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Friday 30th July 2010 Open mic/Singers night

As both Terry and Steve were working at Cambridge Folk Festival, Brian has kindly supplied a review of the evening. Over to you Brian.

There were nine performers, their styles varying  from Carter Family to trad English, delta blues, old timey, singer song writer and popular folk. It was a slow start evening audience wise but picked up just before Dave and Linda opened the evening. We had five performers new to the Milkmaid and superb they were too. They were The Medlars, Arnie Rainbow, The Blues Boys, Paul Rowlinson and The Grasshoppers.

Briefly, The Medlars are a trio of two chaps and a young lady who play genuine old timey music. They come from the Colchester area. They prefer to play unplugged. The line up is guitar/vocal, fiddle/vocal and acoustic bass. Superb.

The Blues Boys was a first outing for Dave Rushton and his son John. We at the Milkmaid know what Dave can do and with John produced some super delta blues.

Keeping the contemporary scene alive was  Paul Rowlinson. Paul is from  the south of Bury and this was his first forray to the Milkmaid. A super set of songs. We hope to see him again.

All the way from Felixstowe Arnie Rainbow, yes Rainbow, did an entertaining set and played an instrument we don't see too often in Bury, I think it was a banjo, it sounded great.  Arnie is well known around the area and if you have a chance to see him grab the opportunity.

Last but not least of the new faces were The Grasshoppers. Two young ladies and a chap (also young). They played songs in the Carter Family style. Were they laid back? yes they were. Easy going, non complex , easy listening folk music. Don't miss next time.

We must not of course forget forget to mention the three local folksters that, as always, jelled the evening together. Johnny Foreman from Thurston almost a regular over the last few months (that's what folk music does for you Johnny). Adam Sewell, the ex rocker, now nearly fully converted to proper music and writing super songs of social awareness. Last but not least multi instrumentalist the wonderful Paddy Butcher. I don't think anyone will disagree with me when I say he is our local treasure.

The Milkmaid would like to thank all the performers who strutted their stuff on the 30th July and to the audience without which we could not exist. We would like to see you all again in September and October and for many months thereafter. Please check our website below for future gems.

 

Friday 16th July 2010 Martin Carthy

Martin has been playing the Milkmaid on and off for the last 15 years. In recent times he’s been here in all kinds of permutations and combinations so I thought it would be nice to see him solo.

Martin is the consummate professional; his reputation of being the countries Godfather of folk music isn’t without substance. He is a champion of Folk Clubs and really does enjoy performing at them. There’s not really anything more I can say about Martin that hasn’t been said before. He is a delight to have, for all his fame and acclaim the man stays very grounded and is really quite humble. I love him.

No Strings Attached are an Anglo French a capela duo who are quite exquisite. We first saw them at an Open mic/Singers night here and they blew us away. A mixture of French and British songs sang with beautiful harmony. They will be back.

 

Friday 2nd July 2010 Al Lindsay

I was sorry to miss this concert as I think Al Lindsay is quite special but I was away with Jane celebrating our 38th wedding anniversary (I know, you don’t get that for murder?).

So I’ll hand you over to our Steve Steve Steve Steve to report on this one:

Thanks Terry: An evening with Al Lyndsay, how could you afford to miss this?

Apparently quite easily, I felt so sorry for Al as the audience numbered only TWO people when the evening started and only achieved eight all night. He was beautifully accompanied by Sue Syzmanski on Percussion, Myke Clifford on Flute and Sax and Rich Burrow on Bass. Al put his heart into his performance, as always, and rarely do you see such attention to detail and empathy from the other musicians. Percussionists normally want to be the centre of attention, but not Sue who added some brilliant Conga, Chimes and Bodhrán to enhance the songs and Myke infused his Flute and Sax flawlessly. Richard added a depth to the music with his Bass and with Al’s excellent Guitar and Vocals the end result was a superb evening of classy and enjoyable music.

Claudine Le Moal, another discovery from the Open Mic Nights, supported Al. She was joined by Paul Ballantine on Mandolin complete with a massive effects unit and Claudine asked Rich Burrows to join her on a few songs to which he had just a brief introduction during the sound check.

Claudine performed wonderfully and entranced us with songs in both English and French. She has a charming and bubbly nature which really shows through in her performances.

Dave Bartlett stood in for Terry to MC the evening and did so well that Terry should look out as Dave tells better jokes or even none if requested.

 

Friday 18th June 2010 Claude Bourbon

Nous avons passes tres bontemps avec Claude. Le soir etait tres bon!

We were given another master class by a virtuoso guitarist. These guys make it look so easy and Claude was no different to all the other fantastic guitarists we’ve had at The Milkmaid. With his bluesy voice and confident performance he quickly endeared him self to the audience. Great stuff.

Flaming June was the support act for the night. Although so far June hadn’t been flaming  these lovely people lit up the start of the evening and made us feel quite warm and balmy. Look out for them.

 

Friday 4th June 2010 Open mic/Singers night

I’m pleased to say this was another well-attended evening. These nights are proving popular to say the least.  The standard is getting really high and the variety of performers amazing.

