Bluegrass, Greengrass and The Blues.

Blues, Bluegrass and Greengrass

In July, I was very tempted not to have an August Open Mic Night because it would be a lot of trouble to set up the PA and lights. Especially when there was a strong possibility that I might be the only performer; it's the start of the peak holiday season after all. Right up until the last minute I was determined to say that the next one would be 'The Birthday Bash' in September, but in the end I said that it would be on, but unplugged and un-organised. I wasn't even sure if I'd be going myself, but I liked the idea of havng a chat and a pint. A few people let me know that they wouldn't be attending and so at ten to eight as I arrived I was very pleased to meet Keith and Kate in the car park.

By the time I was getting ready to start, my only official act of the evening, the room was almost full and what was expected to be a low key night and early finish turned into one of the most delightful nights of music that The George has seen in the couple of years since I started attending. The talent was professional in standard and there was a wide diversity of genre and material. There were three banjos in attendance, though I don't think they were ever played at the same time.

Don't be fooled by the emptiness at the back of the room, in front and to my left there were lots of other people. (Just in case you thought I was on my own after all) including a few audience. The harmonica only came out for one song.

Mike and John were out on their own to begin with, but later in the evening they aquired some friends, and when John sang 'Take Me Home Country Road', he wasn't just accompanied by John, with his new 12 string, but backed by percussion, double bass, violin, a couple of guitars and a host of beautiful harmonising voices. Jokingly I suggested that he might never sound so good again, but it wasn't that funny.

AKA Greengrass, or possibly Green Grass came mob handed. It required that many to carry in Keith's double bass; a beast of a bass that could be felt as well as heard. We'd seen them as Crow's Feet at The Rugby Tap on Thursday, a delightfully rowdy open music night that is well woth attending.

Peter and Shirley gave us some proper Bluegrass with harmonies and pickin' and the best joke of the night. “How do you light up a banjo player's eyes? Shine a torch in his ears.” Thank you Shirley.

Leanne, Dusty and Allan, who found us on Google while looking for something to do on a Friday night. two mandolins and a harmonica playing guitarist and some beautiful vocals and harmonies.

Martin and Andy were in blues mode, and Martin had more harmonicas on the table than I've ever seen before. The one that he wanted was in his pocket all along.

Steve Edgar. Ended the evenings individual performances with style.His unexpected Elkie Brooks was very pleasant to hear, even if it was a bit of a vocal stretch for Steve.

There was a magic to the evening and I hope that it isn't too long before we experience the likes again

We finished on a high with Greengrass leading in a shared performance of Wagon Wheel and then they continued to play Roll in my baby's arms as people made their way out with Kate getting her hands on John's pride and joy.

 

The next Open Music Night at The George, Kilsby, is Friday 2nd September when the Open Music Collective will be joining George to celebrate his 54th birthday. The PA will be set up and the lights on.

OMC July 16

When a quiet night doesn't mean a quiet night.

Shirley and I arrived just before 7pm to start setting up, and when at almost 8pm the only other person to arrive was Tony, bringing his new guitar with him we thought it was going to be a quiet night.

Just as we were thinking that like Belgium, Welsh football had us beaten, in came Steve, Ken and Roland.  So in that order we proceeded to rotate, thinking that we'd stop when we ran out of songs. However, that wasn't to be.

I opened at ten past eight with 'City of New Orleans', MDF style then acknowledged the death of Scotty More, with Elvis Presley's 'Maries's The Name'. It seemed like no time at all before I was back at the mic, Bob Dylan's 'Forever Young', and my own compositions, 'Simple Life' and 'Spade'. After a short break I returned with Lonely Man Blues, Ashley Madison and Sugar Love. One each to the end, Under the Patio from me,



