Blogs From 2015 to Jan 2016

(These blogs have been transferred from our old website)

26th January 2016  LESS IS SOMETIMES MORE…..MORE OR LESS..


There have been nights, in the history of the Folk Club, when it has been impossible to move and then times when there have been only two or three people. This used to worry me as, in the early days, I took the attendance to be a direct monitor of how successful we were….but now I do not really care about this aspect of things….time has told its own story and we are still here and sometimes we get fifty people and sometimes we get fifteen…….

I was once sailing to Belgium overnight and it was an incredibly clear night and it was almost unbelievable how many stars were visible….it was almost as if there was as much light as there was darkness. Those stars are still there whether they are visible or not. Standing in the street where I live I can only see the major constellations, and sometimes the odd planet, but, having been on my sea voyage I am aware that the others are there somewhere out in space. 


Over the last 24 years there have been hundreds of performers at the Folk club but, luckily, they don't all come on one night….maybe that will happen one day…but I know that, bar a few who have, sadly, moved on, they are all still there illuminating the world with their talent….
So it was, that my night for presentation was one of smallish attendance but, to be honest, I thought it lent to the atmosphere and intimacy of the evening and we had a really good night and played some lovely tunes. In a period which had seen the demise of some famous music people, and more since, it seemed even more apposite and meaningful that the quality of the evening was so brilliant.

Sometimes more people means more chatter and less people means that people listen more so there are benefits both ways, in my humble opinion, of course…

It was a really lovely evening with a friendly and positive feeling and there were some great songs and performances all round. We had myself and John Oddie, Clive Woodman, Ella Moonbridge, Simon Watt, Chris Liddiard, Derry, Chris Martin and Penny and Keith Willson.

I am not going to go through everything that everyone played because you know I appreciate you all, and think you are great, but I would like to make special mention of Penny and Keith as Penny is a new face and Keith has not been around for a while.

Penny came to the first session of the year and wanted to take part, but had no backing, so John Oddie and myself agreed to support her on a couple of blues standards. Now…there is always a slight quality of stepping into the unknown when you have no idea how things will go but we soon discovered that any reticence was totally unnecessary as Penny had a great understanding, and voice, and it was a pleasure to back her….and so it was that we did an equally pleasurable repeat performance last week, which also saw Keith Willson playing piano…..further to which, Penny came to the Glimmer Project gig on Friday and sang Hoochie-Coochie Man with us, so I think we may have an excellent addition to our range of performers…which can be no bad thing…

Keith Willson has been a couple of times recently. I think I have said before that he has a special talent in his song writing and writes meaningful and soulful tunes. It is always good to hear him and his strong and considered delivery…it is also good to see him joining in with a bit of blues piano and vocal.

And so I was not at all bothered about who was and wasn't there except that, those who were not there would have rather been there. Some great performances and our audience stayed til there end which is enough of a statement for me.

I like the Folk Club at the moment and I am pleased that we have evolved into something which works and which people enjoy. Our mini steering group of Chris Liddiard, Chris Martin, Simon Watt, Ella Moonbridge, John Oddie, Mike Aldridge, Clive Woodman and myself have made a real difference but who knows..there is always room for change and good ideas. I remember when we had a raffle and a blackboard with all the names on… or maybe that was something else.

I saw a documentary about a woolly mammoth which was dug out of the ice in Siberia… except that it probably wasn't Siberia then…it still had the remains of its dinner in its stomach…I felt quite sad about the fact that it didn't have time to finish its dinner….maybe it wasn't dinner…might have been breakfast…anyway I was wondering if, in another 35,000 years they might dig up traces of the Folk and Blues Club….maybe there will be a whole layer of sediment which consists of my introduction to Spoonful…or maybe the fossilised remains of one of us still wondering what that button on the mixing desk is for…maybe it is the Special FX button…look out its a thunder lizard, do you think he saw us……..

Ggrrraaawww!!

See ya

Chris 



12th January 2016 The Austerity Folk Night
One of the joys of playing at the 6 Bells is that you never know what to expect. January 12th was our first night of the year and was a theme night of Austerity Songs with jug proceeds going to the Trussel Trust who support food banks, sadly a growing industry in the UK. We managed to raise £40 which I will pass on. 
It looked at first like it would be a quiet night but in the end we had ten acts including two that were new to me. Chris Mansell joined me for a couple of songs to open the evening and played some beautiful guitar on both my songs. Clive who managed the desk for us also followed the austerity theme after a brief tribute to David Bowie.
Simon entertained us with his funny song about bankers and with a fine cover of a Danny Schmidt song. Ella followed, and used a capo high on the neck on her bazouki for the second song producing a wonderful percussive sound.
Chris Mansell was up next with a couple of poignant folky songs. Rachel sang the Bessie Smith classic Nobody Knows you When You're Down and Out and then a lovely rendition of Joni Mitchell's Little Green.
Next up should have been Corin Hardy and friends but he was at the bar so Simon stepped in and offered us 16 Tons which went down really well. Corin (new performer to me) and friends, Tom Warren and Alex Mobbs, then played three well crafted songs which were very well received.
Jason Loughran, who runs a night in Lewes at the Elephant & Castle on the first Sunday of the month, then performed a self-penned song and a lovely cover. He is becoming a regular and it is always a pleasure to see and hear him.
Next up we had Penny who is a fine singer and had said she could perform if someone was able to accompany her. Chris and I were very happy to oblige and had great fun working through Trouble In Mind, Stormy Monday, and Sweet Home Chicago.
Finally we had a short set from Chris Liddiard. Chris is a fine song writer and a sensitive performer and went over really well. Chris and I then closed the night with a couple of rock n' roll tunes.
My thanks to all the performers, the audience and people who helped set up and brake down the PA for making the night a success. Look forward to seeing you next time.
John Oddy


29th December 2015 A Great End to 2015
It was a pleasure to host this evening - not only did we have some great guests but also a brilliant band made up of Folk Club regulars - The Gimmer Project.

I started the evening with a couple of songs and then introduced Clive who, as always, gave a confident and flawless performance. The songs were 'Human' by The Killers, and  appropriately 'Happy New Year' by Abba.

Then it was the turn of Ella who gave us a dreamy version of Angel from Montgomery and went on to sing Boots of Spanish Leather accompanied by her Bouzouki.

Chris Liddiard followed with a medley of Scottish McTunes ending with Auld Lang Syne, ideal as we are approaching the new year.

A special thanks to Chris Martin who took the stage having skilfully manned the desk for the evening. Fortunately Chris and the new PA were able to handle our acoustic music and the electric sound of the band. He sang Insomniac's Dream and On Paper Wings.

Jerome came next with Moonshine and Sweet Carolina played competently on a superb Adamas guitar. I hope we will see and hear more of him at the folk club in future.

Keith often plays at homes for the elderly, a great choice for this role as those with hearing aids on the blink can still hear him. This evening he gave us Brighton Rock and Lives You Could Have Tried.

Gavin, sadly I did not make a note of your song but you rounded off the first part on the evening nicely. This time on guitar but I think I remember a Mandola on past occasions - you must come again.

The new band The Glimmer Project was an ideal way to end the year. Chris Mansell on lead guitar, Bob Melrose (mostly) on base, John Oddy on slide guitar and Ben Armstrong on drums - a great line-up of experienced musicians, most of them being regulars at the Folk Club.

The sound was live and electric with a mixture of Blues, Reggae and Rock. The audience was very appreciative and when the band finally wound down at about 11:15 they still wanted more. Well done chaps!

Have a great New Year.

Simon

15th December 2015 FROM TINY ACORNS…….

And so I was covering for Simon who was otherwise detained, and unable to attend, and I was very happy to be there from the great success of the Christmas Event from which we donated £80 to the Burma Star Fund on behalf of Councillor Roy. He is still with us in whatever shape or form…..

What, initially, appeared to be a relatively quiet evening ended up as one of those very successful, intimate, nights which was enjoyed immensely by all….sometimes it happens like that.
At this end of the year, and after our party, we would be forgiven for expecting a thin attendance but there was life in the dragon's tail and we ended up having a great night.

I have often joked about my general ambivalence towards Leonard Cohen but, at the same time, I do think that he wrote some lovely songs. I suppose I grew out of a more "rock n roll' background and Cohen was just a bit too languorous for me and some of my friends. So I may seem unusual that I have started including "Suzanne" in my repertoire and I started the night with this and "Pretty Saro", a traditional folk song, and "Into the Mystic" by Van Morrison. As I get along the road I realise that I would like to vary my set and do some stuff that I like listening to which also makes it more interesting for the audience…..I hope….

Great to see John Oddie back from his vocal issues and playing and singing. He did great versions of "Leaving Trunk" and "Crossroads" with some dexterity and ability….he also played at the end which I will come to…


Ella Moonbridge has proved considerably versatile in her playing and songs but, on this occasion, she was playing her Bazouki which I always think suits her very well. I didn't quite catch the name of her first number but she did a very nice version of "Carey" by Joni Mitchell.

It is always good to see Derry and his friends. They have been great supporters of the club for many years and tonight hr played two pieces by Bach for us. I am always a little proud of the fact that we have someone who comes and plays some classical music…it seems to fit with the overall style of the club….


Clive Woodman came with his band Remnant on the party night and, tonight, he played some seasonal songs for us in "Its Christmas" by Queen and "Rockin Around the Christmas Tree" by Brenda Lee. He also gave us a nice version of "The White Dress" by Sandy Denny so a great little set from him which injected a little extra party spirit.


Nice to see Keith Willson who has been coming to the club for some years. I was reminding him of the time we used to do the "Home Made Jam" with him on piano and sometimes vocals. It was an "end of the night thing" which was really a jam session for anyone who wanted to join in and it worked really well way back when dinosaurs were knee high to mountain ranges….

Anyway, Keith is a great singer and musician and played some of his own songs which had a blues/jazz feel and were very very well delivered. "Too sad to sing the blues", "Baby Steps" and "The Worst Thing" were all excellent pieces and very moody and thoughtful in content. 


Chris Liddiard is always welcome and, as our last floor spot of the evening, gave us some lovely pieces in "Let It Be Me" by the Everly Brothers, "Bob Dylan and Me" a self penned number, and "The Day That I struck Gold" by Jim Reeves. Chris alluded to the fact that the Dylan number reflects the fact that he was born in the same year as Dylan so I will let you work that out for yourselves.

