John Martyn Portrait

Gilly is looking to sell this portrait she has made of John Martyn using mixed media.

Please follow the link and thanks for you interest.

REVIEW: SELFIE by Jim Pearson

A new solo album from Jim Pearson, here’s a track by track first impressions review:

This album starts by breaking the mould of starting with your firecracker track. “Who wants the World?” The opening chords are poignant, foretelling sadness. The track lapses into laconic beats, and you wait. Wait, expecting Jim to burst into song, but the sparse, interesting instrumentation continues. A reluctant melody joins and then leaves, no voice sounds, the music fades slowly away. I find this music very comforting, I could listen to this track for hours, but the reverie is broken by the second track, “The Organ Donor”, a more recognisable Jim Pearson song which expresses our collective anxiety coupled to our apathy, a battle of lyrics and drumbeat, come on we can overcome this sense of doom! The upbeat driving confirm the hope behind the questions. 

We’re still on familiar territory on the third track, “Until it’s Not”, a whimsical beat with west coast underscore, sixties keyboard sound. Jim’s lyrics can’t be described as easy, they make you think. The similar theme of negative lyrics continue with “Into the Night”, but the soaring brass suggests an optimism, moving into a happy clappy feel, a great vibe, dancing into the night suggesting avoidance of the something that went wrong.

“Twenty Twenty” Reminds me of a TV Detective theme music feel, instrumental, which some Rick Wakeman fuzz keyboards in the mix. It feels like you are spiralling into a plug hole until suddenly the mood lifts you out again just in time. I don’t know if the title suggests looking backwards or forwards given the early January release date, but it keeps the mood up before “Happy Sad” takes us back into the mould with wordplay lyrics, bouncy melody and a nod to grunge mid song. 

“The Inevitable “ is a happy tune with a foreboding feel to the mantra like lyric, leaves you slightly disturbed despite the building crescendo. “Swimming with Sharks” is classic Jim Pearson, maybe tongue in cheek swipe at swimming with dolphins, it maintains a good contrast between the happy tune and the rather alarming lyrics. These two will both be a favourite singalongs at Jim’s gigs I’m sure.

“Heads in the Cloud” covers a very 21st century issue in the lyrics, and is followed by ”Wherever You Go There You Are” A most unusual sound, kind of 21st century banjo and Wild West piano, both simple but pleasing melodies.

“Quid Pro Quo” A driving, insistent beat with a two sided story to tell, another demanding lyric.

“You for Me” A heavier, uptempo song with a common theme of boy meets girl and promptly doubts everything about himself. Both the song and the album are over before this is resolved, leaving us, again, questioning, perhaps unfulfilled, hoping for more.

Elements of this album remind me of Jon Redfern’s first album, especially instrumentally, which is one of my very favourites, Jim has some great lyrical themes and develops them well through some of these songs. Listening through two or three times I felt that the album could maybe do with a touch more joy in it here and there, but there are some good songs in here and I’m looking forward to hearing them again, both from the album and when they get played out live.

Coming soon on Bandcamp.

A 2020 Revival

A number of events have conspired to make me want to write a few notes hear, and there are plans to attend some good shows in the coming year, so I should have plenty to write about if the muse stays with me!

So what’s occurring that makes me want to write? Well to start with we paid a visit to The Raven Folk Club last night, and what a joy that was. Good humoured and diverse, a wealth of talent, stretching folk to its most elastic, pleasing on the ear, good beer at the bar and all for the price of a couple of quid for raffle tickets. There was even an Elton John anecdote. I’m not going to list songs and performers, just to say it’s a good night out. Every Sunday at the Bear and Billet in Chester, every week something different.

There seems to be a resurgence of folk (again) around where we live, with another new club opening at the end of the month, and several fledgling clubs doing well already, on top of the long established nights that seem to be thriving too. Splendid!

Out of the blue

We interrupt this long term silence to bring a live blog from Bromborough Folk Club at the Bridge Inn in Port Sunlight. We're here as usual for whatever comes up in the mix, which is always interesting, but with more than half an eye a young man called Joseph Little, who has been playing in the area for a few weeks, gaining in popularity and winning his first half hour guest slot in The Ship at Handbridge, Chester on Friday.

