At a time of year when the local folk community is annually reminded of what divides us (rather than what unites us),it is an uplifting experience to revisit the kind of local institution which is the lifeblood of "live" grassroots music. Tump Folk at The Humber Hotel in Coventry is one of the area's oldest established folk clubs. Presided over by the gentle and generous leadership of Karen Orgill it has continued for 15 years to operate no exclusions with a "Come All Ye " approach to performers. Regardless of their background and material, all are made welcome
The Tump seems to be on the up again. Some sessions are held next door in the concert room,but the singer sessions occur in the front lounge. It's a very democratic kind of place,where you can workshop new material or resurrect old favourites without being judged. If things go wrong and you forget a line or miss a note, there is just a friendly nod. A shared cameraderie. All in this together.
It says much about the vibe there that the amiable Ian Bland,an international "star" (he'll probably hate me saying that), on a biennial visit from his native Australia,had dropped in to rub shoulders with nonentities like me. He just took it in turns with the others,delivering a collection of well written and occasionally waspish songs. His strong voice and polished guitar style are hallmarks of a respect that is well merited. We'll try and get him out to Nuneaton Folk Club some time.
Sharing a settee with Ian was Keith Parris.Better known perhaps as a Sound Engineer and a familiar figure at many Folk Clubs and festivals.He passed on several invitations to sing but was eventually persuaded to get up and do an unaccompanied number about Poachers. I didn't recognise him at first. He wasn't wearing glasses last time I saw him,had a different hat on and last night he was sporting a very natty pony tail
Whispering Campbell McKee sat in a pair of shorts on another settee in a bay window. Another loyal regular of The Tump, he doesn't go to most other local Folk venues,although we still occasionally try to persuade him to do so. Next to him sat his wife Jaqui, crocheting and listening to the music. This gave a cosy "at home" front parlour kind of vibe to proceedings.You half expected an old tabby cat to be snoring away on one of the (many) comfy chairs. Campbell sang an Uncle Len standard "Hey That's No Way to say Goodbye " which helped break the ice. He sang a couple more songs,did not mention India once and then left early as he had to be up by 6 am. Rock and Roll.
One wag later wrote on Facebook, "you never usually see one Campbell at a Folk Club and then two come along together." Campbell Perry and Colin Squire have evidently been working very hard on rehearsing material in the guise of "Poacher's Pocket". Setting aside the fact that a poacher's pocket is a large baggy receptacle for keeping wet,smelly dead things in,their work is becoming very polished. Nice harmonies, well-arranged and with some fine instrumentation. Nice to hear some of the songs Campbell and Jan used to perform together being aired again,too.Jan would approve I'm sure. Campbell, wearing what looked like the top half of a very camp pair of pyjamas, had the cheek to criticise my attire. Two nice chaps,delivering nice stuff. Well done, fellas.
Rob Oakey has hosted and guested music sessions at places since the days when the wheel was first invented. Rob has a sense of humour that is dryer than an old sandal in a Saharan wadi. Last night he seemed in a very mellow mood, including a couple of Simon & Garfunkel numbers in his repertoire.
Rob can often be found in the company of Christina,a lady who writes her own poetry and recites the work of others. Much of her work is about Inland waterways. Last night she had to be coaxed, cajoled and persuaded for oh,two or three seconds before treating us to a reading. One of them was Albert and The Lion. I don't think that has a connection with the Oxford Canal. But you never know.
Adam likes Neil Young. No shame in that-our current set list has three Neil Young songs in it. He seemed a little ill at ease with this initially,but there was no need to be. The timbre of his voice was well suited to some excellent NY cover versions. And for good measure, he added a Marc Bolan song second half! At the interval Adam showed me his current set list. Some very ambitious titles there,none of which would be considered by fanatics as Folk music,but ones which had every right to be there. Barriers are coming down and Neil Young himself has embraced many different genres on a long musical journey. He is respected by many in the Folk and Roots world-even Lynrd Skynrd have forgiven him. Here you can see Rob photo bombing as Adam does his stuff.
The ubiquitous Max Wright is home at last,returned from another of his many forays abroad. When at home, he is a stalwart supporter of all our local Folk venues. I'd last seen him a fortnight ago,when he had trekked all the way out to Napton On The Hill to catch Drunc Monkey closing the Folk On The Water Festival there. On Wednesday he was out at Baxterley,documenting all the goings on at Atherstone Folk Club.
If Max,Ian and The McKees were to pool their travel experiences to write a book, it would be a substantial volume. Max also takes lots of excellent photos. He took all of those I've used here. But not one of himself. (How could he without a selfie) So here,for the sake of balance is one I took earlier. Max had his banjo with him and regaled us with some traditional music including a bit of gospel. Yes Lord.
Another all round good egg is Nigel Ward. You never know with Nige which instrument he is going to bring along. Last night it happened to be the fiddle. i was pleased by that as I happen to consider him one of the best players around. he is also one of the fastest. At one stage,having invited Colin Squire to accompany him,it seemed as if Colin's guitar strings would catch fire as Nigel upped the ante and increased the tempo.
As for me, I'd been a little poorly and I was very disappointed by having our weekend slot at Stonefest cancelled because of a World Cup Final. I was feeling ring-rusty and just needed to get out and sing somewhere. I did "The Odeon," "Albert Balls" and "Impromptu Irish Band," as being in a band nowadays I don't often get a chance to do my own stuff. I also sang "Vigilante Man."
Elsewhere within the week,festivities will commence just up the road at a very different kind of event. The involvement of local performers there will be highly selective and chosen by a small and exclusive elite.. In direct contrast to The Tump, admission won't be free. If you do want to perform there,whether Main Stage, subsidiary attraction or simply Fringe,if you rock the boat you will not be welcome. Not this year or any other. Fair enough. Good Luck to them all. Those of us on the outside, whether it be for having the impertinence to protest about annual musical apartheid or because we are considered not good enough (or both!) will just continue to ignore it. It is the Folk equivalent of Brexit. You either love it or loathe it .And besides...I'm only jealous. Of course I am.
The Tump is everything the other event is not. All are made welcome at The Humber. All forms of music are embraced:ability is counted as more important than who you know. Incidentally one shot last night shows me on my phone. It looks rather rude but what I was doing was writing down everyone's name and trying to record the song titles they were doing .I'm so absent minded nowadays that if I don't do that I'll forget er....I'll forget....um...now what was I saying?
