The Lymm Folk Club Newsletter

LYMM FOLK CLUB OFFICIAL STAFF PHOTO!

Bernard, Kate, Stewart, Janice, Lin, Nick, Lesley, Bob, Rick and Richard
(Thursday 16th August, Spread Eagle)

Bernard is the Club Organiser, Bob Robinson collects the door money, Kate King sells the raffle tickets, Stewart Lever is Bernard's predecessor and a club 'resident', Janice Bell became a 'resident' during Lymm Festival 2012, Nick and Lin Tysoe are our resident duo, with Rick and Lesley Nelson forming the trio 'Nelson Peach' along with Richard Peach... got all that? Good!!

6 September 
2012

GRAND NEW SEASON OPENING

with

VIN GARBUTT

Back at the Rugby Club with a reasonably large audience! Stewart opened for us, followed by Janice singing a-capella, with Bernard rabble-rousing to get everyone in the mood for Vin!!

Vin began the first of his two sets with 'Give Me the Silver and the Gold', a poignant and moving song about a miner turned dressmaker, and both sets were filled with such songs, interspesed with Vin's inimitable humour.

His second set ended with a couple of tunes on the whistle, with 'Your Welcome Was So Warm' as his encore... a truly memorable concert!

13 September

(performers 80p)

An excellent turn-out for our first Singers Night of the 2012-2013 season! In all there were 21 performers and 9 audience, plus Bob on the door and Kate on the raffle - without whom we could not manage!

Cast in order of appearance...!

Bernard, Mark & Jan, Loose Pegs (Ruth, Kath & Stan), John Condy, Stewart, Pete (from Bollington - he's taken over from Arthur Wakefield), Pat & Chris, Doreen, Janice, John Muskett, Rachel, Michael, Kerry, Dave Cowe, Richard Peach, Anne Cojeen and Alan Grace.

We managed to get round everyone before the break, and only had to miss three out on the second time round!

Our policy on a Singers Night (for those who don't already know!) is that everyone performs in the order they arrive through the door, as far as possible. Soloists are allowed one song/tune on each round, duos are allowed two on the first round only, trios and groups of more than three are allowed three songs/tunes on the first round only. We try to be as fair as we can to everyone, and keep the chat between songs to an absolute minimum so we can get round as many as we can in the short time we have available!

The break starts at around 10.00pm, and we draw the raffle at 10.15pm on a Singers Night, or after the Pre-Raffle-ite spot (10.25pm approximately) on a Guest Night... we've decided, though, that if the winning ticket isn't in the room at the time it is drawn, we'll simply draw another - if you know you're not going to be in the room when the raffle is drawn, either because you're leaving early, or are going to be at the bar, or even outside getting some 'fresh air' (via tobacco products!), simply leave your tickets with Bob or Kate on the door, and let them know what prize you would prefer. Unfortunately, Guest Concert Tickets aren't negotiable, it's a 'take it or leave it' basis.

Raffle prizes are usually a choice of a bottle of red or white wine, a ticket to see our next guest (Singers Night raffle) or a CD (Guest Night). If we have a particularly good turn-out, we may raffle both bottles of wine, but it's usually one or the other. Random samples of wine are dutifully tested by our illustrious leader, Bernard, purely as a voluntary service, of course!

PLEASE NOTE: Guest Concert Tickets offered as a prize do cost the club money... in order to be fair to our guests, the ticket is paid for out of the proceeds of the raffle, at the concession/pre-booking rate. If you cannot use it, by all means offer it to someone else.

20 September

FLOSSIE

Flossie Malavialle is a firm favourite, pictured above at the Spread Eagle.

Please note we will be at the Saracen's Head in Warburton tonight - buy your ticket early to avoid disappointment... meanwhile, have a look at her  website

This evening's concert was held at the Saracen's Head, which has a cosy, intimate atmosphere, ideal for Flossie's style of performance!

Nick & Lin opened for us, followed by Stewart, Nelson Peach and Bernard. Tonight's 'pre-raffle-ite' was Janice, with a couple of a-capella songs - proving just what a good voice she has when there's nobody there to hinder her!!

