Four seasons in one blog post

I seem to have neglected my blog since the spring and now it’s nearly the end of the year. It’s not because I’ve had nothing to report. On the contrary, I’ve been busy taking in lots of good music, doing lots of writing and travelling quite a bit - but the poor old blog has, like my garden, been left to lie fallow. Let’s hope the quality of the soil will have improved in the interim and the yield will be increased in the coming year.

My latest album, released in June 2023

One of the things that distracted me from blogging was working on – and then releasing – my new album In the Emptiness. Through April and May I was busy checking and approving the masters and artwork ready for the album’s release in June.

But life has a way of getting in the way of our plans, and so it was that throughout May, the house demanded attention in the form of some significant cracks in the ceilings of the living room and the landing. For days on end my home was taken over by plasterers - and then carpet fitters - so the concentration needed for writing was hard to find. I did manage to attend a Writing West Midlands Regional Writers’ Meet-up in Stratford, which only made me feel more guilty for not devoting more time to writing fiction. Having said that, over the course of 2023, I’ve been more active on the journalistic front, and have had twenty pieces published in a variety of magazines including Songlines and Resurgence so, with hindsight, I can see my writing energies, rather than lying dormant, have simply been redirected into journalism.  

In May I also attended the Dulcimers at Halsway weekend, (an annual event I’ve written about in the past on this blog,) but this was the first time I’d spent the Halsway week sleeping in my microcamper, which made the event feel more ‘outdoorsy’ (as well as making the trip more economical.) As always, I learnt a lot from the visiting mountain dulcimer tutors who, this year, were the wonderful Erin Mae Lewis from Kansas and Thomasina Levy from Connecticut.    

June finally saw the release of my album with a launch gig at the Swan Theatre’s Culture Café in Worcester as well as a radio ‘appearance’ on Black Country Radio (with their incomparable presenter, Billy Spakemon.)

I also managed to catch some excellent films in June at the recently refurbished Ludlow Assembly Rooms: Margy Kinmonth’s brilliant documentary about the great landscape artist Eric Ravilious –Eric Ravilious: Drawn to War – and a highly entertaining new version of The Three Musketeers: D'Artagnan (directed by Martin Bourboulon,) which literally left me wanting more. (It wasn't until the end credits that I realised this was the first of two linked feature films;  Part Two: The Three Musketeers: Milady, is due for release this month.) The third film I saw in June was, I’m afraid, the new version of The Little Mermaid at Kidderminster’s Lume cinema. I’m very fond of the original and felt this was a pale imitation, but it was made more entertaining by my two little grandchildren who sat – but mostly stood – excitedly in the row in front of me!

One of the best open mic nights in Cumbria

In July I took off in my microcamper again to revisit Keswick, one of my favourite places in England. It was my first visit to Keswick without my late wife Sue, who loved the place as much as I do. It felt strange and, at times, very emotional to be back in Keswick without her, only three years after her I lost her. I was pleased to find our favourite café – the Square Orange – was still there. Visiting Keswick, and especially the Square Orange, felt like a bit of a pilgrimage to Sue. I stayed at the Camping and Caravaning Club’s excellent campsite on the shores of Derwentwater. This is only a short walk into town so I was easily able to carry my guitar to the Crafty Baa, where I had the great pleasure of playing at the Open Mic night, run by the irrepressible Darren Farnham.

Damian Clarke - hurdy-gurdy man - in Worcester 

Later in July, I performed as part of the Malvern Rocks Festival and also the Worcester Fringe Festival (where I finally got to meet Damian Clarke – hammered dulcimer player, hurdy-gurdyist, busker, artist and author.)

My August was, like the previous year, largely taken up with the Purbeck Valley Folk Festival followed swiftly by Shrewsbury Folk Festival. In between these two festivals there was more drama on the domestic front as my washing machine gave up the ghost and needed replacing.

So, first, Purbeck...

There can’t be many other festivals where, from the campsite, you can catch a glimpse of a steam train and have a clear view of a thousand-year-old castle. Nearby Corfe Castle stands sentinel, guarding the route through the Purbeck Hills that leads to this gem of a musical gathering.

This year’s headline attractions included English alt-rockers The Magic Numbers, electro-acoustic whizz-kid Newton Faulkner (who also shared insights in a guitarists’ workshop) and the ever-popular Seth Lakeman.

Alongside these big names, Purbeck excels at supporting emerging artists such as multi-instrumental songwriter Den Miller, a finalist of last year’s Purbeck Rising Showcase. Miller’s performance, switching effortlessly from ingenious parody to thought-provoking meditations on modern life, was testament to Purbeck’s nurturing spirit.

