The Lymm Folk Club Newsletter

5 September 
2013

GRAND NEW SEASON OPENING

with

TRIO THRELFALL

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

After an over-long absence, it was wonderful to see Trio Threlfall back in Lymm! As expected, a good-sized audience were enthralled by an atmospheric performance from the singing and playing of Jane and Amanda with virtuoso playing from Roger.

12 September

LUCY WARD

(Oldham Community Radio 99.7fm)

Damien Barber & Mike Wilson are now coming to Lymm on Thursday 6th March 2014... isn't it great that we managed to grab Lucy Ward at such short notice?!!

We opened with some songs from Bernard, Janice and Nelson Peach, then we heard that familiar 'EY UP!' Yes, Lucy was launching into her first set!

Lucy was starting the launch tour of her new album, 'Single Flame', so a lot of her material was from that album - if you haven't yet bought a copy, it's time you did! Some of Lucy's songs were accompanied on her guitar, and others were unaccompanied.

Stewart was this week's Pre-Raffle-ite, followed by the raffle...! Lucy's second set included the haunting 'For The Dead Men', and she included a song on her ukulele - she had the audience by the scruff of its neck from start to finish!

19 September
PLEASE NOTE:
This event will be at
The Saracen's Head, Warburton!

(performers 80p)

26 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.

This time it's the turn of Phil Caffrey and Ian Cleverdon - The Huers

We had a total of 15 performers in the first half, and managed to get around twice - trios and duos only get one second time round, y'see...!

After the break, Phil and Ian gave us a really enjoyable set of self-penned material and 'covers', to the delight of all present! They'll be back!

3 October

HUGHIE (The Spinners) JONES

Surprisingly, this is Hughie's first visit to Lymm Folk Club!

Bernard, Richard Peach and Janice Bell with Mick Hare provided Residents' support, with the inimitable Keith Price as our pre-raffle-ite...

Hughie opened with 'The Dreadnought', 'Ellan Vannin' and other favourites, with plenty for a delighted audience to join in on the choruses.

For his second set, Hughie still had plenty of great songs left in his repertoire... and there's no doubt we'll be inviting him back!

10 October

(performers 80p)

17 October

PHIL HARE

Phil 'The Hat' Hare is back!

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

Phil once more dazzled his audience with both his brilliance on guitar and his songwriting ability - one song in the second set being improvised 'on the hoof' based on ideas from the audience. The style suggestion was cajun, and topics included monkeys, Parliament, holidays, West Ham and the downstairs quiz night! He also gave us his 'Credit Crunch' song, which has an instrumental break making its way through 'Angie', 'Classical Gas', 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps', 'Don't Fear the Reaper' and 'Stairway to Heaven'!

24 October

(performers 80p)

31 October

ANDY IRVINE

We are delighted to welcome seminal folk legend Andy Irvine to Lymm Folk Club during his Autumn Tour!

A near-capacity audience... ready, eager and waiting...

Residents' support was from Stewart, Nelson Peach and Bernard, with Michael Burns as our Pre-Raffle-ite...

A night to remember!! Andy was on top form, despite the gruelling schedule of his tour! Not only did he amaze everyone with the virtuouso instrumental performances, but the songs (often with upside-down harmonica!) were true gems. He explained how his career started as an attempt to mimic Woody Guthrie (with an hilarious anecdote that you'll have to hear from the man himself for full effect!) - hence the inverted moothie!

As you can see from the above photographs, an evening at Lymm Folk Club is well worth the money - few venues get you this close to a living legend! You can pay double at many larger, impersonal venues... so you know what to do!!

7 November

(performers 80p)

Yet another superb Singers Night at the Spread - 26 performers, including The Time Bandits and most of Full House! The Time Bandits were trying out their new line-up with their new singer An - here's Benjamin Bowmaneer on YouTube. Another 'new face', Maria, also treated us to one of her own songs - very impressive. Apparently she's recording an album with Clive Gregson as the producer...!!

14 November

ANTHONY JOHN CLARKE
with
DAVE PEGG

Ever-popular Anthony John Clarke is bringing a bass player... none other than Fairport's Dave Pegg!

As a special bonus, Elizabeth van de Waal came along, too!