Flossie interspersed some of the old favourites with new material from her soon-to-be-released album '10' - a celebration of ten years living and working in the UK. She also did the 'Pink Aeroplane' (La Vie en Rose - think about it!), specially requested by John Condy!

The end of the evening came all too soon, especially for the Sarrie's chef, who watched most of the concert from behind the bar - after his shift was over, of course!

27 September

Tonight sees another of our 'Big Spot' offerings - performers being asked to do an extended spot after the beer break on a Singers' Night.

As we've come to expect, when we run a 'Big Spot', all the other performers raise their game to give the 'Big Spotter' something of a challenge! We had 24 performers in all, and went into the break slightly late so they would all get a turn. Amongst those present were Tony Gibbons and John Murphy, both of whom have played in bands with Keith over the years - and they gave us a couple of tunes of the extremely high standard that shows why they've stood the test of time...! Colin Batho gave us an hilarious parody of 'She Moved Through The Fair', giving Paul Robinson something to follow - but he brushed off the challenge, picked up his banjolele and gave us an equally hilarious song!

At one point it didn't look as if we'd have enough time to fit everyone in, but just after 10.00pm Alan Grace gave us his Harvest offering - 'We Plough the Fields and Scatter' coupled with 'John Barleycorn'... leaving us all singing down to the bar!

After the break (and after winning first prize in the raffle, too!), Keith took to the 'stage' and gave us a masterclass on how a Big Spot should be done! From start to finish he had everyone singing along, and also brought Tony Gibbons in on cittern whilst he played some fiddle tunes.

As ever, the end of the evening came all too soon - but the good news is, Keith is coming back to give us a full Guest Night on 18th July 2013... so put it in your diaries!

4 October

GILMORE & ROBERTS

Katriona and Jamie return to Lymm, but this time we'll be at the Rugby Club!

A good-sized audience came to see Katriona and Jamie, most of whom had seen them at least once before. How do we know? They asked, that's how!!

Nelson Peach got us off to a rousing start, followed by Nick and Lin. Residents' support continued with Stewart, then Janice gave us a couple of 'a-capella' songs. We are justifiably proud of the quality of our residents! Our pre-raffle-ite this evening was Bernard.

Katriona and Jamie opened their first set with some songs from their new album, 'The Innocent Left', but also gave us some old favourites such as 'Fleetwood Fair'. Everyone was commenting enthusiatically on how these two have blossomed as performers in the relatively short time they have been playing as a duo!

11 October

(performers 80p)

Probably the lowest Singers Night attendance we've had in ages, mainly because all the Residents were missing (except Bernard)...! We hope Lin is better soon, and that the Lurgi affecting Nelson Peach passes fairly quickly. We knew Stewart was going to the Hungry Horse to see While & Matthews, and he took his harem with him! So that accounts for eight missing...! Good news for the remaining fourteen, though - it did mean we were able to get round them three times - we don't usually hear three sets of tunes from Andrew's Northumbrian Smallpipes, which was a bonus! Duos and trios only get one song/tune after the first round, in case you weren't aware.

18 October

VICKI SWAN & JONNY DYER

We've seen Vicki and Jonny at Lymm Folk Club in the past - and we're delighted to see them back again! Vicki mostly plays Scottish Smallpipes, Nyckelharpa and flute, with Jonny mostly playing guitar and accordion. Both of them sing, often together with wonderful harmonies. Not to be missed!

WARNING!! An evening with Vicki Swan & Jonny Dyer may contain songs with a high death count and plenty of love (quite often at the same time). You are guaranteed to find out more about the nyckelharpa, bagpipes and have a generally good time. Free smiles with every performance.

Nice to see so many turn up to see Vicki and Jonny - a really 'feel-good' evening!!

Our Residents' Support was from Bernard, Janice, Nick & Lin and Nelson Peach, with a surprise pre-raffle-ite spot from Tom Kitching and Lucy Wright of Pilgrim's Way! They're playing at the Rugby Club on 15th November, so this was an excellent preview!

From the very first note, Vicki and Jonny proved why they've been at the top of their game for many years! Not only are they brilliant musicians, but their harmony singing is second to none! Needless to say, we were treated to 'Hattie', the Nyckelharpa (bought with the proceeds of hand made crochet hats!), and here's a sample!

