It's Not Quantity It's Quality That Counts

31st August 2021

We might have expected better of the weather in August in the midst of a climate emergency but no, it was overcast and later on it got a bit chilly. But what we lacked with the weather we made up for with quality. A guitarist of the year and a radio star were among those who turned up to play.

I started the evening off with three songs then retired to a safe distance. I started with the Grateful dead song "Monkey and the Engineer", followed by "The Rocket" I don't know who wrote that and lastly my own composition "Too Much Snow". Anyone who wanted one could have a bonus track later and, with a nod to hurricane Ida, I chose the Randy Newman song Louisiana 1927.

Next came Chris Martin a man who has produced a number of CD's and is no stranger to the recording studio. From his back catalog he chose "Life's a Race", "It's Only My Time","Paper Wings" and "Toast for One". You will find all of these on Youtube if you are to look.

Chris was followed by the star of Paul Huggett's Golden Nuggets, Heather Currie who has recently released an album called "Old Friends" which is well worth a listen. Her songs were "Ruby Tuesday", "Sometimes" by Heather, Paddy McGinty's Goat and "Seasons" also by Heather.

Next up we had Guitarist of the Year Terry Lees. He was only Guitarist of the Year once for the simple reason that once you have won you are banned from standing again. What a great title and as you might expect we had a performance to match. Terry's offering were "Merrily Kiss the Quaker" and "Angie".

Accompanying Terry we had Greg on sax. It is always a treat when he turns up and fortunately he is versatile enough to sit in on most types of music. He later joined Helga and Terry in a jam and joined me on my final song.

Terry was followed by newcomers Leia and Geoff a very polished father and daughter combo. Leia sang the Billy Eiish number "Happier Than Ever" and I have to say if you know that number Leia had it down to a T. Dad Geoff accompanied on guitar. Clearly wanting to leave the punters wanting more, that was all we heard from Leia. Geoff then played an instrumental, the Irish tune "The Burren". Both were very polished and we hope to hear more of them in the future.

Helga's first song had a German title which is beyong my pay grade. She followed this with an extended jam with Terry and Greg which optimistically included "Summertime".. Helga has been learning jazz singing techniques and was able put this into practice.

Lastly we had Oliver Hill, he gave us some rock standards to finish the evening "I Can See Clearly", "Mr Tangerine Man" and "Donna, Donna" a great set to round off the evening.

Hopefully we will have greater numbers next time.

Stay safe

Simon

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