the dreaded cold/flu when I paid them a visit on the eve of our evening, but she had overcome it all by then as John and I started to wilt!!!!!! However, I really enjoyed the evening and the whole experience… and a little bird whispered to me last night that I might be doing a similar evening at the Elephant and Castle (Saturday night Lewes folk club) sometime in 2010……that will be great!
Anyway, we decided to do two twenty minute spots and then finish off with a couple of joint ventures. I was on first, after a few floor spots, so it was good to get my feet under the table…..
My first set consisted of: Come to My Window
Abroad as I was Walking
Bay of Biscay
Quiet Joys of Brotherhood
Sheepcrook and Blackdog
and Diego’s Bold Shore
I really enjoyed the fact that I could get a run at a few songs rather than just the odd one here and there. I do know that I’m not very good at engaging the audience in my preamble, but I tried very hard! I also have the unfortunate habit of closing my eyes when I sing….but that’s just me….and I’m sorry…if you don’t like it……I can’t change….cos I need to be totally committed to what I’m singing……not worrying about what’s happening around me.
My second set was: A Blacksmith
He was under my Window
Grey Cockerel
Swallow Song
Silver Dagger
and Farewell
so quite a mixture of traditional and Richard Farina and Mick Ryan…….
After Tangle had sung their second set we got together and sang the Jez Lowe song The Workhouse and the Simon and Garfunkle number Homeward Bound.
So all in all a great experience for me and I also sold cds which I had made back in 2007…..hope they all went to good homes!!!!!
After a quiet weekend, it was back to the Chesnuts on Tuesday for a singaround. We always manage a good turn out and so it was. I aired a new to me Karine Polwart song……Faultlines…a very difficult song to sing and as it was first time out always a bit daunting. I also sang Snows of Winter a really lovely Graeme Miles song learned from the singing of Martyn Wyndham-Read…..quite hard to sing…but I like it!
Then on Wednesday I spent a great evening in the company of Kerr, Fagan, Harbron…….really wonderful performers….(Nancy was about 12months pregnant!!!!!! hope all goes well!)
It was another packed evening and I was lucky to have a floor spot….so sang….Snows of Winter and Come to my Window.
Thursday evening was Chichester folk club carol singing around the pubs and restaurants of Chichester. We were very well received everywhere and the monies raised ( to be announced at the Christmas party next week) will go to the children’s ward at St Richard’s Hospital.
Then Friday 11th December….think I’ll devote a complete post to this!!!!!…time for a vodka!!!
Well what a wonderful place Costa Rica is and I have put some photos on facebook for anyone to have a look at. They are mainly of the flora and fauna and give some idea of the meaning of “cloud and rain forests”……it was wet!!!! I was panicking that my bag might have been searched on return to Heathrow as the smell of “wet dog” is the only way I can describe my clothes….Luckily I bought coffee so a little of the aroma helped!!!! but no need to have worried.
It has taken me some time to get over the jet lag….but think I’m there now.
December has been quite busy. The first folk event was at the Chesnuts on 1st when Maggie Boyle, Pete Morton and Chris Parkinson provided the entertainment with the Magical Christmas Tree….an enjoyable evening of songs and tunes. I sang Come to my Window, the Tim Hart version of an old traditional song that Shirley Collins used to sing Go from My Window…….but I preferred the “happier” version.
On Thusrday 3rd friends and I went to the Union Chapel in Aldgate and saw Lau and Mawkin Causley. What a fantastic venue with wonderful acoustics…..well worth a visit if there’s anyone on you’d like to see. (and a little bird told me that Jim Causley is coming to the Chesnuts in 2010!!!!!!!!! woooo). For the first time ever I found Lau’s set a bit samey….could have done with more vocal input from Kris Drever……but still, of course excellent…and Mawkin Causley were wonderful….definitely one to see when you can.
On Friday 4th Paul Downes was playing at the Open House (the old Springfield) for those who remember folk in the 70s in Brighton. It’s a great venue and there was the opportunity for a couple of songs. In fact the floor singers and guest were mainly from the old Brighton College of Education……Vanessa, Alan, Stu Reed , Steve Flack, Paul and myself…….funny old world!!Paul produced a fantastic evening and I sang Abroad as I was Walking and Come to my Window.
After the concert for Gaza, I spent Friday evening in the company of the City folk club. There are plans to raise money for Children in Need with a sponsored sing, but as I shall miss out I sang Quiet Joys of Brotherhood for Colin. Mave asked me to sing Julian of Norwich and I obliged her on Tuesday 10th Nov. when we had a club night at the Chesnuts.
Not very musical…well, I certainly wasn’t….was the Whitby reunion on 1st Nov. The five of us from the Tuesday club who went to Whitby this summer got together to eat, drink, be merry and show off our photographic skills. We had a great night on all counts…roll on Whitby 2010.
Tuesday, 3rd Nov saw the talented Brian Peters at the Chesnuts. We had a great evening and I sang Sheepcrook and Blackdog, which encouraged Brian to sing Lucy Wan. The versions of both songs were collected by George Gardiner in the early 1900s.
I had a lovely week with friends which ended up with a trip to Essex, then London and a meal with my daughter for her birthday.
Before I knew it it was Tuesday evening again and I was back at the Chesnuts for a singaround. Apart from Julian of Norwich, I aired a “new to me” version of the Blacksmith. This time collected by Ralph Vaughan Williams in 1904 from the singing of a Mrs Veral of Monksgate near Horsham, Sussex.