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

Another near-capacity audience, and what a night we had!

As you can see from the above photographs, an evening at Lymm Folk Club is well worth the money - very close to our guests, unlike many larger, impersonal venues which often cost a lot more... so you know what to do!!

21 November
PLEASE NOTE:
This event will be at
The Saracen's Head, Warburton!

(performers 80p)

28 November

Singers Night BIG Spot

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

Over thirty singers, poets and musicians (including duos and trios) - and we got round everyone who wanted to perform!

John's set in the second half was excellent - he had everyone present eating from the palm of his hand. Well, okay, perhaps not, but you know what we mean!!

You can see from the photos that we had a good crowd in - and they weren't disappointed!

5 December
PLEASE NOTE:
This event will be at
The Saracen's Head, Warburton!

(performers 80p)

12 December

JANICE BELL'S
50^th Birthday Bash

Yes, our Janice is celebrating 50 years on the planet!

Assisted by Mick Hare, Janice entertained us royally! In each set she sang three songs, Mick did a couple to give her a rest, then Janice finished each set off with a couple more.

Residents' support was from Nelson Peach and Bernard, with Doreen doing the pre-raffle-ite spot.

Although not one of our larger audiences, we had more in than is usual for the time of year! Well done, lass - you're an inspiration to us all!

19 December
PLEASE NOTE:
This event will be at
The Saracen's Head, Warburton!

(performers 80p)

We had a great evening! We nearly got around everyone twice, we consumed plenty of butties and mince pies, and there was good news for Camsley Grange RDA!

Every year, Lymm Folk Club donates the collection and proceeds of the raffle to the charity nominated by the winner of the first prize. This year Rob White (assisted by Bernice Carters!) chose a local charity, Camsley Grange RDA. Bernice told us that the charity is struggling for funds, so we've already made the donation online so they can have it in time for Christmas!

Camsley Grange RDA Group offers horse riding and pony care sessions to people with a physical and/or learning disability in and around Warrington, Cheshire. It strives to enable both children and adults to improve their health and wellbeing through a fun sport and leisure activity.

26 December
BOXING DAY

CLOSED

Thanks to everyone who has supported the club during 2013 - let's try to make 2014 even better!

1 January
2014

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

As you can see, we had a great turnout for our New Year's Day session - lovely to see some friends from Stockport's Ye Old Vic, too!

2 January

(performers 80p)

9 January

(performers 80p)

16 January

ANDY LEB & DAVE CLARKE

Andy and Dave are residents at Bollington, and pop up occasionally at our Singers Nights... support this evening will include Towpath - fellow residents Pete and Jo.

Support tonight was from Nelson Peach, Bollington residents Towpath, and Bernard as our Pre-Raffle-ite...

As quite a few of our number are over in Fuerteventura to help Stewart celebrate his birthday, we weren't expecting a high turnout this evening, but we did much better than expected!

Andy and Dave had really put in a lot of effort to make tonight's concert memorable, and the audience really appreciated it! They really crammed as much in as they could by keeping the chat to a minimum - some other performers could learn a lot from these two!

Material was wide and varied, including some of Peter Egregia's excellent compostitions, with Rosie Hardman, Dave Walmisley and even Flanders & Swan also included.

23 January

(performers 80p)

30 January

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

A great turnout for Carl's Big Spot - we had 25 singers/poets/musicians, and, thanks to the duos and trios cutting down the number of items in their sets, we got around everyone with a few getting a second turn. It was good to see some regulars from Sale and Timperley amongst our number!

Carl gave us a brilliant set, despite being a little under the weather. Suffice it to say we've asked him to come back next year and do a full Guest Night!

Lin Tysoe wrote (on Facebook): Carl was brilliant. Loved all of it but 'specially the Jake Thackray.

John Condy replied: Yes - he did a great rendition of The Blacksmith & The Toffee Maker. Very varied set including at least 3 of his own great songs.

6 February

STEWART LEVER

A good-sized crowd enjoyed a great evening, and we raised &poun;300.00 for Stewart's charity. Last week, Carl Corbett generously donated &poun;20.00 of his fee for his Big Spot, so the total (in case you can't work it out!) was &poun;320.00.