25 October

(performers 80p)

30 performers in all this evening, including some new faces - Alastair, Steve (from Wiggin) and Kate & Emma, the two Australian backpackers who came with Gloria! We also saw a rare folk club outing of John Muskett's beautiful antique double bass (see below!) - what a glorious sound it makes! Of course, it helps that John is such an accomplished player, so we got him to finish the night... and he chose to involve everyone in 'Frankie and Johnny', a 12-bar blues in C (for the technically minded!) - which even saw Anne and John Cojeen jiving in the corner!!

1 November

CAFFREY-McGURK

Nick Caffrey (Th'Antique Roadshow) and Ed McGurk (Bandersnatch) are tonight's guests - some years ago they used to perform together as a duo (Litany), and are touring once again!

Our Residents' Support was from Nelson Peach, Stewart, Janice and Bernard, with a pre-raffle-ite spot from the Warburton Soulers...! Except they were running a little late, so we drew the raffle first, instead!

Nick and Ed opened with 'When Morning Stands on Tiptoe', and included other favourites such as 'John Barleycorn', 'Corpus Christi Carol' and 'The Dark Island'. It's quite obvious that these two have lost none of their enthusiasm for singing traditional and traditional-style songs, and their well-researched background knowledge is phenomenal.

You could tell that most people had 'ear-worms' to accompany them on their way home, as most were singing them on their way out of the room! A reliable sign that the evening went really well!

8 November

(performers 80p)

Long overdue appearances from Richard Gray, Paul Robinson (from Maghull FC), Bernice Carters, Mark, Jan & Kathie Taylor, Pete Thompson (from Northwich FC) and Arthur Marshall - and, of course, it was good to see a good turn-out from our regulars! Pat and Chris Blamires, 'Loose Pegs' (Ruth, Kath & Stan), Keith Price, Doreen Lehmann, Colin Batho, Nelson Peach, Brian Roberts, Andrew with his Northumbrian Smallpipes, Dave Cowe, John Condy, Gloria & Frank, Anne Cojeen and Alan Grace!

Sadly, we had to break the news to those who didn't already know that we've been obliged to cancel plans for folk events during Lymm Festival 2013, due to the festival committee bringing the festival forward a week after we'd finalised our guest list... something about not wanting to clash with... Wimbledon?!! Although we won't appear in the festival programme, we may well put on a few low-key events over the weekend.

15 November

PILGRIM'S WAY

Lymm Folk Club has a fine complement of residents who provide support on Guest Nights - tonight Stewart started us off, followed by Nelson Peach, Nick Tysoe (Lin's recovering from a 'procedure' and we hope to see her back in fine fettle soon), with Bernard taking us through to our guests... and the ever popular Alan Grace provided our pre-raffle-ite spot after the break (I suppose you could describe Alan as our 'resident floor singer'!).

Pilgrims Way are now a four piece band... they were phenomal as a trio, but as a quartet they are astounding! The difference that Jon Loomes makes is often quite subtle, but most definitely welcome - he has risen from 'featured' on the their debut album to being a full member of the band!

Tonight's concert was 'unplugged', and better for it - a more intimate atmosphere resulted. Lucy used a small loudspeaker system to give her voice a 'lift', but she didn't sound 'amplified'. Here's a clip...

22 November

(performers 80p)

33 performers in all this evening, including some more new faces...

29 November

Tonight sees another of our 'Big Spot' offerings - performers being asked to do an extended spot after the beer break on a Singers' Night.

This time it's the turn of John and Ailsa from Northwich Folk Club...

...we also bade a tearful farewell (no, not really!!) to Stewart, who is jetting off to Fuerteventura for his winter break. When he returns he will be doing his annual charity night, this year for Motor Neurone Disease.

Although not one of our better turn-outs, we still had around thirty in the room, and the performers were well up to standard! Bernard opened the evening, and it was really good to hear Lin (and Nick!) in good voice once again. Andrew brought his Northumbrian Small Pipes (which he plays so well), and we also heard from Loose Pegs, John Muskett, Margaret, Doreen, 'Incognito Yvonne' (!?), Anne, and Nelson Peach.

