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.

The Admirable Nelson

      After the enthusiastic reaction to the previous entry ( at least four Stalkbook 'likes'), it is evident that a few people are still reading/following the MoT Blog, so herewith a little cameo picture of a sultry musical evening in South Warwickshire yesterday. JK and I shared a floor spot at Stockton Folk Club.Stockton Warwickshire,not Teeside. Out Long Itchington way,beyond the Blue Lias which is a charming canalside pub where I used to go fishing as a youngster.          It was a return visit for us both, but this time without Flossy who was awa' in Northumbria searching for Uhtred and getting her head together on Holy Island. (Or was it Holly Island?) We were in exalted company, with a strong guest list and some quality musicians like Max Wright,John Wright and Jan and Campbell Perry sitting it out in the audience.

     Based at the excellent Nelson Club, we were astonished to find on arrival, that the car park and Main Street were jammed with vehicles. Alas, they had not all come to see us. There was football training on nearby and I think maybe, a Pool Fixture inside. John went upstairs to tune his guitar and I went to get a round in. The bar was “lively.” A heady mix of Folkies and Young Bloods, the latter loudly proclaiming specifically and punctuated by a lot of Industrial language, who was going to get what, and in what order, later that evening. 

     The Folkies were proclaiming very little although one or two looked a bit anxious. The bar staff were initially overworked, especially as the Timothy Taylor decided to go awol just as we arrived. During the thirsty wait for a new barrel to be pulled through, reinforcements arrived and one young man uniquely brought silence to the whole bar by very loudly announcing  “  That **** is going to get a ****** slap, (the ****), if he *******comes through that door now!”  It was all a little Wild West for a few seconds. Like those scenes when the Honky Tonk piano background music stops.As John Wayne blusters through the Saloon's bat-wing doors. But it was not unusually rowdy for watering holes in remote Warwickshire locations on a warm night. Conversation soon started up again,although a few were glancing towards the door, hoping that **** would not turn up before they got a tray of J20 up the stairs

     Topping the bill last night (and quite rightly so), were the constantly improving Daisybell. “Constantly Improving” sounds a bit patronising-but far from it. The band have always had a good sound and a good line-up, but the hard work quite evidently being put in on arrangements and harmonies means that they just sound (and look!) better every time I see them. It takes real commitment (and talent) to maintain such high standards,so well done to them. Their repertoire included some favourites from albums old and new, some classically-arranged covers and just generally, a most enjoyable set with no weaknesses. Encores well merited. Well done, Ladies.

Daisybell. (Great name!) 

    Away With The Fairies opened the evening with a nice balance between good musicianship and friendly banter. Some good singalong stuff to warm the audience up and get them singing. Followed swiftly by either two thirds of Nunc, two fifths of Mac Awe on Tour or more accurately, John Kearney and I. 
     We played as a duo, a selection of the current Nunc set list. Flossy and I are still pinching ourselves over our good fortune in finding that John has joined us permanently. And...he really seems to be enjoying himself! April Morning: Drunkards Roll: Folking Liberty: Dont Worry/Wild Rover/: Jolly Boys and Everyday/Rave On were all aired. The audience joined in gamely with every chorus and laughed in all the right places on the comedy numbers.. We had a blast-they seemed to quite enjoy it too.

       We then had, with an interval chucked in somewhere, John Hill, Alkevan, Rik Middleton and Keith Donnelly. John Hill I hadn't seen before. He enlightened us on some of the finer points of Kineton, and delivered two Leonard Cohen songs with fine guitar work and strong,assured singing. Rik reminisced about Dagenham (someone has to) and gave us a song about Rio and another about Barking Creek. 

     Alkevan I had seen on the circuit previously. They were accomplished musically and passionate vocally with some thoughtful arrangements and varied instrumentation. I think it was during their set that someone emptied the bottle bank outside downstairs.  It was either that or **** was finally getting the pasting he apparently deserved in the restricted confines of the smoking shelter. It came during a particularly poignant lyric-but it fazed Alkevan not at all. Keith was enigmatically Keith. Having arrived without a guitar, he borrowed John Kearney's. What a showman. I especially enjoyed his unique reworking of Men at Work's “Down Under.”