Next up was Tony who gave
us a sales pitch for the open mic he is running at The Boat Inn, Birdingbury Warf, Stockton, next weekend before launching in to Bonzo Dog Do Dah Band's 'Urban Spaceman' and Leonard Cohen's 'Halleluja' on his ukelele, without the aid of his reading glasses.
For his second appearance at the mic he sang a Five Penny Piece, 'Down Our Street', and a short anonymous arrangement, 'Four Aces and a King' and George Hamilton's 'Abeline'.
Tony unleashed his beast 'Down in the fields where the buttercups grow' His song about public displays of affection which went down so well at the Night of Lurve in February, 'Love in Hand'
Follwed by Bob Dylan's 'Make You Feel My Love'

 It had been a while since we last saw Steve, and the runner up of the Night of Lurve love song contest had lost nothing of his smoothness. His opening song was Lou Reed's 'Perfect Day', followed by Boxcar Willie's 'King of The Road', and Pink Floyd's 'Wish You Were Here'.
We've had that song on two consequtive months from two different performres, for many years that song was on an unofficial open-mic black list because of its popularity. It looks like it is making a comeback, and I can't say I'm sorry about that. On Steve's return, Otis Reading's 'Sitting on The Dock of The Bay' including a marathon whistle, Willie Nelson's 'I'm So  Lonesome I could Cry' and the very mellow Kris Kristofferson's 'For The Good Times'. After the break, Steve performed Led Zepelin's 'Stairway to Heaven', Pete Seeger's 'Where have All The Flowers Gone, the only reference of the evening to the 100th anniversary of the begining of the Battle of The Somme and then lightened things with a bit of Donovan, 'Jenifer Juniper'  The Sound of Silence from Steve, though as Shirley left me turned off on the mic it was the sound of silence from both of us.

No Strings Attached began with something gentle, the Fox Hunter's Jig follwed by Mason's Apron, which they then repeated in a faster bluegrass style. Then they provided us with A Slow Barn Dance, Soldier's Joy and the Scott Joplin and Arthur MArshall ragtime 'Swipesy'.
Then, a Folk At The Oak favourite, Phil Coultr & The Fury Brothers, 'Steel Away', Another popular No Strings Attached piece is 'The Evercreech Hornpipe', and this was the best I think I've heard them play it. The last song of the night went to Ken and Roland as No Strings Attached and 'The Sanfransisco Bay Blues'.

Shirley had her first go on the sound desk which resulted in everyone being put through the PA except me; oh the irony. It was a quiet night for me after all.

Apologies if I missed any tunes or identified them incorrectly.

Flamin' June

Flamin' June

This year has flown by and I can't believe we are over half way through it already. It has been such a busy month that I wasn't able to complete my blog in time for the July night invitations. By the time we gather again, the nights will have started to draw in, and we can start to look forward to the seasonal events in the autum and early winter months, notably George's Birthday Bash in September, the Halloween Warm-Up in October, November's famous Bangers and Mash Night and the last OMC night of the year, our Xmas Warm Up.

June has gone down in the annals as being memorable for the weather, which apparentley turned into the wettest June ever. It started optimistically and it was very warm and humid as Shirley and I put the stage set together and prepared for the evening; and what an evening.


Proceedings began as usual, by me, with the first outing of the new guitar proving slightly problematic. I kicked off with 'Sugar Love' and completly messed up the key change at the end of the song. I made the mistake of carrying on in the new key all the way to the end of the song. I've never played it like that and I couldn't think how to end it. Onwards and upwards! In the second half I asked Ross to sing 'Wild Thing'.

Wild Thing! But who was wildest?

No Strings Attached were on jigs, reels and horpipe duty, getting the feet tapping again, even though a holiday had got in the way of practice time; Ken had barely unpacked. There was no need to worry, once they were under way, it was another fluent performance. Fisher's Hornpipe and then Turlough O'Carolan's 'Hewlett'.

For their second  half they were without strings altogether. That old favourite, Cadwith Anthem got some lovely harmonies from the audience.