His two songs tonight both self penned , "Flowers" is delivered in a powerful and confident voice with a little vibrato at times,  and you feel the emotion whether he is singing quiet or loud. The melodies are his own too and complex, showing a depth of listening and playing. "Replace" has a hypnotic guitar rift for the verses and Joseph attacks his strings when he needs to, not afraid to let the guitar sing out too.  "Now that I've got your attention" he booms out after a short soft line, certainly does the job, his playing and his singing have a dynamic, he understands that there is more to a song than just words and notes.

In between sings he apologetically offers his 6 song  CD for 2 pounds...  Up a quid and with 2 extra songs from last week, those of us they have heard it have been urging him to charge more!

Joseph Little is new to the Folk circuit,  but both he, his brother and his father play in various rock bands so he has got used to playing to an audience. We've enjoyed watching and listening to Joseph develop over the last few weeks and hope to continue to report good things in the future.

2011-01-25 Ani Difanco at The Lowry, Manchester

First gig of 2011 and here we are at Manchester's striking The Lowry to see Ani Difranco performing at the Quays Theatre - a small horseshoe shaped room all done in bright red with 3 layers of stalls around the edges. It's a hard room, and not the most comfortable either. Ani Difranco seems to attract a good crowd in Manchester, colourful and characterful, we feel almost rebellious being a straight couple in this company which more or less filled the Theatre.

Before we get to Ani though we are introduced to Liz Lawrence - singer, songwriter and guitarist, new to me and hiding behind her long fringe for much of the set, Liz Lawrence played nine of her own songs and held the audience well right through, but first I had to get over her time keeping legs - she seemed often to be marching on the spot, and when this was coupled with her upper body swinging figure-of-eights with a long guitar neck in hold during the up tempo segments, seemed slightly child-like, but represented the music taking full hold and didn't stop the songs being well worth a listen - clear lyrics, confidently and deftly sung over a rhythmic guitar with plenty of colour and variety. There were some strong songs in there - they weren't often introduced so I'm guessing titles, but "Trouble with My Sleeping Heart" and "Funny Old World", "Monday Morning" and "Cards on the Table" all stand out. A touching new piece dedicated to Liz's mother who was in the audience was a sensitive and thoughtful song too.

Ani Difranco is one of a kind. We saw her here a few years back and enjoyed a strong performance in this very theatre - tonight we'd have gladly settled for more of the same, but with no band and only a veritable collection of acoustic guitars on the stage, we were clearly in for something different. Off to a screaming start as the guitar lead pulled over the drinks and towels were put down, Ani set off into her set with "Anticipate" and started her onslaught against her guitar strings right from the off - huge bass string twangs fired off and fingers with heavily reinforced nails raking the higher notes with a major passion- a performance full of "piss and vinegar" as Eric Bibb once borrowed from somebody else. The guitar playing is never straight forward with Ani - and while you could hear her New Orleans home influencing her latest songs, those blues chords were soon being bent and twisted into a new key to fit the sound needed for the song. This effort driven playing, the bending of keys and the wringing of the guitar for that needed sound are all so reminiscent of Neil Young's electric playing, but this is no copycat act, Ani Difranco has her own way and her own mind. Lyrically thrilling, her mind so clearly used to thinking and reasoning, she delivers songs that make you question your own mind, and then a couple more that are so wonderfully tender, and then a comedic number but not without it's own hard centre.

Missing her young daughter and claiming to be not very chatty, we still got a fair bit of talk between songs, and Ani is as fond of the f-word as Gordon Ramsey, but "oh my, fuckety-fuck" was a new one on me, and a new song "If You're Not" had us all laughing with it's punchline "If you're not getting happier as you get older, You're fucking up!"

A great evening then, memorable - not perfect, the sound in the red tin theatre was not the best, levels up and down to try and cope led to rattling speakers and quite a lot of interaction with the "sound guys". You know it's been a good one though when the artist does a whole night without playing any songs that you know (apart from the very last) and none of your favourites, but it hasn't mattered at all.

Gilly found this very useful set list site for anyone who wants the full list:
http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/ani-difranco/2011/the-lowry-manchester-england-13d2d181.html

Earle on Townes

A useful link so I thought I would share it here as well as remember where I left it!