John and Keith and I partially resurrected the "Home Made Jam" and finished with "Lonely Years" by John Mayall and "Midnight Shift" which I know from Buddy Holly and we all enjoyed it…Keith is an excellent pianist and John a great slide player and it is a privilege to play alongside them and produce good music..

So another great night…Clive took the reins for mist of the evening with the PA…so thanks to him for supportive, and effective, input.
We are getting to grips with the new PA and I effectively negotiated, with the rest of the steering group, that we were nearly there in having proper flight case storage for everything so we are moving forward in a significant fashion.

This year, however, we have the benefit, because of where dates fall, of an extra evening before the New Year and myself and John Oddie with Bob Melrose and Ben Armstrong are playing with our band "The Glimmer Project" so everyone and their pals are more than welcome to that…so I can not really say that it has been another fine and successful year until after that…… but I will anyway….and thanks and Seasons Greetings to everyone….

Personally, I have been getting more interested in my own musical origins, in terms of where I started listening to things, and I can never rule out the fact that, amongst all of the Rock and Roll and Buddy Holly, there were also songs from the North East where I was born. I like to investigate these origins in relation to other traditions and it was interesting to discover that some of the Irish Band "The Chieftains" had been involved in a visit to Morocco to play with some of their musicians and traditional songs. It was reported that many of the musical pieces were very similar in  timing and melody and they found that they could play together quite easily….interesting…..

Music is a universal language…I believe that many of the tunes that emerge in the Folk and Blues tradition in America were imported from England and Ireland and, blended with the influence from the African cultures, we have new styles of expression which become Rock and Roll and Country and Western….I find it all fascinating and fully intend to do some more research…..

So….I hope to see you on the 29th….

All the best

Chris 

1st December 2015 -  By Chris Mansell
REMNANT TOP OUT  A GREAT PARTY


Well hello again…its me, once again, hoping you all had as good a night as I did at our Christmas Party. "Bit early for Christmas" maybe… but we wanted to see our guests and this was the best time for them so it all worked out according to our strategic plan, which is not really any more strategic than it is a plan, but like "Skip's old car" it got us close enough….

Clive Woodman has become, over some significant time, a very good, and welcome, performer, and supporter, of the evenings. He plays very regularly and gives us quite an eclectic and varied range of music from early folk to the Kinks. He also pitches in with the running of the club and the hosting of some evenings so all positive and welcome energy. So it was nice to see him come along especially for the Christmas Event with his band REMNANT which consisted of Clive on guitar and vocals, Ken on vocals and harmonica and Chrissie on vocals and bass. 

They played an excellent set for about an hour which included an eclectic mix of material and ended with an authentic version of "La Bamba". Their set also included a great version of "Brown Eyed Girl" and, overall, they were very much appreciated by all  and contributed to what was a worthwhile and enjoyable event.

We keep up or tradition of celebrating our friend Counsellor Roy (Martin) at this event. Roy as many of you already know was a great supporter of the evenings and a fantastic contributor with his own inimitable style. There are many tales of Roy and his input. I always remember that he would introduce, and accompany, his contributions with some apocryphal tales from his extensive career and it would seem logical to record these somehow if there was a way to do it. The contributions raised £80 for the Burma Star Association which was Roy's chosen charity and, from a personal point of view, it was a pleasure, once again, to remember and celebrate his memory.

It was nice to see Andy Barnes in attendance and it would also seem appropriate, at this point, to recognise and thank Paul, the landlord and his staff, especially Marina, for producing some fantastic food for the evening. Everyone seemed to enjoy and appreciate the mini bites and sausages and chips and it made a brilliant addition to the whole event and the overall ambience.

As always we had our traditional run of floor spots to introduce the evening and it was some indication of the continuing popularity of the club that we had seven spots before the band came on. 
After I had done my intro bit John Oddie came on a played a couple of excellent blues/slide pieces. John and I also ended the night with "Be Bop A Lula" which quite a few others joined in with. 
Chris Martin was next up and was well received and I also need to thank Chris, at this point, for all of help with the PA….it is an important and much appreciated job.

Ella Moonbridge has become another welcome regular and seems to be adept on a range of instruments including her bazouki. She chose to play the piano and sing on this occasion and was very good as usual.
Derry is also no stranger to the club and it was great to hear him play some Scott Joplin tunes with some considerable dexterity. Very nice to see him as always…….


Jack is a young man who was introduced to us by Rupert Cobb who also accompanied Jack on this occasion. He played a couple of self-penned pieces with good melodies and lyrics and a strong voice. Rupert, on trumpet, was fantastic as usual.
So Chris Liddiard was our last floor spot and played some excellent stuff to lead us into our special guests.

I need to comment that we had quite a number of new people in the audience and we seem to merit our continued existence  in every way.
We have two more sessions this year and I am hoping that the Conspirators may make an appearance on the 15th while, on the 29th, myself and Bob Melrose with John Oddie and Ben on percussion, will be playing with our little combo called the Glimmer Project…..so lots to look forward to!

We also have a new PA system which seems to be providing us with excellent quality although we are still getting used to driving it. Anyone who would like to become a sound person is more than welcome to give it a whirl so just get in touch with one of us or via the website.

Can I also thank Simon Watt for all his work, recently in doing orders and feeding the website and it is always good to hear him come and play. He spent some time, on Tuesday, taking a few pictures so we may get an "illustrated" blog which is becoming more of a feature.

So, in the words of Cher, "The Beat Goes On" and will continue as long as we all keep turning up, and taking part, in whatever manner.
One of the people who came to the last session, on the 17th Nov, remarked on his surprise and pleasure at the quality and consistency of the music and the great atmosphere…well is was his first time….we are used to it now!!

May the force be with you…..
chris


17th November 2015 -  By John OddieAnother fantastic evening of music at the 6 Bells! You never know what you will get when you host an evening, last time I hosted it was a quiet night and people got to play a lot last night was packed and we had 15 acts to fit in!
We had regulars like Clive, Simon, Ella, Derry, Chris Mansell, Mike Aldridge, and Chris Liddiard and less frequent visitors that we hope will become regulars like Sylvie and Jason Loughran and a rare sighting of Rachel whom I had the pleasure of accompanying.
We had Mark who came all the way from South London and sang a couple of songs about South London, his rendition of “Bankers and Twats” bemoaning the gentrification of South London and the fact that local people are being forced out of the area by the influx rich prats went down particularly well!
We had two groups, Brian, Megan and John Martin who I think go by the name of Grasslands were new to me but have visited once before and were so good I had to give them a third song. Cracks in the Land in their full incarnation i.e. Bob Melrose, Bill Burke, Meya Rein, and Ben Armstrong also played a wonderful short set. Four very talented musicians who just sound better every time I hear them.
Special thanks to Chris who opened and closed with me, and to Ben and Bob who make up the remainder of the Glimmer Project for making the night such an enjoyable evening to host and perform in.
Don’t forget next time is the Christmas Party and Clive’s band will entertain us but there will still be time for floor spots and that Chris, Bob, Ben and I will be playing an extended electric set on the 29th December as the Glimmer Project. Lastly my apologies to Dave Dale who had to leave and did not manage to play. Look forward to seeing musicians and audience next time!
Cheers,
 John
 
20th October 2015 - For one night only - A brave new world         By C.J. Martin

I’ve been a regular at the Six Bells Folk & Blues Club for a while now and it’s inhabited by some great musicians and performers. You’re guaranteed some top acoustic guitar work and some great interpretations of classic songs, but last night it was taken over by the songwriters, yes it was! We still had some great guitar playing, but everyone was performing their own songs.

I had this dream that it became illegal to play covers and all live performers had to play their own songs and even they could only play any single song six times before it had to be parked in the history of music archive. And the world was a much better place and the covers artists threw off the chains & shackles of coverdom and found freedom and joy in composition - they told their own tales and took us inside their own heads. Then I woke up and someone was singing Summertime…. Aggggghhhhh….

I was MC for the night and after a brief explanation of why I stopped playing covers in 1988 and wrote my first song, I launched the evening with one of my very first compositions, ‘What happened to our love’. It was all down to the purchase of two brand new (back then) cutting edge devices: a Tascam Porta One (4-track cassette portastudio) and a Roland TR505 (drum machine). I set them up in my music room and started building multitrack versions of some well-known songs. And then one sunny day a friend came round and said he’d written a song and we recorded it on the portastudio. I was miffed and probably a little jealous and thought I can write a song and I did, actually I wrote two, ‘Angry young man’ and ‘WHTOL’ as we later called it in the studio.

On Monday, I’d had coffee and a very nice Apple Danish down in Eastbourne with Philip Rackley and we’d talked songwriting. Back in Jan 2013, it was Philip who’d introduced me to the strange world of the open mic night. I thought they were dingy rooms inhabited by lots of middle-aged white men playing 12-Bar in A, or sometimes even in E and not at all the sort of place for a serious songwriter like me! Philip got me to give them a go and joined me on my first three outings. My second one was at the Six Bells on 5/02/13 and I opened with ‘Life’s a race’, so it seemed a logical choice for tonight. Back then, Chris Mansell was very supportive and encouraging and I’ve been coming back ever since, that’ll teach him.

It was great to have Philip back at the Bells and he followed me with a couple of his own tunes, opening with an up-tempo ditty called ‘Don’t’ and then switching to a more plaintive mood and his song for Europe, ‘Be my guide’. Our chat the previous day had covered the fact that the BBC are currently offering an open competition to provide the UK entry for next year’s Eurovision Song Contest and Philip had written his entry that day and was road testing it on the Six Bells crowd. His theme was about the very human story of being a refugee in today’s Europe.

Tony Parry runs the Uckfield Folk and Blues Club at Ringles Cross and opened with ‘The jolly weaver’ which he’d written after hearing of the death of Pete Seeger. His second song, ‘Just another heartache’ had started life some years back as a blues in E, but had since morphed into a country song.

Silvie gave us two of her own pretty compositions a cappella, both inspired by the work of Rabbie Burns. I feel protected behind my guitar and am always full of admiration for those who sing unaccompanied.

Jason Loughran, is another man who runs an open night, this time at the Elephant and Castle in Lewes. Jason has a gentle picking style on the guitar and a plaintive vocal sound. He opened with ‘There was a young man namely…’ and finished with ‘The day that I lost Fafaia’.

Redmond O Colonies is from the good old US of A and whilst staying with family in Heathfield had found us on Google and thought he’d give us a go. His card says: ‘Music. Comedy. Raconteur. Town Crier. Actor. Bon Vivant.’ He started with music and a parody of Frank Sinatra’s ‘Something Stupid’, before entertaining us with some material from his raconteur portfolio.