       Stockton is a really nice,friendly venue,with a good singing audience, and in good hands with AWTF in charge. A nice mix of contemporary, traditional and comedy music,skillfully compered. I recommend it.

Steel Eye Spon

        In one guise or another I've played a lot of Coventry venues. Some of which are still with us, and many of which alas are now deceased. Indeed, Nunc are gradually adding to that former collection nowadays. We've played Drapers and The Twisted Barrel this year alone. and on Monsoon Saturday (just gone) we added The Broomfield Tavern to our collection. Whilst in Black Parrot Seaside I'd played the Dyers Arms, just round the corner. But I had never previously strayed into this particularly delightful corner of Spon End before. Tucked away in a neat little terrace, with architecture pretty typical of the older parts of Earlsdon and Chapelfields. And having the additional bonus of a bijou, compact stage area, a P.A. and complete with sleeping dog, of which more later.

   Tucked in between the Viaduct and the Rugby Ground, as a card-carrying CAMRA member,I was pleased to see  ten hand pumps, nine of which were in action. It was sunny when we got there, so we sat outside, sampling the Produce until Ian Bourne arrived.

     What we had was a rolling Open Mic format with acts playing a set each. I'm afraid I didn't catch the names of some of the earlier acts preceding our spot, or a few afterwards. Except for Kiaya Lyons. ( I asked her). Petite,young, pretty-and with a voice belying all that, she belted out a few songs. Sometimes plucking a diminutive guitar, sometimes accompanied via a keyboard,sometimes acapella. My, she was versatile! She even made Justin Bieber seem palatable with a storming version of “My Mama Don't Like You.” John Kearney was singing along enthusiastically to this, which I found a little disturbing. John had made his usual spectacular entrance by tumbling down the steps whilst parking his guitar. He is such a show off. He readjusted so cleverly in mid air that you could see he had done this a million times before. 

     Shortly after the entertainments began there was a rumbling which shook the glasses and a roaring noise outside. I assumed this was a freight train crossing the viaduct,but upon going into the bar to refresh my pint I could see that Armageddon appeared to have occurred outside. You could barely see the spectators huddled for warmth in the Rugby Stand at The Butts Stadium and in the park outside, a family group were (unwisely) taking shelter beneath a tree.

       Nunc ran through their usual kind of set and devotees will be impressed to hear that for the first time, we needed neither a set list nor the words. ( Hurrah!)  Expertly and with nary a hitch (!!) we rolled out  April Morning,When I Get To The Border, Bring It On Home To Me, Down Where The Drunkards Roll, Cold Haily Windy Night and Perfect. (Which it damn near was as far as we were concerned).

      The dog was clearly agitated by the thunderstorm raging outside. Lying just behind me, it snored gently throughout,in the Key of E. This made melodramatic gestures, Dad Dancing and twirling the microphone stand over my head Rod Stewart style, a logistical impossibility. The audience sang along bravely-even when we didn't have a chorus-which was nice. They seemed a very friendly bunch all round. Dan Gascoigne and Amelia had arrived with their Great Uncle Des, and so that added to the general joviality. 

      After our set, replenishing (again!) my pint (Flossy and I agreed-it seemed rude not to), I was astonished to see a young man wearing a Pork Pie hat fall from his piano stool. And he wasn't even playing it. I reckon it was all part of his act,too. Blimey, he was good. Later on he would set up an electric piano in the stage area and play anything rather well. From Classical to Jerry Lee Lewis's “Great Balls of Fire.” 

      On directly after us was our old buddy Des Patalong, and although we heckled him very rudely throughout, he seemed unabashed. Among his numbers he performed “The Call ” a song my sister wrote (and which Flossy recorded whilst in Pennyroyal). Very wisely, with half his sessions choir in the room, he also did a song off his recent (excellent) album, the poignant  “ Shallow Brown.” Shrewdly, because he knows that's my favourite and six part harmonies rocked the rafters. This time it wasn't a train, a thunderstorm, a piano stool or the dog breaking wind which caused the vibrations.
        It was the second time we'd heard/seen Amelia as she was at Nuneaton Folk Club recently. Her distinctive voice remains as enigmatically difficult to categorise as ever. (She loves that!). An appealing vibrato and some highly original phrasing, with a good choice of material. But promise me Dan and Amelia, you'll have a go at a Billy Holliday, Memphis Minnie or Bessie Smith number soon? That voice was made for the Blues. 

