Historical Stuff (or should that be pre-historical?) I've left all this in just for the sake of interest - and maybe so we can see how great the all new, all-singing, all- dancing folk session and song club is going to be!Thursday 10th August 2006
Participants this evening were Tony Bergonzi, Crescent and myself. Crescent started off with "Arabella Miller" and "There's a tiny caterpillar...." followed by Tony with "San Francisco Bay Blues" (accompanied by Crescent on the kazoo) and "Redemption Song". Mhairi then did "Pretty Polly" followed by Tony playing "Milligan's Wake" while Mhairi attempted to sing it. This then led into "The Ying Tong Song" with all three of us putting in whatever bits we could recall, then Tony gave us "Vincent". Mhairi then performed "Mary Ellen Carter" followed by Tony with "Yesterday" and Crescent with "Little People", "Consider Yourself" and "Thankyou for the Music". Mhairi and Crescent then brought out their violins and played a selection of different tunes. We finished off with Tony and "Ride On" (with vocal harmonies from Mhairi).
Thursday 13th July 2006
In attendance tonight were Hugh (a new face to me), Geoff and myself. We took turns around the room with a nice eclectic selection form Hugh including "Terminus"(Ralph McTell), "Tell Me What You See"(Beatles), "Alleluiah"(Leonard Cohen) - a song used in the first Shrek movie, "Just Hopeless" (Mighty 45's), "Cotswold Love"(a poem written by John Drinkwater which Hugh has set to music, and very well it works too!), and finally "Lady Came from Baltimore"(Tim Hardin).
Geoff gave us "If I Were A Carpenter", "Woodstock", "Corrina, Corrina", "In My Time Of Dying","The Bay of Biscay-O" and "Farewell to the Gold".
Mhairi did "One More Cup Of Coffee"(Bob Dylan), "St James Infirmary","Laida's Lament"(self-penned), "Pretty Polly", "Matty Groves", and "Bright and Beautiful Things" (Ralph McTell).
A very pleasant evening, I do hope that Hugh can join us again sometime.
Thursday8th June 2006
All of a sudden - nothing happened. After next month's meeting, sessions will be relocated to my home address (68 Tredworth Road) and in a bid to attract more performers will be renamed Gloucester Acoustic Music Evenings. Here's Hoping!
Thursday 11th May 2006
Veronica and myself were the only people there, we had an excellent chat and performed one song each. I sang "If You Had A Brain" (His Worship and the Pig) and Veronica sang "Limodee".
Thursday 13th April 2006
Pretty much a non-event
Thursday 9th March 2006 ~ 2nd Birthday Celebrations with Guest Singers Geoff Clayton-Wyatt and Vaughan Hully
Mhairi kicked off the floor spots with "Ellen Vanin Tragedy" followed by Veronica with "The Recruited Collier" and "The Greenland Whale Fisheries".
Then it was time for Geoff's 20 minute guest spot. In fine form as always, he gave us "Farewell to the Gold", "Roxanna", "The Wife of Usher's Well" and "One More Cup Of Coffee".
Back to the floor and Mhairi performed "The Unquiet Grave" followed by "Fields of Athenrye", then it was back to Veronica for "Let No Man Steal Your Thyme" and "To Althea from Prison".
Time for Vaughan's guest spot now, and he entertained us with "Can't You Dance The Polka?", Banks of Claudy", A music hall number called "It's a Great Big Shame", "L.L.A.N.F.A.I.R....etc","The Foggy, Foggy Dew", and "Goodbye (I'll Join The Legion)".
Veronica started the next round of floor spots with "Joshua", followed by Mhairi with a surprising Dean Friedman song "Sado-Masochism", then it was Geoff with "Another Man's Wife"and Rosie with "Unknown Soldier's Poem" by Bill Pullen. Vaughan then gave us "Sweet Thyme", follwed by Mhairi with "Geordie" and Geoff with "In My Time Of Dying". Next up was Vaughan with "Bonny Light Horseman" then Rosie with "Vair Me O", and Mhairi wih "Laida's Lament". Geoff then gave us "Corrina, Corrina" followed by Rosie with "Lizzie Lindsay", Vaughan with "Sovay"(The female highwayman), Mhairi with "Bessie Belle and Mary Gray", and finally Geoff with "Eileen Aroo".
A good time was had by all. Shame there weren't more people around though.
Thursday 9th February 2006
A very disappointing evening. I was suffering throat problems in the aftermath of a cold. Barry turned up (sans instrument), and we chatted for a while until he had to leave at which point Vaughan turned up. We chatted for a while and then due to lack of enthusiasm we disbanded for the evening.
