Well Read

        These are exciting times for lucky followers of  "live" music in Nuneaton!  In the space of ten days no less than three (technically four) famous ladies of Folk will have appeared in three different music venues around the.town centre.

      Following Maddy Prior,Hannah James and Giles Lewin at The Abbey Theatre on Sunday night,Round Two on Tuesday 24th saw us treated to the long-awaited debut of Sarah McQuaid in Nuneaton. In the Library. After Hours to be specific. It turned out to be a very useful venue.

      There seemed something slightly naughty about making so much noise in a Library:a little bit of Night At The Museum about it. But no dinosaurs appeared from behind the shelves and neither Marco Polo nor Doctor Doolittle suddenly materialised amidst the audience. The Library is an imposing and engaging space. As all the borrowers and readers had long since gone home it was all shipshape and gig-ready when we arrived.The staging had been well set out and lit: and the pre-gig Sound checks conducted by Sarah's engineer Martin Stansbury went swimmingly. McQuaid merchandise including CDs Vinyl,posters and tour shirts was already displayed alongside the stage.   

        NFC had helped to promote both events, but initially I confess when I realised how close together Sarah and Maddy would be appearing in town,I had misgivings about how many might turn out for the second Folk event inside 72 hours on a wet Tuesday night. Advance ticket sales had been a little slow but I was delighted to see that there was a good turnout on the door It was heartening to see so many seats taken. By Sarah's own admission this was her first visit to the town and most of us had only seen her elsewhere at Festivals or via You Tube. So it was essential,given that this was a first for most parties concerned,that the evening should be a success. Encouraging therefore,to see how many NFC regulars were in,both performers and audience members. As a club we are indeed blessed with loyal and discerning supporters. 

       Having started a second round of antibiotics that same afternoon due to a pernicious return bout of Bronchitis,my attendance was in the balance earlier in the day. But after a late fitness test John Kearney and myself arrived early as we had very kindly been invited to put up a modest NFC stall beforehand. We had time to meet Sarah and and all the Library staff before the show got under way.They could not have been any more hospitable and welcoming.We had also been invited to busk a few numbers from the Nunc repertoire during the interval. Dragging Paul Moore in at very late notice. (Of which more later).

        Sarah is an accomplished experienced and versatile performer who engages directly with an audience. She has a rich voice,mellow and full of tone,with a good range. Her prime interest is in Songwriting-an art to which she evidently gives a lot of careful thought and consideration. Last night she played a handsome Ibanez electric guitar loaned to her by Michael Chapman,who produced her latest album.She also played a  custom-made acoustic built for her by  Andy Manson. Her style was economic,effective and flawless without being flash. I can tell you that there were at least five guitarists in the room and they all enjoyed her deft technique. 

      Being a very versatile musician she also took to the keyboard occasionally and was not averse to whacking out out a bit of percussion on a large drum strategically placed centre stage. One loaned to her by regular drummer Roger Luxton. She could also hold a note singing a cappella. This was admirably demonstrated by her encore-a haunting unaccompanied version of "The Parting Glass," addressed to a spellbound audience to close the evening. Earlier she sang a Gregorian chant in Latin. We certainly had a diverse array of styles across the evening. Occasionally she would dab a foot on an array of pedals at her feet,or Martin would conjure some magic from the mixer,enabling echo or multi tracking or delay repeats which enabled her to sing rounds with herself. 

         She is a cosmopolitan lady. Though now based in Cornwall, she was born in Spain. Her early roots were in Chicago and she has also lived in Ireland. These various influences permeate her writing. She is a literate and intelligent writer unafraid to contemplate the bigger issues. Whether they be philosophically,ecologically or scientifically based. 
         Much of the material she performed was from her latest album "If We Dig Any Deeper It Could Get Dangerous."  An eclectic mix of a dozen songs, nine of which were self-written, one being an instrumental. Another album number was a collaboration with Gerry O'Beirne, The one cover version on the album-Jeff Wayne's "Forever Autumn," was a real crowd pleaser. It was a very sensitive interpretation. 
         Sarah McQuaid is definitely worth a further listen. There are still April and May Tour Dates to come around the U.K. The nearest remaining in the Midlands include Bromsgrove, Buxton and Nottingham. Her discography is wide,with six albums released so far. So there is much to catch up on. 
             The Interval entertainment, was most of Nunc minus our own lovely lady Flossy McDougall. Paul Moore,John Kearney and I did  Woody Guthrie's " Vigilante Man," Randy Newman's "Guilty,"  U2's  "When Love Comes to Town," and "Knocking on Heaven's Door." The latter with the audience singing back the choruses as they stood around sipping soft drinks and feasting on nibbles. They even applauded us. Fair enough. We didn't let the side down.  
           Next up at Nuneaton Folk Club in The Queen's Hall next Wednesday, our Featured Guest is  Anna Ryder. Anna,who plays pretty well everything, is also  making her debut. And if you count the fact that Nunc's own Flossy will be up on that stage too, with Lesley Wilson also making her NFC debut,it's been a pretty impressive fortnight for the ladies. 
     