The evening started with residents' support from Nick &Lin, Janice (accompanied by Bernard and by John Condy) and Nelson Peach. Bernard was our pre-raffle-ite. Thanks to Janice for some additional raffle prizes, including a jigsaw of Lymm!

Stewart opened the evening by inviting 'on-stage' all those who went to El Cotillo (Fuerteventura) to help him celebrate his birthday, and the evening ended the same way... a bit silly, really, because there was almost nobody left in the audience!!

Stewart gave us a selection of his songs, some new, some not so new, and a few old favourites. Littlest Rach had a gig, and was gutted that she couldn't be there, but Stewart sang his version of the song they co-wrote... well, Rach wrote the song, but omitted to let Stewart have the tune before he went away, so he put his own tune to it!

13 February

(performers 80p)

20 February

TONY GIBBONS & JON BRINDLEY

Tony and Jon have been collaborating on gigs for a few months, now, and we're looking forward to their visit to Lymm!

A near-capacity audience turned out for a great evening's entertainment! A few people missed out, but that was most definitely their loss!! ;o)

We opened with Stewart, Janice, Nick & Lin and Nelson Peach providing Residents' Support, and we were delighted to have Kate Bradbury for our pre-raffle-ite!

We had a fine mix of songs and tunes from Jon and Tony, but a disaster with the bass end of the accordion in the first half meant that Jon couldn't use it... luckily, Bernard was able to fix it (assisted by Richard Peach's Leatherman!), so he played it in the second half!

The combination of both of their voices, Tony's cittern, and Jon's guitar, fiddle or accordion made for a widely varied repertoire of many different genres - traditional, contemporary - even George Formby's Leaning on a Lamp Post!

27 February

(performers 80p)

6 March

DAMIEN BARBER & MIKE WILSON

Damien Barber & Mike Wilson are coming to Lymm!

Another near-capacity audience turned out for the great evening's entertainment that we were all anticipating! It was well worth the wait!

We opened with Nelson Peach, Stewart, Nick & Lin and Bernard providing Residents' Support, and Janice with Mick Hare for our pre-raffle-ites!

Damien and Mike gave us a great selection of songs, some accompanied by Damien's English concertina, some accompanied by Damien's guitar, and the rest unnaccompanied with Damien's concertina providing the starting note by means of an ingenious system... 1-3-left meaning the third button on the left-hand side, first row... well, it was working fine until Janice was asked to do it, and she forgot to give the bellows a squeeze!!

There were chorus songs a-plenty, and the crowd was in fine voice - the sort of evening we've become accustomed to at Lymm!

13 March

(performers 80p)

20 March

THE YOUNG'UNS

You asked for it! The Young'uns are coming to Lymm!

We opened with Janice & Mick, Stewart, Nick & Lin, Nelson Peach and Bernard providing Residents' Support, and our pre-raffle-ite was Michael Burns!

It's easy to see why the Young'Uns have become so popular - their choice of material and interaction with the audience (and each other!) is truly remarkable. Whilst singing songs from the tradition, they also chose to include songs by contemporary writers including Graeme Miles and themselves.

Our now legendary chorus-singing audience was, once again, in fine voice - with plenty of opportunities to exercise the lungs!

There was a surprise in store, too... when asked to do an encore at the end of the evening, they asked a member of the audience up to join them! This was none other than Greg Russell (half of the 2013 Radio 2 Young Folk Award winning duo Greg Russell & Ciaran Algar), and it was his 21st birthday, too!

27 March

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

With 27 performers in the room (excluding Fair Play!) it was obvious we wouldn't get around everyone before 10.00pm, but we nearly did! Apologies to those who missed out.

We also had a surprise appearance from the Perfectly At Home String Band!!

It doesn't seem that long ago when Kath, Stan and Ruth started to perfom together as a trio, but both their repertoire and audience craft have grown enormously! We had new songs and tunes in addition to the tried and tested favourites, and the whole evening had a cosy, warm 'feel'.

Fair Play very generously asked for their fee to be donated to St, Rocco's Hospice in memory of Kerry Smith. We've gone one better, and are donating the proceeds from the entire evening, &poun;76.00, to the charity.