       By about 4.40pm the drenched egg-chasers were paddling in and so JK very kindly dropped Flossy and I off in Gosford Street. The Twisted Barrel beckoned, as Flossy had to meet her other half there. He had been to The Ricoh. (Someone has to) to watch Coventry City claw a point from that Football Behemoth Northampton Town. He felt he would need a beer afterwards and he was dead right. Luckily, there were a few on offer. 

          Whilst in the TB we were greeted cordially by guitar wizard Glyn Finch. He looked both dapper and delicate-we suspected he'd had a good night there the night before. I also got talking to one of the guys behind a new Listings  magazine- -#Cov&Warks. We had a good old reminisce about Jimmy Jimmy, the early Specials ,Godiva Festivals from long ago and other stuff. We were sure we'd met before,but the Twisted Barrel is like that. It's a friendly, busy networking sort of place,and my kind of watering hole. Like the Broomfield Tavern. 

An August Moment

      Some Folk Clubs close during August because of the holidays or because some of their regulars are away at Festivals. Local ones including NFC don't. Last August, Winter Wilson (understandably!) pulled them in at The Crown and last Wednesday (3rd August) we had a good crowd turn up again, to see two talented home-grown Warwickshire-based acts share the Guest Spot.

     The first half Feature set came from Nuneaton duo KC Jones, regular visitors to the club. Karen's fine voice and Colin's excellent guitar work combined to give us a nice selection of songs. Some of their own such as “Hey!” and “The Ivory Battle” and some nice singalong covers including a Mary Black Song and a spirited version of “Where Have All The Flowers Gone?” to round off the First Half.

K.C. Jones

Our second guest spot saw the night finished off with two encores from Chris Tobin. He had to travel a little further, but his papers were all in order and he managed to cross the M69 without challenge. Chris is a good guitarist with a lot of nifty tricks and a fine voice. His carefully crafted arrangements really got our audience singing and tapping their feet. He had so many requests he couldn't fit them all in!

Mr Tobin in full song

   Nunc (alsa minus the holidaying John Kearney) had opened the first half with “ 'T'was On an April Morning," and “All The Good Times.” 

Nunc

    Our very own Sound man Matt Mallen Allen then followed us, with “Down Where The Drunkards Roll " and one of his own. 

Matt Mallen Allen. A Sound Man. 

     Next up was Max Wright, showing off the new guitar which he'd purchased in York earlier in the week. “ This Land is Your Land” went down well, with the audience joining in with  the choruses enthusiastically.

That's a lovely machine, Max!

     Amelia Roberts made her debut next, with two of her own songs. A voice which (in the nicest possible sense) was difficult to pin a label to. Amelia is married to Dan Gascoigne- Talented couple. 

Amelia Roberts debuts at NFC

     Malc Gurnham had been doing some tinkering with songs he already does, and he gave us new arrangements of John Richards's fabulous “Shine On” and “Union Miners Stand Together.” He also did a moving version of a song about the Aberfan disaster.

Malc Gurnham giving it some welly

       I'd been trying to get Glyn Finch to come along and entertain the NFC crowd since appearing with him at Drapers and The Twisted Barrel in Coventry. His unique version of “She Moved Through The Fair” won him some new friends, and he then added a very competent version of a Skip James song and one of his own.

Glyn Finch gets his head down

     Thrup'nny Bits warmed up for KC Jones with an a cappella trio from the front of house-eschewing all forms of artificial amplification! This had the added bonus of giving Matt a chance to crawl round the back of the stage to surreptitiously replace a dodgy DI battery which had been causing us a bit of concern earlier on. He thought no-one had spotted him-but he was wrong.

