LAU - Derby Assembly Rooms - 2/12/2006

Earning themselves a slot of their own and jumping the queue in the FolkingAbout backlog, it is an absolute delight to report that with Lau, there is something new under the sun, and it's er, .... Scottish traditional music. No, stop, sit back down and wait a minute, listen! Lau had the task of ending our long weekend of music that started back on Wednesday at Bromborough Folk Club, passed through Allan Taylor and John Wright at Parkgate, Last Night's Fun in Sheffield and had already involved Jon Redfern and Rachael Unthank and the Winterset - most of which will get separate reviews shortly - and being completely un-prepared for what followed, I was just about to relax into a pleasant session of acoustic music from this plain looking trio with guitar, fiddle and accordion when they started to play a jolly piece, rather like the Penguin Cafe Orchestra, lively and sparkling with intent. A brief pause to introduce the next piece, "The Stuart Thompsons of Fairisle" and WHAM! I'd pretty well given up writing any descriptions down after this - it started gently and lulled us into a nice cozy, peaceful mood and then became something else, something most unexpected. After about 5 pieces I had to jot something down and here it is:

"wild, controlled, sleek, dirty, fast, slow, calm, gentle and rip-roaring, breakneck white-knuckle jazz strewn folk."

Add to this the frenzied antics of Martin Green, whose head was banging in the Motorhead sense of the word, hair following half a second behind, legs kicking up and about, his accordion suffering abuse after abuse as the bellows are twisted and pulled and it's keyboard pummeled! You had to fear for his neck lasting the night, never mind his instrument.

The other two members are Kris Drever on guitar and vocals, and Aidan O'Rourke on fiddle, a player so good that he was awarded Scottish Trad Music Instrumentalist of the Year as he was entertaining us - a suitable bottle and a note being passed onto stage part way through the set - causing him much blushing and gaining a huge round of applause. The band have lots of roots, I won't go on here, you can look them up in the links.

It's not all frenzy either, there is some sublime stuff on offer here, the "Hill behind Cromarty" providing a gloriously evocative slice of Scottish countryside in aural form, Aidan's fiddle emulating the birds wheeling around your head as you walk up the hill. This was so heart-wrenchingly beautiful, precise and fragile, windswept and biting , and a perfect gentle phase before they demolished us with "Hinba", Martin moving on from fingering and resorting to running his palm up and down the keyboard! - Standing ovation, much cheering, exhausted.

Lau should carry a health warning - they are so good for you!

I'll leave the final words to Gilly, who took the FolkingAbout notebook during one frenzy stage and just wrote: "HOLY SHIT!!!!"

















Impression of Martin Green - copyright Gilly Farrie 2006

Moondust - Book report

I just want to mention in passing that I am currently reading "In search of the men who fell to Earth - Moondust" by Andrew Smith. A simple concept - to interview the surviving astronauts that have walked on the moon, well executed. Smith is the same age as myself, and whilst his childhood interest in the space race was somewhat more limited than my frank obsession, he makes up for it in later life by seeking out those men that held us rapt in those heady days and looks into how the experience of walking on the moon, and the "afterlife" has affected their lives.
It has already been enlightening and inspiring - Amazon may well do well out of it as I come across other titles that sound interesting, it is well written, funny, moving and "a great read."

Rachael Wright - De Bees - Winsford - 11/10/2006

A trip out to Winsford to catch one of Gilly's MySpace friends - Rachael Wright fronts a trio consisting of herself on vocals and guitar, Tim Wright on guitar and Bob Burton on electric bass. The two acoustic guitars sound sweet together, with Burton's bass used sparsely - Rachael has a voice that seems somehow familiar, strong certainly. Opening with "Honey" and moving on to "Storm in my Heart" where we find Rachael's voice soaring and reminiscent of Mindy Smith, and Tim providing intimate guitar backing. The crowd was growing steadily now as the music gathered people away from the football on the many TV screens in the bar, and they were treated to some beautiful music, the twin guitars, both picked on "Tall Ships", Bob's surprise use of a tiny xylophone adding occasional sparkle behind.

A short but sweet set, we particularly enjoyed a new song: "Loosing Hand" which has definate potential, the trio are deservingly picking up lots of gigs, not just locally, but all across the country.

CD REVIEW - Last Night's Fun - Live from the MAC - 2006

Last Night's Fun - Live from the MAC - LNF Records - LNFR006

I have often felt that live recordings are the best kind that artists can make, capturing the fire and the hunger that makes the music come to life, and recording the atmosphere - the crowds' applause and the performers' own reactions.

This is a second live CD from Sherburn, Bartley and Scott's Last Night's Fun, recorded earlier this year at Birmingham Arts Centre MAC and released to coincide with the current UK tour. The sparse sleeve notes point out that the album was recorded straight from the mixing desk and Chris Sherburn was keen that I let you know that apart from removing his introductions, this is a faithful reproduction of what went on that night - "and it hasn't been near a computer either!" This is unusual in this day and age, when you can take a track to bits on a computer and re-assemble it any number of permutations, no overdubs, no retakes, not even a collection of the best bits from a tour, just one gig and just one recording.

That said, how does it stand up as a record of the gig? Well I wasn't there that night, but I have heard Last Night's Fun a few times this year and they are still using a similar set list for their live performances, and this is a fair representation of what an audience would expect to hear, although there are a number of favourites missing, but to include everything would probably require a double CD. Sound wise, this album is a joy - there are only three instruments and one voice when the band is in full flight, and the recording has captured each one of these well, Nick's pipes and Chris' concertina blending well but remaining separate, and Denny's voice strong and clear. If there is anything wrong with this recording, it's that Denny's guitar looses a little of it's lovely bass tones - and this is a mild criticism I would level at most of the Last Night's Fun albums - this is a shame because there is much to loose. The other voice on the CD is that of Chris Sherburn who "conducts" the band verbally, and this unique aspect is well captured, his acerbic introductions and merciless ribbing of Nick Scott are mostly cut, although the keen eared will be able to pick out and recognise a few tidbits that are captured behind the music at the start of some tracks, and there is one left in where all three of them get a turn.

Traditional and contemporary, instrumentals and songs, the mix is very representative of the current live sets, with haunting rendition of "Whiskey in the Jar" being one of my highlights. Mind you, it's hard to pick out highlights, this is a brilliant album, packed full of delights. Each of the players is a master of their instrument: Denny's guitar style is unlike anything else you will hear, his voice is, as I recently described after seeing them in Lymm , "when Denny opens his mouth it feels like a storm blowing in across the room, something else all together, it's a powerful force with a major emotional crack in it that is not at all sentimental, but sounds like its been hard won from a difficult seam." Nick's pipe playing is exemplary - his control over his complex and cantankerous instrument is masterful, and Chris's concertina playing can range from barely audible drone-like backing to breath-taking runs and all stations in between - and the result is, for me, one of the most enthralling live performances currently to be had.

Last Night's Fun make music like good coffee - strong, rich, smooth, soothing when you need it, with a nice bite to energise you, a long lasting flavour - and it addictive in a nice kind of way!

Van Eyken at Hendre Hall, Tal-y-bont, Bangor - 8/11/2006

A thin crowd were scattered around the edges of the impressive stone walled hall, a few warming themselves on at the large fireplace where a wood fire was crackling away nicely and one or two were buying drinks at the bar. The lights had been dimmed for some time, and then, without any introduction or pre-amble, a band appeared in the room and took to the large stage, already crammed with instruments tuned up, and began to play - actually there wasn't a clear boundary between the tuning up and playing because the first song Van Eyken played has an introduction of tortured electric guitar, clattering percussion and other eerie sounds with Tim Van Eyken picking out the tune on his acoustic guitar. Its not raucous, but it's not your standard folk intro! I can't verify this, but I suspect that the band might have had more instruments on the stage than there were people in the audience, such was the diversity of the "weaponry" available to them. The bass player alone had 3 different basses to play, and a euphonium.

The sound in Hendre Hall was great - clear and loud without being overburdening - it was a real shame that more people didn't make the effort to attend. The high roof and wooden gallery all add to the special atmosphere in the venue, which is staffed and run be friendly and helpful people who are obviously trying hard to make a real go of this venture. My only real criticism of the venue would be a lack of signage when you arrive - we ended up using the tradesmans' entrance - but this is a minor point really.

Van Eyken then brought the same 5 peice band that we saw earlier in the year at the Shrewsbury Folk Festival, and they played a 2 part set consisting mostly of tracks from their current album: "Stiffs Lovers Holymen Thieves" It's a great line up too - Tim Van Eyken plays acoustic guitar and several concertinas as well as having a really strong a distinctive voice that is a pleasure to listen to. Tim shares the front of the stage with the near legendary Nancy Kerr, top viola player and vocalist in her own right (and probably the only member to stick to the one instrument too - which at least made it easier for her later when packing up!) Behind them, Colin Fletcher on upright, acoustic and electric basses and euphonium, Pete Flood on percussion - loads of it - and Oliver Knight on electric guitars.