Shrewsbury Folk Festival - Live!

Sat in the comfort of our own home last night we watched Eric Bibb knock the socks of the audience at the Shrewsbury Folk Festival with a belter of a set - we enjoyed curry, rice and chips, wine, coffee, the internet, en suite bathroom, central heating, our own house... yes we watched it on the live video stream - brilliant! Better view, great sound, comfy chairs, no camping - great shows - Eric was on top form - opening up well with "If I don't get well no more" and on into a set of mostly original material. Backed by stand-up bass, drums and electric guitar, Erioc Bibb rocked the night away.

The only criticism was the compere who came on and killed the atmosphere flat when the audience were baying for more - he could have milked it a little longer even if there was a curfew and no time for an encore - no - just a litter announcement...

Anyway tonight it's Show of Hands and then the Dhol Foundation - should be worth tuning in. We will be - chile tonight!

Crosby Stills & Nash - MEN Arena Manchester

Stood listening to "Wooden Ships" - the first CSN encore song at Manchester gave me a spiritual line directly back to Woodstock - these 3 guys are still at it, still enjoying it and still well able to deliver. Sadly the sound at the MEN Arena was not delivering and the whole thing was a little flat. Early on as the trio took us through some semi-acoustic songs, there was a dire hiss from the p.a. throughout and the guitar sounds were tinny at best - a great shame - and a disgrace really when the tickets are so expensive and the music is so good - these days there is no excuse for low quality sound.

There were some highlights - a Crosby - Nash duo was particularly good, and the one-off (because Manchester is his home town) Cold Rain was very well received by the audience. Stephen Stills was given due adoration for his guitar solos - one notable series of exchanges with the organ was particularly good - of it's day if you must, but I enjoyed it!

Most of the greats were there, and they slipped in Dylan's "North Country Fair" too - David Crosby was still reeling from Nash's attempts at explaining cricket (The Ashes having just started) but didn't let it detract from the music, Graham Nash was on top form, his singing obviously coming right through his body before it got out of his mouth - Stephen Stills not sounding quite so harmonious these days, but still fiery and still making those guitars howl.

Most of all we went to pay homage to a great trio - so job done there - shame about the sound - they could learn a trick or two from the 4th member of their other band who has recently proved that stadiums can sound good whether you play loud or quiet.

A short word about... Laura Marling - Nottingham

Laura Marling was picked to support Neil Young again - after a slot at last year's Hop Farm in the rain - Laura seemed a bit shy and nervous opening with a few old songs - "My Manic","Ghosts", a little bit uneven in her delivery perhaps, but she settled down and Laura and her band delivered a really confident set - it was like listening to Dolly Parton for one of the songs - such a strong voice - sorry I don't have the set list.

I believe that her songs will out - Laura was robbed of the Mercury Music Prize - her debut album is a work of genius and all the more so for her age - if she were to stay on this plane she will be superb as she matures further who knows what heights she may reach?

Neil Young UNLEASHED

From the moment Neil shambled onto the stage and hooked on Big Black, to the last dying cries of pain from the tortured remains of the same instrument, propped theatrically against his amps several hours later, we witnessed a “real treat” of a performance from a man on top of his form.

A deep groan emerged from the sound system as Neil led off with “Hey Hey, My My” everything cranked up to make sure the audience was fully alert to what was coming – he had apparently been on great form a few days earlier and now it was our turn to get a full dose of medicine from Mr Young. You will have read elsewhere about Neil shaking the guitar to death and stomping around the stage, and there was plenty of that, but tonight it seemed more agitated and more urgent than usual. Things may not have been as angry as first impressions may have suggested though as the many close ups of Young's now jowly face caught several knowing smiles between the trademark scowls and grimaces, this will be one they'll remember he may have been thinking.

If he was then he would be right- the set list reading like the track listing from the “Archives” with only one track from the recent few albums at all was certainly going to please and a near neighbour in the crowd raised his palms out and up in praise when Neil played “Words” on his great white Gretsch – who could have predicted that – many other old favourites were given an airing - “Are you ready for the country?”, “Burned” - a romp though this marvelous Buffalo Springfield classic which is having it's first live airing since 1966!