Matt is praying that the battery works

Des Gareth and Barbara had a virtual pop-up shop of CD's with them and performed three songs from their latest one.

Gareth Wyatt leading from the front

Nunc did “Bring It On Home” to kick off the second half, and then the raffle saw an interesting selection of prizes distributed amongst a fairly satisfied audience.

     All in all a very eclectic evening with all seats filled and standing room only at the back. One of the nicest things about NFC is the number of artistes who come along to support the event even though they don't have a floor spot. For example, noted in the audience and adding their vocal talent to the choruses were Comharsa's Mick Stanley,Maria Barham, Brian Philips, Sue Phipps , George Van Ristell and Joe Roberts.

long shot from half way up the room

      Afterwards there were some lovely comments on the Nuneaton Folk Club  Facebook Page, but my favourite one came from two young ladies who were joining us for the first time. They seemed to be having a whale of time each time I saw them and one of them later confirmed this by posting “ Amazing Night! Thanks Guys. You were all brilliant.” Makes it all worthwhile reading stuff like that.  I think they'll be back! 

Nunc at The Twisted Barrel

    Some of you will probably think this is really silly, but since the day it opened (when I was first there!), this is a venue I have been desperate to play.So last night I achieved a personal ambition there with Nunc. For so many reasons,I was chuffed to bits. Shall I list them?

John ,Flossy , Geoff and a butterfly.

1. Family History

     Fargo Village  and The Twisted Barrel Brewery Tap are situated slap bang in the area where I grew up. I went to Primary School at the bottom of the street. ( It's a Nightclub now!) I was a choirboy at All Saints Church,which was diagonally opposite the Fargo Car park. (Demolished now-my Mum and dad got married there, too).  This is my turf, so( as when I have played at The Humber Hotel)-I felt I was back home last night.

    For eleven years I lived a few streets away, in Northfield Road. My Grandad drank and played darts in the nearby Hare and Hounds and the Golden Cup. I bought by first vinyl (" It Doesn't Matter Any More" by Buddy Holly), in a music shop a few units down the road. I had schoolmates who lived next to the Scala Cinema, in the Cobblers by the church and in the Bakery opposite. I took my first girlfriends to The Paris Cinema (now,as the rejuvenated  Empire also a music venue).

     Unlike some Coventrians, I applaud the rise and rise of Coventry University and the trade its students have brought to this area. When I left it, it was very run down. Last night the area was still vibrant at 11pm. The shops and cafes were all still open, and there was Live Music on in several establishments. It was, as you young folks would say "kickin' "

2. Other venues

      With Black Parrot Seaside, Mac Awe on Tour and Nunc I have played many venues in this area. Drapers and The Tump, recently. Earlier doors, The Pitts Head (opposite) The Gosford Park Hotel, The Dive Bar (now The Ivy House,The Lanch itself, and The Golden Cross. Twisted Barrel was definitely on my bucket list. 

Look at those gorgeous mash tubs

3. The Brewery

     I am a CAMRA member and a beer fanatic. I have had the honour of having had  two Breweries  naming a beer after  bands I've been in. ( Church End's  "Black Parrot Seaside Bitter" and Sperrins "Mac Awe." This year, Church End had a beer on at a local CAMRA Festival dedicated to one of my songs-"Folkin' Liberty."

     I'm not being disloyal when I say that Twisted Barrel have raised the brewing bar to another level in the Midlands area. Their Brewery Tap at Fargo is an honest attempt to bring to the city a new Craft Beer experience which is on a par with any Brewdog Bar (and I've visited many),and mirrors Brewery Taps like those at Euston,Waterloo and Manchester Piccadilly. On a smaller scale, perhaps,and with a bit of work required on having a few more toilet facilities at peak hours maybe. Although the Gents at The Euston Tap is actually smaller than the one at TB.  The staff are friendly, knowledgeable and they work extremely hard.

4. The Beer

     All this would be lovely just as it stands-but the beers:Sine Qua Non for example or In Amber Clad-are exceptional,and the utter icing on the cake. Don't take my word for it. Get some. Drink some. Enjoy. 

