Happy First Birthday Anker Folk

         I know it's gone very quiet on here lately, and I apologise to Mac Awe On Tour Blog regulars for that. But I've been very busy trying to cobble together some live recordings of local artistes ready for Anker Folk's First Birthday Show on September 4th. A two hour special in which we hoped to demonstrate to listeners  how many talented performers there are living or operating in the Nuneaton area. (I do not doubt for one moment that I failed to capture them all). 

Anker Folk's John and Geoff

       As an experiment, Anker Radio's John Goodman and NFC's Dave Smart collaborated at The Crown on August 2nd, recording each act who appeared there during the Folk Club night. This included Brian Phillips, John Neal, Terry and Jan Wisdom ,Paul Moore, Nunc and Glyn Finch. This came out as unmistakably "live" with some clapping,some off the cuff introductions and audience singing. It sounds as if they are far away at the bottom of the stairs, but they are definitely singing. 
     Later, we added to that, a cache of material recorded in what John Goodman calls "The Live Lounge." upstairs at Anker Radio. You can see Paul Moore recording there in the picture below. The equipment used was a mix of Anker Radio and NFC gear. It was set up by Moz who does a lot of the OB stuff with Anker. John drove proceedings from the desk.

John Neal considers jumping, as Paul salutes his Hometown

      Surrounded by giant Teddy bears,some large settees, a spaghetti of cables and collected jumble sale material,we gathered each evening, at the top of Floor 4 of The George Eliot Maternity Block in the company of some fine strolling players. With the best and most beautiful panoramic views over Nuneaton spread out before us, we gathered there to harness all this raw talent and capture the magic forever. 
      John Neal swanned in and recorded two songs in one take-despite some off-mike heckling.  John Kearney did the same. ( And also recorded "Di Di The Ice Cream Man" with some other old bloke). David Parr contributed a couple of tracks with little trouble,as did Dragonhead. Not everyone achieved that high standard,however. Paul Moore popped "Nobody Knows You" away easily enough, but then fought a battle royal with his guitar over."Hometown Blues." Matt Mallen Allen had a few issues with his guitar break in "Head Rush" and forgot the words. It's his own song. 

Matt Mallen Allen.

                     Sally Ann Veasey had chosen to wear a huge accordion the size of a Smeg refrigerator and although it sounded beautiful, it had her over a few times. Where she lay prostrate,like a stranded turtle,unable to rise again without help. She was enveloped by the lush upholstery of a large settee whilst being embraced by a giant teddy, laughing hysterically until the more chivalrous among us helped her up again. Hubby Simon (he'll hate me using that phrase), ( Hubby. Hubby Simon. Hubby), just stared at her. He was troubled by the shape of his plectrum,the girth of his strings and the room temperature affecting the cadence of his top C. Both tracks from these two we eventually used, although,(giving nothing away) Simon holds the record for most takes of any one song. 

Sally-Ann before the Teddy incident 

                Through gritted teeth,The Wright Brothers,Chris and Max,airily flew on past all the tired old aviation jokes. They winged through two songs with soaring vocals which took flight. Dragonhead put down one traditional song and a Cajun one called "Diggy Diggy Lo" (which we thought might be the Finnish entry for next year's Eurovision Song Contest?).  

Wilbur and Orville flew through their songs

          My job at this time consisted mostly of smiling at people or meeting and greeting musicians in the Maternity Ward lobby downstairs. Then escorting them in the lifts up to the studios, whilst placating anxious Mums-to-be en route.  By explaining that those who were carrying instrument cases were not part of some weird new NHS initiative

            Sewing all the collected material together yesterday, did not go exactly to plan. A few "Crown" performances did not come out too well, due to what sounded like an outbreak of consumption in the auditorium and Gremlins. I had a long list of other prospective people I had hoped to record who were not at The Crown that night, but I forgot about the Festival Circuit. (Not ever having been a part of it). Several were away until the end of the month and we started to run out of  time up in "The Live Lounge."  

John Kearney. He wanted to be Bob Dylan.

         Luckily, all round good egg Malc Gurnham stepped in on Tuesday and hoovered up a few strays with some very nice recordings made in his home studio in Whitestone. Thanks to him we were able to add tracks from Sue Sanders,Katherine Fear, John and Elaine Meechan and Malc himself, singing with Gill Gilsenan. Ian Bourne, whose session I had completely b***ered up (along with that of K.C.Jones), also managed to record some tunes over in Hartshill and sent them over to me in MP3 format.  