Anita Jardine hadn’t visited the Bells for a while, but it was great to see her back with a couple of cheeky self-penned numbers. I believe the first song was called, ‘My heart’s a twat’, which was followed with some great audience participation on ‘I’m a little bit gypsy’.

It’s been quite a while since I’d heard Chris Mansell play any of his own songs, which is a shame, as tonight he gave two wonderful examples from his own catalogue. He opened with ‘City children’ and finished with what he called an old song, ‘Hold on’. Hopefully, he’ll do a bit more of his own stuff in future, they still feature his signature guitar playing and to my ears were very accessible, which seems the buzz word and rather important to some when discussing performing original material.

Ella Moonbridge was performing her own songs for the first time and despite a slightly naughty (sticking key) Six Bells piano, gave us pretty renditions of ’Rain over the hills’ a song of gratitude to men! - and then ‘Mirror of my soul’.

Simon Watt often performs his own material, a lot of which has humour at its core, but tonight he chose to play a couple of numbers penned way back when he was a teenager. Lyrically, these reflected the love & peace and psychedelic feel of those heady days. ‘Shadow man’ was followed by ‘Pensylvany artist lady’. And then from the audience, a special request to do a Simon classic, ‘I’m fracking’ and our man duly obliged with a rousing rendition of said song.

Chris Liddiard is a prolific songwriter, along with head honcho at the White Horse Folk Club. He gave me a copy of his latest CD, ‘The Worst of Chris Liddiard - 22 really awful songs’ before hitting the stage and regaling us with versions of ‘Good time girl’, which he insists is not related to his own experience and then ‘If it ain’t broke don’t fix it’.

Derry was our final player and closed the evening for us and with special dispensation, he was allowed to play a couple classical pieces on the old Six Bells piano, ably assisted by Ella as his page turner. A great evening and a huge thanks to everyone for coming along and embracing the theme and sharing with us your songs.

CJ M x

29th September 2015 - Simon Watt
This night came as something as a surprise to the Folk & Blues Club. We had booked Hazardous Funk for the previous week but for some reason The Festival advertised them for the 29th, so to spare their blushes we added an extra night to our schedule.
It fell to me to start things off and when I began the audience only numbered about eight or nine people, however by the time I had finished a set of three songs the audience had grown and the room was buzzing.
Having acted as warm-up man I introduced Chris Mansell who again played three songs including his superb rendition of the Cliff Richards hit, "Travelling Light".
After Chris Mansell came "The god of gloom, the doyen of dismal, the prince of pathos, that master of misery himself - Chris Martin", who in spite of all expectations ended with the upbeat "Spiders & Snakes". Definitely losing his touch!
Chris was followed by Clive Woodman who played through his three numbers with great patience as the audience, (most of whom were new to the folk club) became a little restless and talkative.
At this point I welcomed Mr David Harrison (Chiddingly Festival Director) and asked him to tell us a little about the people helped by the charity in the last year. He explained that the Festival was an arts charity and any money it raised went into running the festival again the following year. So if you ever wondered who they help, now you know.

I then introduced the high energy local band Hazardous Funk who entertained the audience for the remainder of the evening. The hazard consisted of Andy Williams on guitar and Rupert Cobb on trumpet, keyboard, laptop, loop machine and other gizmos. Not folk, not blues - just great music.
A highlight of the Hazardous Funk section was a young singer who I think was called Carl. At only 15 years he has a voice and presence which is incredible in someone so young.
We also have to thank Rupert, a regular at the 6 Bells Folk & Blues Club, for allowing us to use the band's PA for the first part of the evening. His expertise when it came to setting this up greatly added to a genuinely enjoyable experience.
8th September 2015 – MC and report: Chris Martin
It was Six Bells night and I was down as MC, so I grabbed my bowler hat and shades thinking they might give me some gravitas and authority.  Some stranger on Facebook later said I looked like a prat - charming hey, especially as he thought my fine bowler hat was a baseball cap worn backwards! 
I wrote the ubiquitous shopping list of performers as they rolled in and noted their backstage and special requirements - no blue smarties, helicopter, gluten free blondes, recreational drugs etc etc.
Despite my best endeavors to get an earlier start, I eventually launched the show at 9:00pm.  Simon Watt had generously been in during the day to assemble the mighty PA and with John the slide Oddie manfully manning the desk, it was all systems go.  I kicked off with two of my own songs about open mic nights: ‘Mendacious Cowboy’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2IsjG9CNFg and ‘I like to be sad’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AB_yroI1VwA
What is the role of an MC I hear you ask?  Some like a chat, some tell stories, we all try and big up the acts, get the audience going and we have to keep the show on the road and running to schedule.  I decided to try a few jokes - I selected three of the greatest jokes in the whole known universe and they bombed - and I thought people were indifferent to my songs!  The stand-up career is clearly a non-starter, maybe I’ll write a song about it - Joker’s Blues.  Dear Blog reader, I will share my final joke with you, it played to complete silence and was probably the only time in the whole evening when some people stopped chatting - a punchline, followed by unnerving silence.  Here goes: Q: What is the difference between a hippo and a zippo?  A: One is quite heavy and the other is a little lighter……
For me, it was an evening of familiar and friendly faces from the local music scene.  Keith Willson was first up and gave us ‘Too sad to sing the blues' & 'Baby steps', he was followed by David Dale, who seemed to be slightly confused, as he opened with 'I'm still in love with you' and then gave us 'I hope I don't fall in love with you'.  Make your mind up Dave!  Ella Moonbridge was on the piano tonight, starting with 'Danny's all-star joint', before a nice version of Dylan’s 'Standing in the doorway'.
Michael Aldridge was on good form with 'Midnight special' & 'Write myself a letter'. 

I then gave John a brief break from his soundman duties and he teamed up with Rachael on 'Beginning of the day' & 'Killing the blues'.  Lucinda is a local singer songwriter and she performed a couple of pretty compositions, 'Festival time' & 'Ghost house'.
Clive Woodman had been our MC last time out and tonight he got to relax and play us ‘Harvest of the moon’ by Steeleye Span and followed it with one of his own songs, ‘The path’.  Simon Watt had got his breath back from lugging the PA out of the back room and gave us a bit of Paul Simon, with 'Gone at last' and followed this with the Van-the-Man classic, 'Have I told you lately'.
Geoff Jackson hadn’t been to the Bells for a while and it was good to see him back with his big (baritone) ukulele - starting with 'By bye blackbird', before getting a bit of a singalong going on 'Wonderful world'.
Derry added a bit of class with Schubert’s Serenade and Chopin’s Prelude, played on the old Six Bells joanna.  Chris Liddiard has a cunning way of getting more than two songs!  He started with 'When I remember' and then gave us a medley which included: 'The rock island line' and 'This land is your land'. 
Everyone had had a play and it was nearly time to say bye bye, but not before we had a bit of instrumental slide guitar virtuosity from John Oddie.  I then closed the session with my Sex Pistols esk version of Cliff's The Young Ones - once in every lifetime hey!  
Another great evening of music and merriment at the Bells.  

Thank you and goodnight

Chris (3)

25th August 2015 Story Songs Theme Night

As usual, Chris Mansell had kindly been in earlier in the day to set up the sound equipment The room seemed a bit empty of people before we started, but players and audience soon began to arrive. We had a selection of songs on a  CD as a welcome while people settled in. It featured Joan Baez, Peter Paul and Mary,  Phil Ochs, Dave Van Ronk, Judy Collins, and Elizabeth Cotten.



Tonight was one of our 'Theme Nights'. The theme was  'Songs that tell a story'. I suppose all songs tell a story of some sort, in one way or another.
 
I chose a couple of sad ones to start up with. Bob Dylan's  'Percy's Song',  and then the tragic tale of 'Running Bear'. First up was Simon Watt with his own composition 'God's Christmas card'  (yes, let's have more penguins)!  Simon followed that with the moving   'When I go to see my son'   by Tom Paxton.

Next on the list was Bruce, on guitar,  this time with Carolyn singing as well, and together they very nicely did 'Coals and water' and Bob Dylan's 'Simple twist of fate.' Then came Terry Lees, with his  'even nicer than before ' re-vamped  guitar. - I think it's the way he plays it that makes it sound even nicer. He gave us 'Boots of Spanish leather'  ( yes ,- Bob Dylan), and  the lovely  'A Sailor's life'.

Ella Moonbridge followed on from Terry, and settled at the piano to give us her nice version of  'Blues from Laurel Canyon', with some nice clever piano playing, and the sad   'Lady Franklin's lament'. Ella made that piano really sound good tonight.


Number five on the list was Jayne Ingles with her great version of  'Billy Gray', and  'The fisher lad of Whitby' ( nice place- Whitby). It's always nice to listen to Jayne's songs. I thank Chris Martin for stepping in to do the sound desk tonight, and also thanks to Ella  for helping, and Simon.

Chris took a break from the controls to come up next, and play two of his own songs. The moving story of  'Paul',  and then 'I went to America'.- a more cheerful song , as he himself actually announced.  The next player was Dave Dale, who was  on good form, and gave us  'Blue side of the mountain', and   'Widdecombe Fair'. Earlier in the evening, I had picked up Dave's beer glass by mistake, instead of my own.  -- Twice ! It's an easy mistake to make.- Luckily,he stopped me before I took a swig. Sorry Dave!

After this, we had a visit from Keith, who played us some blues Harmonica , influenced by his visit to Nashville, and a little taste of 'Jack Daniels'.  (That's what he told us).  -- Maybe more than a little taste.
Chris Liddiard  stepped up next, and gave us two of  his nice songs, 'Long in the tooth', and 'Can't we dance?'     -- No - When we're long in the tooth, we shouldn't dance anymore.
   
Last on the list, we had Louise Kennedy, singing  'At last',  followed by  'Halleluiah',  with accompaniment on trumpet from Rupert Cobb, and the sound of a couple of guitars wistfully wafting from the wings.  We finished off the night with the 'Story' of beer making.   --  The song of   'John Barleycorn'. Although a bit low on visitors in the audience, we had a full list of players, and I hope everyone enjoyed it.