NEXT MEETING - Thursday March 9th
Thursday 12th January 2006
Three stalwarts appeared tonight, being Geoff, Veronica and myself. Geoff started off the evening with "The Newrey Highwayman", "Roxanna" and "The Wife Of Usher's Well". Then Mhairi made a very croaky attempt at "The Bold Poachers" followed by Veronica with "I Wish, I Wish". GEoff then gave us "The Shepherd" followed by Mhairi with "Jock Stewart" then back to Geoff for "Bogie o' Cairnie", "If I Were A Carpenter" and "In My Time Of Dying". Veronica sang "Follow The Drinking Gourd" then it was Mhairi with "St James Infirmary" and Geoff with "Corrina, Corrina". Back to Veronica for "High Germany", Geoff with "Another Man's Wife", Veronica again with "Try a Little Tenderness", and Mhairi's final attempt of the evening "One More Cup Of Coffee". Geoff gave us a couple next with "I Threw It All Away" and "Hobo's Lullaby". The evening finished with Veronica performing "Wild Flying Dove" and finally Geoff with "Raglan Road".
NEXT MEETING - Thursday February 9th
Thursday 8th December 2005
A fairly quiet session this one, although with a new face by the name of Peter who had been invited along by Doug (and plays concertina and clarinet). Peter and Doug started off the evening with a selection of tunes on concertina and melodeon with occasional bursts of clarinet. Time for a song and Mhairi performed "The Rare Ould Times".
Peter then gave us a tune called "The Quaker" on the clarinet, followed by Doug with "The Road to Mandalay" at which point Geoff arrived with an injured finger, despite which he did manage to play guitar and so joined Peter and Doug in performing "The Gloucester Hornpipe" after which he gave us the song "Farewell to the Gold".
Mhairi then sang "Butternut Hill" followed by Doug with a couple of tunes "Fete du Village/ Trip to the Bar" then Peter with "Horses Brawl/Donkey Riding". Mhairi then sang "House of the Rising Sun", followed by Doug with "On Board a '98".
Geoff gave us another song at this point with a Woody Guthrie number entitled "1913 Massacre", and Doug finished off the evening with a reggae version of "Down the Sides and Up the Middle".
NEXT MEETING - Thursday January 12th
Wednesday 16th November 2005
Another glorious non-event. Despite a few people saying that they would be coming, unfortunately I could not as my babysitter was ill.
NEXT MEETING: Thursday December 8th
Thursday 10th November 2005
Another well attended session with Richard and June putting in another appearance (though not performing), and plenty of stalwarts including Barry, Doug, John Potter, John Hollyhead, Veronica, and Vaughan as well as myself of course.
Barry started off the evening with "The Speed of Loneliness" followed by Mhairi with "The Fields of Athenrye" and a tune from Doug called "The May Day Dance". John Potter gave us "The Diggers", then Vaughan started the Armistice Day songs off with "The Scotch Brigade" followed by Veronica with "Green Fields of France" and Mhairi with "Where Have All The Flowers Gone?".
Doug then gave us an instrumental version of "Sally Gardens", followed by John Potter with "Both Sides The Tweed" and Vaughan with "The D-Day Dodgers".
John Hollyhead was in typical comic form with "The Batchelors Song" to the tune of "Foggy Foggy Dew" - a sad tale about a Batchelors pea who made the mistake of letting a baked bean into his tin. VEronica then gave us "The Wedding Song" followed by Mhairi with "When I Was On Horseback" and Doug with "The Trees Grow So High".
Vaughan then performed "Martinmass", followed by John Potter with Leonard Cohen's "Hey That's No Way To Say Goodbye" and a taleof unrequited love from John Hollyhead with "Greenstamps" accompanied by Doug and Veronica.
Veronica then gave us "The Press Gang Song", and Mhairi did "Parcel Of Rogues". Then it was time for some more tunes from Doug, with "Seven Stars/Fourpence Ha'penny Farthing". After "Now Westering Winds" from John Potter we had a hilarious one from Vaughan, telling the tale of "Nancy and Willie" (and why Nancy decides to break with tradition and marry Roger instead!).
Veronica then did "We'll Go Mo More A-Roving", followed by Mhairi with "Four Green Fields" and a song from Doug called "Rag Fair". John Potter gave us "Rolling Home" followed by "The Cotswold Shepherd's Song" from Vaughan and another from Veronica (it's one of those ones that I've heard and joined in with loads of times, but I don't actually know the title - could be Sorrows Away?)