Ten very good acts, including a poet gave the audience a good night to remember.

Three student’s from Thurston School treated us to two outstanding performances. One being a guitar – vocalist (Tom Menarry) and the other a duo (Ben Sayer and his sister Alice) What do they feed these young people on in Thurston?

Performers were:….Dave and Linda, Paul Riley, Adrian Black, Martin Hayden, Tom Menarry, Chris Aylmer, The Medlars, No Strings Attached, Ben & Alice Sayer and Imogen.

 

Friday 21st May 2010 Clive Carroll

Actually I should have renamed this concert ‘The Carrolls’ as Clive brought his sister Airavala along to join him on stage. Clive started the evening and performed some absolutely stunning guitar work. He really is a star and I’d argue the best guitarist I’ve seen and I’ve seen a few! Then he invited Airavala to join him and they performed songs from their CD simply called ‘The Carrolls’. Airavala has a beautiful voice and no mean guitarist her self and between the two of them quite impressed the audience. Beautiful traditional songs a bit of Country and some self penned songs by Airavala written in the traditional style. Clive is also a virtuoso banjo player and who will forget their performance of ‘Duelling Banjo’s’. Another great evening.

Antonia Meshko was our support act. She hails from Russia and performs beautiful folk songs from her native country. It is always nice to hear other countries folk music and we all thoroughly enjoyed her set. Clive and Airavala invited Toni on stage at the end and they finished the evening off as a trio, special moments….!

 

Friday 7th May 2010 Anthony John Clarke

AJ has become a good friend to Jane and me and it’s always a pleasure to see him and Julia his lovely wife. AJ had performed at our Thursday Folk Club the night before and blown everybody away. His performance at The Milkmaid proper was nothing short of amazing in front of a smallish audience. AJ got us singing chorus’s and splitting the vocals between boys and girls which totally made us forget how small the crowd was. He deserves a full house as he is a fantastic performer but I will still keep booking him because he really is a jewel in our folk world.

We have been getting some great young performers lately coming to our Open mic/Singers night, thanks to Brian’s diligent hard work. The supports for this evening were two friends called Liv & Aly. They like Ben Sayer attend Thurston School and are really quite superb. Beautiful harmonies, good accompanist guitar work and Ukulele no less. We are proud to promote  young talented support acts that are going to make a mark in the future.

 

Friday 30th April 2010 John Renbourn & Robin Williamson

There’s so much been said about these two legendary performers it’s hard to add to the compliments and praise they enjoy. John is our Patron and loves to come to The Milkmaid and see us all. The concert was packed full of the normal breathtaking finger picking both of guitar and harp, brilliant arrangements, great songs and imaginary stories. They will always be welcome here and I look forward to booking them again in the future, (unless John retires again??????).

Clive Carroll was due to do the main support slot but unfortunately got double booked. It was either The Milkmaid and not get paid or a lucrative tour of Canada. I’m surprised he chose the latter?????

Our lovely Dave Bartlett and Linda Baddelly, (two thirds of the cult local band, Sound Tradition), stood in and did a 15-minute slot. Always so good, they didn’t disappoint and performed their material with great consummate ease. They are our local stars.

To finish of the last half of the 30-minute support slot we invited Ben Sayer who attends Thurston School. We discovered him at an Open mic/Singers night that Brian had arranged and were really impressed with his guitar work and song writing. Only someone so young would have performed ‘Angie’ in front of the great John Renbourn and not been nervous. There’s a great future ahead for this delightful young man and we want to help him in any way we can.

 

Friday 23rd April 2010 Kevin Dempsey & Joe Broughton

Amazing musicianship was the order of the day (or rather evening). Virtuoso performers Kevin and Joe were absolutely scintillating with their delivery and arrangements of tunes and songs from the traditional world of music. Throwing in a bit of Jazz and Eastern European flavours here and there gave such a variety that it was amazing how fast the evening went. A great night enjoyed by an appreciative audience.

Support was by Gordon Olvera an American  singer/songwriter guitarist who lives locally. Gordon first came to our knowledge through our Open mic/Singers nights, at which he has performed several times now. A really enjoyable half hour Gordon introduced us to a Gizmo, which allowed him to harmonise with himself….amazing!

We all thought it was Steve singing along!!!!!!!

 

Friday 16th April 2010 Open mic/Singers night

We put this evening on as an extra Open mic/Singers night due to the high number of people wanting to perform. Brian has been inundated with people wanting to play at The Milkmaid. This has been a good move for us because we always make a little bit of profit. This is definitely keeping us afloat and we are grateful for those of you that are supporting the club.

We had two lovely people, (Peter & Gwen) that run the Walsall folk club staying in the area and they came along and sang three songs for us. It was  another great evening.

Performers were The Larks, Peter Kitchen, The Kettle Girls, Pat Persse,

Paul Riley, The Two Bad Pennies, Paul Jenkins, Gwendal Moele & Dave Trenow, Peter & Gwen.