A few of the “regulars” were dished out on acoustic guitar, but there was none of that sitting in a circle of instruments and wandering around picking one up and lilting a song, this was all full on stuff. “Pocahontas” was much more electric and forceful than previously and “Rocking in the Free World” was even more of a stadium pleaser than ever with some 4 or 5 false endings and a great deal of playing to the crowd - “Cinnamon Girl” too featured a deliberate bout of showboating – Neil repeating the last chords sequences couple of times, waving triumphantly to each section of the crowd who naturally responded with vigour. I felt at the time that these were uncharacteristic actions for Young, not usually given to such gestures – and with such a powerful performance I wonder if we have witnessed something of milestone in touring terms? Was Neil bidding us farewell? Let's hope not.

A thumping version of “Down by The River” made it into something of a “Everybody Knows This is Nowhere” tour – nearly all my favourite album getting an airing. Impressed? I most certainly was – even the sound was good enough, better than expected perhaps for a concrete stadium. Highlights? So many musical ones, but Pegi Young sipping on a mug of tea while Neil launched into one of his grunge-laden thrashes in “Hey Hey” was a treasure. Banjo toting Larry Cragg on “Old Man” was another.

We're not going to Hyde Park or Glastonbury so that's it for us this tour, but as Gilly rightly put it – we saw Neil Young – Unleashed in Nottingham.

Get the latest news and so much more:

http://www.thrasherswheat.org/wheatfield.html

Well we got ours

Folking About Tori Tarts will be on tour in September - after a pugnacious call to Apple's UK Customer Service where an employee went the extra mile for us and went and looked up the individual codes (she was in engineering so we are VERY grateful for that extra effort) - we got our codes and we are booked in on row A in 3 venues! Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow.

It seems that the Apple systems are showing the emails as having been sent out but many of us didn't receive them.

I have spoken to our internet provider and they say it is very unlikely that they would block the emails, so where are they?

iTunes and Ticketmaster fail to release password - Tori Amos UK Tour

Hundreds of disappointed UK Tori Amos fans are keeping vigil late into the night waiting for a "unique password" promised by an iTunes/Ticketmaster special offer when they purchased the new Tori Amos album "Abnormally Attracted To Sin" from iTunes. The password was due to be emailed out yesterday (22nd May), with pre-sale tickets due on sale at 10 a.m. today.

Tori Amos has a huge and totally devoted following and some fans are particularly upset having purchased both the CD and the iTunes download to ensure a chance of getting a ticket for the UK tour in September.

Both Ticketmaster and Apple have long since closed for the day in Europe and Folking About have failed to reach anybody in the Apple offices in the USA so far.

Farewell to a Queen

A few nights ago we were stood on Seacombe promenade on the shore of the Mersey Estuary. As we watched, at about 11pm, the bright white lights that were the last visible sign of the Cunard liner Queen Elizabeth II slipped out of sight beyond Fort Perch Rock and she was gone - this time for good. We had joined the throng for the official farewell - an impressive firework display that was heralded and acknowledged by the vessel' s deep throated whistle, but it was the more personal and poignant salutes that made the event for me:

Starting with the tugs that helped pull her off Liverpool's new landing stage, each vessel in turn sounded 3 blasts, and each was echoed in turn by the departing giant as she made her way downstream for the final time. Her blast is deep and mournful, audible for miles I'm sure, and it continued as she slipped gracefully past Liverpool's docks, escorted by the 3 operation Mersey Ferries, which added their salutes as they turned back for home, as indeed did every vessel in the docks. Goodbye old friend they were calling. Goodbye.

CD Review - Yonder

The Art of Whisper

Turn it down is what Yonder do - music at number 1 rather than 11 on the amp - if they bother with such things. Yonder hail from Stockholm and play their own slanted version of traditional er, American, Delta Blues from the old days. I've had all kinds of airy phrases go through my head whilst trying to think of how to describe the music - doily was one of them - a paper disk with so many holes in it that it hardly exists as a disk - this is the sound of music distilled into the very essence of the sound and bottled, then miked up very gently to capture the result.

That result is the kindest, gentlest blues you might hear. Slow and easy, music with spaces in it, guitar, bass and vocals, drums yes - but they often seem to be playing in the shed at the bottom of the garden. Actually Mats Qwarfordt's vocals are really strong - he has a big deep voice but even this is gentle and never really threatens to move that needle near the red line.