     

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A Flying visit from Maddy

        In a sometimes breathless world where many things are increasingly uncertain, how comforting it felt last night to see a National Treasure like Maddy Prior O.B.E. rotating gently on a theatre stage  somewhere in middle England. On a Sunday Night-St George’s Eve to be precise and in Nuneaton's AbbeyTheatre, to be geographically accurate. Just a few yards away from the new home of Nuneaton Folk Club, a fact of which I am 100% certain the lady in question was oblivious to. 

        Beforehand,across the road in The Crew, in a crowded bar, I watched a sweating crowd  of mixed age punters pogo away enthusiastically to a band fronted by a blue suited Elvis impersonator. Few towns in Warwickshire could offer such a diverse contrast in musical styles within a two minute walk on a Sunday evening. 

        I got the impression that Nuneaton is understandably perhaps a bit of a Folk outpost in Maddy's mind. She was probably unaware that this corner of North Warwickshire currently has a vibrant folk scene. Indeed,just across town,Sarah McQuaid will be appearing in 48 hours time,there will be live music in The Fox at Attleborough tonight and The Anker Inn on Tuesday. And next week Anna Ryder makes her debut at Nuneaton Folk Club. Hardly a backwater! 

       Nevertheless,there she was,Folk Royalty, beaming amiably and revolving gently like a matronly Weeble, inspired to a less energetic version of the stage dancing which was once a familiar part of her Steeleye Span stage presence. Galvanised by the outstanding musical accompaniment of her two companions Giles Lewin and Hannah James, with whom she has previously gigged and recorded. Her steps were perhaps a little more sedate than in the past, the cardigan maybe  a little incongruous, but each time Maddy  gracefully began to pirouette, it took many of us back to the days of Thomas The Rhymer and The Shaking of The Sheets.
      It was a very pleasant evening. Although her name came first on the bill,she shared the stage generously with the other two and that proved  a shrewd move. Whoever was originally responsible for putting this talented trio together has assembled a longstanding company capable of great cadence. Giles Lewin is one of the Bellowhead Legion and Hannah James being ex-Kerfuffle and widely travelled is almost in icon territory herself. Far from being just about Maddy Prior, the three of them put a lot of passion into Showcasing mostly newish material. 

      Maddy sang, mostly standing, occasionally sitting down. Occasionally she toddled off stage (to search  for an ice cream she claimed) leaving  Giles and Hannah to share duets or do solo numbers from their own repertoires. In the foyer after the performance, the merchandise tables were groaning under the combined weight of their various albums-and of course a few Steeleye ones as well. Her voice though a little more rugged than in the early days,held up well-indeed there seemed to be an additional timbre to it which you don't always hear in earlier stuff like "The Blacksmith" or "Lark In The Morning."  

        We were treated to sumptuous three part harmonies, energetic clog dancing from Hannah aka JigDoll and all manner of imaginative arrangements including a combined yodeling session as an exotic but strangely appealing finale.Maybe this all sounds a bit odd,but surprisingly it worked. Giles, besides being an excellent fiddle player also proved adept on the recorder and bagpipes, sometimes employing all three in rapid succession, one after another. Hannah stuck mostly to a gigantic accordion which would undoubtedly have pulled her over onto her back had she tried to stand up wearing it. But she also occasionally added stunningly effective percussion by using her clogs on a board to beef up the sound at times. Occasionally she discarded the Beast altogether, left her chair and did entire dance routines, to enthusiastic and appreciative applause.

      The combined effect was very impressive, controlling mood and tempo dynamically. The audience seemed captivated. There were long but not intrusive explanations of each song which helped make the time pass all too quickly. Much of the material came from a recent album Shortwinger. Indeed they plucked from it at least nine of the tracks recorded concerning Ornithology.  And so we had a mixture of songs about swallows,starlings,owls,goshawks blackbirds and the like which must have been a delight for any Twitchers in the audience.
       Maybe it was the  Church End Fallen Angel but like many other NFC regulars sitting there I came away feeling stimulated.I felt a better person for having sat through a tasteful, melodious,creative evening,watching and listening to three fine musicians plying their trade. All praise to Tony Deeming and Co. for their friendly service and for bringing quality like this into the town. 

          

Shine On

          A welcome return to NFC for the gifted John Richards on Wednesday,  this time with the additional bonus of being joined on stage by his old mate and bass player Jim Sutton. For our second evening at our new venue it was good to see a few more returning faces. All tables were fully occupied, with plenty more standing towards the back. Thanks to Richard and The Crew staff there was the further attraction of some warming chilli con carne offered as a treat towards the interval. 

