FOUR SHIRES v MUSIC folkIN FOUR folk with John Sear SLY OLD DOGS
A Wednesday evening in early January proved to be a great start to the year for me and other folk club regulars with an evening of traditional folk music provided by the Sly Old Dogs. All the band members have played with various Warwickshire bands at some time and all have been members of the Oddsodds They comprise Richard on guitar and vocals, Bob on banjo, bouzouki and vocals, Nigel on violin and Pete on guitar and vocals. All the singers have great folk voices and as most of us knew most of songs we in the audience helped to raise the roof with a truly joyous sound.
The band kicked off with Gypsy Laddio followed by Black Velvet Band (a real blast of the past for most of us) then came I’m a Rover, Johnny I Hardly Knew Ya
And Colleen in County Down. With plenty more songs and tunes in the same vein this really was a truly memorable evening and regardless of the wintery weather and the rather depressing economic news it had the effect of lifting even the lowest of spirits if only for a few hours.
Although I really enjoy new songs written by our talented singer songwriters and do have a reasonably eclectic taste in music I find that these quite traditional songs, that most of us know, do still have the effect of drawing in the audience and providing us with great entertainment every time they are performed. Long may they last.
BURNS NIGHT
Whether one is Scottish or not does not seem to affect ones love of a Burns Night celebration, especially when it is presented by Scottish duo Hector Gilchrist and Liz Thomson who perform together under the name of Selkie. The evening consists of poems and songs written by Burns (although he did not write the music) which together are used to chart the life and loves of the great man from his birth on an Ayrshire farm in 1759 to his untimely death in 1796. Although he died young he seems to have packed a great deal into his comparatively short life with several volumes of brilliant poems
and various jobs one of which was as a farmer plus several illegitimate children, he was certainly a busy lad.
Hector and Liz performed his writings well throughout the evening with a song about his early days “Rantin Rovin Robin” plus Green Grow the Rushes ,”Craigie Burn Wood” a song to a young lady and many more. The bagpiper piped in the haggis and played several other tunes with the added delight of two young girls performing several Scottish dances including the Sword Dance. A great evening which, along with the haggis tatties and neeps, was enjoyed by all.
PJ WRIGHT AND TOM LEARY
These two highly talented musicians can always be depended on to provide an evening of great entertainment and the night I saw them was no exception.
PJ is the guitarist and vocalist accompanied by Tom who is certainly among the top fiddle players in the folk scene. Tom who also plays with A Feast of Fiddles
can often be seen supporting local bands and individuals on an ad hoc basis and because of his amazing talent is always in demand. PJ formed that great band Little Johnny England and also performs with Dave Pegg of Fairport Convention fame in the duo PJ and Peggy. Together these two gave us an evening to remember with some firm favourites such as “Take Me With You When You Go” ”Bread and Circuses” about modern celebrity, “March of the Bankers” which speaks for its self and a personal favourite “Barbary Corsair”. With Toms playing of several airs we in the audience had a great time.
STEVIE MATT COOPER
Although new to me, Stevie is it seems making quite a name for himself in the local area. This young singer guitarist is not only a talented songwriter but also has a good stage presence which is a real bonus when working in smaller more intimate venues.
As support act for PJ and Tom he gave us several songs including “Welcome to My Dream”, “Those were the Days” about childhood,” Mad Mary” about the village eccentric and “Nicotine” about the struggle to stop smoking. He certainly went down well with the audience and I think that we will be seeing a lot more of him in the future.
of what’s on the television is hardly worth the licence fee then we might just as well wrap up warm and get down to our local club (where we will receive a very warm welcome) and listen to something worthwhile without the constant adverts.
I hope to see you there!
around the clubs ADDERBURY FOLK CLUB
Meets every other Monday at the Bell Inn ,Adderbury BANBURY FOLK CLUB
Meets each Wednesday at the Mill Arts Centre, Banbury BRACKLEY FOLK CLUB
Meets each Sunday at the Greyhound Inn, Brackley GREAT kNIGHTS FOLK CLUB
Meets first and third Tuesday of the month in the Old White Hart
Far Cotton, Northampton OXFORD FOLK CLUB
Meets each Friday at the Folly Bridge Inn, Oxford WARWICK FOLK CLUB
Meets each Monday at the Warwick Arms Hotel High Street, Warwick
MARCH 2012 v FOUR SHIRES 69
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