The band have a very distinctive sound - or perhaps I should say a range of sounds, because it's a very flexible outfit. Whether Tim plays one of his various boxes or guitar, or just sings, or which bass is used, and whether the viola is used or not - there are many combinations available. One particularly marked aspect of their sound though is the use of the electric guitar, often enhanced by various effects, but virtually always used subtley rather than as a sledgehammer, and providing a layer of sound onto which the rest of the band can hang the tune. This is used to great effect in "Bold Fisherman" where an simple phrase played with an echo effect underpins the entire song.

In truth you could say that Van Eyken is very much a band of individuals, each of which could be singled out here, but it would be wrong not to mention the fantastic percussion that is used throughout the performance. Watching Flood play is a real treat - he has a small drum kit but it is surrounded by a vast array of instruments, toys and household items, all of which can be either banged, shaken, rubbed or, well just plain dropped - to give that precise sound that is required, and I'm sure I witnessed the cymbals being hit by pan lids at one stage. This is no playtime melange though, it's, well thought out and expertly performed, witness to the piercing and eerie use of bowed cymbals also used throughout "Bold Fisherman", along with the ultra subtle tapping of a bodrhan with just fingers in the same song. I could go on to mention Nancy Kerr holding the viola like a guitar and plucking the strings, the first use I have seen of a semi-acoustic bass on stage, the euphonium, the wind up toy, but I'm sure you're getting the drift by now!

By the time the band marched off the stage - still playing - leaving us banging away at the various bits of percussion that had been handed out, we were in little doubt that out conundrum over which of some half a dozen events we should attend on November 18th had been settles - Van Eyken at Whitchurch - we'll be there!

=Playlist=

Worcester City
William at Waterloo
The Pearl Wedding/Nancy Taylor's
Fisherman
Pretty Bessy Milkmaid
Gypsy Maid
Barleycorn

=Interval=

? Glory
Young Alvin
Australia
Pie (Fair Ellen of Ratcliffe)
The Taylor and the Flea
Bonny Breast Knot/Barseback Polka
Babes in the Wood

=Encore=

Twelve Joys of Mary

UltanJohn & Sabrina Dinan

That explains the keyboard then....

Just imagine for a moment if you will, FolkingAbout arrive eager and excited at Slattery's in Dublin, order up the Guinness, confirm that the gig upstairs will start at 9pm and settle down after a long day, early start, drive to Holyhead, ferry to Ireland, train to Dublin, trams and buses, check in at the hotel and all has gone so well. Only to be told at 9pm that we were in THE WRONG PUB! "UltanJohn? Not playing here mate!" Despondency sets in - it seems as though the FolkingAbout's first international gig may have gone horribly wrong at the last minute - fearful flashbacks of other recent debacles cross our minds as we troop back down the stairs - questions, questions "Why would anybody do this to us?" UltanJohn have been Gilly's MySpace friends for so long that we felt like we knew them already - so where are they? Or have we been set up for one massive practical joke? We regroup - sup some more Guinness, ask the barman - no, he's never heard of them either - but maybe they're playing at the OTHER SLATTERY'S? Other Slattery's? You mean there's two? One quick phone call later and the Guinness is downed in one, the barman profusely thanked and we're in a taxi hurtling across town to where, at last, we are enthusiastically greeted by Ultan, John and Bernie the band's publicist.

Upstairs at MB Slattery's in Rathmine Road is a lovely warm place, long and thin with open fires and warm people - the wallpaper is ancient, painted glossy dark red and with dark varnished wood everywhere - the decor is aided by two posters - one for Nick Cave's fantastic double album "Abattoir Blues / The Lyre Of Orpheus" and the other for Jeff Buckley of whom, more later. We were first in and soon being "made a fuss of" by Bernie and the band. More Guinness and soon it was time to settle down and do what we'd come for - listen! Bernie said that "before the boys play, there's somebody else going to do a spot who I think you'll enjoy." So listen we did, to Sabrina Dinan who wandered on and picked up Ultan's guitar, looked up at the crowd and breathed a few deep breaths before admitting to some serious nerves before playing anything. I had honestly assumed that she was "just a friend", or a relative even of somebody who was just setting out, so nervous and unassuming she seemed, but when she started to play and sing, all that changed in an instant. No starter this, Sabrina's songs are fine things, her guitar playing is positive and dexterous, her lyrics are marvelous. I was busy trying to write snippets down during her first two songs, but failed to do them justice, anyway we bought her CD later so I could hear them all again. Sabrina played 5 or 6 songs, three of them used the capo on the 6th fret which I suspect is unusual, but it provided a nice ringing sound from Ultan's Taylor guitar, her voice earning positive comparisons to Billie Holiday, although she looks for all the world like Janis Joplin. "Train Song" came mid-way and is powerful both lyrically and musically, but is also delicate and fragile at the same time.

The crowd were being quite noisy behind us, lots of loud chatter, and it was to their credit that both Ultan and John placed themselves in front of Sabrina and gave her plenty of visible support, even turning the PA up a couple of times to help with the background racket. It's a shame the chatterers weren't listening because they missed a real treat. The Billie Holiday influence shined through brighter as Sabrina sang her own bluesy "Captain's Little Mama" and finished her set with Marvin Gaye's "Sexual Healing", took the guitar off and almost ran off the stage! Lots of well deserved applause followed her back to her seat and we drew breath and agreed how good she was.

Later we learned that Sabrina is already well on her way, having toured with Luka Bloom in the USA, but not before we said goodbye as she rushed of into the Dublin night at some unearthly hour, apologising for having to rush as she was due in work at 7.30am later that morning. Rock and roll eh?

So we're well prepared now, and into the groove for the main feature. UltanJohn are John Conneely and Ultan Conlon, John is a refugee from Charis and Ultan is a singer/songwriter in his own right, the two joining forces recently when Charis split up. Both are singers and guitarists, and the two play mostly their own songs. Gilly and I have nearly worn out MySpace's copies of the 2 songs UltanJohn have put up there, so we knew the first song right away - "2019" features John's immediately recognisable distinctive voice and Ultan's flowing and delicious guitar playing. Next up, "The Will" reverses the vocals, with Ultan leading and John providing beautiful soft, high harmonies, a real feature of this duo is the way the 2 voices blend so well, whichever takes the lead, the other is weaving around the melody somewhere nearby, and in "Flying", next, we find them singing in the round!

Ultan seems more shy and quiet, dark and brooding, whereas John has the more striking look and hardly stopped talking all night, it's a good pairing. "All I need now" then "Dark Desert Sky" in which John's voice sounds like the winds blowing around those tall rocky spires out there in the desert, then, after "Without You", we get the new single "Really Gone". The single features vocals from none other than John Martyn, and whilst he wasn't at the gig, the 2 voices managed to provide something close to the gravelgrowl of the man himself. It's a fabulous song, and it's just out, available any time now from the band's website, and, apart from having John Martyn on vocals, it also features some achingly good trumpet playing from Stefano Muscovi. Back with the live version, Ultan was playing his heart out, his knees knocking together as his legs jumped around to the tune! "Old and Wise" is a slow burning song, and was followed by "I don't want to know about evil" a classic John Martyn song done well and then a lovely close vocal performance in "Niall T." The band were still struggling a bit with people chatting loudly at the back, who were asked several times to "shush!"

Suddenly though there is a change. John had told us earlier that they had been up late the night before, following the launch of the single, and that they were feeling a little jaded, but that sometimes he got the energy while performing that allowed him to go on longer and... well at this point the energy clearly arrived. A Tracy Chapman cover (sorry it has escaped my notebook which one - "Behind The Wall" - thanks Bernie!) was neatly dovetailed into "Minnie the Moocher" and suddenly there was a buzz in the room - the crowd finally shut up chatting for a bit and joined in and it was like somebody had lit a fire under their stools. "All that I believe" produced some Dylanesque phrases, then an energised version of "Isn't it Clear" - the other track from the CD/MySpace and "Something to Give" took us up to the band's closer - a cover of Jeff Buckley's version of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" which was sublime - John's vocals becoming Anthony (and the Johnsons) like, ripped apart by emotion and finally giving out on the last phrase - a very rare event apparently.

A long break for us all to recover before the band returned to finish us off with Tom Waits' "Heartattack and Vine" then "Whiskey Bar" to end the night. It's hard to describe the high that we all felt after that - it was a truly good night of music - and everybody milling around afterwards seemed to agree.

UltanJohn should be a big thing - if they can keep up the energy they will be - there is a unique quality in their music that deserves to be heard everywhere - and they are really nice people too. We'll keep you informed of any developments and especially if any of the plans for UK festival dates come off, as we'll be there for sure!