John and Ailsa chose material that was widely varied in content and style, including self-penned, traditional and contemporary songs and tunes. One of the highlights was the tune John played on his bowed psaltery (actually, it looked quite straight to me!), and Ailsa's rendition of 'Dream a Little Dream of Me' showed just what a fine singer she is!

6 December

DOC HARVEY
AND THE PHILISTANS

Under the guidance of the Good Doctor, the Philistans do their best to revive ancient traditions... oh, who am I trying to kid?! Stanley Accrington, assisted (or should that be hindered?) by Phil Brown (Lancashire Drift) and Chris Harvey (Strawhead and Mrs. Ackroyd Band), will have you in tears of laughter from the very first note! A rare opportunity to see them in the picturesque setting of the Saracen's Head - don't miss out!

Nelson Peach opened the evening for us, followed by Bernard - the hard part was staying dry, as a vent in the ceiling directly above the performance area was dripping rainwater...! At least we had a bucket on the floor to remind us! Our pre-raffle-ite was Janice, with Bernard providing accompaniment.

Well, we promised mayhem once Doc Harvey and the Philistans entered the arena, and that's exactly what we got! The ghost of Old Harry made an appearance, as did a whistle player with his head in a birdcage...!!

TEK IT BAK! MULCH IT! Such words of wisdom came from the annals (did I spell that correctly?!) of Radio Thrutch - "Playing your tune from the Calder to the Lune"...

13 December

JANICE BELL

& friends

Amongst Janice's friends tonight we expect to see Pepper Street, with whom she occasionally performs, and the Fabulous Ukuladies! The latter are the ukulele-playing super-trio comprising Janice, Doreen Lehmann and Anne-Marie Thurston!

Nick and Lin, Nelson Peach and Bernard provided Residents' support, with Bernard's flying concertina paving the way for 'Sweet Chiming' Janice Bell!

Janice's first set opened with an a-capella version of Judy Garland's 'Don't Explain', and the remainder was mainly with Pepper Street and 'Little Rach' on cajon (literally - it's a box you sit on and beat the living daylights out of!), providing a solid and capable backing, with a variety of songs - two of which were written by Pepper Street's Mick Hare.

Doreen provided our Pre-Raffle-ite spot with a couple of her own poems - one of which, it seems, was partly inspired by Bernard's catchphrase 'It's Nearly Christmas!'... then she accompanied Janice on Ukulele (unfortunately the third member, Anne-Marie Thurston, was unable to be with us this evening). Little Rach continued in her attempt to destroy the cajon - a testament to its maker that she failed! She also provided guitar, vocals and salt cellar (no, really! See the photo!). Little Rach is doing a Big Spot in the New Year on 28th March.

The star of the show was our Janice, who, despite a recent health scare, gave us a capable and spirited performance to the delight of an audience filled almost entirely with her friends! That's the way to do it!

20 December

Butties by the trayload... need we say more?!

This will be the fourth Christmas Party at the Sarries with Bollin - an annual event that everyone looks forward to!

Apologies to anyone who isn't aware of the format of the evening - it's a Singers Night 'in the round', but the break is longer than usual because we'll be filling our faces with butties! Around 10.15pm we'll see a dance display from Bollin Morris, followed by the raffle.

Don't forget, the winner of the raffle also gets to choose which charity will be the beneficiary of our raffle takings and collection!

An excellent turnout - 23 performers plus audience, and we got round everyone with a few getting a second 'turn'! There were so many we had to overflow into the back room (see photos above)!!

Steve won first prize in the raffle, and nominated Alzheimers as the charity to benefit from this year's donation. Once we'd added the raffle and the collection (no 'door', as admission was free), we'd amassed £147.20, which we rounded up to £150.00 and sent it electronically that very evening! Well done, everyone!

Bollin Morris in full swing! There's no doubt that their enthusiastic dancing adds greatly to the party atmosphere! Here's to next year!!

27 December

Thanks to everyone who has supported the club during 2012 - let's try to make 2013 even better!