5. The Organiser

         I haven't known Glyn Finch long, but I like him. He has a good voice, he plays some mean guitar and he covers some very bold material for a young man. I've persuaded him out to Nuneaton Folk Club next month, and I hope our audiences take to him. Last night he did "She Moved Through The Fair " and " Need Your Love So Bad" great credit. Not compulsively faithful to the original versions he  covers,he puts his own arrangements in.

6. NUNC

      Last night, (as at Draper's), the Nunc Format was myself, John Kearney and Flossie McDougal. The set list was : 
COLD HAILY WINDY NIGHT:
WHEN I GET TO THE BORDER

BRING IT ON HOME TO ME

EVERYDAY/RAVE ON (segue)

AFTER THE GOLDRUSH

DOWN WHERE THE DRUNKARDS ROLL

PERFECT

DONT WORRY/THE WILD ROVER

 We love playing together in this format, and we get better each time we gig. I think we're going back some time so we must have done o.k. 

JUNC?

7. The other guests

It's a pub/bar. The Barrel gets busy and it gets noisy. All the other performers more than held their own. Some of this was due to their voice projection, and some was due to Glyn's blissfully simple P.A. Besides Glyn, I was particularly impressed with Izzy.

Izzy

Although very young, she showed little trace of nerves in her set,which included some originals and a couple of very nice cover arrangements. Ian Bourne was also entertaining. His song about Zombies was pure Black Parrot Seaside material, and his banter was top notch.        

Ian Bourne. He wants to eat your brain.

More than Content with The Wilsons

      Did you see what I did there? A clever reversal of one of the Bard's famous quotations. Actually there was no Winter of Discontent at Nuneaton Folk Club last night. There was no discontent at all. Far from it. The return visit of  Winter Wilson to The Crown as the featured July 2016 guests was a treat all round.

        Last July, 2015-one year ago, we set up NFC for Sean Cannon with the outside temperature still hovering at  around 34c by 8pm. The interior was like a sauna. Last night twelve months on, and with a rotten,soggy English Summer in full drizzle, the temperature was just slightly above ambient outside. Inside the warmth was as much about Julian's new bank of lights and the hot air rising up from the room below, as Wales simultaneously took on Portugal.  

      So much has happened since last month's NFC session.Not one but two exits from Europe and with Wales having selfishly eclipsed England's meek surrender against Iceland, the kick off for their first ever Euro 2016 Semi-Final was thoughtlessly scheduled by EUFA to coincide with the opening floor spot last night. This undoubtedly affected our attendance a little and lent a noticeably more fluid rotation between the performance area upstairs and the Big Screen in the bar downstairs.

      Those who still came enjoyed another good night, with more debuts, many welcome returns from old friends, and a distinct "family" atmosphere with at least four acts comprised of relatives. Plus the sheer delight of two eclectic and electric sets from the multi-talented Winter Wilson.

       Our featured guests demonstrated why they are kept so busy with tours, festivals and club appearances. Kip and Dave are vocalists of extraordinary depth and clarity. Their vocal range is admirable and their breathing control remarkable. They write and record much of their own material and their instrumentation (which includes guitar,accordion,flute and banjo) is  flawless.  They are also two of the nicest people you could meet on the Folk Circuit, with no front, no side, no affectation-just an evident pride in their work. They travelled all the way from Lincolnshire (and back again afterwards) and worked extremely hard to entertain us. They kept up a banter and patter throughout and never complained once. 

Winter Wilson

         Of the other acts, NUNC who are rapidly becoming JUNC as, (hurrah!) the wonderful John Kearney continues to rehearse and perform with us, started with a couple of very enjoyable versions of " Bring It On Home" and " Down Where The Drunkards Roll."  Enjoyable for us anyway-but  as the audience started singing along too we must have got something right. 

NUNC. John's halo has slipped. 

      Rob Oakey had guested briefly with Andy Jones and his Cherooty board (at least I think that's what Andy had called it!) earlier this year. Last night he made his guitar debut and plucked us out a couple of tasty blues numbers including San Francisco Bay.  We will draw a veil over his unfortunate version of Postman Pat, as children may be reading. 