Finally after a bit of insanity all round with discussions about Rambling Sid Rumpo and the like, the only thing that Mhairi could think of to finish the evening with was "The Great Fish Finger Disaster".
I think it's fair to say that a good time was had by all.
NEXT MEETING: Wednesday 16th November Wednesday 19th October 2005
Looking as if this was going to another non-event, it actually turned into quite a good evening, despite the fact that there were only two people there. One was myself (Mhairi), the other was Mark who is staying in Gloucester at the moment. After making a few phone calls to find out about sessions that he can go to in the surrounding area, we got the evening underway.
Mark plays English Concertina and started off with "The Royal Albion" which is one of the versions of "A Young Sailor Cut Down in His Prime". Another version is "St James Infirmary" which is what Mhairi sang next. Then it was Mark again with "Hanging Johnny" and Mhairi with "Matty Groves". Mark then did "Captains of The Waterways" followed by a tune "A Week Before Easter" and another song "Bitter Whaling Ground". Mhairi follwed with "She Loved a Portuguese", "Crescent's Folk Song" and "The Gloucester Protest".
Mark then performed a self-penned song called "Sinking Lands", and Mhairi responded with her own song "Laida's Lament".
We finished off the evening with Mark performing "Away to Hilo" and Mhairi with "Saucy Sailor".
NEXT MEETING: Thursday 10th November
Thursday 13th October 2005
This was another evening of new faces appearing in the club. Not only did we have Sandy and Alan (who Geoff knows from other clubs), but we also had a couple who are completely new to the Folk scene called Richard and June.
Geoff kicked off the session with "North Country Girl" followed by Mhairi with "The Unquiet Grave". April then gave us "Plain Gold Ring" then Sandy gave us a couple of tunes on the mandolin - "Constant Billy/Farrels of Ashcombe". Alan sang "(The Long Haul Down To) Borneo", then we had Geoff again with "Roxanna".
Mhairi was going through songs which she hadn't performed for years, and through the course of the evening did "Ellen Vanin Tragedy", "Long a Growing", "Geordie", and "The Bold Poachers".
Veronica gave us "Come All Ye Fair..", and "Hard Rain's Gonna Fall"
April performed the full version of "When The Boat Comes In", "Deeper Well", and "Red River Valley".
Tunes from Sandy included "Morning Star/ FArewell to Whisky", A Shetland tune by Tom Anderson called "Unfinished Journey", and "Horses Brawl/la Morisque".
Alan gave us "Linden Lea", "Grey Funnel Line",and a Canadian tune from Hudson Bay entitled "Ashokans Farewell"
From Geoff we also had a tune or two with "Planxtys", then a couple of songs "The Bay of Biscay-o" and Bogie o' Cairnie.
NEXT MEETING: Weds October 19th
Wednesday 14th September 2005
The first Wednesday session of the start was a bit of a non-event. John and Edith Hollyhead turned up around 9pm, but as there was only myself there, we decided that we were going to call it a night.
NEXT MEETING: Thursday 10th November
Thursday 8th September 2005
Mhairi kicked off the session with "The Gloucester Protest" then we had Barry with "Catch the Wind" followed by April with "Are You still my True Love?". Tony Houlden put in an appearance tonight and gave us "Yesterday's People" then it was Kay with "Sweet and Low".
Going round again, we had "Matty Groves" from Mhairi, then "First Song" from Barry, "Give me Liberty" from April and "Jailer bring me Water" from Tony. Mhairi then performed "The Blacksmith", followed by Barry with "The Roseville Fair" and April with a Bobby Darren number called "A Simple Song Of Freedom". Tony gave us "Come By The Hills" then it was back to Mhairi with "Fields of Athenrye".
By this time we had a couple of new faces amongst us with Vaughan and Rosie. Vaughan has a lovely rich voice and gave us "Blackleg Miner", then it was back to Barry for "Lord Franklin" and April with the blues song "Careless Love". Tony then performed "Green Fields of France" with everyone joining him for the choruses. After "One More Cup OF Coffee" from Mhairi, we had "The Unquiet Grave" from Vaughan and a new one from Barry entitled "One of These Days I'm Gonna Do It Right". Rosie was now feeling confident to sing, and gave us a lovely rendition of "Lizzie Lindsay".
The final round of songs for the evening started with April, doing a Huw Williams song about the Zulu people called "People of the Heavens", then it was Tony with "I will Love You Always (when we are gone)", Vaughan with "The Wexford Massacre" and finally Rosie with "Down By The Dockyard Wall" . An excellent evening all round.