Keyboard? Well, UltanJohn don't use one and we wondered why one was taken upstairs at the first - wrong - Slattery's- that explains the keyboard then!












FolkingAbout with (l-r) Sabrina, Ultan, John and Bernie

Last Night's Fun - Playhouse 2, Shaw, Oldham - 6/10/2006

Regular readers (I believe there are a few!) will not be surprised to know that Last Night's Fun have been added to FolkingAbout's list of bands with that special "must see" rune, and so it was that we organised ourselves to get over to Shaw (an undertaking not considered without some gravity as it involves getting around Manchester in the rush hour and the rain) to see the lads play their second gig of this Autumn's UK tour. The Playhouse 2 in Shaw is a lovely venue, small and friendly with a good size bar with comfy seats, cheap beer and a singing barman. We found ourselves on the very front row, which, for some reason the locals seem to shun and sit a few rows back, but it meant that we were literally on the stage and close enough to catch Denny's cold should he sneeze too much. LNF were very ably supported by local duo "Better Late" who warrant a separate report which will follow later, but it was with keen anticipation that we cheered Denny, Nick and Scott onto stage and wondered what the night might bring.

Chris was on form with his introductions and banter, merciless to Nick who remains the butt of so many comments, the audience taking some stick tonight s well, but once the first notes of a piece are played, the laughter is put aside and their 3 faces become intent, their eyes sometimes closed, their fingers and elbows and lungs and minds all become part of one entity, that of Last Night's Fun, whose sum exceeds that of Sherburn, Bartley and Scott as individuals. It was a joy to be so close to the band - it meant that all the usual distractions of movement and other peoples' heads being in the way were gone, and we could concentrate fully on what was unfolding in front of us:

A trio of instrumentals to start, then Denny's voice came to life for "The Moving On Song", thankfully not showing any ill effects from his cold, and his fingers working their stuff on his strings, visibly bending the notes, his strumming hand a blur. Nick's piping gained a genuine and warm compliment from Chris (it's not all banter, see) following another set of 3, including "The Tempest" , all of which had Nick to the fore, then it was back to Denny for "Next Market Day". I reckon Denny must have one of the most talented little fingers anywhere having watched it reach across the fretboard and pin down a string seemingly miles away from any of his other fingers, and his use of the lower strings as a bass while the strumming the higher strings plays the rhythm is quite remarkable. Meantime Chris was lovingly drawing out long notes from his concertina, barely moving at times, and we could see him mouthing the words as he was drawn into the song.

This song progressed into a sort of jazz guitar/concertina instrumental, slowly raising the ante, then, with a snatched word from Chris, they change up a gear, Nick's pipes start to soar and Denny slides his capo up 2 frets mid-strum and they're off into another fabulous tune! In "Roseville Fair" we find Chris playing a flute-like part on his concertina during the singing, the band joining together to end the first half with a cracking instrumental. Many of these are un-announced so I'm not able to tell you what they're called.

The second half started as the first with a few un-announced tunes before we were treated to the more subtle side of the band's output, Denny singing "Sammy's Bar" with Nick providing bass drones on his pipes and Chris using his concertina very gently to play those long quiet notes over the drones. In "Doxford Hall" things were much more up-tempo and I swear Denny was producing some bass notes without touching the strings! It was fantastic, no other word.

Mal had buttonholed Chris early on and requested a song, so at this stage we got "May Morning Dew", sung by Denny, no guitar, eyes closed, hands reaching out imploringly at times, simply accompanied by a pipe done and a few concertina notes, Denny's voice has a power that does more than justice to the songs he sings, and this was a major highlight, such control and passion in his voice - and all done without notice or rehearsal - just sublime. The song was actually preceeded by Nick playing a solo "I am asleep, please don't wake me" which gave us a chance to concentrate on his playing, and watching his fingers it seemed that they have evolved into pipe playing fingers, somewhat more agile than most and able to quiver and shake under control to wrest the magical sound out of the instument.

Then a dose of what Chris called "Double Garage Music" - "The Cliffs of Moher" in which his concertina seemed to develop into something much bigger and produced a huge sound, and suddenly the half was over.

For an encore they started with "Autumn Child", Nick managing to on his pipes slide between the notes on his pipes in a beautiful and haunting manner, a "top in" from Chris - he was locked into this piece now, you could see it on his face, and as they progressed the tunes featured call and response between Nick and Chris, the atmosphere was incredible, the players were rapt, Denny with his cheek on top of the guitar listening hard as he played, eyes closed, Nick too, eyes closed, head back, feet pounding the floor and Chris was bouncing on his seat, side to side and rocking as his feet too joined the rhythm - the sound was almost orchestral, "so much energy here" I wrote and the air must have been crackling as they drove on to a climatic ending.

It was a huge cheer they got at the end, and the band were buzzing after that, they had it seems, reached that extra level where everything was just en pointe and all three minds, souls and bodies moved in absolute union to produce something so special - an experiment Chris said later, and one that worked!

FolkingAbout are scheduled to become LNF groupies over the coming weeks as the tour regulary comes in range - join us and catch them if you can - three men in the rare altitudes of ability - one top group.

Tour dates etc at http://www.lastnightsfun.com/index.html where you will also find details of the new live album "Live from the Mac"

Rachel Unthank and the Winter Set - Shrewsbury Folk Festival - 27/8/2006

It was a bit of a suprise to find that Rachel Unthank & The Winter Set were going to be on first, it was after all the main reason we were at Shrewsbury - Gilly had picked up on them beforehand and marked their name with a special rune that allows no obstacles to our attendance! The running order for the afternoon had been re-arranged because somebody was absent, or late, so we had to settle down quick and concentrate hard. "Quick! They're on." Rachel Unthank sang solo and unaccompanied "A Man Like Johnie" and the other 3 members of the Winter Set stood or sat slightly self consciously while we all tuned into Rachel's voice. No standing around for the next number though, Cyril Tawney's "Monday Morning" used 3 voices and the piano - and yes Belinda was deliberately sitting on that metal case as a cushion on the chair while she played piano, they must have left the stool at home! The two Unthank sisters and viola player Jackie Oates sang a verse each of this weekend drinker's lament - the harmonies different each time, sometimes two part, latterly in three and always beautiful.

Instantly noticeable was the rapt attention that pianist Belinda O'Hooley pays to the other artistes, her eyes wide and steeley as she immerses herself into the song and places her notes just right, her playing is skilled and sensitive and is a major feature in the band's sound, often more like another voice than a backing instrument. O'Hooley's other assett to the Winter Set is her dry humour, whithering put-downs and acerbic asides keep the audience happy between songs, the band's close friendship's showing through well - they are all clearly close and comfortable in each other's company, on and off stage.









A few numbers into the set saw the sisters change into clogs and dancing, and then Rachel (back in her wellies) switched to cello for "My Donald" - whaling from the wife's point of view. This song brought out Becky Unthank's breathy vocals and then the band became almost a chamber orchestra during a dramatic instrumental break. The effect was spoilt slightly by the intrusion of some loud drumming going on nearby - a complaint I heard metioned several times from various sources - something for "the committee" to sort out for next year.

Later on, Becky would appear mid-piece, and, all clogged up, dance a brief impetuous dance like a child vieing for the attention of grownups, too usy with something else to appreciate her moves. A swift, low bow and she was off again to shed he clogs before re-appearing for the next piece.

Further highlights included "For Today I Am A Boy" sung by Becky and accompanied by Belinda, followed by Alex Glasgow's poignant "Twenty Long Weeks" - again Belinda's sparse piana comlementing rather than backing the vocals. A rowdy "Away from Hexhamshire" concluded the afternoon set, an interesting and exciting first view of the band, and certainly enough to ensure that we would see them again later in the day.....

..... in the smaller marquee in the evening in fact, where we managed to get front row seats in a fairly well attended concert. "Thanks for coming to see us rather than Eliza Carthy" they quipped, but not without the hint of self-doubt as somebody added "or couldn't you get in there?" Well we were there by choice, and I suspect a fair few of the others were too.

Rachel sang "Cruel Sister" with just piano accompaniment and then the marvelous "Monday Morning". I have one small complaint of the Winter Set, they have tendancy, and it noticeable here, to abandon the last note of a number just a tiny bit too soon - I'm sure it's just a nervous thing, but it grates a little - they need to just savour that last note a little longer, let the audience hang on it before downing tools or stepping back from the mike. (Incidently the same is true of the CD, where the tracks have next to no silence between them.)