It was good to see  Dave Pepper  again. Dave entertained us with his signature Flamenco, and despite the subsequent wetness of the month, there was an appropriateness to his George Harrison, Beatles classic, 'Here Comes The Sun'. Sadly it wasn't to be, but that's no reason to stop singing it.

No 'War Cry' from Mike, John and Ross.

 In the first half of the night, Mike and John were joined by Ross, to keep them both in time. Their first offering was a Bob Dylan classic, Rainy Day Women, and John remarked that when it was recorded Bob asked for the sound of a bad Salvation Army Band. I won't comment on the quality of the recreation.
Mike has a very distinct vocal sound, and some songs suit him incredibly well. In the second half we had a superb version of The Moody Blues 'Nights in White Satin' along with a very brave and well executed whistling of the instrumental.



Nigel Lewis brought some musical muscle with him in the form of Andy Buckley, Darren and Hedley. Their set comprised TRex's 'Life's a Gas', Bob Dylan's 'Knocking On Heaven's Door', and Ben E. King's 'Stand By Me'. Andy's time on stage was interrupted as he was summonsed by the Landlord to move his car.
Nigel's last of the evening was a self-written 'Day Dreamers' in which he seamlessly (nearly) dropped his pick, carried on playing and then recovered his pick courtesy of Gina.

MDF delivered their standard repetoire with their usual wit, starting with Ewan McCall's 'Dirty Old Town', "in a key I've not decided yet."This was followed by Tom Waits' 'Long Way Home' and second half of the evening Pete St John's 'Fields of Athenry' and Guy Clark's 'Baton Rouge'. Mark is settling in to MDF. There has clearly been some practice and the accordion solos add so much to the quality of their performance.




Again it was good to see our old friend from Napton, Andy Rogers. He'd brought Martin with him and together they provided a diverse range of tunes, starting off with the Irish folk tune of The Belle of Belfast City, 'I'll Tell Me Ma', Pink Floyd's 'Wish You Were Here and the Pete Green's Fleetwood Mac blues 'I Need Your Love So Bad'.


Andy was on his own in the second half and we got another glimpse of his writing talent with his own song 'Friday Salvation'. Then returning to more familiar territory he sang Bob Dylan's, 'Don't Think Twice' and The Rolling Stones 'It's All Over Now'.

  

 

 The highlight of the evening was without a doubt......

 

They're Headlining The Crick Music Festival

 Ruder Than U

 But we saw them first.

The highlight of the evening had to be a visit from 'Aitch' Bembridge, John Hogg and Gina Goode, some of Ruder Than You. I don't think we've heard anywhere near enough Ska and Reggae on our music nights. There was absolute silence while they played as it was a genuine treat to have performers of their calibre to play for us.

Their set was made up of Bob Marley's 'Redemption Songs' and 'Three Little Birds', the UB40 reggae version of Neil Diamond's 'Red Red Wine',  and a terrific Rude Boy medley including The Specials' 'Message To You Rudy', Desmond Decker's '007', and John Holt's 'Tide is High'.

Aitch sang and provided percussion, Gina sang backing vocals and John borrowed my guitar for their set, and if I can get to play it half as well, I will be thrilled.

If you thought they sounded impressive, and they did, you should get along to The Crick Music Festival on Sunday 10th July when the rest of the band will be with them.
Crick Scarecrow and Music Festival

Here's a link to their website.
Ruder Than U or 'like' their Facebook page
 Ruder-Than-U Facebook page




We were all a bit starstruck this evening, but someone had to go next. Well done MDF! The evening finished with an ensemble of The Proclaimers' '500 Miles'.

Bon Voyage Barkerman!

Bon Voyage Barkerman!

I'm sorry to see  that one of the founding members of MDF, the D infact, is to take his talents to another part of the country. Dave will be missed by many of us, not just his band. So on behalf of The Open Music Collective I'd like to wish Dave and Moira many years of happiness together ooop north in the Yorkshire Dales.