NEXT MEETING: Wednesday 14th September
Saturday 3rd September 2005 ~ Barton Fayre
Beautiful weather, much the same as last year, but with a different line-up from us. Mhairi, Doug, Barry, April and Tony kicked off the stage spot with an adaptation of "Rawtenstall Annual Fair" which was changed for the purposes of the venue to "Barton Street Annual Fayre". Doug played melodian, Tony was on guitar, and Mhairi played violin. The song was sung by Barry, Doug, Mhairi and April.
Second up we had Tony singing "Ride On" with additional vocals from Mhairi, then Doug played some tunes on concertina.
Next was Mhairi with "The Gloucester Protest". Everyone else joined in on the choruses, including Kay who had joined us to prompt where needed and to bulk out the vocals.
After more tunes from Doug, this time on melodeon, we had "Are You Still My True Love?" from April, with a flute accompaniment by Doug.
Barry finished off the set with "Where Do You Go To My Lovely?"
We were asked to do an extra song at the end of our set as the Salvation Army Band weren't quite ready to start. We decided to repeat "The Barton Street Annual Fayre", which went down well, despite me having to put away my fiddle(which had suddenly gone out of tune) halfway through.
Thursday 11th August 2005
Still in the middle of the school holidays, so Crescent was with us tonight. As she felt like performing, she started off the evening with "Auf Einem Baum Ein Kukuck" which was well recieved, then Barry gave us "Nana's Song" followed by Mhairi and "The Gloucester Protest".
Still in protest mode, April gave us an anti-war song by Bobby Darren, and then Barry sang "Borderline". Mhairi then sang "Tam Lin" followed by a song from Kay who had come along this evening to learn the protest song. A choral singer, she gave us a lovely rendition of "You Must Be Mistaken", then it was April's turn again with "When You and I Were Young Maggie.
Kay then performed "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" followed by Barry with "In the Early Morning Rain". By this time we had been joined by John Ewers, so after a performance of "One More Cup Of Coffee" from Mhairi, he gave us a medley of American Outlaw songs. April then sang "Candlemass", followed by Barry with "Queen of the Silver Dollar".
"The Gloucester Protest" was performed again, with everyone joining in on the chorus, as John Ewers had not heard it despite inspiring me to write it. John then sang "Seven Spanish Angels" , followed by April with "Blowing in the Wind" and Barry with "Where Do You Go To My Lovely?". Completing the evening Mhairi sang an unaccompanied song "Which Side Are You On?" then at Crescent's request, April finished off with "Molly Malone".
NEXT EVENT: Barton Fayre on Saturday 3rd September
Thursday 14th July 2005~ Guest Night with Miln and James
Starting off with a few songs from floor singers, I gave a rendition of Fish's "The Company" which was followed by Geoff "The Sun Is Shining".Then Barry gave us "A Country Girl in Paris" and John Potter sang "That's no Way to Say Goodbye". April sang "Scarborough Fair" then we had some tunes from Doug - "Queen of the May/Watson's Hornpipe". The floor spots were finished off for the first half with "Laida's Lament" from Mhairi and "In My Time of Dying" from Geoff.
Dan and Pete gave us a very lively first half starting off with a jig then a nice mix of tunes and songs including "She's gone to be wed to another", "McAlpine's Fusiliers" and Darby O'Leary amongst others. There was also a self-penned one from Dan which I unfortunately didn't get the title of.
After some chat Mhairi kicked off the second floor spot with "The Burning Times" followed by a tune from Doug and then another from Ed Hicks on the Banjo, Ed also gave us a song "I was born in West Virginia". Then Doug gave us a Norwegian sailor's working song. April on request sang "Are You Still My True Love?", then Geoff gave us "Farewell to the Gold". Peter Kennedy joined Dan and Pete to sing "Queen of Karaoke(Hokey Cokey)" and "Football Crazy"to both of which Doug added additional accompaniment. John Potter finished off the floor spots with "Both Sides The Tweed", then it was time to welcome Dan and Pete back to the spotlight.
Once again we were treated to a lively assortment of songs and tunes including "London Town", "Bold Fenian Men", Ryan's Reels", "Rocky Road to Dublin" a medley of tunes including "The Irish Washerwoman", "Ain't She Sweet" and "Black Velvet Band" - those are just the ones I can name! An excellent evening was had by all, and I'm sure we'll be asking Dan and Pete to return sometime.