Clive Woodman


11th August 2015 THE SUBJECTIVE RAMBLINGS OF A "MOON-DREAMED DOG"


When I was studying in London I had a friend who was in the graphics department who was very interested in early music and film posters and, as a musician myself, one that always stuck in my mind was the poster for "The Jazz Singer" featuring Al Jolson. This film musical is considered the first full length "talkie" and was hailed as a major leap forward in technology, creative development and artistic opportunity in the film world. A new era. The poster itself is typical of the design of the time but is, essentially, a painting which includes some very apposite lettering styles. It was quite strange that a technological leap of this magnitude still employed fairly prosaic styles of advertising. There were a number of later posters which were more representative of the modernity of the new medium. In the same year however, H.M. Warner, of Warner Brothers, said….. "who the hell wants to hear actors talk?"….. it was not everyone who saw the talkie as a positive development and not everyone in the film world was keen to herald the new movement.


In another context the careers of Norma Talmadge and Clara Bow, who had been extremely successful silent cinema stars, both suffered considerably, and eventually ended, due to the fact that some of the qualities of their natural speaking voices were simply not considered suitable, at the time, for sound recording.
In yet another area the graphic design of posters and advertising, and their artists, some of whom worked for the famous "Photoplay" magazine for instance, were gradually replaced by photographs and photographers. Nowadays we can all take a high quality picture with our phone as well as a host of other things. I remember my parents getting their first telephone when we were children….it was so special no-one was allowed to use it….when it rang we all just stood and looked at it like it was a mysterious intruder….the walls of the castle had finally been breached by electromagnetic sound waves which travelled along a bit of copper wire….perish the thought…this was clear proof that there were other people in the world…other then my Gran…..who usually came on a Tuesday…on the bus…

D.W. Griffiths, who said, "there will never be talking pictures" and Charlie Chaplin are two of my favourite filmmakers, along with Sergei Eisenstein, and I am still happy to watch their silent films….I don’t think anything about the lack of sound….it is not an inconvenience…..but, strangely enough, I also like to watch modern films…however the way they tell the story has changed….are they better?….sound and pictures…or just pictures…like Rubens…..watch Pete and Dud at the Art Gallery on Youtube…."are you enjoying that sandwich?"

When I was a child I used to listen to the wind I would close my eyes so I could hear it better…I still do….we also had a goods line near us, carrying coal…. and there was a steam train that whistled in the night…I really liked these sounds…I found them mysterious and interesting and somewhat comforting….later in my life I read a book called "Something Wicked This Way Comes" by Ray Bradbury written in 1962 

"Yet this train's whistle!
The wails of a lifetime were gathered in it from other nights in other slumbering years; the howl of moon-dreamed dogs, the seep of river-cold winds through January porch screens which stopped the blood, a thousand fire sirens weeping or worse! the outgone shreds of breath, the protests of a billion people dead or dying, not wanting to be dead, their groans, their sighs, burst over the earth!"   Ray Bradbury, Something Wicked This Way Comes, 1962

The title is also a quote from the Witches in Shakespeare's Macbeth …Act 4 Scene 1.."By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes……"

I also like Laurie Anderson and The Sex Pistols …they are experimental and interesting and sometimes employ mysterious and evocative noises…I like creative ideas…all the better when there is quality in the music…..

One of my favourite Bob Dylan quotes is "harmonicas play the skeleton keys of the rain" Visions of Joanna, Blonde on Blonde 1966….one of the best albums ever made…..how do I know?….I'll tell you later……an evocative line…new uses of words..new poetry…a new kind of songwriting. I remember my pals scoffing at me for liking Dylan…."he cant sing and he writes nonsense..what does it mean…ha,ha,ha…." they liked the Beatles who sang songs about real things which you could understand like "Strawberry Fields" …..hmmmm…..

In a way the experience and the evocative and, sometimes haunting, qualities of these memories enhanced my imagination and enjoyment of Ray Bradbury, Bob Dylan, Giorgio de Chirico…and many others……all  the elements were connected by a kind of common aesthetic…..an understanding and expression of some kind of etheric abstract link….. "will the wind ever remember, all the names it has called in the past"  The Wind Cries Mary, Jimi Hendrix 1967

The last Tuesday session saw a host of friends, both regulars, and some newcomers and others who have been less often….but all welcome…



Myself, Chris Martin, John Oddie and Rachel, Derry, Ella, Chris Liddiard, Clive, Dave Moore, Mike Foy, Marylin and Andy, Terry Lees, Louise, Jim Tippler, Keith Willson, and Ted…they all played and were all excellent…and they enjoyed it…and so did we…and so did all of the people who were not playing…..and we made our usual collection and everyone contributed…..no-one seemed to be bothered about anything except my sense of humour…which is understandable…

It would be nice to talk about everyone in turn but, with so many people, it would have to be quite a tome….so if no-one minds I will just mention a couple of people who maybe merit a word….

It was nice to see Derry back playing with us as he has had a damaged finger so "Welcome Back" to him and it was good to see Dave Moore and his Banjo. Dave always makes us welcome at the Green Man, in Ringmer, and can not always get along to our night…so thanks for making an effort to come and entertain us and to join in the evening. We also had a newcomer in Louise…but what was even more important was that people had made an effort to come and take part at whatever level….I know that we all play different stuff and that some are more experienced and technically proficient but it doesn’t matter to me….I like to see everyone come and play whatever they want because if they didn’t we wouldn’t have a Folk and Blues Club. Now it does not necessarily follow that I appreciate all the stuff, that is played, to the same level…I have my own taste but I would try my best not to let that dictate how anyone takes part….and that is the way that I have always worked….

When we used to go and see the Stones in the early seventies they came on stage with some amplifiers and drums and we thought "we can do that"…it was achievable…nowadays going to a concert is like being on the set of Star Wars…spectacular but you cant get it in the bedroom…….. unless you have electromagnetism and coils and wires and things……like they have in telephones and other electronic devices…


There used to be a busker on the Cliffe Bridge in Lewes who played the clarinet to a tape of a full orchestra. It always seemed strange to me that the music he chose seemed to have very little clarinet in it so he didn’t play a great deal….at first I thought that maybe he should just have the radio and his hat…but after some consideration I also thought "well it is his way of doing something positive and creative"….he wants to feel part of something….maybe he couldn’t afford his own orchestra…..maybe there wasn’t enough room for them on the bridge …maybe there is a health and safety issue about having a full orchestra on the bridge…….. I hope my point is taken positively…as it was meant….he has a right to be creative in his own way…..
There was another busker who played some really unrecognisable songs on a guitar which only had two strings but it actually sounded quite authentic in way…there was integrity in his expression it would seem….and he was out there doing his thing….his thing…precious….

So we have had a little issue about backing tracks and using ipods and things…I have some personal but conflicting and contradictory views…but they are mine….I am standing on both sides of the river…not that I really care about my own subjective chaos….I like Chaplins "City Lights" but I also like "the Matrix" …however there is no way I want to impose my opinion on the club or anyone…the club is a sum of its parts and I am only one small part of an infinite opportunity for potential creativity…I would also hope for a democratic approach….however I will say that I would find it difficult to be part of something which had rules about what was and wasn’t allowed….no thanks…..

But it is not just the Ipod thing…I really like Andy playing stuff on his Ipod at the beginning and end of the evening….the whole thing is about electromagnetism…guitar pickups, microphones, speakers, amplifiers, copper wire….I like the sound of the wind out on the moors and I also love Voodoo Child by Jimi Hendrix…I can like both…

But who do we blame for the paradox Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison…..Michael Faraday…or the electromagnetic field…that’s where lightning grows…and they harvest thunderbolts….it has potential….

While I have been writing this various things have passed my window….a BMW…a woman with two whippets….a crow…two crows(one walking)…then nothing….

“Why the Egyptian, Arabic, Abyssinian, Choctaw? Well, what tongue does the wind talk? What nationality is a storm? What country do rains come from? What color is lightning? Where does thunder go when it dies?”
Ray Bradbury, Something Wicked This way Comes, 1962

"All You Need Is Love" The Beatles 1968

I have just discovered that, if you attach two baked bean tins with a piece of string through a hole in the bottom then pull it really tight……the string breaks….

Over and out

My thumbs are pricking…..

28th July 2015  by Chris Mansell  ROLL OVER BEETHOVEN

I was happy to cover John for the Rock and Roll evening as he was not able to be there as a host but it was great to see him come and help with the PA along with Chris Martin so thanks a million to them an' Be Bop A Lula….

Excellent that everyone stuck to the jive and cooled it with some real authentic rock'n'roll….well for the major part…we surprised one or two with an extra song so they had to revert to something familiar….but you know what I mean you mellow alligators….

No one actually got that into it, that they turned up in a "Zoot Suit with a reat pleat, with a drape shape. With a generous cut but tight cuffs….."attributed to Harold C. Fox, a Chicago clothier.

After I did my intro, the next cats that were hep to the jive (I don't know if I can keep this up) were Jim Neill and Keith Willson…nice to see Keith, who used to be a regular hipster, and Jim, who is now becoming one….now….where was I…oh yes….they played an excellent set. They are both good musicians and Keith has a strong voice so excellent stuff from them.

Steve Cooper has been a couple of times and enjoys playing some strong tunes and he has a good voice and was followed by Chris Martin who stepped up to the plate..baseball reference… with a set that included a rock'n'roll style self penned piece. It was also very nice to see Simon Watt back amongst us and playing some lively tunes….you may notice at this point that I am not doing "Name That Tune" and there is a simple reason for this….I have been tardy…I know that is not a rock'n'roll word…with the blog, because I have been engaged in other pressing activities, and that does not mean I have been doing the ironing, so I do not remember every song that was played. In an attempt at democracy I think it only fair to apply some equality to the blog and treat everyone the same….so I am not mentioning any songs except that we did did Be Bop A Lula and Roll Over Beethoven at the end as a kind of jam session type thing…

So….anyway…next up was Ella Moonbridge who played some really good piano and sang well..she is good at this type of piano, and she was followed by Clive Woodman who played a good set….

We had thought that Rachel might come, but she was not able to, so I stood in and played a couple of songs so that John could play some fine guitar, as per usual, and was followed by Chris Liddiard who is no stranger to this era and was well in his element and played some good songs.

Dave Backley is an old friend who is the founder member of a band called Far Cry, who appear regularly at the Bells. He now runs an Open Mike at the Blackboys on the alternate Tuesday to ours. I go quite regularly and it is  good evening and I have seen the likes of Chris Martin and John there on a regular basis. The Blackboys has organised a Beer Festival in recent years, not unlike the one we do at the Bells, and some of us have enjoyed playing there and this year the Festival will take place on the 14th, 15th and 16th of August. I am guessing that the programme will be on their website……anyway it was nice of Dave to come along and advertise his event and also play a few really good songs for us so…. cool and groovy I hear our respondez-vous, how de doo, how are yoo…..I just made that bit up….quite good I think…I should have been born in the 50's…..hang on…I was born in the…..whoops!! nearly gave it away you cool doody-type groovers….so I can fully recommend the Blackboys old beans…eat your greens…which was a song by Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention…if you catch my drift on the Midnight Shift….Come On I am doing my best……Eddie Cochran reference there…..

