Hosted by Chris

Another showcase of local songwriters.
A big thank you to all the performers who turned up to play; including Manus, The Whale & The Dragonfly, Lisa, Paul, Ella, Heather, Emma, Paul, Davy, Jason, Lynn, Nelson, John, Jim, and of course, our host for the evening, Chris.
 
See you all again soon,
Jason

Hosted by Lisa

Hosted by Laura and Lisa

Thank you to the wonderful twinnies for hosting another fun evening. Thanking all the performers, namely,
 
Laura, Lance, Lisa & Jason, Manus, Helga, Frank, Trace, Nelson, Jim, Simon, Terry, Ella, Fran, Lynne, Eclectic Fizz and Bob.
 
See you all next time.

Brief blog by Jason

Hosted by Terry 

We welcomed new host Terry O’Brien, our friend and fellow musician.
​
We enjoyed lovely performances from Lucy, Sandi, Jeff, Chris, Terry Lees, Lisa & Jason, Stef, Nelson, Manus & Hugh, Terry & Jason, Paul, Milton Hide, Emma and Matt.
We look forward to seeing you all again soon

Hosted by Heather

Hosted by Ella

There was a break in the current round of storms and performers began to assemble for another evening sharing music. Heather had had reminded me that Burns Night was on the 25th, so I engaged with a bit of Scottishness and opened, on bouzouki, with Wild Mountain Thyme. The song has dual nationality. The Scottish roots: ‘The Braes of Balquither’ was written by Scottish poet Robert Tannahill (1772-1810) and set to music by Robert Archibald Smith (1780-1829). It was adapted/adopted by Belfast musician Francis McPeake (1885-1971) into ‘Wild Mountain Thyme’ and first recorded by his family in the 1950s. ‘God may forgive you but I won’t’ (an Iris Dement song) was my second offering and bore absolutely no relationship to the first, but has great lyrics.
 
Lance revisited his songs ‘Pick up your Dog Poo’ and the more sentimental ‘A Space Woman came Travelling’ which acknowledged a refence to Chris de Burgh’s  ‘A Spaceman came Travelling’.
 
Manus accompanied by Hugh on bongos, was exploring a jazz/blues interpretation of ‘Singing the Blues’ written by Melvin Endsley was best known from Guy Mitchell’s version of 1956. They went on to perform ‘Dylan’s ‘Don’t think twice’.
 
Reflective songs were Chris’s subject for the evening and he sang ‘Ghosts … footsteps on the wooden floor …..’ and ‘Life’s a race’ which related to years of cycling and racing, prompted by meeting up with some of his old cycling buddies recently.
 
Playing ukele this evening, Terry O’Brien played arrangements (rather than ‘covers’) of Beatles song ‘I will’, .. who knows how long I’ve loved you? and ‘Waiting in Vain’ from Bob Marley’s 1977 album Exodus.
 
With a revised interpretation, Terry Lees performed Gordon Lightfoot’s ‘If you Could Read my Mind’ (released in 1970). American folk musician and fiddler Jay Ungar composed ‘Ashokan Farewell’ in 1982 and Terry played his guitar version.
 
Emma had us laughing at her ‘Campervan Blues’ which related the quirks and complexities of the campervan experience, many of which appear to include bad smells, and a variety of irritations and aggravations. There must be a serious upside to ‘campervanning’ as Emma has one. Continuing with her keen observational skills, she sang/spoke her poem about young men and their public use of verbal abuse and profanity…. ‘if you want to get your way, be a beast, scream til you’re fit to burst .’
 
Visiting our F&B evening after some time, Milton Hide sang ‘Molly Mothballs’ about a ‘witchy woman’, singing in harmony to the guitar accompaniment. Their second song was about a character called ‘Roundabout Jack’ (Horace Albert Duke) who used to be seen on a roundabout on the A27 near Shoreham waving to the traffic, (always in his Sunday best), accompanied by guitar and brushed travel cajon. They had the audience singing along too.

Simon sang ‘Funny the Way’ written by Mark Laurent …’Sometimes I’m short, sometimes I’m tall …’, followed by one of his own songs ‘The shopper with the Broken Cart’ about a wilful, out-of-control shopping trolley and its dangerous, escapades. ‘I was walking round Tesco last Tuesday … past the chicken and cauliflower doing 50 mph, the shopper with the broken cart’. … ‘I pushed it this way, it went the other’, Simon was in hilarious form.
 
Playing his beautiful instrumental ‘Sunflower’ on guitar, for the most beautiful woman in the world, Paul created a different atmosphere. He then changed to his green resonator guitar to sing and play the Robert Johnson blues classic ‘Sweet Home Chicago’, which he later changed to ‘Sweet Home California’, the version that Paul sang. 
 
Jason and Lisa have apparently completed the recording of their first cd. Beginning with ‘Calcot’s Fair’ and singing in harmony, Lisa played guitar and Jason took up the mandolin. Their second song was to the more familiar two guitar accompaniment, again with beautiful harmonies, was ‘Cat’s Cradle’. This was written in February 2020 just before lockdown and is likely to be the title track of the cd.
 
Heather has Scottish roots and her first song was about her stepfather, an English man in a strongly Presbyterian village. Called ‘Daddy’s Little Girl’ she celebrated how much her lovely stepdad taught her and brought into her life. Her second song was ‘Wonderful Life’, written by Bob Thiele (George Douglas) and George David Weiss and recorded by Louis Armstrong in 1967…. ‘I see trees of green, red roses too…..’ (roses are appropriate here as Heather is hosting the not-quite-Valentine evening on the 11th of February)
 
Two traditional maritime songs followed as John, singing and accompanying himself on guitar, gave us ‘Lofty Tall Ship’, with bow guns, sheets and broadside to broadside …. and then ‘Baliner Whalers’ …’In ’56 I sailed on board a ship called Byron One….’
 
