Wednesday 27 January 2016

For Whom The Bell Tolls :The end of an era

      Oh alas! How I shall miss The Bell, that fine old Inn and Eatery  in Monks Kirby, Warwickshire, now it has finally closed.  Run for decades by Paco and Family. I've had some good meals there, but I  shall miss especially, The Sly Old Dogs sessions in the vast function room  on Sunday nights. Just up the road from me in the next village, a delightful drive along winding lanes in rain snow ice and blistering sunny evenings. A remarkably large audience for Sunday nights would be treated to the nearest thing to The Craic this side of The Water, when all the guests and "The orchestra "  were in full spate.  A Sunday night of three halves, predominately (but not exclusively) by cracking traditional music. 
    I've performed there both solo and accompanied by friends  many a Sunday night.  The audience singing was usually stunning, the volume and tone magnified and amplified by the stone floors and low beams. The format was very democratic-all chaired expertly by Pete Willow, fronting the resident band Sly Old Dogs. I like the SODs so much that I booked them twice for Nuneaton Folk Club, and many of their number-Pete, Tool, Nigel Ward, Colin Squire and Bob Brooker have joined us at The Crown on Wednesdays. 
          The SODS sessions were pretty well unique in my experience, as paco himself would come round from behind the bar and play (very proficiently) the spoons in numbers like "Gypsy Laddie O or " I'll Tell me Ma. " It never seemed incongruous, a Spaniard belting out percussion in an English pub with an English band. Paco had a very fine singing voice, too. Occasionally he would treat us to a song from Home, and on one memorable occasion he duetted with Sean Cannon. Again, it sounds odd-but it was great! And where else could you just turn up for a spontaneous, unscripted night of music and also be treated to free grub, served on silver platters? 
      At the Bell, the SODS, seated out front, could comprise any permutation of Pete Willow, Paul Kenny, Richard Ryder, Nigel Ward, Colin Squire, Bob Brooker, and Martin Bushnell.  Banjo Dave Paterson would often join them, and other Guests (or "Friends" as Pete liked to call them), would turn up spontaneously and just  join in, especially on chorus songs. At their best you might have 2-3 banjos, up to three fiddles, guitars mandolins and Bazoukis in profusion, plus stirring percussion. And a combined singing voice that sounded like a choir of Angels. Making collectively, a Divine and tuneful noise. Truly a Folk orchestra that could have given Bellowhead a good run for their money. Consider those guests and friends I met, joined in with or just listened to at The Bell: here's just a few:John Kearney,Sean Cannon,Brian and Marie Phillips, Sue Sanders, Max Wright, Malc Gurnham, Phil Benson,  Jan Richards, Rob Halligan,  'Chelle Willow and many, many more. the banter was often extraordinary, and often hilarious. It was a place to air new songs-running them by an educated audience. it was a venue to try out new instruments, or resurrect old ones. Or you could just turn up and belt out old tunes you loved to hear. The evenings always finished with an emotional rendition of "Go Lassie Go," and the rafters shook with the acapella singing of it.     
    All is not lost as on the last Sunday of the month now, Sly Old Dogs and Friends will migrate across the road to the village's other Booser, The Denbigh Arms. Where The SODS are no strangers. I've played the Denbigh too, whilst in Black Parrot Seaside. The upstairs room I remember was o.k. but I'm not so sure how acoustics will pan out downstairs. (My personal preference for Folk Clubs, Open mic sessions and singarounds is always to have a separate, dedicated, soundproof(-ish) room,where possible).   

Thursday 7 January 2016

Night of The Long Axes

       I own a guitar but I only ever make discordant jangly sounds on it. Nevertheless  I am a bit of an Axehead. Amongst the many guitarists I've seen "live" are Paul Kossof, Jimmy Page, Peter Green, Bert Jansch,Gordon Giltrap, Jo-Anne Shaw Taylor, John Lee Hooker, Mick Taylor, Dave Gilmour, Stefan Grossman, Wizz Jones and Stan Webb. Many of whom I can  pick out  and identify just by their style. Whilst on the local Folk Circuit I've hugely enjoyed the work of Mick Stewart,Dave Bennett,Rod Felton,Rob Armstrong,Phil Hare, Sanjay, Sam Stephens, David Bristow, Bill Bates, Keith Donnelly and Chris Tobin. Others I admire but never got  round to seeing include Leslie West, Robin Trower, B.B. King, Eric Clapton, Hendrix, David Grissom, Bonnie Raitt, John Martyn, Joe Bonamassa and Jeff Beck. Kevin Dempsey (pictured left,below) sits easily for me right in these lists. Plus, (and what a big plus) he is an extraordinarily nice, modest guy, easy to talk to and completely grounded.
It would be easy to spend this account waxing lyrical only about the extraordinary Kevin Dempsey.Who does stuff with what he describes as  a "cheap guitar" that make grown men and women want to eat their own plectrums. But that would be a disservice to the depth of the other talent on show yesterday. It was the kind of night to make an Organiser very proud.  Besides Kevin's usual high standard, there were other musicians like Des patalong (above,right) on show who gave the audience the treat of their lives. Exaggeration? Read the Facebook reviews! 
   John Wright, John Kearney,Brian Phillips and Michael Luntley,for example. Different styles, but all very effective in their own way. And, representing Youth, the charming, nimble figured Sarah Bennett and Dan Gascoigne, whose twin-acoustic arrangement of Angie (Anjii?) blew away pretty well the whole room. Just astonishing. Type their names into YouTube and look for them doing this at Cork Festival.  
Sarah Bennett & Dan Gascoigne
Brian Phillip, Geoff  & Robert Johnson
John Wright & Hilary Wilson
     



















Was it just purely about guitars last night? Well....no. The bass-playing of Keith Nickless as the other half of Dipped Sheep, the strident vocals of Des " The Legend" Patalong, the singing of Fiona Lindsay-Coulson, Hilary Wilson and some other bloke who sang with Nunc and Brian Phillips, also added to the overall audience enjoyment.
Dipped Sheep
Nunc
        It was a night tinged with sadness as the whole room bade an emotional farewell to the unflappable and immensely talented Tom Veasey.Namesake, distant relative and a maestro in all things Sound. Off to see the world, taking his gift and his ear for music with him. We gave him a card and a cake and a bit of pocket money.Typically Tom, he had last night, brought along a trainee-Matt-with him, who is going to have a bash at mixing for us in February. The Tilting Kettle (check their website) provide the cake (below left),and a suitably embarrassed Tom was thanked (below right) for his work at NFC.
   

Last night at The Crown was exceptional. Initially, I had to be persuaded into taking on the task of launching a new Folk Club albeit a rejuvenated one, in a new venue, in a town as lively as Nuneaton. I was, frankly, talked into it. But (largely due to the help and support I've been given) it has proved to be popular and successful. The work everyone puts in seems widely appreciated. Fifteen sessions in, it is still going like the clappers. Another big crowd last night. Superb audience singing, a staggering amount of talent on stage, and an audience as diverse as I've ever seen in a Folk Club. One or two occasionally wander in off the street (and are sometimes persuaded to wander back out again), but last night was a typical cross section. A mix of local people: Folkies,youngsters,couples,singles,Family groups and other artistes who weren't on the bill. It really was an eclectic mix.