So we finished the night with a right old hoe-down, which I realise is the wrong kind of reference, which involved a range of musicians from all walks of style and application in the manufacture of some scintillating rock'n'roll which included the numbers I referred to earlier in my piece.

Another great night and another success for the ole Six Bells Folk and Blues Club…shake it up baby now….

It also gives me great pleasure to report that we now have Kepler 452b on our list of places to visit……I had a look to see what happened to 1-451 but got a bit bored…I think 1a may be  super nova but 186f looks really interesting…we might be getting a new PA so maybe we can start another open mike on one of these Keplers….maybe we could be Open Mike Trail Blazers……Six Bells Folk and Blues All Stars…get it…AALLLL STARRS…..never mind…..bye bye everyone…which is another 50's reference…

See you in a few light years….

Duke, Duke, Duke, Duke of Oil, Oil, Oil…..

Sleep well……



16th June 2015  by Chris Mansell  FRANCIS GALPIN'S NIGHT AND MUCH VARIETY ALL ROUND

Well….I found myself in front of the mike again as Lisa was unable to attend and sent her apologies…..I did my usual little intro to the night and Francis did an excellent job of managing the PA which I thought was a sterling effort especially as it was his night so that was very kind…..

And so I start with Francis who played an excellent set for us and a range of interesting tunes which also saw him use his "highly strung" Guitar to great effect. I believe he had this tuned to "Nashville Tuning" and used it to play an excellent blues. I really enjoyed Francis' choice of songs which included "A Case of You" by Joni Mitchell, a version of "If I were a Carpenter" by Tim Hardin and a lovely version of "Bookends" by Simon and Garfunkel. Francis has a lucky and effective combination of ability on the guitar combined with a strong voice. He also graced us with a  good Van Morrison tune from the recently "Knighted" composer. He has been a good friend to the club and has helped with the PA and has contributed significantly to the overall  ambience and positive philosophy of the evenings so thanks to him and I hope we see more of him and hear him playing. Let me add that Francis is the lead vocalist of the Elevators so look out for them on the circuit as they are well worth a visit…

And so…. to the rest of the night and other performers and performances which included the welcome return of our very own Simon Watt, after a brief absence, who made an effective presentation, having lost none of his wit and vigour. I would also lke to thank Simon for finding some time to take photos to update our cache of images for the website.

Ella Moonbridge was on early on this occasion and played some lovely songs on Bazouki for which, I think, she has a particular affinity and seems to enjoy. It was also nice to see Meya Rein who played a couple of songs with Stuart and another set with Bob Melrose. Meya has a lovely voice and was able to come as her own Open Mike night has changed dates. She has initiated some interesting venues of late and we will try and put some links on the website. Stuart also did a good solo set. 

It was nice to see that Mike Willis put in an appearance but was unable to stay and play. Mike along with his "Good Company" buddies did a charity walk last year and played music at a range of pubs and venues along the way. They raised some considerable amount for charity and, I think, raised £300 at the Bells alone. It was a great evening and well attended.

Chris Liddiard played us a couple of good numbers and it is always nice to see him and the evening concluded with myself and John Oddie and Bob Melrose road testing our new little combo which seemed to go down quite well. We have been rehearsing for a while and is has been an interesting new departure and we are still getting things sorted out. Nice to do something new….

So I think it was a really successful night all told and there were a number of new visitors who seemed to enjoy the various aspects of the entertainment on offer….I even got a few laughs, believe it or not, at some of my of my random comments….

Simon and I will be considering getting the committee together for a look at next year……we will have a "brains trust" and come up with some ideas for interesting things to do…maybe Bernard Levin will put in an appearance but I have got a feeling that he was on That Was The Week That Was with David Frost and Millicent Martin……my overall point being that we are always open to ideas and comments from anyone who is interested in doing something, either as participant, or organiser…
I think that the varied presenters have worked well and the concept seems to work…I also like the idea that there seems to be more artists who are playing together and getting up, or down, with each other….depending on what kind of music it is….James Brown would get "down", I think, while I prefer to get "up" at about 7ish and start the day with a smile…..if your waiter says that you have a voice like a summer breeze then that is service with a simile, which is a different thing altogether…

Anyway please keep coming and enjoying yourselves and see our activity as a kind of hub of creativity which reaches to various venues such as the Blackboys and the White Horse and the Green Man and all of Meya's nights, such as the one at Deanland,…and then there are all the special events….the club has always had links with Midsummer Magic in East Hoathly and, since I started writing this Bob, John and Myself have played there on Saturday. We also get involved with the beer festival at the Bells and at the Blackboys and the club has recently donated money to Nepal and Tibet and to charities in Africa and Cambodia….so we are not just doing our Tuesday nights singing and playing…the whole thing has far reaching effects of which you are a part and I, for one, feel that is a positive and creative element of what we do and I am happy to continue promoting it.

Having said that I have had no response from our initiative to establish a complaints department on Kepler 24b and no response from their twinning committee so I can not guarantee any early progress on this…..no news is good news….that’s what I say….I read somewhere that at 500mph it would take about 22million years to get there……it would be great to be around when we get a reply to our first letter of complaint…I will probably still be presenting by then and it will be that complaint about not enough blues….I'll have to start thinking about what I am going to say……now lets see….44million years ago Robert Johnson was a blues singer who influenced the likes of the Rolling Stones…whats that? No, had nothing to do with intergalactic light travel….can the gas being in the corner stop morphing while I am speaking please….and stop playing with that sub-atomic mobile communication device…yes I do realise that it only works under water….please listen…this is "Travellin Light" by Cliff….no not that kind of light….hang on I am just going to pop back to the 20th century to write the blog…….on a computer…..stop that laughing…..

See you next time
chris

2nd June 2015  by Chris Martin 
As MC for the evening I decided to wear a bowler hat to create gravitas, or maybe just to give me that circus ringmaster feel. Anyway, I’ve learnt one thing from the experience and that’s they make your head sweat profusely. The city gents gave them up in the late 60’s, which was probably something to do with all that long hair that suddenly sprouted with the arrival of guitar wielding hippy songsters.

Talking of guitar wielding hippy songsters, I’d finished my pre-event shepherd’s pie & veg and wanted to start the evening at 8:30, but the room was empty with the exception of a few curious punters and Mr Mansell, who’d arrived early to set up the PA. The usual and a few unusual suspects started to drift in and by 9:00 I thought I’d better launch the show with a couple of my own ditties - an old one called ‘Remember’ from my 1991 Red Delta period and a spanking brand new composition, 'King of the flies', hot off the C J Martin song production line.
With Chris Mansell on the desk and a list featuring nine acts it was time to rock ‘n’ roll. First up was White Horse stalwart, Keith Willson, ably assisted by Jim Neale on fiddle. Keith’s material was in a foot stomping bluesy vain, with versions of ‘Too sad to sing the blues’ and ‘Brighton Rock’. Keith and Jim stayed on to form a White Horse super trio with David Dale. David gave us some nice vocals on ‘Midnight Special’ and ‘Real like that’.
In an evening of middle aged men with guitars, Ella Moonbridge gave us a couple of pretty songs on her Bazouki. She opened with the Rickie Lee Jones number, 'Running from mercy’ and closed with a fine rendition of Joni Mitchell’s, ‘Carey’.
Chris Mansell was in Hendrix mode, despite lacking the Strat and Marshall rig. Due to excess fingernail degradation (a subject I could write a PhD on) he resorted to using a, shock horror, wait for it… pick (technically known as a plectrum). After an extended rummage through his wallet, he fished out said appendage and took us through rip roaring acoustic versions of ‘Live today’ and the ubiquitous Hendrix Dylan cover ‘All along the watchtower’.
The Folk and Blues Club webmaster, Simon Watt opened with a sweet version of ‘Woodstock’ and then formed his own power trio, with Jim on fiddle and everyone’s favourite slide meister, John Oddie on the bottleneck and they gave us a mighty fine rendition of ‘All around you’.
“He's the hairy handed gent who ran amuck in Kent” - John stayed on for his own set and was joined by Chris Mansell. According to Huggy Bear, the word on the street is that these Six Bells legends are apparently forming their own ELP esk supergroup with other local open mic stars. I’d like to tell you more, but I’ve been threatened with an injunction by their lawyers! Anyway, John was in a Warren Zevon kind of mood and gave us great renditions of ‘Carmelita’ and ‘Werewolves of London’.
Men in hats - next up it was Michael Aldridge with excellent performances of ‘Before you accuse me’ and ‘A white boy lost in the blues’. Chris Liddiard, head honcho at the White Horse, was the final act on my list and he got a bit of a singalong going with his self-penned, ‘Good time girl’ and ‘You can’t please all the women all the time’.
With time to kill, which is mighty rare at the Bells, I went again with Mr O at my side on slide and cheered up the crowd with a version of my open mic night song, ‘I like to be sad’! Mr Mansell then hit the stage to join John on ‘Vigilante Man’. Jacob is a young man from Germany who is working in the kitchens at the Six Bells and he did some impro vocals in English over a bit of rockin' blues from the house band and then requested they give him something “melancholy”. Chris immediately found a vibe, whilst John looked perturbed as it was minor key stuff, but he soon rose to the occasion and they backed Jacob on his second improvised outing - only at the Six Bells hey! J & C finished with the Robert Johnson tune, ‘Stop breakin’ down’, before Jacob closed the evening with a bit of a German a cappella number.
Thank you very much and goodnight - we finished at 11:15 and Ella, along with two of the Chris’s (Mansell & Martin) dismantled the mighty PA and put it back in the cupboard until next time. x
19th May 2015  A LOT OF COUNTRY AND A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF ROCK 


Many people were aware that Simon had had an operation but few realised that the op was to make him look more like me.…at least that is what I told them…… but they saw through the subterfuge very quickly and I had to admit that I was standing in for the original host for the evening.  Oh! how we laughed….
So we sent our positive vibes to Simon across the creative ether and wished him a speedy and effective recovery in his absence…

So here I am in blog writing territory again, having been redundant for some weeks, as there has been a wave of other offerings from our range of excellent hosts who have exhibited a significant ability to chronicle the events of their evenings in a very professional manner…so I may need to brush some of the rust, and cobwebs, from the caverns of my creativity to match the burgeoning standard of commentary….