The songs are a mixture of spiritual/gospel and sad love songs - April Snow is just the saddest thing, expressed in an ever so slow and melancholy way, with most delightful backing from maybe a zither on top of the guitar, there is a short instrumental on just slide guitar that just feels like the player is on the verge of sleeping it is so dreamy.

In Foggy Straits we find a boat adrift and feel the depair yet in such a beautiful way that it cannot possibly hurt or harm, and there must, please be a happy ending? The music is so pure and clear it belies the foggy, dangerous waters of the song.

I don't know how Gilly does it, but she keeps on finding these gems out there and brings them home for me to be amazed at. So many of them seem to be from Scandanavia too - look out for these guys touring the UK in 2009 and prepare to be whispered at - gently.

CDReview: what else but love - Jon Redfern

Painful Beauty.

Jon Redfern's second album 'what else but love' has an impact that creeps up on you, you hear it for the first time and it's subtlety almost acts as self defence like a deep felt wounded soul that pushes away its warmest friends because of the pain involved. But listen to this album a second and third time and I guarantee you will find yourself having to listen repeatedly, for it repays you the effort and time with the deepest music to be found anywhere today.

Jon went through the trauma of losing his father during the gestation of this record, and the whole thing is simply dedicated "for dad" on the sleeve. This has naturally had a big impact both on Jon and on the
record - in fact "record" is a fairly apt description of the CD - it feels like it is a record of the period. The songs are littered with anxiety, fear, and the inexorable passing of time:
"so many years ago, so wrong, but how could you know,
so many miles apart, you always let me know that you loved me too"

The first track starts off in a reflective mood, Jon's voice low and getting lower, his distinctive guitar sound underpinned by co-arranger Pat Durkan's drums and piano, the song slowly builds and begins to sparkle, Jon's slide guitar and then with a heartfelt cry "Heaven - beyond the void..." Jon lets his voice go and soars with the melody before dropping back to a last unaccompanied phrase. Teaming up this time with fellow Tarras-man Joss Clapp producing, engineering and playing bass on almost everything, they have delivered a great record.

Second song "Part of you" reveals a hint of something of an aural trademark for this CD - Jon's voice is overdubbed with itself, but in the higher register, a technique repeated throughout, albeit sometimes reversed, the lower register providing the harmony, but the overall effect is rather pleasing. It returns triumphant for "play of fear" - though Joss Clapp has used his own voice for backing on this track too.

Instrumentally this is a relatively simple album, keeping to a core of instruments with a few excursions into strings, but there is still a big sound in there - the percussion remains a strong feature. Pat Durkin is also responsible for another of the strong musical themes here - a dark and sometimes threatening, grinding Wurlitzer can often be heard underpinning the whole sound - a beast in the basement determined to be heard - deserving to be heard too. The sixth track, "forever bound" is a bit of a departure with its jingle jangle dulcimer-esque sounds, a clock-like ticking and sublime organ sounds, a mighty wall of percussion that
becomes almost manic as the song wanders away into the distance. For track 8, "rowing away" there is a bit of an orchestral sound with Pete Tickell adding violins, but otherwise the core band manage to come up with a good spectrum of sound, drummer Sam Murray is key thoughout and the occasional use of Jon Redfern's harmonica adds real atmosphere to the sound.

Jon Redferns' voice reminds me rather of Robert Wyatt's at times - with a thin fragility that threatens to break, but it has a power to raise itself up a level or two when the song demands it and the passion flows,
so Jon is able to produce a good range of feeling throughout the record, with plenty of tension and emotion in the delivery.

By the end of the CD, the listener has run a gamut of emotion, so the final track is perfectly placed. A rather subdued, pained vocal over a basic piano starts almost dull, then the hint of another voice backing,
female brightens it slightly before she is given her own voice - and the voice is none other than Becky Unthank - a voice to melt the heart after all that has gone before: "I'll always love you, love you forever, how
ever long that is". Then, in chorus, the two voices conclude the song, the record and underline the title "what else but love"? It feel like Jon has finally reached that warm loving place he needs. A delightful ending to this CD that is chock full of painful beauty - of one man's pain turned, by some sort of musical alchemy, into gold.