The sisters' father is no mean musician either and his "Tar Barrell in Dale" was a good highlight (and currently available as a free download on the band's website) The evening atmosphere seemed to suit the set - Beck's "My Donald" was hauntingly good tonight, with Rachel's cello adding to the instrumental section. "I wish" was fantastic - featuring Jackie playing a Sanuté purchased from eBay - a complex piece of light and dark with some excellent vocal harmonies, and then Becky delivered the coup de gras with Nick Drakes' "Riverman". Becky sings this lovely song with such a fragile vocal that you want to treat it like precious porcelain, breathy and once again with the ever attentive Belinda providing the piano part - this was just brilliant and will be one of the top songs of my year for certain. Again there was sound, particularly deep beats leaking over from the main marquee that slightly marred this fraglile performance.

After such a pearl we were brought firmly back to earth by the next song "Til I'm Cold and Stiff", introduced by Belinda and her Irish Auntie and including a fair chunk of "Abide with Me" before the Winter Set left us again with "Away from Hexhamshire".

What can I say then? Gilly was right, they were terrific and left us eager for more. It's been a great year already and this was one of the highest of the highlights, the Unthank sisters and their friends will be a bright star in the folk firmament for some years.

Here's one we prepared earlier....

This is no gig, this is Gilly on MySpace with her first recorded song, recorded in our bedroom, mixed by Mally and available for you to listen at :
www.myspace.com/gillyfarrie

Congratulations Gilly!!!!!

I'm surrounded on all sides now by Farries playing music, with Gilly and Mike here, Mally over in Wheelock and Peter down in Exeter - not to mention Thomas and Katie coming up in the next generation - look out the Wilsons and the Coppers, the Farries are coming!

Update:

There are some new reports nearly ready to post, I've been really busy of late, (recording this song for instance) and there are some exciting irons in the fire for later in the year.

I'm delighted to see that Folk North West magazine have printed my report on the Kate Rusby gig at New Brighton in the autumn edition. This is the first time in print for FolkingAbout!

Keep it live!

John

YouTube - Fun with Treadmills

Yes I know there's been a drought on this blog - I have a couple of major reports part done, I promise to get on with them and get them here before the autumn tour madness starts.....

Meantime, enjoy this:
YouTube - Fun with Treadmills

dance with a new element - made me laugh and it's very well done indeed.

Thanks to Gilly for finding it for me.

WOMAD - Rivermead, Reading - 27-30/7/2006

Thursday July 27th and we cover the 200 miles to Reading without any major problems, despite the intense heat, arriving on site at about 19:45 to find that the 2nd dedicated campervan field is already full. We just about manage to fit in a corner with some help from a steward and pretty soon we are configured and cooking up a fine meal. We decide to crash out early to prepare for the rigours of the following day.


Friday July 28th. Another very hot day, Gilly is rather unwell so we sit around listening to the cricket on Test Match Special before setting off to the arena at lunchtime. Its a long walk but we soon have our festival wristbands (no queue to speak of here thank goodness) and find ourselves drinking green tea in the Tiny Tea Tent and talking to Dave and Jude from the Tannat Valley who told us all about the Workhouse Festival. After that we sat ourselves down in the already dusty field and listened to Verba Buena from New York who delivered salsa with a twist of what used to be called fusion. I made special note to look for a track called "Sunshine" (Solar?) which was heavier than the rest. Anyway they went down well with the crowd. Straight from there across to the big blue Siam Tent that was already packed out for Salsa Celtica - with a small band of hardcore fans stood up at the front and several thousand others sat in anticipation of the start, we managed to find a slightly shaded spot. The set seemed to be more Salsa than Celtica at first, then there was a sudden change in direction, the pipes firing up and the sound becoming guitar and accordian led. We couldn't see very much at all being sat down and surrounded by a constant flux of people at the edge of the tent, but you could tell that the band were going down well, and I felt the applause was stronger for the more celtic pieces. A huge cheer for a guest appearence by Eliza Carthy to sing on Grey Gallito - a beautiful and heartfelt performance. The band gave a brilliant encore which really had the crowd moving and they were rewarded with well deserved massive applause.

The arena is already very busy, people bustling around constantly, the car parks outside heaving, its really hot and dusty, but the good news is that there are real toilets here and so far they seem to be working well.














Back soon later to the Siam tent for one of our top picks for the weekend:Värttinä

Lined up at the back of the wide stage, 6 men dressed in black, playing violin, accordion, bpuzouki, bass, drums and guitar, whilst up front, three women dressed in all white with a touch of colour in the form of reddish woven belts. There is instant high octane singing and backing music, being familiar with the latest album, "Miero" we knew what to expect and we weren't dissapointed! Despite singer Mari Kaasinen being away to have a baby, there was no compromise in vocal performance because producer Aija Puurtinen had stepped in to provide the middle voice.













Using the close and distinctive harmonies that come out of Finland, the 3 singers roam around the stage and the movement is often theatrical with gestures between themselves and out to the audience, with plenty of facial expression to further the effect.












For the song "Maaria" the 3 women were joined by fiddle player Lassi Logren in a beguiling a'capella, his voice almost wailing above their harmonies like a distant voice echoing in the hills. Truly beautiful. Earlier Logren was to be seen playing single notes on just one string of his instrument, but he was bringing the bow in from being arms length outstreched away from him and almost whipping the string. Bassist Hannu Rantanen provided super bass, but seemed to me to be dissatisfied with his back row status and was constantly goating about and trying to be noticed more.
Drummer Jaakko Lukkarinen was a different matter though, his beats in order and without histrionics, In "Maaria" (I think) I caught him pushing the head of drumstick across a cymbal, resulting in a dreadful screeching noise, bad enough for him to grimace across to the stage sound crew then smile, but later he became a one man earthquake as he switched to brushes but beat every skin and cymbal he had for all he was worth, the podium and all upon it shaking fearfully.
Later we were taught the Finnish equivalent of "La La La" which predictably enough seemed to have at least 12 syllables!











The encore to this super set included both saxaphone and a lovely instrumental section with the accordian and violin sounding well together. A very well received performance from a great band. Definately a highlight!

After a meal from Leon's, accompanied by Bellowhead on the outdoor stage, a concept which works a little better in this large arena, but still sounds unwieldy to me despite it's ability to put a spring in people's steps, we sampled a few shops and an ice cream before returning to the outdoor stage for Los de Abajo - a 10 piece band from Mexico who seemed to have blended Cuban music with Madness. We heard them play "The Lunatics have taken over the asylum" before we could see them and when we did there was somebody on stage with a huge bass drum, making me smile and think -"They'll hear the bugger now....!" The crowd up front were going manic and towards the end we realised that none other than Dennis Rollins was playing trombone with them. Wish we'd been up front for all that really.

Back over at the Siam tent, The Gotan Project had draped the stage in white and were dressed up to the nines and stood in front of back projected images and movies playing subtle and interesting music that demanded a conentrated listen. Sadly the area outside the tent was already 20 people deep all trying to get a glimpse, so we filed that one away for a future date.

This crowdedness was becoming really noticable, with a great deal of mobile phone traffic "I'm by the 4th flag on the left" and so many people - I'm sure there are more than last year. My feet are filthy with the dust, there are still golf balls in the ground and there is a constant smell of food, most of it really tempting! The general atmosphere though is wonderful - you can dress up as anything (and many do!) and everyone is laid back and friendly, all out to have a good time and enjoy good music.

Salif Keita was so much easier to listen to, his bluesy African style cutting through the night, and later we would find oursleves, as ever, attracted to the tent selling lamps next to the far side of the Siam tent, a magical place at night, made more so tonight because of the fitting atmospheric music of Anoushka Shankar next door, playing her own amazing compositions to a mainly seated and rapt audience, her Sitar being accompanied by various percussion and vocals providing a good musical end to the first day before we set off on the long trek back to the van.....


Saturday July 29th

We walk in through the tent city that makes up the camp site, and then past the rows of stalls with all sorts of things on sale, then through the steam fair (more on that story later!) and on into the main arena where there are yet more stalls.... The retail therapy oportunities are really immense at WOMAD and nearly every stall has it's own music - the colours are vibrant and there are really some pleasant smells eminating from some of them - eg The Soap Gallery - where you can buy soap that looks and smells good enough to eat!


















It's really hot again and we are dressed for the weather and seek out the shade of a flag near the mainstage to see "Think of One" from Belgium. A funky rhythm section with brass and vocalists with big drums and dancers. In fact there was mayhem on the stage - at least 9 people at any one time - but they produce a great heavy band sound, accompanied by the host of WOMAD flags rasping in the stiff breeze. Now a tenth member appears, a large black mama singing to a crazy brass section playing fast with a barrage of percussion behind, a small energetic crowd was bouncing at the front, while many others were enjoying lunch in the sun to this frenetic music.

At the end of the set all 12 members were just either singing and/or playing percussion in an African manner, then a Ram like trumpet sound came over, and a strange Magic Roundabout style trolley came on, bearing a pole with 4 loudspeakers on the top - no idea why, or anything, but it was just one more mad thing from a band with a good show and energetic music.