1 January
2013

The annual New Year's Day lunchtime session at the Sarries...

It was good to see so many there - including Ted Edwards - some club regulars, plus quite a few new faces!

3 January

(performers 80p)

10 January

(performers 80p)

Our Janice's well-attended gig at Northwich on Friday 11th January...

...aided and abetted by Pepper Street (Mick Hare and John Condy), Bernard and Doreen!

17 January

MICHELLE HOLDING & BONZ

Quite a few people were over in Fuerteventura, helping Stewart celebrate his birthday... and the weather was turning nasty, too! Despite that, we had enough in the Rugby Club for a nice, cosy evening, which started with Nick and Lin, followed by Nelson Peach. Our pre-raffle-ite was Bernard.

Michelle and Bonz were on form, with plenty of songs, new and old. Michelle sang, playing guitar on some, and banjo on others, with Bonz playing Dobro, guitar, banjo and harmonica, and giving us the occasional song. They'll be back!

24 January

(performers 80p)

31 January

Singers Night BIG Spot

with
John Muskett

Tonight sees another of our 'Big Spot' offerings - performers being asked to do an extended spot after the beer break on a Singers' Night.

We anticipated an outstanding evening's entertainment - but we were wrong! It was even better than that! With 27 performers in the room (we almost got around them all!), there was a great party atmosphere!

John's Big Spot was an eclectic mix of folk, jazz, music hall, American old-timey... well, anything and everything! During his Big Spot, John invited various people to join in with him - Bernard, Keith, Richard Peach, and practically anyone else who had an instrument with them! Needless to say, his old faithful double bass made a welcome appearance, there were plenty of choruses for everyone to sing, and, as ever, the evening seemed to be over far too quickly. Well done, John!

We are particularly delighted and proud to announce that John refused to accept payment for his Big Spot, and suggested that both the club and Stewart's nominated charity (next week's concert) should benefit instead! We'll let you know how much the charity will receive on John's behalf next week!

7 February

STEWART LEVER

The room was buzzing in anticipation well before the start - that raffle table looked really appealing!! Seriously, though, we are proud to announce that we raised a total of £320.00 for the charity, £50.00 of which was a donation by John Muskett from his previous week's Big Spot! Well done, everybody!

Bernard, Janice, Nick & Lin and Nelson Peach provided the Residents' Support, with Mark & Jan Taylor as our pre-raffle-ites.

Stewart's plan was to try to take everyone on a trip to Fuerteventura, and opened his first set with Mark Knopfler's perfectly appropriate 'Our Shangri-La', ably assisted by John Condy on slide guitar and blues harp (mouth organ to you!). The duo continued with one of John's songs, 'Pleasure Trip' with an extra verse written jointly by text messages the from beach with John: "Let's go on a pleasure trip to the azure sea..."

Stewart told us that 12 of the people who came out to Cotillo were in the audience and six of them had tried going starkers on the beach... Janice said it wasn't her!! But do we really believe her?! More to the point, who were the others?!

Stewart's second set opened with him singing Geoff Clough's song 'Come On, Live the Life', all about singing on the beach and the El Toston Bar of Cotillo, Fuerteventura - with Geoff providing backing vocals whilst modelling a very fetching hat...!

The evening ended with a reprise of 'Our Shangri-La', once again from from Stewart and John. Well done, Stewart - and everyone!

14 February

(performers 80p)

21 February

MARY HUMPHREYS & ANAHATA

Mary Humphreys and Anahata are established on the British folk scene as enthusiastic and entertaining performers of traditional material.

With extensive research, skilled musicianship and a huge variety of instruments they have unearthed and brought back to vivid life some rare gems of English song and music.

We had to get extra chairs out! An excellent turn-out in anticipation of a memorable evening! Stewart, Janice, Nick & Lin and Nelson Peach provided Residents' Support, with Keith Price providing this evening's 'pre-raffle-ite' floor spot.

Our guests were on top form with plenty of tunes and songs - and were delighted with our lively audience who joined in at every opportunity. Stewart posted some video on Youtube of the opening tunes - Mary playing English Concertina and Anahata playing D/G melodeon...