Electric Picnic 2008 - Day 1

It almost went wrong from the very start - the roadside sign said campervans left, the policeman was intent on waving us straight ahead - a quick reminder that we were actually a campervan and we were back on the right road - into Stadbally and turn right - no queues? No queues. A lot of people on foot - assorted luggage, many wheelbarrows - and hey! There's Ultan! "See you later at the stage.." famous last words. Within minutes we are on site and choosing a space to park in - all clearly set out and plenty of room - a very pleasant change from Womad! The worst bit of the whole weekend came next - one of out must see acts was the aforementioned Ultan Conlon - due on stage very early in the afternoon - almost opening the festival. Sadly he ended up playing to the crew and "the people planting flowers around the stage" as for whatever reason we were kept waiting at the gates until about 4pm, with no real information about why, or how long we might be kept waiting, we sat on the grass in the sun and watched the hundreds of other attempts to get in being rebuffed by the security staff for a couple of hours. And that concludes the low point - as the gate opened and we streamed into the living dreamland that is the Electric Picnic.

Start from gate X7 and keep left and you enter the Village Green - a kind of grassy main street with tented buildings either side - felt to me a bit like a surreal canvas version of the wild west. Not all canvas, the church was, er, inflatable and the "vicar" was quick to accost us and advertise the wedding service they were offering over the course of the festival. An old fire engine that looked vaguely cartoony was outside the fire station (of course!), a bandstand graces the main green, and suddenly the dream shifted and we were in an area of futuristic sculpture - metallic and jagged trees? Gas lamps? Later we would see that this was "Arcadia" a night spot where the trees belched fire, the branches all smoked and the central pinnacle had fire and water and a DJ both - oh and an MC on crutches which gave it yet another wierd twist.

Not much time to fit any more sight-seeing in - get over to the Main Stage to catch Kila. Instant mayhem!Front man Rónán Ó Snodaigh bangs away at his Bodhrán and leads this band through a multi-coloured cascade of sound and dance and airial ballet - not a phrase you usually expect to hear in relation to a band who play trad Irish music albeit with a bit of a twist, a dash of something, a hint of some of that, some of these, a few grains of this stuff, and at least half the packet of something else. They played a couple of what sounded like "skinhead reels" which seems an appropriate mix to me even if it I didn't quite hear it right! It's hard not to use an excessive number of exclamation marks when writing about the Electric Picnic, it's that kind of event - there are at least two more chances in the Kila set - the exotic troop of Brazilian dancers who paraded around for a latin infused number, and a single performer from, I think, Cirque de Soleil who climbed 2 red ribbons and performed an impressive arial ballet aloft. Did I mention the gospel choir, the stunning stage backdrop or the tick-a-tape?

Another major feature of The Picnic was also becoming apparent - there were 35000 people there - and they were all lovely! We met so many friendly people - not a word of aggression anywhere by the way - complete strangers would just ask how we were doing, whether we were enjoying ourselves, discussed the bands and everything. Any accidental collisions in the crowds were met with most profuse apologies.

Next up were favourites Tinariwen from Mali who fielded a full team and played a blinder - their set hasn't changed much for a couple of years, but the music gets into you and you enjoy the trance like rhythms every time. Well enjoyed by a big crowd.

Back to Irish music for our next choice - the legend that is Christy Moore. We arrived, after his gig had started, at a tent that was too small for the crowd that had gathered to adore their god. You could feel the love for this man as strains of "Motherland" leaked out from the tent - I say tent - it was a huge big top kind of affair and it was full of very hot people, some of whom stumbled out into the cool evening air, unable to take any more - these were instantly replaced by newcomers, keen to join the worship inside. It was quite clearly an event - the whole crowd joined in on "Ride On" - a sea of mobile phones in the air recording it from every angle. Quite a vibe.

A common aspect of any festival of this size is an anxiety about what you know you are missing while you are enjoying one event, because you have to make choices when there are so many venues running in parallel, not to mention the stuff you miss that you didn't expect to see. Conversely there are many, many good things that you see because they just happen as you are passing - and our next event was just one of these - Strange Fruit outside the Blue Room - eerie music attracted us towards a crowd that had gathered to watch ... what? Floodlit people dressed in white floating above the crowd on balloons? Closer examination revealed a group of people atop of paper spheres on bendy poles performing the most beautiful slow ballet. Every slight movement seemed to affect the balance of the dancers and the grace of the movement was impressive enough, the fact that they were all in sync with each other made it something else all together.