After the set, the crowd ups and moves to the next venue like the Israelites moving in the desert with all their chattels! For us it's back to the Siam Tent for "Etran Finatawa" and more desert blues. Here though we have the Niger version - with amazing costumes and face paint. The 6 members are arranged with 3 of them sat cross legged on the stage playing assorted drums, including gourd and water filled gourd I think - the standing members consist of one electric guitar and vocals, electric bass and one vocalist (who had a tambourine like device strapped to his ankle).












The music is trance inducing - not unlike Tinariwen in some ways, slow, steady, relentless, the vocals being enhanced by a much higher, almost wailing kind of singing from the central vocalist, who also manages to move around the stage as if on castors, he is so upright and smooth in his movements.

Sometimes the guitar sounds just like Neil Young bashing away on "Down By the River", but strangely transposed to this African scene. The set is very well received by the large crowd, then it's off again to.....

"Emmanuel Jal and band" on the main outdoor stage ... you get the drift - 20-odd thousand people on the move every hour - we've seen Emmanuel before, but this band has a nice sound, quite Fugees-like and of course his great message of peace and hope "I have lots to say about war in my country and everything", he says, "but in the end I believe we are going to party!" His strong message is forcefully delivered in the modern style, lots of rap and samples and so on alongside the great music. Emmanuel gets stronger and more confident each time we see him, look out world, he's coming!

Our next choice was one "Billy Bragg" - The Progressive Patriot as he styles himself these days, but not to sing, no, we sat down, and listened to an hour of high quality oratory by the man concerning the basic human rights, on why his home town voted in the BNP in the local council elections, and on child torture. This was part of one of WOMAD's other faces, there were many speakers, many petitions and lots of issue based groups with information, books, t-shirts and so on, and some free peanuts too!

Following this I trekked off to Cavensham to find a cash point, despite what it says in the program there were none on site that I could see, and none of the marshals I asked knew of any either. This is a major oversight in an otherwise well run festival, especially one were you can spend so much money so easily! Got back just in time to catch the end of a very loud and lively set from the great "Kanda Bongo Man" on the mainstage.

"Toumani Diabaté and his Symetric Orchestra" - in the Siam Tent. Incessant - like the festival, it feels like you are always missing a lot if you just sit down. We ARE sat down for this - the tent is full, we can't see a thing but it sounded great. There at least 9 people on the stage, the music was very much kora driven and as you'd expect - many tracks from the latest album, but most interesting was the beginner's guide to the kora given by Toumani himself, in broken English, explaining how each finger played which part and then he put them all together and left us in no doubt that a) he is a master of his craft, and b) the kora is a complex but wonderful instrument.









After this we enjoyed coffee at the One World Tent getting some more serious stuff in, before returning to the Siam Tent to hear "Nancy Griffith" who delighted us by singing "Gulf Coast Highway" just as we arrived wondering if she might, going on with "From a Distance" and "Listen to the Radio". Her band had the standard lineup - bass, drums, piano and guitar, but they were a good band, and Nancy's voice was terrific. Here songs were all strong too, no froth here, just time for a dance then before....

Back to the mainstage for "Ska Cubano" - "This is like a musical trolley dash" said Gilly as we once again tromped from stage to stage with countless others, meeting countless others making the opposite journey... take the Buena Vista Social Club and cross them with Madness and you will understand how this band sounded.... but by now we were suffering from music fatigue and decide to wander around a bit - to Carter's Steam Fair where we had a go on the gallopers - powered by an 1890 steam engine with a steam organ and everything. Talking to the man at the firebox door, I discovered that there was a very similar device still extant, built only a few weeks apart from this one, and both had recently suffered the same problem with a broken main crank - built in obselescence after a century of work? Sadly the weather turns rather wet and we return to the arena to seek shelter and to see "Femi Kuti" on the mainstage. Femi is a powerhouse in the Afropop scene, and he was sounding great, but this fatigue had really set hold of us, and we just felt inclined to wander - ending up almost inevitably at the lamp tent and catching a little of Indian superstar "Trilok Gurtu" next door in the Siam Tent - again wonderfully atmospheric and calming after a hectic day.

Sunday July 30th

Another right sunny day - and a day that was to become Floppy's - you can read all about that here - Floppy's WOMAD blog - but first we enjoyed listening to the neighbour's comments about The Archers omnibus - and then the other neighbour put on some great music - a good way of selling it - which was exactly why he was doing it - sold 1 CD for a pound!

Amazingly we discover a whole area of the site that we' managed to completely miss during the first 2 days - plenty of new retail oportunities in a sea of noise and colour, but it's so hot and I'm feeling rather under the weather myself, so it's hard to be too keen! Floppy manages to wade through it all and makes lots of new friends and we struggle through to the Siam tent just in time for Mali's Djelimady Tounkara - a very hypnotic and colourful band with a slow, wandering, rythmic sound, all dressed in very colourful get ups and a female vocalist in shiny pink. There is some dueling going on between the musicians, some of it with really long phrases, sometimes reminiscent of Habib Koite, sometimes with convoluted vocals, but nearly always over a nice slow rhythm, just right for the heat of the day.

Japan provided one of the musical highlights of the festival in the form of the Pascals who managed to go from that famous opening few bars of the theme to Jaws into a streetband style dance tune , then they had a violin piece in the manner of Ed Alleyne, then somebody playing the saw and melodica - as Gilly said - a really good soundtrack to the setting that is WOMAD. Top notch stuff.














The blurb for Laura Veirs suggested we find a quiet corner to take in her act - some hope! We managed to squeeze in on the edge of the huge crowd around the village stage - but it was worth it - she plays a lazy Niel Young style electric guitar and sings a bit like Suzanne Vega at times. Her band of piano, bass and drums is augmented with a trombone on some of her older songs, an interesting effect. A bit of a nod towards country and western too at times, but the sound suffered from a bit too much arpeggio keyboards. Otherwise a good set.

Konono No. 1 were the last band to get any notes - and sadly they were not up to expectations - it frankly sounded like a tinny a.m. radio on too loud and was a bit repetitive and far too grating for me today! I know it's supposed to sound like that via the homemade gear, but it didn't do it for me - maybe I was just too tired and hot! Having said that they had some magic rhythms and Floppy seemed to enjoy it!














Festival fatigue was now firmly established and we had had enough of all this dashing around so we chilled out (shopping and eating!) before settling down at the now cooler and slightly damp Radio 3 stage for the last act of the weekend - Moussu T e Lei Jovents from Marsailles - now you should soon be able to hear this set for yourselves on the Radio 3 WOMAD page - but it's not there yet. It was interesting, the band's CD player kept breaking down, exposing that backing tracks were in use, and letting the set slowly descend into anarchy - the damp crowd didn't seem to mind much, and the bird puppets got a few laughs, but we felt that they didn't live up to the promise of the billing as "Andy Kershaw's favourite live act" or indeed up to what we could remember of them playing on the radio, but it was quite good really - not too taxing!

After that we took one more round of the site and discovered a few stalls selling off stock very cheap so that they didn't have to pack it all away, spent the last of our cash there and set off back along the path to the van for the last time on this event.

Totally worn out but content, we discovered the day after that we couldn't leave for a while because the queue to get off the site was just solid until mid-afternoon, no problem, we enjoyed chilling, our neighbour sold us another CD and before long we were heading home, or at least until Oxford where the traffic jams began, but Floppy kept the blues at bay, entertaining the other motorway users and gaining many new friends in the process!

So that was WOMAD 2006 - so much music, so little time, so many people, so little peace, so much food, so few meal times, so many shops, no cash machines. Would we do it again - oh yes! Maybe we would approach things differently, and hopefully in better health, but we'll be back (unless we get tickets for the Cambridge Folk Festival....!)

John Martyn and his Band - Fairport's Cropredy Convention 2006 - 11/8/2006

Just had to do this straight away, the rest of Cropredy and WOMAD will follow soon, but....

There some names who have inexplicably remained in a distant orbit around my life for all of it's 45 years to date - Bill Bruford, Wishbone Ash, Steeleye Span and, until now, John Martyn. Up until very recently, had you asked me about John Martyn, I would have conjured up a mental image of a bloke in a beard (circa 1975) who plays guitar and sings with a bit of a reedy, high voice, and that would have been it. Advance notice of an impending celestial shift came a few weeks back when John Martyn appeared on Mark Radcliffe's evening show on BBC Radio 2, which provided an updated image of an older, rather cantankerous bloke in a beard, and a wheelchair, who still sings with his distinctive voice and plays guitar, but that he does it all rather well and with a good band.

On Friday 11th August 2006, the distant comet that is John Martyn was torn out of his far orbit and flung Johnwise to within a few yards of me, an event of such gravity and magnitude that I am still reeling from it.