3 April

(performers 80p)

10 April

MAGGIE BOYLE & PAUL DOWNES

We'd been looking forward to this for a while, and it lived up to expectations! Residents' support was from Nick & Lin, Stewart and Nelson Peach, with Bernard as our pre-raffle-ite. Janice and Mick were at the Young'Uns 'Headland Festival' in Hartlepool, along with club regular Michael Burns.

Maggie and Paul really 'gel' well as a duo - their voices blend well, and their instrumental accompaniments and tune sets were well-crafted and tasteful! As an added bonus, each performed an occasional solo item.

They gave us a mix of traditional and contemporary material, including one from Maggie's son, Joe Tilston, as well as some of Paul's excellent original material.

There was a little surprise for Maggie at the end, just before the encore, when Lin presented her with a bunch of flowers!

17 April

(performers 80p)

24 April

LES BARKER

Yes! Les Barker is back!

A packed house for this one! Residents Support was from Nick & Lin, Janice & Mick, Nelson Peach and Bernard, with Stewart as our pre-raffle-ite.

Les was warmly received, as ever, and gave us plenty of the old favourites, including 'The Vowels of the Earth', 'Déjà Vu', 'An English Thing', 'Cosmo, the Fairly Accurate Knife Thrower' and 'Is There Any News of the Iceberg', to name just a few! Needless to say, everyone was joining in with the 'choruses' - so much so that Les was able to take short breaks and leave them to it!

Surprisingly, there were a few people in the room who hadn't seen Les before, but they left at the end of the evening as converts! Su Williams, however, was wearing a T-shirt (see photo) that proves she's been stalking Les for many years...!

He will be back!

1 May

(performers 80p)

8 May

TANIA OPLAND & MIKE FREEMAN

Tanya hails from Alaska, and Mike from... err... Crumpsall, Manchester! Find out more from their website!

A relatively low turn-out by Lymm standards, but an appreciative and enthusiastic audience nonetheless! Residents Support was from Janice & Mick, Stewart, Nick & Lin, and Nelson Peach, with Dave and Helen Howard as our pre-raffle-ites. Dave and Helen joined Tania and Mike for the first song of the second set, too!

Tania and Mike gave us a wonderful mix of styles from around the world, with the voice, hammer dulcimer, hurdy-gurdy, fiddle, double ocarina and fiddle accompanied by six and twelve string guitars. During the break, Tania was delighted to show people around the hammer dulcimer and hurdy-gurdy - you don't get those opportunities at the bigger venues! Lymm Folk Club offers great value for money with geusts of this calibre!

15 May

(performers 80p)

22 May

MIRIAM ERASMUS

Miriam Backhouse Erasmus, born in Lewes, East Sussex, is based in Africa where she has lived since 1977. She has recently started visiting the UK once more after many years' absence... don't miss this opportunity to see this rare, fine singer! Find out more on her Reverbnation pages!

Another relatively low turn-out by Lymm standards, but with all the enthusiasm we've come to expect! Residents Support was from Stewart, Nick & Lin, Janice & Mick, and Bernard, with Monologue John Bartley as our pre-raffle-ite - with his mind-bending rendition of Lew Sully's 'I Want To Go To Morrow'!

Mim gave us plenty of songs to join in with, both with guitar accompaniment and unaccompanied. The range of her voice is impressive, as are the dynamics - from whisper quiet to full blast! We had a few 'Singing Together' songs such as 'Early One Morning', 'Sweet Nightingale' and 'The Wraggle-Taggle Gypsies', along with songs from Mim's beloved Africa and Sussex... including one song with 'uvulation' in it - a high pitched undulating yell with tongue wobble! Here's the video!

29 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.

A total of seventeen performers, with fourteen in the audience - we got around everyone once, with Stewart and Fair Play getting an extra go!

Carol and Steve (Fool's Gold) gave us plenty to join in with, mostly their own excellent material. Steve played guitar, and Carol played tenor guitar (four strings), flute and whistle, and both of them sang. Their harmonies were strong, as were their instrumental arrangements, and we expect to see them back in Lymm for a full guest night later in the year (we've had a cancellation!).

5 June

TOWPATH

Bollington Folk Club residents Jo and Pete are tonight's guests, and fellow residents Andy and Dave are providing support - along with our lot!