NEXT MEETING: Thursday 11th August - Come All Ye
Thursday 9th June 2005
This evening saw another new face with a fantastic voice named April, who gave us such delights as "Give Me Liberty", a David Essex song in a folk style called "Are You Still My True Love?", a self penned song called "Candlemass" which was written for a dramatic production she was involved in, and "Summertime"
John Hollyhead was in fine form this evening as well, providing the club with a comic element with such songs as "In the Fields of The Willow So Gay (tra-la-la)", Wild (Hell's Angel) Rover", "Mr Whippy's Lament (Greensleeves tune of course!)"and "Sweet Betsy from Pike (The Privvy Song)" as well as the "Ballad of Bethnal Green"
Barry seems to be gaining more confidence performing "A Country Girl in Paris", then a relatively little known Bob Dylan song entitled "Tomorrow is a Long Time", Tom Rush's "Driving Wheel" and a James Taylor song called "Sweet Baby James".
Veronica gave us a nice selection to join in with, including "Where Have All The Flowers Gone?","Banks of The Sweet Primroses" and "The Last Thing On My Mind".
Geoff was also in fine form, kicking off with a bottleneck blues "Corrina, Corrina", then "Roxanna", "If I Were A Carpenter", "Another Man's Wife","The Wife Of Usher's Well", "She Moved Through The Fair" and "Bogie o' Cairnie".
John Potter is another one who seems to be gaining confidence with such songs as "Now Westering Winds", "Both Sides The Tweed", Leonard Cohen's "Hey That's No Way To Say Goodbye","Rolling Home", "Carry The Can"and "The Diggers".
I also sang a few, some accompanied and some accappella, including "Throw The Ball", "St James Infirmary", "The Woad Song", Rudyard Kipling's "Tree Song", "Spotted Cow" and "Tam Lin".
A good evening all round. April is a very welcome addition to the club, and it's good to be hearing more of John Hollyhead as well. We did miss Doug though.
Next Meeting: GUEST NIGHT WITH MILN AND JAMES - July14th
Thursday 12th May 2005
Another good evening with signs that regular attendees are on the increase. Barry and Doug were both with us again, and we had a new non-performer join us as well. Welcome to the club Phil.
Starting off with a couple of songs &/or tunes each from Mhairi, Barry, Doug and John we then handed over the floor space to Tony Bergonzi who had agreed to do a 20 minute floor spot. Having earlier given us "General Taylor" and "The Chemical Workers Song", he then gave us a delightful ballad entitled "There were Roses", followed by "Planxtys" (a tune with Geoff, Mhairi and Doug joining in). We then had a nice selection from him, including "Courting is a Pleasure", "Annie's Song", "Vincent", and "Nobody Loves You When You're Down and Out" and finishing off with "Ride On". Doug joined in with a flute accompaniment on several of these, and Mhairi added vocal harmony on "Ride On".
We then had asome songs from Geoff folowed by a tune with Geoff and Doug - "Seven Stars".
A song each from Mhairi, John Potter and Geoff and then another couple of tunes from Doug and Geoff "Soldier's Joy/Lemmy Brazil's No2"
Finishing off the evening, we had a few comedy songs, including "Chastity Belt" and "She Loved a Portugese" from Mhairi, and "The Wellington Mole Catcher" from Doug. And finally, "Good Morning Blues" from Geoff.
Next Meeting: June 14th
Thursday 14th April 2005
The club seems to be gradually increasing in membership, which is very encouraging. John and Edith payed us another visit. Barry as promised returned to the club this evening, this time with guitar. We also had another new face in Doug who plays anglo concertina and flute.
Mhairi started the evening off with 'Me and My Dog', followed by our first taste of Barry's talents with 'Me and Bobby Magee', then we had John Potter with 'Both Sides the Tweed' and a self-penned tune from Doug on concertina entitled 'Pints All Round'. Another one each from Mhairi, Barry and John, by which time Tony and Veronica had arrived so we launched into some tunes (Tony/Doug/Mhairi/Veronica) with Three around Three/Steamboat/Salmon Tails.
Veronica then sang us 'East Virginia' followed by Mhairi with 'Laida's Lament', John with 'Carry the Can', Barry with 'Lord Franklin' and Tony with 'Ride On'. Doug gave us a flute tune called 'Jack Wilson' joined by Veronica and Tony.
Another round of songs with Veronica giving us 'Oh Freedom', Mhairi singing Crescent's folk song and 'The Beggar', then John with 'Rolling Home' and Tony with the Newfoundland version of 'We'll Rant and We'll Roar'. More anglo from Doug with 'Fete du Village' and another which I didn't catch the title of.