Mike had not been to a F&B evening since Covid, but he was back to confirm having seen Roundabout Jack (Horace Albert Duke), the subject of Milton Hide’s song, in plus fours, looking dapper and greeting motorists. Playing guitar, he continued with James Taylor’s ‘In my mind I’m going to Carolina’, followed by Bob Dylan’s ‘Make you feel my Love’. Perhaps he won’t leave it so long before he returns?
 
Having found 6 Bells open mic on Facebook, Trevor and Kay visiting from the Welsh borders/marches near Bishopstone, had decided to look in. Maybe it was in the name since their nearest local is also called the Six Bells. They sang acapella in harmony two traditional sons: ‘Farewell my Friends’ and ‘Sea Coal’. ‘Farewell my Friends’ is a variation on an old Irish melody dating back to at least 1836/7. It was first published in 1855 and was about travelling to a better land leaving friends behind. It’s likely that the travelling was due to the famine years of 1845-1852. The potato famine lead to the death of a million people and millions of others emigrating. Their second song was also a social observation, which is not that remote from the current circumstances of many living now. Called ‘Sea Coal’ … hear the man call, was about poor people scavenging for coal washed up on the beaches and having to a decide whether to sell the coal to buy food, or to burn it, to keep warm. ‘Not much changes’ said Trevor.
 
What a powerful way to end! We had an evening of so much variety, skilful musicianship and word-smithing.
 
I felt privileged to be the one ‘out front’, as it were.
We look forward to seeing many or all, returning later if not sooner.
Thank you, Ella
 

Hosted by Lance
​
The first open mic of 2025 was held on Tuesday Jan 14th and I hosted……
 
I kicked off proceedings with the ‘Chicken Song’ and ‘A Seagull Stole A Sausage Roll’.
 
Simon followed me and performed 2 songs, an Allman Brothers song ‘Soulshine’ and another song ‘This Is The Way
 
Manus and Hugh were up next a Christine McVie song ‘The Challenge’ and a Ray Charles song ‘Hallelujah I Love Her So’
 
Ella played piano and sang a Bonnie Raitt song “Love Me Like A Man’ and a song called ‘If I Fell In Love With You’
 
Chris Martin performed 2 of his own songs ‘Journey’ and ‘Dangerous Moonlight’
 
Nelson King got up and performed 2 of his own compositions ‘I’ll Wait For The Sun’ and ‘Why Worry Now’
 
Jason and LIsa were up next and performed 2 songs ‘Love Vigilantes’ (a New Order song about a soldier fighting a war and wanting to return to his family) and their own song ’Who knows when? Who knows where?
 
Heather and ‘Time In A Bottle’ and ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’
 
After Heather came Emma who performed her own songs ‘Campervan Song’ and ‘Diclotamafil…fenox’ both humorous!!!!
 
Terry Lees was up next and performed ‘Vincent 52’ and a ‘Sottish song’
 
Paul with his 12 string Guild guitar followed and performed ‘Aura of The Aurora’ and ‘Yalla’
 
Russ then performed the Jackson Browne song ‘These Days’. Then Sally joined him and sang “How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Days As These?’
 
Sally sang a song (with Russ) ‘Lazy Day’ and a traditional Irish song.
 
 

Hosted by Helga

And so the Solstice sings so near
And so the festival and the ghosts do appear
And so we sing our Winter songs
And so we love into the nights so long
And so we settle into the joy of love
And so, our friends, we fly as a peaceful dove
And so we look forward to yet another year
And so music and friendship shall bring you so near . . .
 
Thank you to all of you who came along to make our festive night so enjoyable. Thank you to the Six Bells pub for the lovely food and their continued support.
 
We had wonderful performances from Helga and her ensemble, Lance, Lisa & Jason, Chris, Ella, Simon, Heather, Bob, Martin, Kat Black & Mr White, Manus & Hugh, Emma, Nancy, Paul and John.
 
Here’s to another great year in 2025.
 
Love and best wishes to you all,
 
Jason
(Poem by Jason

​We wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and we will be back on 14th January in the New Year

Hosted by Lisa

“Lisa’s Night”
 
Songs of the rhythms
Songs of the night
Songs to make us smile
She shines upon us with all the light
 
We laugh along with the thimble
Washboard Queen delights us all
Creating rhythms oh so nimble
Our friend looks down from his picture on the wall . . .
 
Thank you to Lisa for hosting a wonderful evening featuring performances from Lisa & Jason, Lance, Manus & Hugh, Kat, Monica, Frank, Emma, Ella, Steph, Laura and Simon & Lisa (on washboard!)
 
Poem and credits by Jason

Hosted by Chris

​“Songwriter’s Night”
​
Songs of sadness that mourn for the gone
Songs of mirth about so many performers anon.
Songs of the fire and old love on the beach
Songs of optical illusions and how they do teach
Songs of the snow and a pretty apocalypse
Songs of a cowboy and sung from Hebrew lips
Songs of where on Earth would we rather be
Songs of Rock n Roll and the moonlit sea
Songs of gravel and being so bound
Songs of sailing and the choo choo train’s sound
Songs of who knows where all this times goes
Songs of so many lives that nobody truly knows
 
Jason, poem, November 2024
 
Thank you to all the performers who turned up to play and make it yet another great night at the Six Bells, namely,
 
Chris, Lance, Manus, Hugh, Simon, Trace, Paul, Lisa & Jason, Nelson, Roy, Heather, The Botticellis, Mark and John.
 
Best wishes to you all,
 
Jason