One of the more innovative acts was Mishra (more of which later,) who transfixed the audience – despite a brief rain shower – with their fusion of UK folk and Indian classical music. Accompanying themselves with foot percussion and bass pedals, the duo played banjo, low flute, bombarde and drums – and sang! On Sunday they reemerged as a full band to satisfy the audience in the Big Barn.

The kora was well-represented by both Senegalese/American duo Touki and by Sousou and Maher Cissoko (Senegal/Sweden) but the festival’s secret weapon came from Brittany in the form of Plantec whose electro-Breton sound had the euphoric crowds bouncing as if spellbound by the unlikely, high-energy combination of bombarde, guitar and laptop-generated beats.

Breabach at Shrewsbury Folk Festival 

Shrewsbury Folk Festival has a very different vibe to Purbeck. It feels busier, noisier, more sprawling and, as it runs into the very beginning of August, it can feel a bit cooler overnight in the microcamper. Highlights of Shrewsbury were O’Hooley & Tidow, Breabach, Talisk (who were amazing), my old friends Good Habits, Mishra (again) and Billy Bragg (who I’m glad to have finally seen live but who, I'm afraid, came across as rather sanctimonious.) The absolute pinnacle of the festival for me was Joachim Cooder who performed music from his 2020 homage to the songs of Uncle Dave Macon - Over That Road I'm Bound.

Red Guitars in Birmingham

As we slid into autumn, there was still some live music to be had in September in the form of recently reformed indie band Red Guitars at O2 Academy Birmingham and Scottish folk singer Karine Polwart at Huntingdon Hall, while I did a couple of gigs of my own as part of Worcester Music Festival. Then, In October I played another Culture Café gig and attended the Nonsuch Dulcimer Club’s Annual Weekend at Swanwick in Derbyshire, where I was invited to run a beginners' dulcimer workshop. Here, I had the pleasure of meeting (for the second time) outstanding dulcimer players Aaron O’Rourke and Stephen Seifert, both great players and teachers but also naturally witty and charming people.

Mishra at Shrewsbury Coffee House

In October, I also had the honour of interviewing Karine Polwart for Songlines magazine and my feature on Karine appears in the January/February issue which is already out now. 

November saw, on the domestic front, a major operation involving thinning out and lopping several overgrown trees in my garden. But I also got to see Mishra live for the fifth time this year – this time at Shrewsbury Coffee House with my brother Phil, who took a picture of me with Kate and Ford.

Kate & Ford from Mishra, with your humble blogger

And then Christmas arrived and I got into my usual flap, writing Christmas cards, buying presents, and trying not to be grumpy. My next blog post will share with you some of the great albums I’ve discovered in 2023 …and I'll try not to leave it so long between posting. That almost sounds like a resolution. Happy New Year!     

Graeme Armstrong, John Blek and Plu - new music from Scotland, Ireland and Wales

Some great music has been coming out of the Celtic nations over the past twelve months. Of course, Ireland and Scotland are celebrated for a vibrant music scene, Wales perhaps less so. My eye – and, more to the point, my ears – have been caught by three recent little gems: a debut album by Scottish singer/songwriter Graeme Armstrong (guitarist from the band Talisk,) the eighth studio album from Irish singer/songwriter John Blek and a new album from Welsh trio Plu.

First, to Graeme Armstrong’s stunning You Are Free. Graeme takes traditional songs like ‘Isle of France,’ ‘Fine Flowers in the Valley’ and ‘My Son David’ and presents them in fresh arrangements with nice touches of synth and electric guitar, without losing the deep roots of these songs. Alongside the traditional – and songs by writers like Dick Gaughan and Karine Polwart – Graeme includes some moving original songs of his own such as the title track, ‘William’s Song’ and ‘Sit Alone’ (which features a hip guitar sound reminiscent of the American band Beach House.) But it’s Graeme’s sensitive version of Karine Polwart’s ‘Waterlily’ that stopped me in my tracks. The original is moving enough but Graeme’s version seems even more poignant.

Next up is John Blek’s Until The Rivers Run Dry. I’m not sure how this amazing Cork-based singer/songwriter has recorded seven previous albums without me hearing about him, but I’m certainly listening now. The press release suggested John’s music shows the influence of Paul McCartney and Scott Walker but I wasn’t quite getting those flavours. In fact, trying to find points of reference for John’s sound started to drive me slightly mad – it’s so original and refreshing. There seem to be distant echoes of much older artists like Roy Orbison, a hint of Harry Nilsson, a touch of the melodic pop of the mid-1980s (Danny Wilson? The Dream Academy?) and even a nod to the wistful balladry of the Irish band Bagatelle.