Veronica sang 'The Larks they Sang Melodious' joined by Doug on anglo. Tony and Mhairi performed 'The Rocky Road to Dublin' with anglo accompaniment from Doug. Then Doug performed 'Galopede'. Tony did 'San Francisco Bay Blues' with anglo by Doug, then Doug sang (with Veronica and Mhairi) 'A Rosebud in June'.
We then had a fun song from John Hollyhead to the tune of Men of Harlech which for ease of reference I have called 'The Booze Song'. Veronica gave us Salve Regina followed by Mhairi with 'Mary Ellen Carter, then Doug finished off the evening with a song 'Desperado' and a pair of tunes by Paul Burgess 'General Ward/Waiting Room'.
Doug is a very welcome addition to the club, and it was good to see Barry getting back into the swing of things. Maybe we can hope for some more offerings from John Hollyhead in the future as well.
Next Meeting: May 12th
Thursday 10th March 2005
The Folk Club's first Anniversary celebrations with guest spots from three of Gloucestershire's folk singers.
Rod and Gwylym kicked off the festivities with a selection of tunes to get everyone in the mood. Then Mhairi sang an Irish number as it was almost St. Patrick's Day. This was followed by a rare but welcome appearance of Flash who gave us 'Hush a Bye Lu Lo Lan', then we had John Potter with 'Carry the Can' a mill workers song.
Time for our first guest singer of the evening, and we welcomed Veronica Lowe who continued the workers theme with 'Fourpence a Day', then went on to give us 'Come All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies', 'The Drinking Gourd', 'My Young Man', a song from the American depression called 'Buddy Can You Spare A Dime?', then finished off her set with 'The Larks they Sang Melodious'.
More songs from around the room followed, with Mhairi giving 'One More Cup Of Coffee' and 'St James Infirmary', then Flash gave us 'John Bull' followed by John Ewers and 'I dreamed I saw Joe Hill Last Night' and John Potter with 'Rolling Home'.
Time for our second guest of the night and Gwylym Davies took the floor with a couple of songs about poisoning 'Lord Randall' and 'The Wild Wild Berry' (could this be a warning to mothers everywhere not to call their sons Randall?). He then went on to offer us some amusing ditties such as 'The Bedmaking', 'When Me and Mother Joined In' and 'The Gloucester Blinder' and finishing off with a good chorus and 'Here's To You Tom Brown'.
Back to the room and Mhairi did 'Ye Mariners All' followed by Flash with 'Sweep Chimenie Sweep'. Then we had a selection from the American Civil War from John Ewers (a speciality of his), 'Deportee' from Veronica and 'The Diggers' from John Potter.
Our final guest of the evening was Rod Penlington who has been on the Gloucestershire folk circuit for some time and used to run the Gloucester folk club when it was held at the Midland and Royal in the time when I first started attending folk clubs. He started his spot with 'Got No Time To Lay Me Down' then gave us a fine selection from his wide and lively repertoire including 'Sister Josephine', 'City Of New Orleans', 'Mini Cooper', 'San Francisco Bay Blues', 'Delias Gone', 'You Were Always On My Mind', 'Mary Ellen Carter' and finally a traditional end of the evening song 'The Parting Glass'
An excellent evening all round, we had a return visit from John and Edith and a new face Barry - who has been away from the folk scene for a number of years but has promised to perform next month.
Flash announced the mini festival which is taking place at Postlip Hall on July 2nd this year (and hopefully annually) to honour Robbie Mhacgregor.
Next Meeting: April 14th
Thursday 10th February 2005 This evening was fairly quiet with only three performers (and two of those suffering with the after effects of the season's colds!) We did however have a few people join us from the bar to sit and listen a while.
Geoff started the evening off with 'Bogie o' Cairnie' then Mhairi sang 'Fields of Athenrye' followed by John Potter with 'The Diggers'.
The remainder of the evening alternated between Geoff and Mhairi. Geoff gave us a number of self-penned songs as well as more traditional numbers like 'The Wife Of Ushers Well' and 'Eileen Aroo' and a little contemporary with 'Knocking On Heavens Door'. Mhairi did a few traditional numbers and also Bob Dylan's 'One More Cup Of Coffee' and her own composition 'Laida's Lament'.
A pleasant evening, despite the small attendance.
Next Meeting: 1st Anniversary of the Club - 10th March
Friday 28th January 2005 - Cheltenham The funeral was held today for Robbie Mhacgregor, a man who has been active on the Gloucestershire folk circuit for a number of decades...including running a club at the St James Hotel in Cheltenham for a while. The celebration of his life which was the format of the funeral, was totally wonderful, and perfectly reflected the enigma of the man himself.
