July, she will fly . . .
What excellent weather to begin the month with temperatures rising to 31 deg C. Rather a shame that the England-Colombia match in the World Cup clashed with Folk @ the Oak on the first Tuesday; making it necessary to cancel our night this month.
We have not been the only casualty - the Tap & Spile in Birmingham was also called off and many others too including the Sandpiper Folk Club and the Songwriters Night at the White Lion !
Then three nights almost in a row to end an amazingly hot dry month !
Tuesday 24th July : Tap & Spile, Gas Street, Birmingham
Half hour spot tonight - once the audience arrived ! Finished around 21.10.
Songs : Guardians, City by the Sea, Don't Let Go, No-One There, Towpath, I'll Try for the Sun [Donovan] & Pentonville Angel.
Wednesday 25th July : Sandpiper Folk Club, Pigot Arms, Pattingham, Staffs
Third on in the second half. With Chris Pattison on harmonica.
Songs : Ballad of a Crystal Man [Donovan] & What's the Matter with England? [first time out] Chris approved of my song questioning what we were doing but Heather outed herself as a Leaver after my rant !
From FaceBook : << Ken Stott was joined by Chris Patterson to perform a Donovan song 'Ballad of a Crystal man'. It was followed by a very clever song written by Ken 'What's the matter with England?' A great performance from both of you. >>
Friday 27th July : Bradford Arms Folk Club. Ivetsey Bank, on the A5, ST
Singers Night with me in charge. Just three performers, and seven in total !
Songs : First Half : Rainbow, Knight School & Jane Austen's Eyes
Second Half : Je t'Adore, Ballad of a Crystal Man [Donovan] & Faded Photograph
Thanks to Helen for her amazingly detailed documentation on FaceBook !
<< Ken Stott is hosting the club tonight. It’s holiday season, we’re in the midst of an extraordinary heatwave with thunderstorms threatening! This may explain the absence of several of our regular performers. Despite it all we’re having a lovely evening. Ken treated us to three self penned songs “Rainbow” ‘Knight School’ and “Jane Austen’s Eyes”.
Helen & Ed Brown played three covers. ‘The Lucky One’ followed by a Bonnie Raitt song ‘Nick of Time’ and finally the Neil Young classic ‘Harvest Moon’ (topical tonight given the prospect of a blood moon phenomenon)
It was a rare treat to hear Dave Sutherland at the club given his very busy musical schedule with Kim Lowings and The Greenwood. He began with a brand new composition ‘Jericho’ followed by the JD Souther song ‘Closing Time’ . He concluded a great set with his own composition referencing the joys & sorrows of ageing ‘Pictures from a Train’.
Sometimes it’s quality not quantity that makes for a great night! The audience almost outnumbered the performers. A second set from Ken beginning with a self penned song in French followed by Donovan’s ‘Ballad of a Crystal Man’ Ken finished this set with another of his own compositions ‘Faded Photograph'.
A second set from Helen (without Ed due to the limitations to practice time courtesy of the grandchildren) A couple of homegrown songs in the proud tradition of folk protest songs ‘ The Other Side’ and the topical ‘Russian Souvenirs’ and finally a James Taylor classic ‘You Can Close Your Eyes’.
A second set from Dave Sutherland starting with the sublime composition ‘The Cotswold Farmer’ followed by ‘ Home for the Harvest Moon’ and ‘Jesus For A Day’ 😊 And by special request for an encore Dave concluded the a lovely night with ‘Jamaica Holds the Key’ >>