         With a few sound glitches delaying the start,  Nunc finally kicked off events slightly later than usual, with the topical “Twas on an April morning.” I’d been battling a very sore throat all day so was more than happy to hand over the lead vocals to Flossie. She   did her usual professional job on “Angel from Montgomery.” Nice to hear the audience joining in the choruses on this one. Accompanied by Paul “I’ll play with anyone” Moore, we finished our launch spot with “Bring it On Home.” and then put the stage into to the capable hands of The J.P.s 

      Jane Moss and Paul Monk were as good as I’d ever seen and heard them. Jane’s vocals were particularly strong. Perhaps it  was a reaction to having a large audience to perform to or perhaps it was the presence of Mum and Dad in the audience but they seemed very focused,especially on the song about the demise of Kellingley Colliery. A good number this,from Jane although it possibly still needs a little editing or trimming down to be totally effective.

       As I gave Nigel Ward a glowing introduction, praising his exquisite fiddle playing,I was facing the audience. I had failed to see him unveiling a Cittern from a case.behind me, This was so he could start with “The Reluctant Sailor,” a Ward original I consider to be among his best. I like the words, I like the subject matter and I like Nigel’s delivery. For his finale he chose an instrumental featuring a segue of tunes expertly played. This got feet and tables tapping until,as Nigel’s playing became increasingly fast. It was funny watching them drop out-they simply couldn’t keep up with him,and they all had to give up! Some time ago I got involved in an online debate about the histrionics some of the more flamboyant fiddle players employ when being filmed for television. Nige wisely has no truck with any of this malarkey. He just plays his fiddle-as well as anyone else I know does. No gimmicks, no flailing and leaping and dipping about. (Good man!).

         Des Patalong, shorn of his Razors (see what I did there?),then donned his Billy Gibbons shades and mounted the steps for a solo session. The sunglasses were a precaution against glare: Des having done a risk assessment since his visit here last month. A quick grumble about the foldbacks and then he was ready to thunder out three shanties including "South Australia" and "Shallow Brown," both of which got the audience singing enthusiastically. 

         Gremlins had continued to  nibble sporadically here and there and they had clearly taken a chunk out of Dan Gascoigne’s guitar before he began his spot. Dan’s an old hand at NFC however, and showing cool and serenity way beyond his tender years, he  battled gamely through his first song as our willing young sound engineers strove unobtrusively to crawl at his feet readjusting DI leads. Dan is a great guitarist so wisely just let technique do the talking. Instead of moaning he delivered a trio of songs up to the usual high standard and ended with a very original take on ”Lord Franklin.” Those who hadn’t heard him previously were suitably impressed.

               Dragonhead's John and Anne Harris,have been doing sterling work running another great live music venue in the Town, Tuesday Blues Nights at The Anker Inn. So it was good to see them back at NFC doing their stuff up on the stage. This included a Cajun medley which included "Diggy Diggy Lo ". Ann was looking very sparkly in her red sequinned top, which John announced she was wearing only because,"She got to the wardrobe first.” Nonplussed by Des nicking one of their planned numbers, they repeated "South Australia” but more at a Rock tempo than as a shanty. By now we all knew the words ,so the audience singing was top class. 

          John And Jim then performed the shorter of the two Feature sets. When you are as prolific and talented a writer as John,it must be a challenge what to include and what to miss out. However many of his fans there had their requests honoured, over the two sets. It’s rumoured John uses Tungsten coated Titanium strings, and his voice projection is legendary,so he certainly gave our sound men a run for their money. Once stabilised, the overall effect was one was somewhere between iconic and outstanding. Jim’s contribution was immense:a great player with a feel for the instrument whether picking plucking or using the bow.

         After the interval, Nunc returned with "Down where the Drunkards Roll,” during which my voice went walkabouts again. Fortunately Flossy did a magnificent job on “Guilty” a song which  the pair of us regularly scrap over. And then came a very specially moment commemorating the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s cruel assassination. Des joined us on stage as John Kearney led us all in the protest movement's anthem “We Shall Overcome.”  At the point where we handed over the vocal to the audience,singing unaccompanied, it became a very emotional and genuinely moving experience. Will we ever overcome,some day?  I hope so. But I’m beginning to wonder. 

      John’s second set was equally as impressive as the first.  "Honour and Praise," “Polly,” “The Deserter,” " If you can Sing/Dance" were all in there along with other favourites. He had to finish his encore with the anthemic  "Shine On," of course he did.  We wouldn’t have let him leave without doing it.The song  means a lot to us Nuncsters ( as it does to many) for it has been a comfort through some hard times. John dedicated it to all those who understood and appreciated his music,

” You know who you are,” he grinned. And yes, we  do. All of us. 

               

Photographs and Single Malt Islay courtesy of the versatile John B Smith.