Start at the end - John Martyn has just finished his set, with a wave and Tommy Cooperesque ha-ha-ha, he is wheeled offstage to deafening applause - there is no encore, he leaves us there ruthlessly, stunned, to bleed slowly, to stand with many others uttering expletives, immobile, shattered and knowing that life can never be the same again, that tomorrow morning, there would be a new star to consider and to gaze at, to listen to, and maybe even to worship......

We had wanted to be in the thick of it, and we managed to get quite near to the stage in what was a big crowd standing at the front of the arena. It all started pretty normally with "Cool Tide", John was sat next to a selection of effects, one of which was clearly defunct as the ever attendant roadie was called in to sort something out before the second song "I couldn't love you more" which featured some of John's famous echo effects.

The band consisted of 5 members, including Gerry Conway guesting on a vast array of percussion instruments. I couldn't tell you who the rest were right now, except that the bassist was Thomson and his work on the fretless electric was magnificent - I wrote it down at least 3 times in two pages! The next song was slower and thoughtful ("Lies?") and while you could see the pain on John's face at times, it was more than apparant that he still has his humour very much intact, the song's lyrics sounded very Dylanesque to me. Ben Harper's "Excuse Me Mr." followed, with Gerry Conway's cowbell sounding throughout.

Things turned more jazz like at this point, with each of the players taking a solo in "BabyFace?" and then another song which seemed to include some chord sounds from a Police number, but it finished on a chord that just took off with such power - "A creature in his natural environment" muttered Gilly astutely - "Rocksalt and Nails" with a great organ sound and then what I now know to have been "Big Muff" - starting a bit funky and leading up to scorching guitar solos over a swirl of hypnotic sound. The comet was approaching! A heckler shouted something and John laughed back, "No, not over the hill, I'm just hard to kill."

The anthemic "May you never" with mostly just John's acoustic guitar over the bass followed, then "Don't want to know" (more great bass!) and the comet arrived - I have just written "OH YES!" across the notebook page - after that its a blank so far as song titles go - there were at least 10 people at the side of the stage by now, all getting their fill from the best vantage point, "I'm going to measure you up" was in there somewhere. The maelstrom took hold, took over and then he was gone - gone! That's it - gone - left us hungry, wretched, delighted, blew all our fuses and left.

Compere Geoff Hughes ("Twiggy","Onslow",Eddie") just couldn't shut up the applause, the cheers and the demands for more went on and on, even when it was clear that we weren't going to get any more. "Always see him at night" I have written down - darkness suits the music well, not that it's dark necessarily, but darkness takes away most of the visual sphere and all you have is the stage lighting with John and band in the centre and the music swirling around you.

That was it then - 10CC who followed had no chance with us - there was no room to take anything else in. The next day was definately overshadowed by what we had just witnessed and music since has had a new standard to match up to. Amazingly, Gilly had managed to have the forethought to order "Live at Leeds and More" on CD a few weeks earlier, so we were able to get JM fixes in the van. So it was that the next day then I heard "Somewhere over the rainbow" for the first time, thankfully we were spared John performing that song on Friday, because I think most of us would have just passed on to another life there and then....

Thanks John and band - I think you can safely say you have us hooked - don't wait too long before giving us another chance - and now over to Amazon for a back catalogue ordering session.......

Postscript: There are, for the time being, some amazing clips of this gig at YouTube!!!

Floppys stolen the laptop - and my WOMAD report

Floppys stolen the laptop is the name of a new blog started, as he has rightly described it in the title, by Floppy when he managed to get hold of the laptop while I wasn't looking!

He has kindly provided a link from his blog to mine, so I am reciprocating! I will add a sidebar link too shortly Floppy. It's full of fun and very popular!

All this means my WOMAD report will be a few days yet, because he insists on having first go of the laptop - after all he's getting more hits than me!

Here HE is in all his glory:

Kristina Olsen at Biddulph Town Hall - 18/7/2006

Remembering our previous attempts at finding gigs in the Potteries, we set out early and managed to arrive a good 2 hours before the start - so we bagged the best seats and went and had dinner!

It was one of the hottest days for about 100 years (really!) and everybody was feeling it, but the hall filled up nicely and lots of people had brought food and drink, so it felt quite festive. First up tonight were "Loud Mouth Women", in what is becoming a regular slot for them at the end of their summer rehearsals period. "Loud Mouth Women" are a local womens' free access singing group and when they came on, they had to line up in front of the stage because there were so many of them - 34 we counted, plus Mary up front leading. We weren't sure what to expect, and to be honest I was dreading the possibility of the worst kind of church choir performance I used to endure, but when they started their a'capella act singing in an African language a song slightly reminiscent of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", but much better, my hopes were lifted, followed by my spirits and my enjoyment! They sang their hearts out, sometimes in unison, sometimes split into 2, 3 or 4 parts, but always smiling and putting everything into it.
They sang "It ain't what you do, it's the way that you do it" (Fun Boy 3/Bananarama version), "We are one" (most appropriately) and a further selection of African style songs, all sung by heart and a'capella. Great stuff.

Eric Cox then introduced Kristina Olsen - I should declare a bias here - I like Kristina Olsen - we caught her twice at the Bridgnorth Festival last year and she made a big impression, and we said then that we would make a point of catching her again if she came within range. Well here she is, and here we are! Ann and Jim had also made the trip, and another couple had come down from Heswall so obviously there is quite a draw.

Kristina chose "Part Time Love" to open and was instantly in trouble with the guitar pickups which continued to give problems all night, but nothing daunted, switch to a microphone and carry on... The song features some complex guitar work not unlike John O'Connell's solo in the middle of "Moondance", and this is her opener - she hasn't even had time to warm up yet, and from where we were sat we could see and hear the expressions and little sounds Kristina makes as she and her guitar communicate with each other, and they with us. Her guitar playing was really intricate, some notes bent sooo far, and lots of well used harmonics too, the whole song is held together by the constant heartbeat on the bass string. Then, for a few moments the guitar is slung round behind her and "Love Kristina" - a short, light-hearted a'capella song. The instrument is returned to favour for the next "Dangerous" - but it probably wished it hadn't been, because she hammers hell out of the strings at times, no wonder she wears plasters on her right hand fingers! It's a great song though, loud and emotional.

My favourite off her last CD - the exquisite title track from "In Your Darkened Room" came next - a much smoother and darker sound, enhanced by the tiny sighs and occasional tuts from Olsen as she continues to wring that guitar. I can't say enough about this song - it grabbed me right inside when I first heard it at Bridgnorth and it continues to grab and twist and pull at me every time I hear it. I don't recall Kristina ever saying anything by way of introduction, but whatever inspired her to write it certainly exerts a major charge and never fails to niggle away at my emotions. Watching Kristina perform it close up here, and later even closer on her live DVD, I suspect she still feels it deep too.

A few songs later the long suffering acoustic was laid aside in favour of the big red one, playing bottle-neck slide blues on Robert Johnson's "Come on in my kitchen", using the bottleneck to suggest more and more of the lyrics as the song progressed, aided by "knowing looks" towards the audience. All this singing was of course peppered with Kristina's own brand of things to say between songs - some of it biographical, a few jokes, a kind of aural blog, including the recipe for her potent cold- relief - hot chilli tea, which she consumed throughout, all of it somewhat more brash than you usually experience in folk clubs. "Didn't think it would happen tonight" concluded the first set ( time for a second brew?) with a bit of audience participation and a really loud vocal.

Part two of the evening commenced with more joy from the Loud Mouth Women - various "Generic African" call and response songs followed by "Don't worry, be happy", "I'll fly away" and the Crystals' "There's nobody like my baby". Finally they sang "We're going home" by The Mighty Zulu Nation and after a few verses they began to parade slowly off and around the side, still singing their joyous song and waving as they went - just brilliant.

Kristina re-appeared with her hair tied up - quite literally as it turned out - she showed us how after the gig - bluesing about on her acoustic again with "Stop Doing So Well" and then "The Truth of a Woman". The 'tween song chat caused some embarassed giggling from around the room when mentioning finding someone to neck in the carpark, and hoots when it moved on to talk of life classes....

"New Love" was a classic Olsen penned song - sometimes you can just tell - maybe there's a batch from a certain time, or perhaps it's just "her" sound, anyway, the next one, a very new song, "Move On" was rather more unique and as the little blue practice guitar had also failed to work with the sound system, came played on the acoustic for the very first time - "character building" as Kristina said afterwards. There were problems with the sound all night, "poltergeists in the pickups" but it didn't seem to harm the performance any - the mikes worked just fine anyway. Only one song with the concertina tonight - "If I stayed" and that short but sweet.

"The Man with the Red Car", then a lovely instrumental played on the red steel guitar "Phoebe's Iceburg" - written on a train and very beautiful indeed - before ending up with "Big O" featuring those Loud Mouth Women again, who, having had 10 minutes to learn the chorus all crammed into the kitchen, may have been a little surprised at the remainder of the lyrics - certainly there were some interesting expressions when light dawned! Plain speaking songs are what you get here, often with pretty complex instrumentation, but always straight forward.