28 February

(performers 80p)

7 March

NELSON PEACH

Nelson Peach need no introduction! Club residents Rick and Lesley Nelson and Richard Peach are a trio who play a variety of instruments and sing songs from English tradition, American Old-Timey, contemporary sources and other genres too numerous to mention! They currently have two albums available, 'Shelflife' and 'Jack Frightenem' - the title track of the latter is self-penned...

Hardly an empty seat! A great turn-out for our Resident Supergroup! Support was from Nick & Lin, Stewart, Janice and Bernard, with Carl Corbett providing a great 'Pre-Raffle-ite' spot!

Nelson Peach gave us two brilliant sets with a mix of new material and old favourites - some of which had been requested in advance! They included 'Jack Frightenem', the self-penned title track from their latest album, and 'Through the Looking Glass', a song written by Lesley many years ago and enjoying a welcome revival!

JJ joined them on melodeon and vocals for a few songs - indeed, JJ led the encore to finish the night off with a great flourish!

14 March

(performers 80p)

21 March

FIL CAMPBELL
and
TOM MACFARLAND

We opened a few minutes early tonight to allow the Warburton Soulers to present a cheque to the Multiple Sclerosis charity - last years Souling Play netted a whopping £1450.00 for the charity! Click the link to see their performance at the Spread Eagle!

With the threat of bad weather hanging over us like the Sword of Damocles, the turn-out wasn't too great... it was still a cosy and entertaining evening, though, with Residents support from Nelson Peach, Nick & Lin and Janice, with Bernard providing the Pre-Raffle-ite spot!

Fil and Tom gave us two sets of great songs, the highlight of which was when Tom did his virtuoso shaky-egg solo...!! Okay, perhaps not the highlight, but certainly a lot of fun! Fil's song were a mix of the old and new - and we even had a couple of songs from Tom!

28 March

POSTPONED

Tonight should have seen another of our 'Big Spot' offerings - performers being asked to do an extended spot after the beer break on a Singers' Night.

Unfortunately, our 'Big Spotter' Rachel Bourke, better known as 'Little Rach' (the human dynamo!), was ill, and the Big Spot will be re-scheduled when she's fit and well!

Meanwhile, she can be seen in this video clip singing one of her own songs 'Fortune's Son' at a Lymm Singers Night. Video courtesy of Stewart.

Even though she couldn't be there in person, she was there in biscuit form!!

4 April

(performers 80p)

11 April

BOO HEWERDINE

Boo is back!
He last played at the Rugby Club on 4th November 2010...

A really good turn-out to welcome Boo back to Lymm... Residents support from Stewart, Janice, Nick & Lin and Nelson Peach, with Bernard providing the Pre-Raffle-ite spot!

18 April

(performers 80p)

25 April

WILLOUGHBY-CRAIG

An excellent turn-out for this talented duo! Residents' Support was from Nick & Lin, Stewart, Bernard and Nelson Paech, with Janice doing the pre-raffle-ite spot (accompanied by Stewart).

There was a warm, 'family' feel to the evening, as more than half of the audience were Cathryn and Brian's friends!

Tonight will see another of our 'Big Spot' offerings - performers being asked to do an extended spot after the beer break on a Singers' Night.

Unfortunately, our 'Big Spotter' Rachel Bourke, better known as 'Little Rach' (the human dynamo!), was ill when her original Big Spot day arrived, so now that she's fit and well we're trying again!

The room was packed! We had 27 performers, got round all those who wished to participate and only over-ran by two minutes!!

We had biscuits! Oh, and Alan brought cake, too!

Little Rach gave us the performance of her life - she was brilliant! We reckon she's going places, and very soon at that - so she will be doing a full guest night early in 2014! Her voice hadn't fully recovered, so she opted to use a little amplification to be on the safe side.

Assisted by Roland and Charlie (amplifier and guitar!), she gave us a mix of 'covers' and her own excellent material, closing with a dramatic foretaste of her soon-to-be-released album as her encore... it started in almost complete darkness (courtesy of her lighting technician, Stewart!), with the lighting gradually increased in intensity as the song progressed. As she couldn't bring her piano to the Rugby Club, the backing and some vocals were from her MP3 player.