It was one of those evenings which started brilliantly and just got better and better. We had eleven participants in all and everyone stuck to the general theme in their own unique fashion. Especially noteworthy was the range of methods by which performers had researched and applied their own style to their songs….but the the choice of numbers was also excellent and included Neil Young, Crosby Stills and Nash, The Eagles, Jackson Browne, Tom Waits, The Band, The Byrds, Bob Dylan and many more…

Two "stand out" sets, and performers, which I need to mention were Jim Neill and Sandy.

Jim came early and was keen to sit in on fiddle and guitar. He has played at the club before but not often and is a pal of Chris Liddiard's. What an excellent musician!! He played fiddle on my two opening numbers, and was brilliant, and then went on to do his own set on guitar and accompany a number of others. A notable night for him and us….great stuff…

Sandy was very nervous as she had not sung solo before and she went on and sang "Every time you say goodbye" without any accompaniment. I thought she had a great voice and delivery and everyone responded accordingly to an excellent performance. For a first time outing, and to go up and sing on ones own, I thought she was brilliant and deserved a special mention. I hope she comes, and sings, again…..

John Oddie played a couple of good tunes and demonstrated some considerable dexterity on slide guitar and it was also nice to see Trace Walton who had not been for some time. He played some strong songs including a good Eagles number which all went down really well. 

David has been a, recent, regular and plays some interesting stuff. He, bravely, embarked upon, and made an excellent job of, a complex Tom Waits number and managed to get all of the gritty expression into it…. so a great performance from him.

Country music, by all accounts, found some of its origins in Appalachian music and was, generally, the music of the working class people. However, as it stemmed, mainly, from the Southern States there is also a lot of Irish Folk music and Blues in its development. I believe that the some of the first, steel string, Martin guitars were modified during the depression to become a more everyday instrument and, along with the banjo, harmonica and fiddle, all of which were easily transportable, they became the core of the country sound. In the 60s and 70s the Country Rock genre was built upon by the likes of the Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers along with the likes of Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton. This new, more electric, approach capitalised on the use of the Pedal Steel guitar which had a massive influence on the sound and was used by The Everly Brothers later in their career. Buddy Emmons toured with the Everly's and Sneaky Pete Kleinow was the famous member of the Burrito Brothers who also played with many other big artists of the time including The Rolling Stones and Joan Baez. The pedal steel guitar is completely unique and gives Country Music a distinct and very beautiful quality. It would be very nice if we had someone play pedal steel at the Ole Folk Club…..anyone?…. 
One of my favourite collaboration of artists emerging from the Country genre, are "Trio", who are Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris, whose albums, in my opinion, approach sheer perfection….give them a listen…

So, Clive Woodman, fresh from his success as a host of the evening, played us a couple of good tunes including "The Weight" by The Band and Ella played and sang some nice stuff, with piano, including a good version of Neil Young's "Helpless" so a strong set from her.

It was very good to see Bob Melrose come and play and he played some excellent pieces including a version of Joni Mitchell's "Woodstock", also a memorable version by Crosby, Stills and Nash. John Oddie joined in on slide and I did some backing vocals and I thought the whole thing went rather well for a first time outing. Great to see Bob again.

Chris Liddiard has been coming to the club for some considerable time and always plays some good music but he was in his element playing with Jim Neill on fiddle and they produced some excellent music together.

And so it was to a relatively new performer, who was playing under the name of Joe Crow, to finish the evening off. Joe's style and content was certainly the most individual in that he sat on the floor and played an electric guitar with some distortion while singing some fairly interesting songs…self penned I would think. He had some obvious ability and produced an interesting performance which received a good response.

So the night was over and we all felt particularly satisfied that we had enjoyed an excellent night, and a fantastic range of music, played by good friends and musicians supported by an enthusiastic and positive audience….what more could you ask for?

Well there are few things you could ask for….I am sure we all have a list somewhere!!

I really enjoyed running the night as I have writing this blog and I feel that the nights have been very positive and successful in recent weeks. There was a definite feeling of positive involvement on Tuesday and it was really good to be involved.
We hope to see Simon soon and expect that he will, at this very moment, be composing a song about his recent experiences and putting it all into history and context.

For me, some of the stuff played at the evening was poignantly reminiscent of when we used to listen to Radio Luxemburg, late at night, to hear the top twenty with the Everlies and Elvis and all that drama and emotion…magical times and memories…suits and haircuts and chisel toe shoes……but the music still seems just as powerful and meaningful as it was back then…to me anyway….

I think I can hear a distant train whistle….or maybe its just the wind…or maybe its the Ghost Riders in the Sky…….plowin' through the ragid skies and up a cloudy draw…..yipeee aye yay…….

See you soon

chris


Tuesday May 5th.
 
It was nice to see that Chris Mansell had been in earlier in the day, and had very kindly set up most of the sound equipment in advance, saving me and some of the others  a lot of time and effort.  

As usual, we had some recorded music playing as background as people were arriving and settling in.  -- Only this time, because Andy (The Expert Sound Man), was not there with his high - tech  iPod,  I rigged up my own low - tech mini CD player, which luckily seemed to work alright.      It played a selection of Maddy Prior songs from her album 'Seven for Old England'.        In place of Andy, we had Chris Martin and Lisa Jackson kindly controlling the sound desk, which can sometimes be a bit 'temperamental'.       -- The desk, that is, not Chris or Lisa !

I started up with the Steeleye Span song 'Padstow', which tells of the traditional May Day festivities in that Cornish town, and then The Strawbs song, 'Part of the Union' which has hints of politics, which I thought appropriate for 'Election Week'. 
 
First on the list was Chris Liddiard,the 'Main Man' at The White Horse, Bodle Street Green.   He gave us two of his own songs, which are always interesting, 'Victor Sylvester' and 'If it aint broke'.    It was good to see him on at this earlier than usual time of the evening.
Next up was Chris Mansell, still the 'Main Man' here at the Six Bells.   Chris played two Bob Dylan songs, 'It takes a lot to laugh it takes a train to cry' and 'She belongs to me', both in his very own powerful style.   Sometimes his fingers move so fast on the guitar, they become a blur.  -- Or is it our eyes ?
Later, Chris made a moving appeal for the support of victims of the Nepal earthquake.

Lisa Jackson was the next player to come up,and she sang very tenderly 'Black is the colour' with her lovely  finger picking style on the  guitar, followed by her own song 'I love my car'.  She always gives a very pure sound with her voice and her guitar.  -- Then she went back to helping on the sound desk.

After Lisa, we had a four song set from Rupert Cobb and Jack Crysell together.   First, Rupert lead with two of his own pieces, 'My Place', and his song about Security Cameras, cleverly playing electric guitar and quickly in a flash, picking up and playing  the trumpet and then back on guitar.     Then Jack took the lead and launched into his two songs 'Honey', and 'Night Shift', with such enthusiasm that he broke a string on his guitar, and had to quickly swop to another one.  Un-deterred, he smoothly carried on, with his foot stamping a drum beat, - which almost left a permanent imprint on the floor!
Following on, we had Chris Martin with two of his own songs which are always well worth listening to.   He has been following his 'Quest' to play live, all of his catalogue of self composed songs, and he is well on the way to finishing.  Nice idea Chris, well done!     -- Then Chris went back to the sound desk again.

Next up was Ella, this time without her lovely bouzouki, but playing the piano, and singing Bob Dylan's ' A hard rain's gonna  fall' and 'If you see her say hello'.     Ella likes a challenge.   That piano is not easy to play!    We all enjoy encouraging her.  Keep it up Ella!     We like it!
Moving on, we then enjoyed John Oddie (as always).  John was singing 'Crossing muddy waters', with his terrific bottle-neck guitar sounds, and then 'Ponies', (I think) ?  -and 'Big Mama's door.'   Then he was joined by Rachel , who sang two nice songs, 'Angel from Montgomery', and 'A case of you'.

John took a short break while I came back to do a tribute to Ben.E. King  -'Save the last dance for me', and then Chris Mansell and John finished the night with 'Vigilante man', and 'Hang down your head'.
 
As always, an enjoyable time.     -- I hope everyone else thinks so.
                                          Clive Woodman
 
 21 April 2015     A Quiet Night
A quiet night at the 6 Bells with some of our regulars unable to attend, but as is often the case this gives the performers a chance to play a little bit more. It was also one of the rare occasions where the audience outnumbered the performers. Clive was first up and opened with a tribute to Percy Sledge with a fine rendition of When a Man Love a Women, following up with a Cat Stevens song and a self-penned number. Ella was next and she played her bazouki through a bass amplifier which provided some spacey effects for a fine rendition of Spencer the Rover and Make You Feel My Love.
Next up was Chris Mansell who was in quiet contemplative mood and played two Dylan songs and a Leadbelly classic. At my request he played his hauntingly beautiful version of One Too Many Mornings- one of my very favourite Dylan songs. David, who plays regularly at the White Horse I believe played next with Green Green Grass of home an Emmylou Harris song and a wonderful Lyle Lovat cover. It was a pleasure to sit back and enjoy some classical piano from Derry who played a Bach piece then the Moonlight Sonata. Last up was Chris Liddiard who was in fine form and sang a lovely self-penned song about himself and Bob Dylan (they were born in the same year).
 We still had plenty of time so were able to go round again, although David chose not to play. Clive sang a lovely song about Cornish tin mines, Ella played some lovely blues piano on John Mayall’s Laurel Canyon, Chris Mansell performed a String Band song, Derry played a lovely piece of Schubert, and Chris Liddiard did his beautiful version of Let It Be Me.
 To close I played a solo song and then Chris Mansell joined me and we played a couple together. It is a real pleasure for me to play with Chris and he provided a master class in guitar improvisation and ensemble playing alternately taking the melody or providing a beautiful backbone over which I could improvise.
 Last but by no means least many thanks to Andy who always gets a good sound and mix. I was disconcerted to discover that my jack fitting had come loose, but Andy mic’ed up my resonator and gave me a lovely guitar and vocal sound.
 So a very diverse and enjoyable evening of music.
John Oddy

24th March 2015 - Chris Liddiard


I was flattered to be asked to host the Bells open stage last night. I’ve been singing there on and off for more years than I care to admit. And to be doing the job that Chris Mansell has been doing for 20 years felt really special. I was spared the task of setting up and operating the pa. Thanks to those who did, and a special thanks to dear Lisa for working the desk.