Then the last”folk fix” before my travels was the fantastic Martyn Wyndham Read at the Willows on Wednesday evening. He is such a fantastic man and I love the songs he sings and plays and the people he surrounds himself with. I’ve booked a ticket to see his Maypoles to Mistletoe evening in Crawley in December and I know I won’t be disappointed.
So, just the final touches to the packing and Costa Rica here I come.
Well, a very mixed evening for all sorts of reasons. Firstly, the venue…..was absolutely awful…a separate room in the Star at Havant, but in the adjacent room …full blown karaoke!!!! Needless to say it made singing very challenging and difficult, but as Jenny pointed out “at least you can say that you single handedly defeated a karaoke band” and that “you can personally triumph over anything….singing in a war zone would be a doddle” Also another pleasing tribute from the press secretary, Eugene,”How did you find Anne? She has the most beautiful voice I’ve ever heard”
So widen the door posts I’m coming in!!!!!!
The idea of the evening and the running order would have made a great evening of entertainment for the audience, but some found the intrusions too much and didn’t stay the course.
Jenny and Gerry started proceedings with a song about Gaza, followed by two poems read by Shelagh Salman, then Chris Bluemel with some songs and intricate guitar work. I was next and for the first set sang Isle of Hope,by Brendan Graham; the story of Annie Moore the first immigrant to the U.S.A. to enter via Ellis Island at the tender age of 15 back “on the first day of January 1892″ a lovely moving song which went down well.I followed this with a Richard Farina song written back in 1964 called The Swallow Song depicting the freedom of the swallow….another lovely song.Then the very difficult song to sing…Fiddle and the Drum written by Joni Mitchell and featured on her “Clouds” album; a song she wrote to America depicting its warmongering government as a bitter friend….an interesting concept. To finish my first set I sang another Richard Farina song, which I had always assumed was a Sandy Denny number….shows how wrong you can be! Quiet Joys of Brotherhood, which I chose because it speaks for itself.
Brian Hooper was doing a wonderful job as m.c. and he introduced the final act of the half….Leon Rosselson who was absolutely fantastic. I had never seen him before even thought he’s been around for over 40 years…that shows how much I missed during my life as a publican, but I’m really glad I had the opportunity to see and meet him….a very clever, witty songwriter and commentator.
A similar format was adopted for the second half with Chris Bluemel showing off his wonderful fiddle playing skills. I sang three more songs…difficult to choose which ones to sing from the list I had prepared. However, I plumped for There but for Fortune, a Phil Ochs song made popular by Joan Baez; The Last House on the Street, a Colum Sands song in which he hopes that in life and conflict people can be made to open their eyes and minds to what is going on around them and finished with Mick Ryan’s Farewell…a lament for a lost partner. By then the noise from the other bar made it very difficult to do the song justice…but I got ther in the end.
So all in all a mixed evening, but certainly an experience.
Well, tonight I’m off to the Star in Havant to sing in a charity concert for aid to Gaza, alongside Leon Rosselson and Chris Bluemel. We’re looking forward to a great evening, so I’ll let you know how it goes.
I haven’t done much singing since I last wrote, because I’ve been away visiting friends, partying and seeing Newton Faulkner in concert. All great!
I was at the Regnum the Friday before last and we had a lovely evening. I sang When the Snows of Winter Fall, for the first time and Quiet Joys of Brotherhood, an old favourite.
I was at the Four Chesnuts last week where we had a singaround hosted by Malcolm and Sue. It was good to see everyone out enjoying themselves. I sang When the Snows of Winter Fall and an old favourite Bay of Biscay.
On Wednesday, my daughter, Claire and I went to the Willows to see Chris Sherburn and Denny Bartley, who used to be part of Last Night’s Fun. We had a great evening and bought their new c.d. Lucy Wan. Fantastic music and singing. I sang Bay of Biscay and He was under my window, collected by George Gardiner in Axford back in 1907…. a lovely little song.
So all in all, life’s good and I’m enjoying the music….catch up again soon
So it’s over a week ago since I’ve blogged….what have I been up to?
Last night my friends from Essex, Bid and Skill and I went to the Four Chesnuts for a fantastic evening in the company of Jim Bainbridge. He’s from the North east and supports Sunderland so that’s two pluses!! He is a great melodeon player and singer with a warm personality and we came away with his c.d aswell.
The Oxjam concert on Saturday was an interesting evening which we all enjoyed. I sang Abroad as I was walking, Silver Dagger, He was under my window, Swallow Song and Farewell. I hope it helped the fundraising.
The singaround at the City Folk club on Friday evening was a low key affair as far as numbers were concerned, but the quality of the evening was great. Everyone seemed to be on song and we had some great renditions. I sang He was under my window, The Grey Cockerel and then was invited to join George in She Moves Thru’ the Fair. I really enjoyed his sympathetic guitar playing….thank you George!
On Thursday Jeff Wesley was singing at the Royal Oak in Lewes and although there wasn’t a full house, those of us who went enjoyed the evening. Jeff is a great entertainer and had some wonderful stories to tell and sing.
The Trio Threlfall were guests at The Famous Willows on Wednesday and I enjoyed their singing and playing. There are some lovely songs on their c.d which will certainly be added to my repertoire in the future.
The previous evening we had a themed singaround at the Chesnuts where we all found songs about or including the word “Gold”……my contribution was The Grey Cockerel and Diego’s Bold Shore….both fantastic songs with the merest link to the word Gold……but a good fun evening.
So that’s where the time has gone…and tonight was the night in for the hair wash and the footy…England v Belarus…..
