Phil Harmonics

     Something very special was needed for the return of Phil Hare to Nuneaton Folk Club last night and we certainly achieved that. With it ridiculously balmy outside for a September night and like a Missisippi Juke Joint inside, we got all that and much more. Sweat, endeavour, massive musical talent and a a wide variety of original songs, Delta Blues and contemporary material did the trick. Add in an audience eager to sing and a procession of outstandingly gifted musicians and you have a recipe for a a total “It's like in The Old Days” kind of atmosphere upstairs at The Crown. Magic.

Phil Hare looks far far away from the back of the room. (Hi Glyn!)

       I could not possibly list all the live acts I have seen all over the country, but rarely have I seen anyone work as hard as Phil Hare on a stage. And he still comes away smiling. No wonder he carries a towel everywhere with him! Julian's new bank of lights was adding to the tropical atmosphere on stage, even with the doors propped open, although the addition of a mighty portable aircon unit brought the temperature down to Space Shuttle re-entry levels. I was pooped after only four songs up there. Phil beat that tenfold.

Phil rehydrates mid-set.

         From my front seat I could see Phil was drenched in sweat. It was flying from his guitar as his hands at times became a blur. It was either that or he had wee'd himself, what with all the excitement. Two sets packed with his own stuff and uniquely arranged covers. Songs improvised on the spot. Songs about Potatoes. Songs tailored to fit the venue. Pithy, clever parodies. It's all there in the Phil Hare Compendium. All this would be pretty spectacular, even without the remarkable guitar work accompanying it all.

By this time the hat was glued to his head

       The Support Acts seemed to gain inspiration from this, as I hoped they would. The running order was not put together randomly:I had deliberately sought out people I thought would not be intimidated but who would entertain and hold the audience, providing a suitable backdrop to warm up a discerning crowd. Nunc opened up with a Buddy Holly medley, after we had sung “Happy Birthday” to him and to Catherine Cope's granddaughter Sophia. Such was Buddy's precocious talent that he would have been only eighty yesterday and probably still gigging if he had survived that plane crash.

Nunc.     Flossy is being just Perfect.

      After us came artistes not just respected for their material but for their guitar technique and delivery. They had arrived somewhat randomly owing to parking problems elsewhere in the Town,and a queue at the bar. I had to juggle the running order around a bit and bully them into a semblance of order, and cut down a few slots but after an hour we were right back on schedule. Local lad David Parr  laid down an early gauntlet with some fearsome guitar pyrotechnics.

David Parr

    Beduff's very own Brian Phillips picked that guitar gauntlet up and just,well,ran off with it. Bri's version of “Never Going Back Again” was superlative. For me it (at minimum) matches Lyndsey Buckingham for guitar style.

Brian Phillips

    From Coventry came two more great guitarists as Sarah and Dan returned to the club. Now going under the stage name of Dr. Bennett. I had banjaxed them utterly by putting them on earlier than anticipated.

Dan and Sarah. AKA Dr Bennett

The uniquely blessed Glyn Finch has stage prescence and ability in shedloads. He arrived, had a quick drink, opened his case,took out his guitar and then beat the hell out of it. Never have I heard The Pink Panther theme segued,chopped and remixed to quite such radical effect.

Glyn is finding his groove. Or he has spotted that Moth in the rafters?

        The inimitable Maria Barham followed, Straight Outa Coleshill, with her exquisite version of “Silver Dagger.” She also included one of her own the much respected and  haunting carousel rhythmns of “The Song That Got Away."  Madge was not entirely happy with her tuning stylishly tweaking the pegs mid song, Hendrix style in one number. What a show off that girl is! 

Maria Barham. " Close your eyes. Can you imagine?"

      And finally,before the main event a great friend to NFC (and many other local clubs) Kevin Dempsey. Tremendous, finishing with one of my favourites, his percussive  “All For You” You would really need to film him and then play it back in slow motion to see what he does to the fret, neck and guitar body during that song.  Kev comes back to us in March next year as the Guest. Can't wait.

Kevin plays "All For You". Always.

   You literally could not count all the harmonics, arpeggios, runs chops licks and riffs aired last night. As an astonished Phil Hare said, himself drenched in sweat said afterwards “ that was like a whole Folk Festival all in one night.”

      This is going to sound terribly corny, but the chemistry was so right last night because each one of those performing were not only very talented-they are all individually really nice people who I feel I can count as my friends. Away from the music scene, David puts his heart and soul into voluntary work with a Food Bank. Brian seems to be the lynchpin of a wide extended family who obviously rely on him and depend on him heavily. Dan and Sarah are genuinely kind people. Maria is just loads of fun and has something positive to say about everybody. And how privileged we are to have Matt Mallen Allen operating the desks using equipment he and I have cobbled together all on our own. Joined last night by Liam, who mixed for us so competently earlier in the year whilst Matt was on holiday. 

An essay in concentration. DisneyWorld and Beduff Folk Festival here we come.

       Glyn seems startling unaware of how good he is and is very quiet and unassuming offstage. John Kearney is just an all round good egg. I will give a brand new shiny penny to anyone who can find a bad word to say about him. Flossy lost her band when her good friend in Pennyroyal, Linda Dickson, became seriously ill. She works like stink and still finds time to give up time to music and to other people. Lovely to see her gorgeous daughter Annie there last night too. (Wonder if she can sing?)  
    No hint of swank, side or Divadom from any of them. They could strut and posture and swagger just like some do on the music circuit. But they know who they are,they know what they do and they let their time on stage do the talking.

     And Phil? You can tell from Phil's writing-and not just his songs either-that he really cares and thinks deeply about injustice inequality and unfairness. He is comfortable with himself and with his instrument and that is reflected in a polished, entertaining hour or so of music. You can catch him again at Bedworth Folk Festival in November. Along with Kevin Dempsey,Maria Barham and plenty of other folk who were in the room last night.

A rare shot of Phil without THAT hat.