As a little celebration, here are a few of the photographs I've taken over the last year or so.


Dave has been a long standing supporter of music nights at The George, Kilsby, and of course Folk at The Oak, where I was first introduced to him.

I'm sure that our loss will be the gain of the folk and open-mic scene, though he might have to adjust his repertoire slightly and ditch some of those Jordy classics in favour of something more Dales related. This might help.
/http://www.yorkshirefolksong.net/

All the very best Dave and I hope it isn't too long before our paths cross again.

Kilsby, May '16

Kilsby May

It was standing room only for May's Open Music Night at The George, Kilsby. One couple in the audience confessed to me that they'd had to come in after hearing the music while visiting the toilets next door.

I began the evening's performances with a song for outdoors, 'In The Woods (Like Bear Grylls)' and Bob Dylan's 'Knockin' on Heaven's Door'. As last month, I had the benefit of Ross, accompanying me on the cajon. I nearly had a dancer too, but there was a last minute attack of shyness.

A song for outdoor defecation

It was grat to see Andy & Martin again. It had certainly been a while since Andy played here last and he commented on just how much had changed, including my hair cut. For their first half performance, they gave us a blues train medley. Martin brought his harp, and he couldn't half blow it.

Torgul, Sandi, Sue and Paul weren't ready to play, so No Strings Attached stepped up to the mics, treating us to 'Andy De Jarlis' and the much more familiar 'Gold Ring'.

Another foot-tapping performance from No Strings Attached

With Paul arrived and settled, they were ready. Everybody's Talking at Me, we lost the impact of Sandi's flute part way through, possibly as a result of the mic moving. They finished their first set with the Rolling Stones classic This Will Be The Last Time.

A welcome additin to the evening, Nigel Lewis

I've been stalking Nigel Lewis on line for what seems like years, trying to persuade him to come along, and we finally got to meet him this evening. It was worth the wait, as he gave us four self penned songs. 'I'm Not Sure', somethinag like 'I Won't Be Bought', 'Familiar Situation' and 'Love Has No Substitute'.

 Another new face to The George, at least since I've been around, was Andy Rogers, from Napton.As a regular at Napton, I've heard him play quite often and he covers James Taylor's 'Close Your Eyes' beautifully. His next, Newton Faulkner cover, 'Dream Catch Me'. Andy also displayed a hidden talent for composition when he sang his own critique of EMI and their treatment of The Sex Pistols.

Is that Art and Paul?

John and Mike were Simon and Garfunkel in the first half, though without the hair. John was in great voice, making each song his own. They opened with a somber 'Sound of Silence' and then brought 'I Am A Rock' up to date by incorporating an I-pod, tablet and firewall into the lyrics. I think Paul might well have approved.

John was still smarting having missed our All Fools' evening in April, so he brought a joke along, and despite protestations told it.

“A man walked in to Rugby Library and approached the counter. “Can I have a gin and tonic please?” He asked. “This is a library!” Protested the assistant.“Sorry!” said the man, before whispering, “Can I have a gin and tonic please?”  Thank you John.

MDF are busted flat in Baton Rouge

MDF 's repertoir has been enriched by Tracey's vocals and Mark on the accordion,and their 'Me and Bobby McGee' is shaping up as a cracking standard for the band.

We over-ran in the first half partly because it was nice to let our visitors do a few extra songs, and so we had to limit a couple of the performers to just one song. We'll redress that balance on future evenings.

The break was short and sweet, and I kicked proceedings off with 'The Frotting Song'.

Andy and Martin 'blow' the blues away, never mind walking.

There was a stonking performance from Martin and Andy in the second half. Their 'Walking My Blues Away' was awe inspiring.

No Strings were back with the 'Evercreech Hornpipe'.