Rob Oakey

      Also making their NFC debut were Blues Division, with Arnold Chave on guitar and Sophia Barrington on lead vocals. Arnold assured us that he had his Mojo working, which was good news all round. 

Blues Division

     With Mick Harris also in the room, we had three members of Black Parrot Seaside together in a music venue for the first time in 21 months. Four, if you count Susie Sanders, who has guested occasionally with BPS. Sue, happily now  returning to full health after a long illness, soon took to the stage and wowed everyone with her versatility. A sensitively played slow number was followed by a deftly fiddled set of jigs and reels.

Sue Sanders

       Our previous Sound Man Tom Veasey was back from the USA, and by special request,  he was joined by his mum, dad and sister for a couple of tunes. The " Von Veasey Family"  version of "Drowsy Maggie" fair rattled along. Tom,Simon and Sally-Ann Veasey had been on the NFC stage before,but Emily too was making a debut.

Cripes! it's the Von Veaseys!

Ditto Brendan Kearney, who I think,in joining his dad for a few songs was also making his debut there. The boys did a cheeky version of Brillig's slightly naughty Pirate Song "Fair Warning."

John and Brendan Kearney-you have been warned.

       Like The Veaseys, the Kearneys and Sue Sanders, John Neal is Nuneaton based. He is a regular about town and hosts Monday night sessions at The Fox in Attleborough. John gave us a couple of songs including a sensitive version of John Martin's "May You Never" which was well received by the audience.

John Neal

Rounding off a jolly good first half, Chris Tobin, one half of next months featured guest billing, got the audience singing as he always does. Chris was a little off colour, but you wouldn't have known, as he got the roof lifting (again!) with Billy Fury's "Half Way to Paradise."

Chris Tobin

       We had by now whipped the audience into a frenzy with all this talent, and Winter Wilson continued the quality with an inspiring set to conclude the first half. One brief wee/beer/raffle break later and the fun began again. The audience were really up for it by now as NUNC roped them in for noisy versions of their Buddy Holly segue and Flossy's peerless delivery of "Perfect."

     It damn near was Perfect,  as Winter Wilson then kept the momentum going. A second, longer set to top the evening, with Blues, worksongs,Traditional  and  contemporary numbers all delivered with pace and panache. They took us down mines, up mountains,onto quaysides and onto battlefields.  No wonder they sold so many copies of their latest album "Ashes and Dust" afterwards!   

Kip & Dave-first half

One of the nicest aspects of NFC is to see that part of our audience is always made up of visiting musicians. Not necessarily expecting to play, but just turning up for the Craic and to have a look at who is on. Last night for example, it was good to see Dave and Julia Taylor, Andy Jones and Paul Moore there. Not performing-just chillin' and lending support to local "live" Folk Music.  
       Finally a word of thanks for Matt Mallen Allen. It was Tom Veasey who recommended Matt to us as his replacement Sound guy. Tom's welcome advice was our gain. Between us, Matt and I have spent a few bob lately building up a bank of our own NFC equipment: D.I. and mike leads,a P.A., new desk and quite a few gizmos and gadgets. This has various benefits. One of which is that we no longer have to drag Julian out whilst he is eating his tea to ask if we can borrow this or that.   Matt was like a man with two hats last night,and the sound was definitely up a notch. (Or two). Not only that-he sings.He's back out front next month, doing a floor spot!     

Mac Awe On Tour

       This Blog is actually named after a near organic institution-not such a band as an event. A floating personnel occasionally step up and provide entertainment for the sort of gig previously occupied by the erstwhile (and long defunct) Black Parrot Seaside. (See the link there?). Belatedly,and by popular request,here's a brief review of our adventures last Friday night when we did two forty five minute sets at the invitation of ray Buckler, a gentleman who has lent a lot of support to several of North Warwickshire's  Folk venues. 

      Festivals (and particularly Beer Festivals) are one particular (and very enjoyable) example of occasions likely to tempt The Mac Awe on stage. Nuneaton and Bedworth CAMRA's annual “Thirst and Last " Festival for instance. The event is held each June in The Co-Op Hall in Nuneaton and it really is a lovely venue. A HUGE concert room with a HUGE stage (and apron), it is a pleasure to play.