We got 2 encores - "Cry you a waterfall" - a happy/sad song for a departed friend, then the fun filled "Better than TV" which rather understates the level of entertainment Kristina Olsen had provided all evening, with help from the Loud Mouth Women - thank you all very much indeed.

Kristina Olsen returns to the UK in October with cellist Peter Greyling (tour dates here) and Folking About WILL be there!

John O'Connell at The Pollards Inn, Willaston - 16/7/06

Just a brief note really to say that John is playing a whole series of local pub gigs at present - The Tap - Eastham on Tuesday 25th July, The Dibbensdale Hotel, Bromborough on Thursday 27th are the next 2, and they are in addition to his regular spots around Liverpool at the weekends.

John was brilliant at The Pollards, maybe a tad too loud for the space, but we were sat at the front! The set was pretty much as usual, but John's repetoire is big enough to allow him to vary the content from night to night, so no Van Morrison tonight, but a lovely rendition of Damien Rice's "Cannonball" stood out for me, amongst others. Gary Hennesey(?) came and played mandolin for a spot, so we got Rod Stewart's "Mandolin Wind" and U2's "Losing My Religion", both with poor Jimmy sat off in a side room, but still playing bass, and then Dylan's "Little Sadie" and "Whiskey In The Jar" a la Thin Lizzy.

Another very good night from John - see him if you can.

Eric Bogle & John Munro - Parkgate Folk Club - 8/6/06

This isn't going to be too easy to write - Eric Bogle is after all a superstar in folk terms - but lets wait a moment and comment on a new rising star that appeared in the Wirral Folk on the Coast Festival - Big Bob - Bassman came on with club organisor Eddie Morris to sing "Kelty Clippy" and play along on "Can't do right", and then this new duo abandoned their instruments to sing "The old pool" a'capella to geat acclaim. We didn't manage to photograph this event, but here's Bob enjoying a quiet moment earlier in the Festival. The duo were joined by another local legend and registered wreck, Don, with his bones for "Making Songs". We look forward to reporting on more gigs by this new act in the near future!

Eric Bogle and John Munro - not one but two superstars that had sold out the Parkgate Folk Club months ago and had poor Eddie's phone ringing day and night for weeks as people became more and more desperate to get tickets. So the upper room at the Boathouse Hotel was jammed tight with expectant folkies from all over, the temperature was high, the air was still and the air conditioning not up to much.... Eric advised us early on that he was suffering with a cold, but he battled on anyway. With Eric on accoustic guitar and John Munro on mandolin, they introduced themselves with a little comic number "My name's Eric" which had us all laughing. After that things seemed to be more serious as the pair worked their way through their set. Eric rumbles away, leaning back a touch, head back, eyes closed when he's singing, whilst John sings higher, seemingly nonchalant. The sound is very crisp and accomplished, and John's mandolin playing got special notice from me several times, particularly during "A good man died today" and "No man's land".

In the second half John sang his own great song "Cross the border" in fine style, then "A reason for it all" found the duo singing alternate verses with some great guitar work, building up to the amazing finale where both men sang separate words in opposition to each other to end this moving and powerful song which had lots tears in lots of eyes, men and women alike. This section was the highlight of the set, which, while I often wrote down things like "nice guitar" and so on, ultimately failed to light my fire. The balance of the songs was heavily towards the protest, miserable and maudlin, the mood between songs similar and the whole thing felt a bit heavy and disappointing. Not bad by any means, but certainly not up to the star billing I'd expected. I said at the start that Eric had a cold, so maybe that was getting him down, and the room was very hot and airless, not a great help in the circumstances, so fair enough, I'd see them again certainly, but I'd hope for something more next time.

The good news is that John is returning to the UK and Parkgate with the great Australian band Colcannon next year, we'll be there!

Doghouse Skiffle Group - Telfords Warehouse, Chester - 30/6/06

A balmy Chester evening saw the Doghouse assemble to entertain the bright young things that frequent this popular night spot. Not being due to start until 10:30pm, there was plenty of time for a few pre-show drinks and socialising while we celebrated Gilly's 50th birthday - I wish I could say this had been specially arranged, but it hadn't so I won't- but it was a good excuse for an impromptu party with our favourite skiffle trio from Hull.

At the appointed hour then we gathered in front of the small stage in a low ceilinged room to the side of a packed but noisy bar, and witnessed the DSG in another mode altogether. Unable to communicate directly with most of the audience, many of whom were still in the bar, Garry was forced to leave out much of the between song banter and let the music do the talking. Reviving the old favourites and applying their own peculiar style of skifflisation to modern classics, the band played their hearts out and pretty soon the room was full, as the crowd came over to see what on earth was going on. At the front meantime, we were dancing the night away in a whirl of bright lights, very loud music and lots of gyrating bodies - and all in a very confined, very hot space! "Sixteen Tons", "Rock Island Line", "Train, Train", "Fulsome Prison" all churned out one after the other, Alan became the local hero for the several young men dancing away in front of him, as the crowd grew, Garry was able to work in a few quipps and got a few laughs. Soon the place was bouncing and "A day in the life" was rolled out, but the crowd was in for yet more treats when they got into the "The Legend of Jesse James", complete with held breath, reverse singing and the amazing "Bohemian Rhapsody" mid-section. "Cigarettes, Whisky and wild wild women" piled on the fun (complete with gigantic drum stick - my favourite bit - "You'll hear the bugger now!") and then ....

It was all over in a flash - the set ending with "Goodnight Irene", the traditional "Tigers!" chant being replaced by a topical "England!" at the end, a gesture which seems to have upset the management, but never mind eh? Once again the Doghouse had triumphed over adversity, a great show under difficult conditions.

Ewen Carruthers - Bromborough Folk Club - 28/6/06

A very welcome return to Bromborough for Ewen (see last year's report here) and he was given the whole second half to entertain us. Ewen only plays his own stuff, and his opener was "Old Dog" - a bluesy number which is all based on one riff repeated many times. In "Mr Anderson" Ewen proved his writing talents by managing to rhyme "great war" and "snore", and played in something of a Mark Knopfler style with a nice delicate touch. His voice, mellow now, but retaining his North Eastern accent at times was pushed to something more hoarse in "Hey Katrina", Ewen's hurricane piece and his guitar style seems to involve wrestling the sound out of the instrument at times, not quite with the venom Neil Young would use, but there was some major effort put into the sound.

"Love Birds" and "One More Story" followed and then, after an explanation that this is about Joni Mitchell, Ewen played "In Your Studio" and there was a very definite gear change, both in lyrical and musical content, a much richer sound which made us sit up and pay even more attention.

Ewen calls himself an easy listening folk artist and many of his songs fall into this category, but his lyrics can be quite deep and deserve to be heard - for example in "Lonely Little White Cloud":

"California living's great,
Until you start to shake"

Marvelous!


Winding up with his well known "Rubenstein Remembers" (as recorded by Allan Taylor) which had everybody going, Ewen was well received and so long as he keeps returning to England, he will be welcome back at Bromborough.

Cream of the Barley et al - Bromborough Folk Club - 7/6/2006

Just how many acts can you squeeze into one night at a folk club? Bromborough's contribution to the Wirral Folk on the Coast Festival was a specially extended version - kicked off early and finished late, packed to the gills and sold out weeks in advance.

It was down to the resident irregulars -"The Illych People" to get things off the ground, and then regular resident Phil Chisnall competed with the bells from next door's campanologists' practice session, sometimes aided by Chris Wilcox on violin, a mixed set of his own work and covers, finishing with a nicely done version of the popular "Caledonia".

Next up - Sally Williamson - this time with an electric bass and percussionist who added an extra dimension to her sound. Five songs, mostly her own compositions, all delivered in Sally's very polished, clean style - her guitar playing is always very accomplished, and sometimes I find myself wanting Sally to go one stage further and whip up a bit of a lather. At one stage during a quiet song, the drummer John Lancashire gave a great heave of his shoulders, paused as if counting down, and I thought "here we go..." But no, he was just having a stretch and while the song built nicely with both the bass and later bongos, the sound stayed on the ground floor.

It's actually harder to write this kind of thing down about folk who you meet quite often (very often in Phil's case) and I trust that everybody takes it in the spirit it is meant - I'm just saying what I think - and you may get your chance to turn the tables one of these days...

Fourth in line was our local Urban Troubadour - John O'Connell - regular readers will have picked up that I like John a lot, and tonight he played a short but well defined set, Gordon Lightfoot, Cat Stevens and Janis Ian covers, his own "What a day..." and then he sat down and played an instrumental "One Time Swing" which had everybody craning their necks to get a glimpse of his technique as he rocked his way through the tune. "Moondance" concluded a set full of passion and confidence, in which he controlled the 'temperature' of the music to perfection. John has developed a fine crack in his voice too and he used it here to great effect over his rich guitar sound.