One of the things that makes The Open Music night at The George such a fun evening is the relaxed atmosphere, that means that sometimes there is quite a bit of noise from the audience during performances. While I'm banging out my songs, the louder the audience are, the better I think I sound, but when you are playing instrumentals and are unplugged, as Ken and Roland often do, they have mentioned that the noise can be quite distracting for them; and because I love to hear their jigs, reels and hornpipes, I'm going to have to request a bit of quiet when they do their sets.

Acting naturally

We cranked the amp up a bit for Torgul, Sandi, Paul and Sue's 'Act Naturally'. They've done this song a few times at The George now, and I have to say, they absolutely nailed it this evening.

Nigel gave us a cover of James' anthemic 'Sit Down'.

We don't get much in the way of Beatles sung at The George, but Andy Rogers had a 'Ticket to Ride'; and then he snuck in a quick, if there is such a thing, 'American Pie', another first.

Andy tucks in to an American Pie

Mike and John were also in good form is the second half. There is a very pleasant chemistry between Mike and John and their performances are often enhanced by the quiet asides, quips and humorous comments made by John, particularly during their rendition of Katie Melua's 'My Aphrodisiac Is You' and because we'd been quicker on the change-overs second time around, they added the Credence Clearwater Revival classic 'Lodi'.

MDF needed a second guitar as Mike hadn't been able to make it down and despite my efforts to ruin 'Whiskey In The Jar' for them last month, they invited me up again for another go, ending the evening with a rousing version of Wagon Wheel. Rock me mamma any way you feel. Ooh! Mamma rock me

Looking forward to Crick and Napton, and we're off to Kilworth to see One more Night again on Saturday May 14^th.

One More Night

One More Night

I've been meaning to see One More Night for a couple of years, and either something else got in the way, or I only found out they were on after the event. So when Shirley came home from work on Tuesday evening and asked me if I would like to go and see them as they were playing at one of my favourite pubs, The Merchant's Inn, Rugby, that evening, and that she would buy me a beer, what else could I say?

The band had just come back from a tour around Whitby, playing three nights out of four, and while they confessed to being slightly sore, they were very well rehearsed and the standard of performance was superb.

There are bands that rely on volume to hide a multitude of sins, but One More Night had got their levels just right. From time to time, Andy's guitar faded gently in to the background to allow the full sound of Simon and Zoe's vocals and harmonies, and the lovely sound of the other Simon's violin, but when it counted, it rang through. In fact, there is a subtlety to their performance, and an obvious pleasure in playing together.

The band's repertoire spans the decades, with some classics and a few quirky surprises, and it was impossible not to join in with some of the well known standards. The evening flew by and it hardly seemed like they'd been playing five minutes before it was the last song of the night. Of course there was an encore, and if I'd had my way there would have been a few more, but it was a school night after all, and some people had work to go to next morning.

This is a band that delights, and it certainly won't be two years before I go to see them play again.

http://www.onemorenight.co.uk/ 

All Fools Together

All Fools Together

As Shirley and I are making our way slowly down The Thames to London over the next month I'm going to miss this month's Folk at The Oak and Gordon's gathering at The Victory Club, Napton there will only be a George at Kilsby part to the blog for April. There was a great crowd present for the All Fool's Evening at Kilsby, both audience and plenty of performers. Most performers provided some mirth with a joke or two, and there was only one that probably should have been left until later in the evening when the youngsters had been taken home. Top joker Steve had a repartee to shame Bob Monkhouse, there was no stopping him.

I got a surrogate comedian to tell a joke on my behalf, and she did a great job. My learning lesson, if your stand-in does a rhetorical joke, get in quick with the response rather than leave them at the mercy of the audience.

I opened with Simple Life and then was joined by Ross on Cajon to accompany me on Hole. Tony Wilding was in the audience and he has provided this link to Sound Cloud. Tony's Sound Cloud

My song is first, followed by some people who really can sing and play.

Tony caused a blush with his delightful and humorous

'Don't look good naked any more'. No one argued, and we were all relieved when he started his second song without proving his point. His second offering was a more somber one about Alice White. I'm still trying not to think about him naked.