Many, many people turned up to watch Sigur Ros close down the main stage and who performed an impressive set, complete with a white top hatted and uniformed brass section - a loud and very full sound - maybe a little too loud to be clear? Marked vocals that soared over the impressive sonic backdrop and some powerfull electric guitar sounds made a great impression on me.

The main stage may have packed up but the rest of the site was just getting going - Arcadia was bouncing, flaming, smoking and loud - there were discos, clubs and dancing everywhere. Time Machine was playing it's updated-old-music-fayre behind the chain drapes, and in the onion domed pavilions of the Body and Soul area, Helios Jive had just taken over from S.S. Lucent Dossier and we found a phone....

A final few things before we turn in at the end of day 1 - somewhere along the way we enjoyed our first taste of festival food Ireland style - pie and mash - the pie was great, the mash was awesome! So good we went back for more. Heading back to the van there was no sign at all that it was night time. There were streams of people coming onto the site from the campsites, there were huge tents with djs and shows in the campsites, the cinema rolled on day and night, the giant ferris wheel just kept on turning, there were lots of people who had done their best to consume the 30-odd cans per person alcohol ration in one day, but everybody was happy and you felt like you should go on all night - we had just about settled in for the night when that phone rang ...... and we trouped back to the site to re-unite it's owner with the poor lost thing.



John .....

A breath of Fresh Air - Emil Brynge at GreenRoom, Manchester

A breeze of expectancy has blown across the FolkingAbout, that proverbial breath of fresh air has blown the dust off the laptop and here we are again half a year later..... It has been some time (clue!) gathering, but a number of interesting events have got me going again, starting with this young man from Sweden:

Emil Brynge is a mere 21 years old, yet he already has a confidence about him that belies his years. After some years of listening to his MySpace offering, Gilly's radar picked up on his gig at Greenroom last night and off we went. Greenroom is an Arts place built into railway arches in Manchester and the gig was part of S'Not P'Inc.'s World Music night.

Emil, tall, blond and slightly restless as he got set up to start playing, quickly became Emil, musician with something to give. Opening with a brand new song, composed only the day before with his equally new musical partner - sorry no name (yet) - Emil gave us a demonstration in the use of multi-layered repeating phrases via a box of tricks at his side - nothing new in itself, but well done with his acoustic guitar and the partner's violin building well, with additions of glockenspiel, shakers and bells adding to the effect, and both player playing over the effects it was quite a sound. Afterwards Emil confessed that suddenly having access to all these effects and instruments made him feel like a kid in a toy shop and he felt obliged to try and use all of them at least once!

More often a guitarist and singer, Emil Brynge is a serious Nick Drake fan and there are some obvious influences in some of his phrases and melodies, but this is no clone, his own songs are , to coin a phrase, original and genuine. Drawing on his earlier studies in art history, "Maiastra" combines mythology and an art work to produce an intimate and haunting song - the only song to survive from this early period, he professes to write mostly happy songs these days and his last song "My Farewell" is a very affirmative demand to "Give me life in time!"

Many of his songs have interesting structures, pauses long enough to draw early applause at least once, less of the verse/chorus than usual, and his guitar playing is clean and technical, with more than a nod into his other chosen instrument. This beast stood hidden in it's case until the last song, when out came the sitar - and again with a layered backing from the effects, we got a hint of what I assume to be Emil's target sound - the sitar adding another dimension over the guitar - of course he can only play one or the other (without the effects) live, but recorded, there is a lovely interplay between the 2 instruments, the sitar introducing an element of sadness into these happy "songs". Tonight the violin was used where a flute appears on his 5 track CD and the live performance was very much more confident and strident than the CD, not better or worse, just different.

We should touch on his voice too - it is deeper than his age would suggest, with an accent that has enough Swedish in it to make his very clean English attractively different, his singing clear enough to make the lyrics heard.