The songwriting could come from an earlier era – the days of Clifford T Ward or Mike Hugg or even Dan Fogelberg – strong, unfussy, 'hooky', perfect. I love John's effortless vocals, the varied arrangements and the instrumentation. The opening track ‘St John’s Eve’ should – in any normal world – be a number-one hit with its luscious string arrangement and baritone guitar sound. ‘Lovelorn’ (and the title track) are beautiful melodies that could have been Gene Pitney hits in a parallel universe. If, like me, you were unaware of John Blek, it’s time you caught up with him.

Finally, to Wales for Caernarfonshire trio Plu with their fourth album Tri. Plu (meaning ‘feathers’ in Welsh) are siblings Elan, Marged and Gwilym Rhys. They describe their music as “alternative Welsh-language pop-folk” and have appeared at both Glastonbury and Green Man Festival. The guitar playing and vocals are impressive in their clarity and purity and the music ranges across the spectrum of folk, Americana and pop – all sung in Welsh. It’s quite a laid-back affair, more suited to a quiet evening at home rather than as an accompaniment to driving with all the windows down. As with John Blek, I spent quite a while trying to think who Plu reminded me of – and then I got it. On ‘Ben i Waered,’ and on opening track ‘Dinistrio Ni’ especially, they sound uncannily like a Welsh version of The Mamas and the Papas – and maybe that’s exactly what the world needs now.

Links: 

Graeme Armstrong You Are Free (Graeme Armstrong Records)

John Blek Until The Rivers Run Dry (We Are Rats Recordings)

Plu Tri (Sbrigyn Ymborth) 

The joys and perils of solo festival-going

I write this in the short, overcast days of late January which seems like a very good time to look both backwards and forwards. Looking backwards, I’m going to indulge in a little review of a couple of the highlights of 2022; looking forwards, I anticipate some of the pleasures 2023 has in store.

Regular readers of my blogs may be aware that, halfway through last year, I acquired a micro-camper which opened up new possibilities for the summer. You can read more about the story (and back-story) to my micro-camping escapades in my slowly unfolding companion blog Travels with my Dulcimer - Micro-adventures in a micro-camper …with a dulcimer. After a ‘maiden voyage’ to Ross on Wye in early August to test out van-life I travelled down to the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset for the Purbeck Valley Folk Festival.

Among the many acts I saw perform at Purbeck were the cello/accordion duo Good Habits (who I’ve been raving about on this blog ever since reviewing their debut album in 2020.) In fact, I got to see Good Habits twice on consecutive days. Chatting with Pete and Bonnie, it turned out Pete is from my hometown of Shrewsbury. In the evening, I caught the much-anticipated and recently-formed ‘folk supergroup’ The Magpie Arc, the Sheffield/Edinburgh collective involving Nancy Kerr, Martin Simpson, Findlay Napier, Tom A Wright (of The Albion Band) and Alex Hunter. Martin Simpson (who I’ve seen solo several times) seemed to be having way too much fun playing electric guitar. My first evening at Purbeck was rounded off by the amazing N’famady Kouyaté ­– balafon maestro from Guinea (now based in Cardiff.)

The next day, it’s Purbeck Rising – a showcase of emerging artists and outstanding among these is Den Miller, a singer-songwriter from Keighley in Yorkshire. Not only does he perform a powerful song on the autoharp but Den also wows the audience with his satirical ‘Right-Winger Folk Singer’. The second evening draws to an end with Show of Hands.

Despite having had fairly major dental surgery just days before I decide to put myself down for a half-hour slot on the open mic stage. This seems to go okay but it’s only later, when I catch my reflection in the mirror, that I realise my face is so swollen and bruised from the dentistry the audience must have thought I’d been in a bar-room brawl. 

The real highlight of Purbeck, though, wasn’t my swollen-faced open mic set but two opportunities to see the great Gabriel Moreno. Readers of this blog may have seen my review of the Gibraltarian poet and singer-songwriter’s album ‘The Year of the Rat.’ I love Moreno’s way with words and his dark, warm Leonard Cohen-esque delivery. It was a treat to see him taking part in a songwriters’ forum on the final day of the festival, alongside Steve Knightley (of Show of Hands) and Michele Stodart (the bassist and singer from The Magic Numbers.) After this, Gabriel performed a brilliant set with his band The Quivering Poets. The evening was rounded off with an exuberant show by Celtic fusion band Shooglenifty.