        Last year The Mac Awe started recruiting for this event well in advance and rehearsed a set list that had worked for us all separately elsewhere. As the June 2015 event approached, one or two musicians began to drop out, whittle away, provide a doctor's note etc. By the Friday night, this richly talented and diverse ensemble had whittled down to the Kearney Boys, Malc Gurnham on base, and me. With Gill Gilsenan operating the P.A. Could History repeat itself this year? Read on: a definite pattern is emerging.

    The 2016 event was scheduled for Friday 17^th June. No Malc or Gill this time-they were busy at Alcester Folk Festival. There was an early plan to draft in a recovering Sue Sanders on fiddle, but that proved impossible. But we recruited David Parr on guitar and Jon Harrington on harps, adding them to John And Brendan Kearney. Flossy McDougal was to join me on vocals. Unlike last year, we never did all get together for a run through, but a few of us had a really good rehearsal the week before, and the Kearney Boys did a weeny rehearsal of their own. This turned out to be extraordinarily useful,as they often sounded like they actually knew what they were doing. What we did do in rehearsals was a right mash-up, with some good chemistry going on in the Parr-Kearney guitar department, and some mind-blowing arrangements including a Robert Johnson-Beatles Segue and a seamless medley of Stones and Beatles stuff.

      Matt Mallen Allen, the (very!) sound man from Nuneaton Folk Club was drafted in to run the desk this year so there was a very strong NFC flavour about proceedings. We began to set up for the gig late afternoon, and hit the first major snag. Poor David texted us to say the Paramedics had carted him away to A & E with a heart problem. Such is the effect an impending Mac Awe on stage can have. But there is more.

     Jon had let it be known that there was likely to be a delay in him arriving from work, and with true Rock and Roll panache, Flossy was travelling in by train. Our sound check therefore was a little thin on the ground and we delayed the start as long as we dared before starting minus David and without Jon. The line-up then was John Kearney (guitar), his son Brendan on electric bass,and Flossy sharing vocals with me. Although it has to be said that both John and Bren had amassed a fine collection of percussion items and Flossy had a tambourine. The first half went well. (We enjoyed it, anyway!). The set list was:

How Long Blues :Cold Haily Windy Night Vigilante Man :Shame Shame Shame: Black Velvet Band: Standing Round Crying: Down Our Street (The Di Di song) : Love In Vain: Over the Hills and Far Away: Downtown.

Jon finally arrived but as we returned to the stage to start the second half, Flossy turned green and appeared to be in serious discomfort. No-one ( I do mean no-one) had been looking forward to this gig more than she, but virtually doubled up as she was, she just had to leave. A recurrence of a previous problem. Flossy had left the building, in some distress. Then the Cavalry arrived in the form of a beaming Flossy announcing that her illness had (literally!) passed. Boy did we have some fun then!

        The Second half set list was:

If I had Possesssion: You Can't Do That: Jolly Boys: When I get to the Border: It's a Sin : I saw Her Standing There: Its all Over Now :Bring It On Home : Rave On: Everyday: Folking Liberty :Help Me Make it Through The Day: Down Where The Drunkards Roll : Don't Worry/Wild Rover : Perfect :We Shall Overcome.

     We had been billed (in National press!) beforehand as a Folk/Blues outfit and as you can see, there was a generous and eclectic mix of material. Highlights for me were Brendan's perfect Glockenspiel solo on Buddy Holly's “Every Day,” John's remarkable blend of “ The Wild Rover” and Bob Marley's “ Don't Worry,” and a Festival Beer named after one of my own songs-Church End's Folkin' Liberty. Jon's harp work and percussion add-ons really lifted the sound so that “Bring It On Home” and other Bluesy numbers were...well..bluesy.

      The audience were understandably concentrating very hard on their drinking-tasting,assessing,ticking, marking, etc and it proved quite a challenge to get them going. But finally, there was some dancing-and some good chorus singing. As an encore we sang ”We Shall Overcome,” a late choice, delivered movingly by JK and dedicated to events in Batley the day before.