I meant to begin the evening at 8.30 but there was no audience and no one seemed in a hurry. But at about 8.45 I said welcome to the 6 Bells Folk and Blues Club and I sang my version of the great Scottish song "Loch Lomond”. I chose this because everyone knows it and I wanted to get people singing. I think it worked but not quite as well of this fabulous version by Runrig. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHu0h9XaNcg Lisa Jackson then joined me and we sang my country song, "Come Home and Kiss Me Tonight”. Lisa stayed on and sang us a couple of songs including her version of Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire”. A lovely start to the evening.


Lisa was followed by Ron Turner and his son Rob. They both play great guitar and can sing a bit too, including one of my favourites, John Hiatt’s “ 'till I Get My Lovin’ Back”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpY0USYknaE Next was Ella, the lovely lady from Bexhill. Ella plays a Bazuki and sings super songs. She forgot some words and John Oddie helped out. Great, it’s why we love live music. Newcomer, Jim Neale then played nice guitar and sang two really good songs. Jim has just moved to Sussex and is exploring the local music scene. He says his real love is playing the fiddle. Hope to catch him playing the fiddle soon.

It felt strange, me introducing Chris Mansell at his club. He was joined by John Oddie on slide guitar and Rupert on trumpet and as usual, they blew the place away. John stayed on and we loved his songs and guitar sound, and he also played guitar for Rachel. As always, Rachel sounded so good. Next I introduced Simon Watt. i called him one my favourite songwriters and he showed us why. A new song about Fracking. It was brilliant, (Ella played tambourine with him).

Clive Woodman is there on a regular basis and, as usual, he sounded really good. Anne is often there after a hard day on her farm. She writes very amusing , and probably true, poems about life in the country. Mike Aldridge is always there, wearing his fez and playing the blues. Mike hosts the next 6 Bells session on 7th April when everyone has to play the blues ‘cause it’s a blues theme night. Monica Ross is really really different. She works as a teacher, and soon had the whole audience on their feet, singing and dancing. Chris Martin sang a couple of his own very thoughtful songs, which sounded even better with Rupert on the trumpet. We’re so lucky to have Rupert around. What a sweet sound. I  finished the evening with a bit of Elvis and everyone went home happy.

Chris
 
10th March 2015 - Lisa Jackson
As one door closes, another door opens...
One thing that stuck in my memory at the New Host Initiation Ceremony at The Six Bells a few weeks ago (apart from the funny handshakes), was the warning about the heavy fire door to the store cupboard. It was an uncomfortable story to hear; how one man became trapped inside as the door slammed shut. He was rescued six hours later dehydrated and traumatised. Nasty. So glad we had been warned about that. And the Initiation had actually really helped. I remembered that there were a lot of wires to untangle and it only took five of us to get the gear set up! Easy!
So, I am no longer running my monthly open mic nights, but a new opportunity immediately opened up as I was asked to be an occasional host at The Six Bells Folk Club along with fellow regulars. What an honour and a pleasure to be involved in this hugely respected longstanding club.
My first night as host was so well supported too, making it a very special occasion for me. Support came from Chris Martin as The Sound Man, who did a Stirling job keeping everyone plugged in and sounding terrific. He also played a great set himself, including a self-penned song ‘Leaf’ with backing vocals from Jayne and Yours Truly and Helga on Flute. Helga played beautifully on my two songs too, at the start of the evening. The inimitable Chris Mansell kindly agreed to take the second spot and he played a blinding set that would have knocked Donovan's socks off. Oh, and what was that Mickey Mouse fact about Pluto Chris?!

There's a shy kinda fella who sits in the corner at the back of the bar and his name is Greg. If you ask him nicely, he'll get up and play his sax very beautifully. This he did with Chris and also with the very talented young Stuart Evans who grabbed our attention immediately by plugging in an electric guitar into his own amp.

Stuart played a John Martyn classic and a 'dirty blues' song with saxy Greg adding brilliance to the already sensitive and accomplished guitar playing. What a cracking duo! Look forward to seeing Stuart at The Bells again very soon.


We were thrilled to welcome back Sam Peacock and Emma Morton. Their a cappella harmonies were a delight; true songbirds with a traditional English spin on old folk tunes. I must single out Emma, as the purity and clarity of her voice simply sparkles.


Newcomer to the folk club, Paul Jennings, was nicknamed The Six Bells Virgin. (We’re friendly like that.) Paul is a seasoned performer, but fairly new to playing solo. He took us through the decades with an old blues number followed by a lovely interpretation of 80s hit ‘China Girl’, the words to which Chris M seemed to know very well! Hope to see the Virgin back soon.
Indian Dave…what can I say! Such sensitive and emotive playing of those pan pipes. We were all transported to the Appalachians. A lovely diversion to the evening. And we haven’t seen Paul Meston at The Bells for a long while, so it was good to have him back and play Pink Floyd for us. The audience certainly enjoyed his well executed interpretations of ‘Money’ and ‘Have a Cigar’. Greg added super sax too.

Special mention must be given to Stuart Reed who joined us with two classic folk songs. Stuart is a veteran of the local folk scene, a huge supporter and promoter of local musicians, running his popular Brighton Acoustic Sessions at The Lord Nelson in Trafalgar Street. Stuart was a predominant band member of the successful and popular Brighton Taverners, a group that played music together for 40 years. I was lucky enough to be a guest at their farewell gig back in January 2011 where Show of Hands took to the stage for an informal but superb evening of music. Great to hear Stuart play again.
It is always a pleasure to have other open mic hosts come along and play at the folk club. It’s encouraging to know that we all support each other in our aim to offer musicians of all levels a platform to play. We had regulars join us: Chris Liddiard from The White Horse and Mike Aldridge who is now hosting nights at The Green Man in Ringmer. Plus Jayne who is such a popular singer in the local folk scene and hosts at the Underground in Eastbourne as well as the newly formed Uckfield Folk ‘n’ Blues Club at Ringles Cross.
And we mustn’t forget Ella who played a challenging Joni Mitchell song ‘Carrie’ on her Bazuki. She sang so well, as did Ted who certainly stunned me with his emotive Van Morrison/Joe Cocker style of singing and performing. What a way to end the evening!
And so with Stuart, Paul and Greg playing us out with ‘Great Gig in the Sky’, The Sound Man and I headed for the store cupboard to retrieve the gear bags, congratulating ourselves at the success of a great evening, when it all went pear shaped… The fire door slammed shut with a terrifying thud! We were trapped. No one could hear us scream…“Help! Someone, anyone, let us out! We gotta be back here in two weeks for Chris Liddiard…Help! Save us!”
 FIN


24th February 2015  C J Martin
Chris Mansell has been running the Six Bells Folk & Blues Club since… well, it was an era when everything was powered by valves.  After serving well over 20 years of a life sentence, he had put in for parole - so, we had a meeting at a long table.  Some of the great and the good were there, as was I and we agreed on compassionate grounds to remove his shackles and set him free.  Although, his bail conditions stipulate that he has to report in regularly with his guitar.
The great and the good agreed to take it in turns to run the evenings and with the ‘great and the good’ being otherwise engaged, it fell to me to run the first night.  Anyway, the long table team had some new progressive ideas!  Start at 8:30, have an interval mid evening to pass the jug round, dress the room with candles on tables etc etc.
When I arrived, Andy (soundman) Barnes was tucking into a Henry VIII size rack of ribs and I settled down in a comfy chair by the fire and had my meal (shepherd’s pie and some health veg) served on a tray - the football was on TV and all was very pleasant and relaxed.  After our scoff, Andy and I headed into the main room, which was on the cool side after the comfort of the fire in the main bar and we started setting up the PA - we were soon warmed up lugging the gear in.  The long table team had also talked about getting a smaller set of speakers for the PA, democracy had said yes, but everyone has a view, so we probably need a dictatorship to take it forward.




Performers and their entourages were arriving, so I got me a pen & paper and started a list - being an accommodating chap, I asked everyone when they wanted to play.  Now, no one likes going first and no one wanted to be on late, as they didn’t want to risk being turned into a pumpkin.  Various people played the senior citizen card about getting rather tired after 9:00pm.
Clive Woodman was our featured artist - so, as star of the show, he was going on in the middle.  At 8:30 we were eight and it looked like a quietish evening was on the cards and the unheard of (at the Bells) possibility of three songs each!  With no takers for the graveyard slot, I got us underway at 8:45 with a couple of covers that can be strummed (one featured a capo on the seventh fret), this was mainly down to the fact that I’d snapped off my guitar picking fingernails doing some gardening!
At this point, I must fess up that I didn’t note who played what, though I can tell you dear readers that everyone was great in their own sweet way.  Sadly, I can’t give a detailed set list with info on tunings, capo positions, or specific reports on solos and extended improvisations (noodling).  But rest assured, capos were to the fore, tunings were aplenty and there was a healthy amount of noodling.
I was followed by White Horse stalwart, David Dale and then, everyone’s fav slide guitar player, John Oddie, who was in a chilled mood and delivered a fine rendition of No woman no cry. Next up was Milly McCarron, who is a young singer and guitar player and she closed with a Taylor (never heard of him said the old geezer next to me) Swift song.
During the opening few acts, more people rolled in and we ended up with 14 performers and at one point over 40 people were listening to the show.
Clive Woodman launched his extended set with Tobacco Road and mixed it up with a few of his own compositions in an excellent eight song slot.  His penultimate number was made up of a lot of intros from well-known songs.  I was toying with showing him how Ritchie Blackmore plays the riff in Smoke on the water, but that would have been rather churlish now wouldn’t it.
With the room full and plenty more players to squeeze in, I decided to give the break a miss and we cracked on with Ella Moonbridge and her Bazouki, Ella’s second song featured an Irish whistle opening and was then delivered a cappella in medieval French.
Mr Mansell then gave us his force of nature performance about a train with a thousand coaches - now that’s one hell of a big train and I was wondering about the practical issue of fitting it on a platform for disembarkation.  Chris was joined by John the slide for his second tune. Tony Parry was next up - Tony has just launched a new open night at The Ringles Cross (Uckfield).  Terry Lees and Mel Hayes with smart matching grey Martin cases gave us a couple of tunes from their new EP, starting with Billy Gray and finishing with a bit of flamboyant and dextrous instrumentation.
Folk & Blues Club web supremo, Simon Watt was joined by Ella on percussion and they were followed by Mr White Horse himself, Chris Liddiard.  Matt Johnson was our second youngster (under 50) of the evening and gave us a bit of Oasis and closed with a nice rhythmical rendition of a Jam song.
Ted Humphries closed the evening with three dynamic tunes, finishing with a full blooded rendition of Rockin’ in the free world, with Mr Oddie on slide and Mr Mansell on dancing and BVs.
We started dismantling the mighty PA at 11:25pm and I was home at just after midnight and did not wake up as a pumpkin. Jesting aside, it was a full and great evening of music. Thank you to Andy Barnes for driving the desk, all our wonderful and varied performers and our listeners. We’ll be back for more on Tuesday 10/03/15 with Lisa Jackson on MC duties and me behind the desk.