The John Dowling Bluegrass Band - John D, Russ Williams (bass) and Ian (accoustic guitar), played a laid back set with the ever modest John Dowling redefining the banjo standards with more than adequate support from his 2 friends. "Gypsy Jazz" highlighted Ian's accoustic guitar, and then, once they had agreed the key, "Red Headed Boy" and "Red Bull Boogie" followed. "Lady Madonna" gave each of them a chance to solo, and the audience was singing along, but there were problems with the sound that marred this set somewhat, and they finished on a bluegrass high with "How Mountain Girls Can Love" before John O'Connell returned to duel with John Dowling in the now standard "dueling Banjos".

And so to the top of the bill - Cream of the Barley - eagerly anticipated by those who caught them at this event last year - and by those who heard what they had missed, the place was crackling when Shay brought them on - now most of the bands I've heard who play this style of Irish music work up to a frenzy and play out with "Irish Rover" - The Cream of the Barley STARTED with this song and took us up from frenzy to whatever's next! There was uproar for "The Leaving of Liverpool" and "Maggie May", there was "Ride On", Shay got invited up to sing along on "Whisky in the Jar" to great applause. When they started to play "The Boxer" in the wrong key, there was a quip - "He wasn't that poor- start again" and off they went, playing the most unsubtle version of this song your likely to hear - it felt like a Sherman tank being used to crush a grape - later the banjo broke a string and the rest of them just carried on while he went off to change it, until he came back - whereupon they hurled abuse at him!

A slight rest while they calmed down for a moment playing "Carrickfergus", and then it was back to uproar for "Nancy Riley", with the sweat pouring off the players, the floor bouncing and some rarely spotted smiles from some of the regulars!! And through all this, Keith the fiddle player stood and smiled his contented smile and played away as if this was all just normal....

They closed with "Holy Ground" and an instrumental I didn't write down the name of, but by now there was dancing too and Peter, the landlord of the Bridge Inn came and finished things off with "Danny Boy"

Wow - I'm worn out re-living this as I type it out - it was another cracker of a night - well done John Coleman and everyone for sorting it out - and it was only Wednesday - half way through the Festival...... That's six acts by the way - not bad at all for under a fiver!

Bromborough Folk Club meet every Wednesday evening at the Bridge Inn, Port Sunlight, Wirral - all are welcome.

Last Night's Fun - Lymm Folk Club - 2/7/2006

Ably but perhaps un-necessarily supported by Bernard Cromarty, Last Night's Fun played 2 short sets in a room which, despite Stuart's emergency air-conditioning, was so hot and airless that one rather wished that the gig had been held in the car park! Bernard Cromarty is one of Lymm's stalwarts and he managed to prove his billing as a multi-instrumentalist by playing a different instrument for nearly every piece - starting with "Dark Island" which he had talked up for us before hand because it showed off the full range of his piano accordion. Sure enough it built from a few quiet notes to a fearsome roar before dying down again, and the last note was beautifully controlled. Bernard went on to cover "Put up a parking lot", and Cyril Tawney's "Sally, free and easy" amongst others, his voice adding it's own particular colour to the performance.

I mentioned earlier that the support was probably unnecessary, and certainly, without taking anything from Bernard, who has his own night later in the week during the Lymm Festival, we could have done with allowing as much time as possible for Last Night's Fun, a band who, as we were soon to find out, need a lot of time to tune and regroup - and a tell a few jokes, and ask a few questions, and pass the time of day, and all of this between each song or tune. Indeed, when Mal was suggesting we made the trip to this gig, I was a bit worried that the "banter" might be a mask for some otherwise dodgy performing. A listen to their album "Dubh" seemed to dispel this thought though, and whilst I have opened my notes with the words "much fun", I would soon be listening to a collective of musicians who have overcome their geographical differences to gel into a marvelous performance unit.

The three piece band have a way of playing that is conventionally built around the rhythm section, but convention ends there because the rhythm section is Chris Sherburn's left leg and Denny Bartley's guitar, with verbal instructions being issued in short bursts by Chris Sherburn which might have been intrusive but for his sensitivity to the mood. Gilly even whispered to me that she thought the way he controlled the music, urging it on, and sometimes emitted soft sighs, was quite sensual. My less feminine thoughts were more of listening to the Red Arrows commander Red 1 giving his split-second cues - "round again - GO!" Denny Bartley, the other half of this section, plays his guitar in so many different ways it's hard to single anything out - certainly his bass strings are used to great effect at certain times, whilst at others he'll be tapping gently on the body to simulate a bodrhan, and then he'll strum hard and fast and then he'll be sounding like Juan Martin for a minute - and that's just the rhythm section folks....

They opened with a tune: "Downham Market?" which was great, then Denny opened his mouth and sang Ewan McColl's "Move Along" and it felt like a storm blowing in across the room - Denny is slight but his voice is something else all together, it's a powerful force with a major emotional crack in it that is not at all sentimental, but sounds like its been hard won from a difficult seam.

So you will appreciate already that this was a good night and I was really "digging" this band. I havn't even mentioned Chris' concertina either. Denny's voice is put to great effect in "Next Market Day", which starts with just his guitar, then Chris adds some very subtle concertina sounds in the background which turn sublime at the end, and then they change gear again, directed by one of Chris' soft commands, Nick Scott powers up his nuclear pipes and Denny starts hammering away at his strings, capo on somewhere around the seventh fret, fingers down around the twelth and strumming it for all he is worth.

The final song of the first half, "The Roseville Fair" sounded to me like a Bruce Spingsteen lyric:

"You were dressed in blue, and you looked so lovely

Just a gentle flower of a small-town girl

You took my hand, and we stepped to the music

With a single smile, you became my world." from "The Roseville Fair" - Bill Staines

Brilliant.


For the second half we decided to stand up - we were sat at the back anyway, so it wouldn't harm, and the better view seemed to improve the sound too! We got "Sammy's Bar", another of Cyril Tawney's songs, then a self penned tune "Doxford Hall" in which we witnessed the band's total immersion in what they are playing - often all 3 have their eye's closed as they play, and certainly the effort they put into their playing is tangible in the sound they produce.

One piece of deft work saw Denny whip his capo off the frets mid tune, place it on the end of the neck and carry on playing without it affecting the flow at all - you wonder how often it ends up on the floor, but I suspect it's one of those things that you can just do after a while when you can play so intently.

The last song - yes they only managed to fit 3 in - was "The Autumn Child", but before this Chris continued to rib Nick and his pipes in his dry, cutting way, ending with an almost whispered, "Play that funky music pipe boy!" This humour is a staple part of the LNF act, it's all well meant and seems to be accepted without any rancour from Nick, who seems to take the butt of most of it. Chris certainly has the quick wit and keen eye that you need to produce the kind of hilarious off-the-cuff quips he deals out, and his long drawn out tale of eating an Opal Fruit was funny enough, before he delivered the coup-de-gras and said that this story was included because they had received a complaint that they didn't give out enough detail between songs!

The all too short set was completed with 2 encores - "30 foot trailer" and a tune called "Akward" I think - "more?" said Chris - "you can tell they've paid ten quid to get in!"

Did I mention Nick's pipes? Well, apart from being the target for much lighthearted abuse from Chris, they are a wonder to behold. Just sat on the floor you would swear that somebody had left a heap of old recorders and bits of trombone laying around. Closer examination would allow you to suspect that a fishing rod might have been included, and that maybe a snake charmer had left his pipe there too. In Nick's hands (and elbows too) though, they turn into a thing of great beauty, the drones working with the chanter, the sound erie and yet melodious. I'm told these things are hard enough to play in tune, never mind play well and in tune. Nick manages to play VERY well and in tune and, despite the fun, he is an equal talent in this rich lineup.

Just one final illustration, the tune "The Autumn Child" starts with a complex and exciting section featuring Nick on the pipes, it drew a round of applause much like a jazz solo, which almost drowned out the silky smooth transition from pipes to concertina - a real highlight for me in a night that felt like one long highlight, and a performance that left Gilly overcome with emotion, so intense was the experience.

There are a some acts that we enjoy, others that we look out for playing locally, and some that we feel we would travel a long way to see again. Last night's fun are very firmly in the latter category and I hope it won't be too long either.


- Addendum - I don't normally do this, but today we listened to "Tempered" - the most recent studio album from the boys and we was robbed not hearing them play this! - "Whiskey in the Jar" on the CD is such a fine rendition - far and away removed from the hurtling fevered version put out by Thin Lizzie, this is a sensative and moving ballad that would have been fantastic to hear live - catch them if you can, and insist that they sing this song when you do!