9 May

JOHN CARTAIN

John is a young, up-and-coming singer/songwriter (he paid me to say that!) who until recently was singing with North Manchester groups Redmayne, Feet in Mouths and the Hands and Feet Roadshow.

Although some of John's songs are quite serious, he specialises in rib-ticklers!

PLEASE NOTE:

The Spread Eagle is being refurbished, and is closed for safety reasons. We will be at Lymm Rugby Club this evening.

Another good night out at Lymm Folk Club! Nelson Peach opened the night for us, followed by Stewart, Janice (her debut accompanying herself on guitar!) and Bernard. Tonight's pre-raffle-ite was John's fellow 'Feet in Mouths' member, Steve Chatterley.

John opened his first set with 'The Games People Play', but the bulk of his material was self-penned, including the penultimate song (on YouTube) on which he was joined by Ged Todd and Steve Chatterley of 'Feet in Mouths' (Dave Wynn now lives in Scotland).

(8.30pm prompt at the Spread Eagle - unless it says otherwise!)

SONG COMPETITION 2013 ENTRY FORM
(RIGHT click and 'Save As')

16 May

(performers 80p)

23 May

CLIVE GREGSON

Residents' support was from Bernard, Janice, Nick & Lin and Nelson Peach (minus Lesley). Our pre-raffle-ite tonight was Stewart...

Clive's first set was a showcase of his latest album, 'This Is Now', which proved that he has an endless supply of songwriting talent in addition of his performance skills!! Talking of which, Clive chose to perform without the assistance (hindrance?!) of the sound system, which resulted in a much more intimate atmosphere.

The remainder of the evening included many of his well-known and popular 'hits', and the song he wrote for The Crickets (which they recorded) - 'I Think I'm Falling In Love'. It's so impressive the way he encapsulates The Crickets' style so comprehensively in that song! The evening finished with a great rendition of Paul McCartney's 'Blackbird'.

30 May

Tonight sees another of our 'Big Spot' offerings - performers being asked to do an extended spot after the beer break on a Singers' Night.

This time it's the turn of Mark and Jan Taylor!

Mark and Jan, assisted by their daughter Kathie, have been regulars since the Railway Folk Club days, and can now be seen at other local clubs such as Sale... tonight they had an opportunity to show what they are capable of, rather than an odd song or two at a Singers Night...

...and what a great job they did, too. It has become a bit of a cliché that the other performers at a Singers Night Big Spot 'raise their game' and put on an extra special performance, but that's exactly what happens. By way of a change, John Condy gave us an insightful, yet amusing poem, and Janice sang a song to her own guitar accompaniment - 'without the book', too! In all we had sixteen performers, giving a total of twenty one songs, tunes and poems!

Mark and Jan, with occasional assistance from Kathie, gave us a fine selection of songs and tunes from a variety of styles, many of which provided ample opportunity for the audience to raise the roof in chorus! Mark was given no choice but to sing 'Dai, the Motorbike Man' - the audience wanted it, so the audience got it! Jan sang one of her Welsh songs (beautifully!), and Kathie joined Mark to play a duet - Mark on descant recorder and Kathie on flute.

6 June

NICK & LIN

Popular club residents Nick and Lin Tysoe and their unique brand of American Old Timey music blended with other styles is well worth seeing!

Rather than two or three songs when supporting a guest or during a Singers Night, they will present two 45 minute sets!

Residents' support was from Bernard and Nelson Peach (minus Rick). Stewart was at the Wirral Festival, and Janice was on holiday...

Plenty of 'old timey' singalong songs that are Nick and Lin's trademark were the staple for the evening! Although the audience was relatively small by Lymm standards, we realise that many other folk clubs would have been grateful for an audience that size, particularly at this time of year. With quite a few regulars (and some residents) on holiday, a quiet evening was, perhaps, inevitable.

John Condy (harmonica) joined Lin (ukulele) towards the end of the evening, rounding off a lovely evening's entertainment from our favourite resident duo! Amongst the instruments they brought along (in a big pantechnicon, we think!) were some guitars, an autoharp, ukulele, acoustic bass guitar and a banjo.