        The date and time for recording editing and mixing all this material was Wednesday 30th August at. 5.30pm. The deadline for receiving and processing all the tracks and scripting them into a presentable two hour show was therefore realistically about noon the same day. Didn't happen. At 5pm yesterday I was still typing,chopping editing ,downloading, uploading and saving material.  We made it with seconds to spare. 

        
             Even then there were a few other logistical hurdles left to surmount. Anker Radio Studios at The Eliot have had a bit of an ICT makeover. When John Goodman and I met there, we found our usual studio was occupied. We relocated swiftly to another and found out after a few minutes that it did not want to play.Not on our terms, anyway.  Eventually we reclaimed our home one and with another crew coming in to broadcast a requests programme live at 9pm, our deadline was reduced even further.

      Both being consummate professionals however, this was not insurmountable. We had to reload everything and recheck running orders. When I say "we" I mean the Royal "We". My broadcasting role is simply to sit and look pretty and do my Whispering Bob Harris impersonation into the mike whenever the red light is on.. John's is to do everything else. His desk looked like the bridge of the Starship Enterprise  as his fingers flickered nimbly over the sliders and switches, faster than Rick Wakeman playing a solo. 

John and Geoff at the desks. Or decks. Whatever.

              Once under way, it became evident that some of the material collected was damn good. I began to feel like Alan C. Lomax, as I heard Dave Parr groaning soulfully about County Down from the wall mounted speakers. Or capturing John Neal's moving tribute to Leicestershire.  As we headed into the second hour, the most beautiful sunset imaginable spread across along and around the  Ridge Lane Sierra. It was a poetic moment . Most people who live in Nunny have not seen how the town sits,in a basin, surrounded by hills. It could have been Heidelberg or Wernigerode. An omen, perhaps. 

Mr. David Parr and his machine.

       There was a fair amount of ad-libbing and some background noise. A yapping puppy on a trampoline four floors down in an adjacent back garden may be audible on the final broadcast. I got caught out dad dancing to one of the jingles and nearly corpsed over an introduction. I got a few pronunciations wrong and there was a bit of background door-slamming as the Requests Team began to get restless. But this,I am told,is the nature of live broadcasting and evidence that it is all spontaneous stuff. 

      I realise that this kind of thing is old hat to regular Jocks out there, but I found the whole process quite taxing and  tremendously exhausting. Particularly the maths of adding up all the various timings and trying to plan them seamlessly into the breaks, jingles weather reports and news items. 

      I think the end product may be something very worthwhile. It is certainly a tribute to the considerable musical talent in the area. There's potential for a CD release as a Fund raiser is concerned and any serviceable material we could not squeeze into the two hour format can probably be aired in future programmes. Thanks to all those who contributed. Including those who did not make the final cut. We kept ALL the out-takes,btw, swearing and all. So don't threaten us with your writs and demands for royalties. 
    It has certainly proved that live recordings at Anker Radio and at the Folk Club,work. Apologies to those we missed or failed to include. K.C. Jones and George Van Wristell for example. But as the song we played out with says,   ( Simon and Sally-Ann's second recording) " We'll catch You Later". And we will. 
         The Birthday broadcast goes out at 8pm on Monday 4th September. We had three new Anker Folk Jingles made especially for the occasion. (Worth tuning in for them alone?)  It can be accessed later via Anker Radio's "Listen Again " facility thereafter. Details on the poster below. Or just Google it.           

Questions

      Another wet Wednesday night in Nuneaton. Like many similar places  in England, demoralised by years of Austerity and impending Brexit, its centre is slowly shrinking. Department stores and pubs are closed and boarded up and the once vibrant nightlife has all but gone. With the school holidays under way the streets were deserted. Empty buses crawled morosely about the Onion roundabout. 

        But wait! Over at The Crown, between the Bus Station and The Railway Station,and lit up like an Ocean Liner,there are sounds of applause, laughter and singing. Like in the good old days.  Inside, the place is rammed-both downstairs and upstairs.Downstairs a flourishing War Gamers group occupies much of the room and shares the tables  with punters enjoying the Abbeydale on handpulls.  Upstairs, with all the seating taken and standing room only.it is another first Wednesday at Nuneaton Folk Club.Another full house. 