Nelson Peach opened the evening's entertainment in their own inimitable style, with Nick & Lin and Andy & Dave completing the support! Our Janice was the pre-raffle-ite tonight.

Jo and Pete were excellent - Pete for the most part playing guitar, with occasional melodeon, and Jo finding various bits of plumbing lying around for her to blow - from whistle and recorder to Boehm flute. Their vocal harmonies were good, encouraging our lot to join in - and a few hangers-on they dragged across from Bollington to boot!

They sang plenty of well-known songs, and included Artheur Wakefield's 'Between Nab and Nancy', which he wrote about the two hills either side of Bollington. More about this can be found on Bollington Folk Club's website... the Saddle of Kerridge with White Nancy on top is the website's backdrop.

Other songs included 'Lowlands', 'The Cutty Wren' and 'Pleasant and Delightful', with 'Parting Glass' as an apt encore to finish the night!

12 June

(performers 80p)

19 June
to
28 June

LYMM VILLAGE FESTIVAL

Folk Events Programme 2014

3 July

(performers 80p)

10 July

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...

Janice and Mick opened the evening, with Nick & Lin and Stewart completing the support! Bernard was tonight's pre-raffle-ite.

Nelson Peach didn't disappoint - they gave us a selection of old favourites and newer material, using a variety of instruments both for accompaniment and for the occasional tune!

17 July

(performers 80p)

24 July

BERNICE CARTERS & JOHN CONDY
(Acoustic Concert Winners)

Bernice and John are, individually, very popular regulars at Lymm Folk Club. On this occasion you will have the opportunity to see them do two 45 minute sets during which they will perform both as a duo and as soloists - the best of both worlds!!

Nick & Lin, Nelson Peach and Janice provided the support, with Stewart as tonight's pre-raffle-ite.

Bernice and John decided to join forces as a duo for this year's Acoustic Concert, which they won! A few years ago, Bernice, John and Mick Hare were a trio called 'Pepper Street', but Bernice had to drop out because of other commitments.

They sang a wide selection of songs, including some of John's, and occasionally gave us individual solo songs. There was plenty for the near-capacity audience to join in with, and we look forward to them doing more guest spots at other clubs - including a return visit to Lymm, of course!

31 July

with
KATE BRADBURY
(Song Competition Seniors Winner)

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

There were fifteen singers, poets and musicians performing during the first part of the evening - and we managed to get around everyone twice! Okay, there were duos and trios who only have one song on the second round, but even so...!

Needless to say, Kate sang her winning song "Palaces Por Pistolas", along with a number of her other excellent songs. She and Tony also gave us a few fiddle and cittern tunes, and Tony gave us a couple of solos, too!

All in all, it was an excellent evening, and we hope to do it all again sometime!!

7 August

(performers 80p)

14 August

BERNARD CROMARTY
(Retirement - a year on!)

Lin Tysoe was the more than capable MC for tonight's concert, with Nick & Lin, Nelson Peach, Janice and Stewart providing support, and Fair Play (Kath, Stan and Ruth) were tonight's pre-raffle-ites.

Bernard's two sets included a few songs we don't normally hear him sing, including Allan Taylor's "Roll On The Day" (English concertina), bluegrass favourite "Rollin' In My Sweet Baby's Arms" (5-string banjo) and Keith Marsden's "Bring Us A Barrel" (unaccompanied).

We also had a selection of the popular favourites - Sally, Free and Easy (Cyril Tawney), Ladybird (Ted Edwards), Big Yellow Taxi (Joni Mitchell) and Lowlands (traditional), to name but a few!

There were chorus songs a-plenty, nostalgia by the bucketful, and cakes during the break... what more could we ask for?

21 August

(performers 80p)

28 August

NICK & LIN TYSOE

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!

Tonight's concert will be in aid of Cancer Research.

Our 2013-2014 season was rounded off beautifully by Nick and Lin, with Janice & Mick opening the Residents' Support, followed by Richard Peach and Stewart - Bernard was our pre-raffle-ite.

Nick & Lin gave us a selection of old favourites and new material, with plenty to sing along with! Lin had promised to do some Appalachian step dancing for us, and kept that promise!! Nick (banjo) was joined by Richard on fiddle to provide Lin's dance accompaniment.

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