To all who came to share this occasion with him I wish peace.
Shalom
Thursday January 13th 2005Another quiet session, but pleasant with singer/songwriter Neil making his debut at the club.
Thursday December 9th 2004
An evening of club stalwarts with myself, Geoff, Tony and John. A good time was had by all, and the lack of other faces allowed us all an opportunity to practice both new songs/tunes, and ones which we hadn't aired for a while.
Thursday 11th November 2004
A very disappointing turnout tonight. Apart from myself and Crescent, there was only one other, a lovely lady called Jill who has recently moved to Gloucester, and heard the folk club advertised on BBC Radio Gloucestershire. Thanks to Johnny Coppin for that. I chatted with her for a while before Crescent and I each gave her a song - the least we could do for her interest in turning up. Hopefully December's meeting on Thursday the 9th will be a little better attended.
Thursday 14th October 2004
In the Lounge at Chequers tonight we were pleased to see Angela making a second appearance at the club, giving us a lovely selection of tunes on the Melodeon, including Drunken Sailor/Swiss Boy and Marche du Bernais and a few duets with Tony (Bergonzi) including one where she played reccorder to Tony's Mandolin for Horses Brawl/ Rocky Road to Dublin. Tony also gave us a couple of songs.
Roger had us all in stitches with a recitation entitled "What not to name your dog" and set the scene for further poems to be performed - one "The Arrest" by another newcomer, artist Tony Hughes, who also sang "Come By the Hills" for us.
The other poetry offering was from myself, and was a self-penned piece entitled "Lower World Journey".
We also had songs from Crescent and from John.
Next meeting Thursday 11th November
Thursday 9th September 2004 Back in Chequers again (this time in the skittle alley) a number of new faces were to be seen in the club.
We had Angela on Melodeon who gave us some lovely tunes, including "One for Dan", "Dark Girl dressed in blue",and "La Marianne".
Then there was John from Painswick who joined in on his bodhran unfortunately leaving before the end. Hopefully he will join us again, and with luck we will have even more musicians in attendance!
Also joining us were Terry and Keith. Keith (we are told) plays banjo, although he hadn't brought it with him on this occasion. Terry sings and plays guitar, and despiite not having his own instrument there, borrowed one of the few which was available to give us a fine selection of Blues and comic songs(amongst others), including "Weary and Lonesome Traveller", Whipjamboree", "The Ballad of Knocking Nelly" and "The Good ship Calabar" to name but four.
Another new visitor was David who delighted us with "Knocking on Heaven's door", "Sweet Home Chicago" and "Blackbird".
A few of the regulars were in attendance as well, so we had a couple of songs from John Potter, some songs from Geoff and also from myself (Mhairi) as well as some tunes by Geoff and Mhairi together.
What more can I say, except that I hope to see the club attracting more new musicians and singers in the future, as well as building up the numbers of regulars.
Next meeting Thursday 14th September
Saturday 4th September 2004
Lovely sunny weather on this early Autumn day put us in the right frame of mind to make the most of this event. So Mhairi, Geoff and Tony took centre stage immediately after the inauguration ceremony for the Mayor of Barton Saint Mary.
Despite a couple of minor hitches with equipment, all went well and a fair bit of toe-tapping was seen to occur....particularly from the Salvation Army Band who were setting up in front of the stage as we came to a close.
After watching a few of the other acts of the day, we went into the New Olympus Theatre bar, where a tasty lunch had been provided for participants in the day, and then we settled in to play a few tunes and sing a few songs in the bar. An excellent time was had by all, and many folk club flyers were handed out.
Thursday 12th August 2004
Despite torrential downpours the session was well attended with a number of new faces in evidence. The evening started with a song from Mhairi, then as more people began to arrive things really got underway with a few tunes from Geoff and Tony.
Veronica's 'Don't put your dog in the microwave' was enjoyed by all, as was Crescent's first self-penned folk style song about love and death.
We had a couple of songs from one of our new faces, Alan from Tewkesbury who has a lovely rich voice.....shame he's going to be out of the country for a while, but hopefully he'll join us again when he returns.
John Potter gave us a couple of songs, one of which 'Both sides of the Tweed' got us all going on a Scottish theme for several songs.
Crescent was going to give us 'What shall we do with the drunken sailor?' but it ended up as more of a group effort.
More tunes from Geoff and Tony and songs from all made for a wonderful evening of music. I certainly enjoyed it, and hopefully it will encourage our new faces to return and maybe even sing for us!