13 June

(performers 80p)

20 June

STEVE TURNER

Tonight also sees the start of Lymm Village Festival with the Food Fest! Steve is a popular guest at Lymm, so make sure you have your tickets in good time (available up to six weeks beforehand).

Residents' support was from Stewart, Janice, Nick & Lin and Bernard, with Nelson Peach as our Pre-Raffle-ites... The Food Fest was in full swing outside, which added to the party atmosphere!

An excellent evening from Steve, with many of our regulars and a few new faces present!

As ever, Steve demonstrated his mastery of the English concertina, with tunes on the mandolin and tenor banjo, and occasional accompaniment on the cittern. Steve sang 'The Isle of St. Helena' as a request, with plenty of other chorus songs for an enthusiastic audience to sing.

Folk Events Programme 2013

4 July

(performers 80p)

11 July

(performers 80p)

18 July

KEITH PRICE

Residents' support was from Nick & Lin, Stewart, Janice (with Mick Hare) and Nelson Peach, with Michael Burns as our Pre-Raffle-ite...

It was great to see so many people turning up to support Keith - who rose to the occasion splendidly!

We had plenty of chorus songs to sing along with - Keith sang to the accompaniment of his guitar or one-row melodeon, as well as some unaccompanied material. He played some tunes on fiddle or melodeon, with accompaniment from Will Simmonds on English concertina or shruti box (a relative of the Indian portable harmonium).

Everyone was in agreement - it was one of the best guests night at Lymm Folk Club in living memory!

25 July

(performers 80p)

Unusually, we had more listeners than performers this evening! Sixteen performers, twenty one listeners - a good attendance by any standard! It was good to welcome Jo and Pete (aka Towpath) from Bollington along with the regulars!

1 August

Michael Burns

Michael was the winner of this year's Lymm Festival Acoustic Concert... did you know Vin Garbutt asked him for the words to one of his songs when Michael was our 'Pre-Raffle-ite' during Vin's guest night last year?!

Residents' support was from Stewart, Janice, Nick & Lin and Nelson Peach, with Bernard as our Pre-Raffle-ite...

Michael amazed everyone with the range and diversity of his self-penned songs and tunes! He had a bit of assistance with some of them from Bruce Rafeek on piano accordion. and the audience helped out with the choruses!

Michael tends to sing unaccompanied, but he does play mandolin and laud - a 12 string Portuguese cross between guitar and mandolin... well, sort of! Although he plays 'left-handed', his instruments are conveniently strung in standard format.

8 August

Singers Night BIG Spot

As many people are away on holiday/at festivals, we were a little low on numbers, so we nearly got around everyone twice!

Although struggling a little with catarrgh, Steve gave us a great selection of his own material interspersed with some Tom Paxton songs! As an encore, he gave us a medley of some of Tom's 'greatest hits' including 'My Lady's a Wild Flying Dove', 'Rambling Boy' and 'Last Thing On My Mind', so everyone went home singing!

15 August

BERNARD CROMARTY

Retirement Birthday Bash

  Bernard's 'Not a Moment Too Soon' Retirement Bash...

An excellent turn-out, though Tony Gibbons and Kate Bradbury were unable to appear after all, due to ill health. We wish them both a speedy recovery.

Nelson Peach started the evening off in great style, with Janice and her trademark blue guitar followed by Stewart rounding off a great Residents' support.

Bernard opened with the Double Danish Quadrille, Cushie Butterfield, The King of the Cannibal Islands and The Railway, followed by plenty of chorus songs for everyone to join in with great gusto! The second set ended with a completely mad version of 'Mama Don't Allow No Jug Band Music In Here' with the infamous 'mouth truss' (see photo above), with 'The Braes of Balguidder' as an encore. It was an enjoyable evening all round, and Bernard is now officially an OAP!

Thanks to Nelson Peach for the cake and banner, thanks also to Kate for more cake and sandwiches, and thanks to Nick and his staff for the rest of the sandwiches - a wonderful spread (Hah! See what I did there?!!).

22 August

(performers 80p)

29 August

(performers 80p)