One beautiful Saturday morning in May,three years ago, I sat alone in a car park in The University Hospital Coventry and cried until I had no more pain or emotion left to give. No-one saw me:it was a private moment. I had just said farewell to the second of two tiny,premature babies in their incubators. The nurses and doctors were fabulous and all the family were very brave. But there was nothing that anyone could do further to help them. My son's tiny boys survived long enough only to be registered. Shortly after a bleak funeral a few weeks later. I learned that almost simultaneously, my daughter had also miscarried. Three grandchildren lost in a matter of days. It was a horrible time. I won't ever forget it.
Now,miraculously I have two bonny,strapping grandchildren,a boy and a girl, Both are just beyond or approaching their second birthdays.Their arrival and subsequent development helped soften the grief and emptiness of those initial losses. So I was both honoured and proud that Nunc,had been invited to bring down the curtain on this summer's Folk On The Water Sessions. Now in its tenth year the FOTW season sees a long series of waterside concerts and events across South Warwickshire. All to raise funds for the marvellous children's charity, Zoe's Place.
We'd played at fundraisers for them before but I had not been back to Napton on The Hill since I myself was a boy. It was a magical place then, but on a blissfully warm Summer's night in 2018 ,in a natural amphitheatre,the fields around The Folly Inn pub seemed imbued with an almost magical quality. Hosted. presented compered and organised by Dutch Van Spall, the final concert was a triumph all round.
Our good friends Wilson Wright were on the same bill. Alas we will be seeing far less of them from now on as they relocate to the North of Scotland soon. Their close harmonies, John's fine guitar work,Hilary's flute and the sensitive arrangements with some beautiful singing helped build the atmosphere. There was an added poignancy to their mellow groove as we all sang along to the chorus of "Ride On" with them. "Ride on:See you. I could never go with you no matter if I wanted to to." Very apt.
Other acts on included FOTW resident singer and coxswain, Elan Marie, Napton Sound Man Kieran Taylour with Nicky Stewart,Lorna Dea and Roz Bruce. Roz was a feisty combination of Lily Allen and Janis Joplin. She had a proper rock voice,no doubt about that and her own songs carried some very inventive lyrics. She also had a penchant for reworking Leonard Cohen,finishing with "Allelujah."
The headline act was the much admired and highly respected Jack Blackman. We were treated to some masterful and inspired slide and guitar picking from this talented young man. What with the heat and all, we could have been out on the Mississippi Delta rather than scattered alongside the Oxford Canal. Jack's act came to a bit of a sudden end when a guitar string snapped on a first encore. He carried on after accepting the loan of a guitar from Dutch, but without time to fit a replacement, his Pride and Joy was unable to continue and Jack waved goodbye, to generous and well-deserved applause.
And then finally it was up to us to bring the evening to a close. we opened, after a more than generous introduction from Dutch. We had finally persuaded Paul Moore to wear a daft shirt,and so with Flossy in a flowing floral number we certainly stood out, as you can see. John and Paul with their Elwood Brothers hats added a further dash of country as we zipped into a Casey Chambers stomp to start. That's not a stove with a chimney by the way. It's a very natty single P.A. stick like the one Malc uses at Bedworth Folk Club. The sound it produced,driven by Kieran, was magnificent.
As you can see from the later photos, other than those dotted about in the tented pavilions like exiled Lannisters enjoying a tournament, a lot of the audience were quite a long way away,and were spread about the site. At the bars,at picnic tables,in the pub garden:it took a bit of work to engage with them and get them singing. Our segue of the CSNY songs "Find The Cost of Freedom/Ohio" helped whip up a bit of emotion,and with John and Paul whacking out a percussive lead and rhythm section,feet were definitely tapping already. Aided no doubt by the plentiful supplies of Hook Norton beer and artisanale ciders on offer. (Notice that glass of Hooky, handily situated by my left foot?)
We kept the Americana/Roots thing going as Flossy tore into John Prine's "Angel from Montgomery"-and with these temperatures it was meteorologically more like Alabama than Warwickshire. Some of our regular chorus songs helped warm the audience up further. A couple of Richard Thompsons and then, to our immense satisfaction, people started dancing as we launched into "Perfect." They kept on going through "Weather With You" and "When Love Comes To Town,"and we had them in our pocket.
It was broad daylight when we started but as the set evolved a sunset bathed the area and as we finished, the stars were twinkling up above.all our heads. We had to drop the tempo down before someone passed out, so we did "Bring It On Home" and Randy Newman's "Guilty"-both well received. Here you can see me,as the dusk draws, in pointing rudely at ace photographer John Wright and delivering the ultimate verse of Bring It On Home: " You know I tried to treat you right/but you stayed out.you stayed out every night." Typical John.
We finished the set as planned and timed,with "Knocking On Heaven's Door," When we stopped playing the chorus and handed it over to the audience,they took it up wonderfully and it echoed around the fields. Amazing what a few beers in the sunshine can do. There was time for an encore so we treated them to " The Wild Rover" segued with Bob Marley's Three Little Birds. Cue more dancing.
We had a fantastic time. This was our third fourth outdoor gig in a row. The fine summer has certainly helped created a vibe,but this one was extra special. A responsive crowd,splendid Hook Norton beer,good food, surrounded by friends, and a small but noisy Nunc following, we were all buzzing when we ended and left the stage. Could have been those midges I suppose, but we were definitely buzzing.
There were logs blazing in a fire pit and the partygoers were still sitting cosily around it when we left. And it seemed to me that part of that Napton magic,with the music and the setting and the sunset and the stars,was magnifying a feeling of well being. Rob and Ray,named after musicians themselves,may not have had long to dwell on this earth. But they were out there,listening and watching,somewhere.