Emil Brynge is a man on his way - next week he plays sitar in Cardiff with Mark Fry, and he is moving over to London from his home in Sweden so there should be plenty of opportunities to catch him again before too long. We'll be paying big money for his tickets soon enough!

Stay tuned to FolkingAbout and find out what arrived in the post this morning....

Willing to Work, but lets celebrate first!

A great feeling of positivity seems to be sweeping through the Martyn-o-sphere at the moment. John is, as I write, en route to London to collect a major accolade - The BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards Lifetime Achievement Award - and about time too! We wrote here back in August that last year's winner, Danny Thompson was leading the charge, calling for John's work to be recognised from the stage at last year's Fairport Cropredy Convention. Danny could be heard last night on BBC Radio 4's Front Row programme imploring that John be might get well: "We just want our mate John back." - he speaks for so many.

A few weeks back it seemed so unlikely that John's poor health would even allow him to attend the award ceremony, but the good news is that John will not only attend, but will perform 3 songs with the full band - highlights of the whole event on Mike Harding's show this Wednesday evening. (And let's take a moment to mention that Rachel Unthank & The Winterset are up for a clutch of awards too - good luck to them.)

After all this well deserved partying it will be back to work and recording is to continue back in Ireland with at least John, Spencer Cozens and Martin Winnings in the studio - and there is a buzz about that carries a determination to get Willing to Work finished, an enthusiasm which will hopefully carry everybody along with it and get the job done - and, there is even talk about - the next record after this.....

PS There's a rumour too that John will be visiting another old friend who is playing in London and maybe, just maybe, he'll come and play on the record...?

Willing to Work - at the crossroads.

The news that John Martyn is to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at the prestigious BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards on February 4th was announced recently and of course everybody agrees that it is about time. Even better news is that John is recovering from his recent bout of illness and is determined to get down to London to play at the Awards, the band is playing too so we wish John well and hope that his fitness continues to improve so that he can take his rightful place on the night.

The news on the long awaited new record - "Willing to Work" is that there is a big debate going on as to whether the keyboard layered takes of the songs should be finished for the album, or whether to go back and re-record with acoustic guitar and piano. The inevitable result is that the record is going to be a little longer in the making, but from what I've heard, it will be worth the wait. The dilemma facing the production team is a complex one - there are many voices who want to hear John Martyn playing acoustic music, yet John has been recording with the band, and they have already put down some pretty pleasing music with strong inputs from Spencer Cozens' keyboards - indeed Spencer is often in there at the outset, playing along with John as he sings the new songs for the first time, and I suspect that John likes these takes.

Personally, I would declare on the the side of the keyboard versions - although I haven't heard the acoustic tracks as such, it is the power of the music - the big sound that Spencer (or indeed Foster Patterson) and the band get in the live environment that most appeals to me about John's music, and John's electric guitar can bring me to tears. Gilly suggested putting out 2 versions of some of the songs on the same album, which would be fascinating, but the thought of having to finish 2 versions of everything might be a step too far at this stage!

Perhaps going back to pure acoustic music would be too much like a step back in time for John Martyn, who has after all been innovative throughout his career, and has never shied away from doing what he wants to do, I don't know where his heart lies, maybe he wants to return to his folk roots.

So thats my tuppence worth - I'm hoping to spark a debate because I know that the folks "Doon the Cellar" are listening and maybe John is too - any offers?

One More Thing .... Pandora Radio

"We are deeply, deeply sorry to say that due to licensing constraints, we can no longer allow access to Pandora for listeners located outside of the U.S. We will continue to work diligently to realize the vision of a truly global Pandora, but for the time being we are required to restrict its use. We are very sad to have to do this, but there is no other alternative."

This is a disgrace!

The fact that some money grabbing executives in the "music industry" think that streaming music across the globe is bad for "their" business is depriving U.K. based music lovers from using this most excellent technology.

Pandora lets you start from a given point - say a song or an artist, and will play you tracks that relate in some way to the starting point. You can add and subtract artists, change the bias towards certain styles - it is brilliant - and if I was allowed to use it, then I would most likely have spent yet more money on CDs or downloads. Now that I can't - well the "music business" will lose out because I shall continue to cut them out and wherever possible buy direct from the artists.

The "Music Business" is trying to kill Music.

Long Live Pandora!