Next event will be at the Barton Fayre on Saturday 4th September, followed rapidly afterwards with Folk Club at Chequers on Thursday the 9th.
Wednesday 21st July 2004 ~ Guest night with "Touchwood"
Despite a last minute change of room at Chequers everything went absolutely swimmingly, with more people attending than expected due to the change of venue. The evening kicked off with Veronica and Peter dueting with guitar, accordion and voice, then we had a couple from Geoff before bringing on our guests.
Touchwood were a hit with everyone, including some regulars from the bar who generously contributed to the pot. They sing a wide variety of songs with some quite unusal harmonising between them.
The second half began with a song which had been requested of me by members of Touchwood, a self-penned one about a young lady from Afghanistan called Laida. Then we had a couple of tunes from Tony followed by a couple of songs from Gwylym and some from Veronica. Crescent delighted everyone with her rendition of Michael Finnegan and some 'pirate songs', then it was time for Touchwood to come on again. Once again, this trio delighted and entertained us with their vocal skills, until all too soon it was time to leave.
Next meeting Thursday 12th August.
June 2004Nothing happened! It happened suddenly mind you - first the week was changed by the new landlord, and then despite checking a couple of times prior to the ammended date, I arrived only to be told that it wasn't happening! Ho hum
Anyway, as you can all tell we now have a new name and a new venue.....and as of next month we will also be changing our night. Interest is already being shown by many, and the folk club has been asked to perform at the Barton Fayre on September 4th - Hurrah! Next event Wednesday July 21st at Chequers, with guests "Touchwood" ~ should be fun.
Weds May 19th 2004
Alas, we were again a little thin on the ground (although I have since recieved a number of apologies from people who were hoping to attend) The lack of numbers was unfortunate as a new landlord had only just taken over and obviously we need to make him realise that it is worthwhile to continue providing us with a venue.
However, a good time was had by those who did attend with a variety of song styles in evidence.
We had John Ewers who specializes in American Civil War songs and Crescent came into her own as our youngest performer at age 7 and a half, giving a few songs of the sea. As she is an avid fan of the Harry Brown's this did not surprise me in the least. Our other regular John was also present, but did not offer any songs on this occasion. I sang a few including "The Beggar", "Botany Bay" and "Fields of Athenrye" to name but three. As usual we did have the odd regular from the bar popping their head round to see what was happening.<
Next meeting Wednesday June 16th ~ lets hope it's well attended!Weds April 21st 2004
Though not quite so well attended as the opening meeting, partially due to a failure on the part of the Citizen to advertise on the correct day (oops), we still had plenty of free-for-all session stuff led in the main by Rod on concertina.Despite the weather playing havoc with our instruments tuning we all still managed to join in - even Crescent who had brought maracas and castanet with her for the very purpose!
There were also songs from Tony, John, Rod, Geoff and of course myself (Mhairi) ranging from Fred Wedlock to Jacobite rebellion; a goodly selection of working songs and unrequited love etc. English Civil War and loads of other stuff.
With our reduced numbers and the quietness of the back bar, we were invited to join the regulars and found ourselves being appreciated by people who weren't expecting a folk evening.
Next meeting May 19th
Weds 17th March 2004
The first ever session of the Folk Club opened with a wonderfully eclectic mix of singers and musicians as well as a few joyful non-participants, and despite the fact that we had competition from a singer in the bar who had been booked for St Patrick’s night, we also had a few of the locals popping in to see what was happening.
We had Kathyryn on the fiddle, giving us some nice bouncy dance tunes as well as a bit of classical with Rich on guitar. She also gave us a couple of amusing dragon songs, which went down particularly well with my 7 year-old daughter Crescent.
Geoff gave us a love song which he penned, some blues and some Bob Dylan.
Maddy sang some unaccompanied songs.
Ian and Ro gave us a nice double act with guitar, harmonica and harmonised vocals.
Gwylym played melodion and sang.
Cresby sang and played bodhran.
We had Tony on guitar and sometimes mandolin, and Dave, also on guitar. Tony persuaded Crescent to give us a song (accompanied by himself), so we were treated to a shyly performed “Under the Sea” from Disney’s “The Little Mermaid”
I think the most wonderful part of it all was everyone joining in on tunes and songs to create a lively session feel to the proceedings, even Crescent who at one point created her own guiro out of a plastic drip mat from the bar and a pen (which was hastily replaced by one of Cresby’s props to give a more muted sound).
And myself? I played and sang a bit too.
If everyone enjoyed the evening as much as I did, I think this folk club could well become a thriving institution. Next meeting Wednesday 21st April.