      Last night, another Club organiser, looking  across  this packed room upstairs, said to me wonderingly, "How do you keep doing this?"  Later,someone who had made a long trip to be there  for a first visit, asked me the same thing. I thought about that question when I got home, gone midnight,tired, aching all over and exhausted physically and emotionally after a draining seven days. 
       It had been another very successful night. A stream of very talented local performers had given their all in providing a rich and very varied tapestry of talent. The clever songs of John Neal. The artistry of Paul Moore. The wonderful singing, syncopated rhythms and finger picking of Terry and Jan Wisdom. The constantly improving repertoire of Atherstone Folk Club residents Finger in The Car-Steve,Anne and Pete. The ever reliable and always cheerful Maria Barham. Another masterful demonstration of how to get impossible things and sounds out of an acoustic guitar from Glyn Finch.And the finale of our good mate Brian Phillips, rightly loved for his comedy and rightly admired for his brilliant guitar work. 
       The fun which the three of us continue to get from Nunc. A thankless task opening up at 8pm when. people are still coming in and settling. But that's what residents and comperes do. Warm up the audience for the joys to come.  Such a range, such an eclectic mix deserved a big audience. 

       As always there was something for everyone. It could be the club motto if we had one. Last night there was Blues. Country. Trad.Arr. Contemporary. Self-penned original songs. Poetry. Stand Up. Music that defied the eye and ear. Harmonies. The most wonderful audience singing. Completely original arrangements and innovative re-worked covers. A pretty typical night, as it happens. The cast changes each time, but the content is always panoramic. That's one reason why people keep coming. That's one "How?" answered. 

       The principal answer however, is "hard work." I'm pretty sure that some of those who attend any of our three FREE North Warwickshire Folk clubs think it's easy to organise and host them. It isn't. Usually (but not yesterday) I'm in The Crown on the Tuesday, or early Wednesday, clearing the room, setting out the furniture and unloading some of the gear. I couldn't do that in this instance because I was only able to walk yesterday thanks to painkillers and a strapped up ankle. And the fact that on Tuesday I was still clearing up at home after a tree fell on my garage and broke the roof, causing over £1,000 worth of damage.

       During the next few weeks I'll still be working hard on NFC. Messaging, phoning and contacting people. Booking new guests and Floor Singers. Sending (mostly ignored) Press releases to the local media. Advertising future events. Editing the NFC website and facebook Pages. Finalising running orders. Promoting other clubs and Festivals. On Radio, on Social networks and live in performance. 

        Hard work too, from our latest Sound man the excellent Dave Smart: another NFC gem unearthed. He comes in early Wednesdays to help set up and he stays behind afterwards to help clear up. He had the extra task last night of co-operating with John Goodman from Anker Folk, as we tinkered with "Live" recordings at The Crown,in anticipation of a September Special on Anker Radio. 

        Hard work from my beloved Mags. We celebrated 46 years together on Monday and yet there she is, selling raffle tickets,humping gear up and down stairs, making sure our Guests have petrol expenses and keeping me sane. Hard work from my two compadres in Nuncsomeness, John and Flossy. And hard work exemplified by Maria Barham, who ALWAYS stays on to help clear up afterwards. 

       Compering and singing is thirsty work, but as I drive to and from NFC each month, I drink Diet Coke only on Club Nights and it takes a while to unwind back home. Afterwards I scanned the photographs and comments on Social media.  Like many artistes working in entertainment, I think it's always important to know what your audience is thinking.    Having spent half an hour doing that and "coming down" from the buzz of presenting, compering,hosting and performance, I was left, about one am this morning, not with the question "How?" but rather.... " Why?"  

         Because, for the second consecutive gig for Nunc  there is no evidence whatsoever that we had ever been there. No photographs.No comments. No feedback.  Nothing. Are we really that forgettable?  Deflated by that realisation, then I also remembered the offer of 2p for Raffle tickets and the Euro coin placed by some smartarse in the biscuit tin. Perhaps they thought I would not mention it. ( They don't know me very well, do they?)  Plus, the tiny minority who attend but clearly expect this level of free entertainment by right. And those Facebook "friends" I have who boycott the club and the radio show. I'm sure they have their reasons.  But my, there's some food for thought there.