Ken and Roland, performing as No Strings Attached have been developing their repertoire of thee part medleys, they did lose their way a bit in the middle, but I wish I could play half as badly. Their second piece was a flawless Steamboat Quck Step.

Steve was in the zone, as they say, again tonight giving us a couple of very soulful songs, North Country Fair and Mad World; both beautifully paced.

Paddy was, as hoped for, on top form for a humourous evening. His opening joke was so well set up, I was worried about the seriousness of the content given the presence of so many children and the violence being described, and then the punch line became apparent.

Donald has his mouth closed for a change.

Paddy has an enviable reputation as a comic song writer and performer, and he was on fire tonight with his songs, 'If It Wasn't For The Houses Inbetween', about property development around Crick, and then his sublime topical evaluation of the American election candidate Donald The Demagogue.

Next came Paul, and that joke. I didn't catch the title of his second song, but his first was a lovely, jazzy, Fly Me To The Moon.

Torgul, Sandi and Sue were firmly in the sixties this evening with Beatles, Things we said today, Da Do Ron Ron.

MDF were very light tonight without Mike,

Dave, John or Brian. Thank goodness Mark was on hand to play electric guitar and accordion. First turn at the mic was Tracey with I've got a girl crush

Then Ross Joe Jackson's 'Fools in Love'. It's the first time I've heard MDF do this song, and it suited Ross and the band a treat. I look forward to hearing it again before next April Fool's celebration.

To take us into the break, Judy found a delightful parody of the ancient mariner about Status Quo.

As Tony was setting up during the interval it made sense for him to open. We understood why hs camel joke was held over to the second half. Suzanne Vega's song 'The Queen and The Soldier' and 'The Rose'.

I was on a sugar rush, with Ross doing a sterling job keeping up on the cajon. Twenty Spoons of Sugar and Sugar Love.

No Strings' second half was a straight forward two piece set comprising what I thought was called 'High Bridge' and 'The Wanderer' which we all joined in the chorus, 'Away, away with rum, by gum, with rum, by gum, with rum, by gum'. I'm not sure it is the song of The Salvation Army, but it's a great song all the same.

Keeping to the established routine of funny jokes and serious songs, Steve concluded his contributions with 'Half The World Away', the theme from Bread and Nine Inch Nails' 'Hurt' (Johnny Cash version)

Birthday Boy! photo by Shirley

Local birthday boy Paul introduced himself, Steve very kindly loaned him his guitar, and despite declaring that he hadn't played for about five years in no time he was picking up the pace and growing more and more comfortable with a medley of 'Roll Over Bethoven', 'Not Fade Away', 'Ding Dong', 'High Heel Sneakers' and 'I saw Her Standing There'. I think he would have happily kept going, but we were up against the clock a little. Perhaps he'll come along again, and show us what we missed this time.

Tracey has a Girl Crush

Paddy delighted with his (well known) ex brothel parrot joke. I think he enjoyed telling it (again) as much as we enjoyed hearing it (again). He then he picked his way through a very slow and spooky sounding 'Ghost Riders in The Sky' before giving us our second poem of the evening 'A very English Thing', warning us of the perils of holding picnics at the cliff edge.

Paul's sheepdog joke was similar in tone to the earlier camel one. He then played instrumental versions of 'How Deep Is Your Love', and Beatles 'If I give My Love To You'.

Torgul, Sandi and Sue jumped a decade or two with Squeeze's, Labelled With Love and then finished back in the sixties, 'Then He Kissed Me'.

For some strange reason, I failed to note the first of MDF's second half songs. Perhaps it was because I was getting ready to join them for the closing song of the night, Whiskey in the Jar. I added accoustic

guitar and Mark played accordion, Ross bravely battled through, and took control as we were not quite together or possibly even in the right keys.

Many thanks to Tony Wilding for the photographs. Check out his new blog.
http://hotmusiclive.co.uk