 

Friday 9th April 2010 Open mic/Singers night

I’d like to know how many more superb artists are out there in BSE land. They keep coming and performing on these evenings it’s great. This night we had entertaining us Peter Twitchett, David Hardy, Imogen, Ben & Eve, Liv & Aly, Rob Lock, Dave, Elaine, Chris Richardson and Chris Wilbraham.

 

Friday 19th March  2010 Open mic/Singers night

This was a really marvellous evening. We are very lucky to have so many good quality local musicians. This was another top evening, arranged by Folkwaller Kew.

Performers were Dave & Linda, Chris Richardson, Liv Sherman, Rob Lock, Oliver Townsley, Adam Sewell, Mike Acott, Catherine and Casey Chick, Dave Rushton.

 

Friday 5th March 2010 Judy Cook

I’m afraid I missed this concert due to an engagement I couldn’t miss and the noble Brian Kew stepped in for me as host. I’m told Judy was her normal lovely self and performed some great a cappella songs. Her repertoire is immense and her knowledge of American as well as British folk song is highly respected. Combined with her Concertina playing and guitarist husband Dennis joining her for some songs the small audience enjoyed an evening full of good traditional folk music.

Dave Cooper and Elaine Halton did support for us and proved that folk song is very much alive in every corner of Suffolk. A performance totally enjoyed by traditional music lovers.

Unfortunately the evening was performed without a PA. Poor Steve had his car breakdown on the way to the club and had to get towed home. He eventually arrived at The Milkmaid about 10pm. He was quite a bit upset, not about the car, but because he’d missed the raffle. He was convinced it was his week for the smelly soaps. Never mind there’s always next time.

 

Friday 19th February 2010 The Floozies

The Floozies have been playing off and on for the Milkmaid for nigh on six years in a support role. We decided they had earned the right to have a gig off their own. So singer guitarist Daisy Windsor, Paula Welham on saxophone, flute and backing vocals and Sue Szymanski a percussionist extraordinaire entertained us for a marvellous hour and a half on Friday. Daisy has written some great songs and combined with the bands complex and vibrant arrangements make The Floozies sound quite unique. Jazz Folk I call it and very good it is too!

Myke Clifford and Ray Mitchell were our support for this evening. Myke is the consummate musician famed in and around this area for his work with all sorts of bands and music. He is held in high regard as a great Jazz musician and singer. He brought along Hammond Organist Ray and together they performed some great jazz numbers with a touch of the Blues thrown in. It was a bit different for us but brilliant none the same.

 

Friday 5th February 2010 Open mic/Singers night

Once again I have to thank Brian for setting up another amazing evening featuring local performers. This was our second of the year and so far they seem to be popular with both acts and audience.  One aspect of these evenings, which is particularly pleasing, is the young performer’s we’ve had so far. All the performers are fabulous but it’s good to see these young people performing in the folk club. We need to encourage these people so that the folk idiom goes on for future generations.

We’re getting a fantastic atmosphere on these evenings but seem to have a different audience for Open mic/Singers nights and concerts. It would be great to put the two together for all Milkmaid events, which would be incredible, so as always, I wait with optimistic anticipation.

Performers were..(in alphabetical order) Alan Wycherley, Ben, Chris Aylmer, Imogen, Linda and Dave, Marc Bartram, Mike Acott, Molly Maguires, Oliver Townsley, Paul Vaes

 

Membership fees are now due boys and girls.

 

Friday 29th January 2010 Sara Grey & Kieron Means

Mother and son did us proud on this cold and wintry Friday night. We needed something to warm us up and these two delightful people didn’t disappoint.

Sara has a voice you could listen to all day and not get tired. She is the consummate ballad singer and her repertoire of American traditional song is endless. Complete with her wonderful banjo style and you could be sitting on a porch in the mountains of the USA enjoying this timeless music. Kieron who is Sara’s son has an effortless guitar style that is incredibly compatible with the material they perform. He also has a voice that flows through you like a warm breath. Beautiful harmonies together and lovely solo’s along with their homely banter ensured they certainly did make us forget that nasty weather we have suffered of late.

The Malingerers were the support for the night. This 5-piece band come from Peterborough and performs ‘Old Time Country Music’. Perform it they do with absolute panache. I can see a big future for these guys around the festival and folk club circuit. Great songs performed with style (The suits are incredible), extremely good musianship, good vocals and good humour. They certainly deserve headlining at folk clubs and I’ll certainly be booking them next year.

 

Friday 15th January Open mic/Singers night

A great start to the new year, 10 local acts of amazing talent,particularly 15 year old Ben from Stanton.

A good crowd in as well that contributed to a lovely atmosphere all night.

Performers were..(in alphabetical order)

Ben, Catherine and Gwendal, Chris King, Chris Richardson, Gill and John, Gordon Olivera, Imogen, Linda and Dave, Rob Locke, The Larks

Brian is doing a good job organising these evenings for me for which I'm grateful.

We're having one of these at least once a month through 2010 so book your slot with Brian.