Making hay while the festival season sun shone, I headed home from Purbeck only to set off a few days later for Shrewsbury Folk Festival. As I mentioned earlier, Shrewsbury is my hometown but, in many ways, spending three or four days at Shrewsbury Folk Festival is a very different experience to spending a few days in Shrewsbury. Several dulcimer friends were at the festival, providing introductory workshops to the instrument and – though I hadn’t planned to – I helped them in a small way with some of their dulcimer activities.

On my first day I catch Scottish folk trio Talisk, (including guitarist Graeme Armstrong, whose debut solo album ‘You Are Free’ was another one of the best folk albums of 2022.) Whether I’m soaking up the music and the sunshine or playing a bit of dulcimer, the weekend goes well until the Saturday evening when someone steals my folding camping chair. One of the hazards of being a solo festival-goer is that there’s no one to watch over your chair while you head to the beer tent for a refill. Having left my chair a couple of times at Purbeck it never occurred to me that anyone in Shrewsbury would steal it! Luckily I’ve got a back-up picnic blanket but, at my age, a man likes to sit in a chair (albeit one that is collapsible) while watching the acts. 

The loss of my chair is disproportionality shocking to me. I'm angry and shocked because I feel sure nobody from Shrewsbury would be so wicked as to steal a camping chair and I'm also upset because they have taken advantage of the fact that my late wife is no longer able to keep an eye on it for me (as, of course, she is no longer sat in the camping chair next to me!) It's not just a chair I'm missing. I try to convey some of my dismay to the stewards who are all lovely and kind but can do nothing to remedy the theft. Still, I’ve learnt my lesson. Next time, I’ll have to risk appearing weird by making friends with the audience members sitting next to me – or else take my chair with me and risk losing my carefully chosen spot.

And thus, it's in a supine position on a picnic blanket that I find myself, on August Bank Holiday Monday afternoon, lying in a field while Judy Collins sings ‘Both Sides Now’ and tells anecdotes about her contemporaries – Dylan, Joan Baez and Leonard Cohen. Remarkably, the 83-year-old’s voice is still clear and distinctive, with that same searing gaze that inspired Crosby, Stills and Nash’s ‘Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.’ And this is all happening in my hometown, where the 12-year-old me used to repeatedly play Judy’s 1973 single ‘Cook With Honey’ on a little record player in the front room.

Shrewsbury Folk Festival is an unusually immersive experience. Camping areas are interspersed within the festival site and, in the bars, the impromptu sound of English and Irish music is omnipresent. There’s a strong emphasis on dance, too, from Morris dancing and frenetic late-night ceilidhs to a French dance workshop with the Rheingans Sisters. Workshops and activities form an essential element, giving children and adults the opportunity to try out unfamiliar instruments and learn new skills.

The production values of the concerts are outstanding with excellent sound and lighting and large video screens projecting the on-stage action. Along with Judy Collins, The Unthanks were another highlight, as was the delicate English Americana of Hannah Sanders and Ben Savage, huddled – bluegrass-style – around a single microphone. I chatted with Hannah after their afternoon set, (discussing the pros and cons of playing the dulcimer standing up) and bought a copy of Hannah and Ben’s beautiful album, ‘Ink Of The Rosy Morning’ – another superb 2022 release. Later that day, I saw Hannah and Ben play again on the Bellstone Marquee and once again caught Good Habits on the ‘village stage’ before bumping into them wandering around. (I’m sure they think I’m stalking them now, having followed them from Purbeck to Shrewsbury!) 

The vibe at Shrewsbury Folk Festival is very different to Purbeck – Shrewsbury festival-goers seem keener on taking part in activities (and they’re very big on dancing) but are perhaps less open-minded about the music. For example, the Haitian voodoo rock of Moonlight Benjamin was evidently a little too raucous for some, and yet the audience didn’t seem to mind bagpipes, from the high energy Scottish folk-rock of Skerryvore to the Galician pipes of Carlos Núñez, who in the festival finale, had no trouble finding countless volunteers to clamber up and dance on the stage.

And now it’s 2023. I’ve already booked a return trip to Purbeck where this year I’ll be able to see, among others, global folk collective Mishra (whose ‘Reclaim’ was my favourite album of 2021.) Also among the 2023 lineup at Purbeck is the duo Touki (French-American Cory Seznec’s collaboration with the great Senegalese musician Amadou Diagne – featured on this blog in 2017.) Apart from Purbeck, I’ll be going a-dulcimering in Somerset again and hope to take in one or two other festivals. And, this year, I’ll be keeping a close eye on to my camping chair.