Keep on rockin’ in the free world
Chris x

10th February 2015  ON WITH THE SHOW

I suppose one might have to observe that I am not presenting the club for a while and that may seem significant but, to be honest, I am not going anywhere and I still hope to be part of the whole shebang…
With that said it was a pretty good evening, all things considered, and I was also pleased that the evening had a further purpose in being able to support Richard, who runs the bar, on his half marathon in support of Prostate Cancer. The event will take place in Hastings in March and we managed to raise nearly £70 so thanks to all of those who contributed so kindly and effectively.

But it was no mean evening and there were lots of great musicians and it was especially nice to welcome a couple of our friends who we do not see too much….Terry Lees and Ted Humphrys.
I think I will start with them as it seems to make sense….
Ted has been a major part of the club since we started all those years ago and he comes when he can as he lives some distance away. As many of you know, Ted is a great performer and has his own particular style. He has a great sense of timing and applies some great dynamics which bring some energy to his performance. He always plays interesting stuff and seems to be able  to choose songs which suit his style and which have some meaning and strength in the content. He was excellent on the night and played a song with John Oddie on slide and also played us a late encore with myself on vocals and John on slide…we did "Keep on Rockin in the Free World"…a Neil Young classic and I think we, and everyone else, really enjoyed it…..lovely to see Ted and I hope we see more of him soon…also great to see Chris, his partner…..great supporters of the club and friends of us all.

Terry Lees is also no stranger to the club and it always lovely to see him and hear him play. He played some excellent tunes and a good version of "One Too Many Mornings"…. one of my own personal favourites. Terry has a very particular guitar style and manages to play melodies and accompaniments which are intricately decorated with ranges of sympathetic notes….very skilful….. He is another musician who seems to be able to adapt the performance to his own style and make the songs original in his own context. I hope we see more of Terry but I know that he comes and goes on a fairly regular basis…..

But all of our other performers were there and equally as involved and important as anyone else……

There was another relative newcomer, Julian, who has played at the club some time ago. He played some good stuff to get us going, after myself, and it was good to see him. Clive announced that he was going to do a couple of instrumentals, as he had a cold but he managed a good song after all. John Oddie and Chris Martin both played good sets as did Mike Aldridge. Worth noting that Chris Martin is hosting the next evening so that should be a good evening….

I think that Ella (Moonbridge) has really found her instrument…..the Bazouki….it makes a lovely sound….like a bass mandolin…and she seems to be confident with it. She has played some really good stuff at the last few sessions……


David Dale is a relatively new guest but he has been a few times now and is an interesting performer and plays some good tunes….nice to see a new and enthusiastic approach. It was also very good to see Jayne Ingles come and play for us on a solo basis…we all really enjoyed her set with Yellow Rose at the beginning of the year but she is excellent in her own right and has a great voice and plays some lovely songs.

Always good to see Chris Liddiard and he came and played a couple of good songs before we did our little "outro" with Ted.

So a great night all told…I was very pleased that we had a good range of performers and music…as always.
We have always had a penchant for presenting a broad range of music as well as a fairly relaxed approach to style and content which is what, I think, adds to our overall popularity. Personally, I grew up with lots of different influences and I am just as happy listening to the Sex Pistols as I am Neil Young or The String Band but that is just me….it seems to resonate in others and we have had some interesting performers over the years, both young and more mature, and I have never…well twice that I can remember… had a complaint about the content of what we do….exactly the opposite…..people seem to enjoy the variety….

I am very excited to see how things pan out over the coming sessions and how different people bring their own style to the evenings…
I am going to try and continue the blog but those who are hosting may want to have their own input and that is fine with me.

So I will see you all soon I hope
All the best

Chris 


27th January 2015  MOVING ON…SOME NEW IDEAS…AND A GOOD NIGHT OF MUSIC

So we had a second night of the new year and continued with an evening of lovely music and interesting people.
It was interesting to start with some newcomers, in Steve and Kate, who were excellent, with Kate on flute on one number. A lively and interesting start to a night where we had decided to "road test" the idea of having a short break in which we could collect the jug. There has been some awkwardness about collecting donations as it has had to occur during peoples performances which is not the best approach but…..

This is one of a few initiatives which have been implemented which have been based upon mine, and subsequently others, decision to broaden the scope of the club by stepping back a little and giving others more control. Simon has been largely instrumental in organising this and it would appear that all is going well, anyway more of this later…..

It was good to see Lisa Jackson, who played a nice self penned number, and John Oddie and Rachel played a set which was up to their usual standard. Simon Watt played some good songs and David Dale, a relative newcomer, playing on his second visit, continued with some good numbers which were well delivered. He has an interesting style and some interesting material.
And so it was me who finished the first bit and took us into the break. I swapped my traditional spot with Steve and Kate as they needed to get away early and it was the only logical answer without a lot of fiddling.

I think the break was an interesting departure, and I tried to make it exactly half way in terms of performers, but it seemed that some people took off during the break. This may be a significant issue…I don’t know….we haven't actually used a break for many years and it may take some getting used to. I also think that once people start talking it may be harder to get them back. I do agree that we should not collect cash during people's sets and that has always been a structural problem.

Mike Aldridge, who informed us that he is the new host at the Green Man in Ringmer, starting this Sunday 1st Feb, played after the break and played some lovely blues guitar followed by Chris Martin who gave us two good songs from his new album.
Ella Moonbridge is gradually growing in confidence with her Bazouki and, I feel, that she has "found" her instrument. She has a good voice and together it makes for quite an interesting and unique style.
At this point I need to mention Greg, on soprano sax, who comes and joins in with some lovely sensitive accompaniment. He comes now and then but it always good to see him and he is such a good player that he enhances everything he joins in with.
Clive played us out, almost, with three songs which confirmed his diversity and ability and it will be nice to see his extended set when it comes around.

So with the bit of time remaining John Oddie, Myself and Greg decided to indulge ourselves in a little impromptu version of "Hard Time Killing Floor" just to end things off. I think it went down ok and we certainly enjoyed ourselves as it is, in some ways, a great number to coast on…..it gets like improvised jazz and, when it floats, it is just a really good piece. I was really grateful to them for having the opportunity to play with such fine musicians.

So it was a good night which, in my opinion, met all of my personal intentions in originating the night all of those years ago.
I know that I am not always going to be here and able to run the show and so it was with some consideration that I spoke to Simon about taking more of a back seat….so we now have a range of hosts who are going to pitch in….all of which you can see on the website.

I have run Folk/Blues music nights in most places I have lived and since at least 1975 when I was at college. The Six Bells must be the fifth night I have initiated, all told, and all have been positive and enjoyable. I am not trying to boast but I am just giving it all some context. 
My intention and philosophy has always been the same which is that, if I can spend some time organising something which allows people to sing and play, and enjoy themselves, which I too can be a part of, then that is all I ever wanted to achieve. 

I do not think there is an "ideal" or "proper" way to run the club. What it has grown into has been completely organic…..I know that some, who have been around a while, will probably say that the club has gone through some, various, incarnations.

Councillor Roy comes to mind as someone who brought a different style, and essence, to the nights and when he left us there was an obvious, and sad, change. I also remember The Amazing Pilots who came and played regularly with a range of tunes and instruments…I remember that Dave Dyke and I always would start with a duo….I remember the "Home Made Jam" with Keith on piano…..things have come and gone…but change has not brought deterioration…everyone has been special…and still is…

But there is no right or wrong way….we are all old enough, and mature enough, to know what is ok. Some people may find it annoying if I drift around arranging players and spots but that is part of the process…..it is necessary. If we are collecting cash then there needs to be a way…..if people are chatting then, do we want to create a completely rigid approach?…there has to be some compromise and a relaxed rationale. Others who are going to host may have their own ideas….I don’t have any answers…but the fact that we are still kicking, after more than twenty years, must count for something…….but anyone has the right to disagree….all I might suggest, gently, is, that if you have observations and ideas, then lets see if they work….why don’t you see if they work…try them out…..

I think we may be entering an interesting an exiting period…that is the way I am going to regard it….after all it is all an experiment……

All the best

And see you soon

chris


13th January 2015    SO THE NEW YEAR BEGAN…WITH YELLOW ROSE

I have always thought that the extended set concept was a really good way of allowing those who have supported the club to have a little more time to play, and do what they do….I do not see any reason for it to change as all of the extended sets we have presented have been excellent and enjoyable, and this one was no exception.

Yellow Rose are a combination of Jayne Ingles and Mandy Woods who are both performers in their own right and have played a number of times, at the club, as solo performers. Both are very accomplished singers and good musicians and, although I am not entirely sure how the unification came about, they have formed a duo which seems to have gone some way to enhancing their own abilities and tastes to great effect…a kind of natural creative development in some ways…certainly in considering the outcome. However I would hope that they continue with their individual solo performances.


They play a good range of songs which draw from traditional, modern and country roots and they benefit from the fact that they are both capable guitar players. The guitars are well arranged, and considered, and blend effectively without overloading  the whole mix. The harmonies have to be the main aspect of their collaboration and these work really well and sensitively….one is, sort of, reminded of the Everley Brothers….if you know what I mean….I hope that is a compliment…..


I think they played a really effective set with a good range of songs which reflected a range of moods, and it was lovely to hear as the opening event of the year. They had a very good reception and I hope we will see them again but something tells me that is more than likely……..excellent stuff….

A fairly well attended night..there were 10 different acts so to speak…which is fairly good indication…and I was pleased at the turnout and enthusiasm for the first club of the year.

John Oddie kindly started off the evening followed by Clive Woodman who has become a regular, and a favourite, and who is soon to perform his own extended evening. 

Lisa played some lovely stuff supported by Helga on a Joni mitchell number and Chris Martin, who has a new CD, The Last Song, played a couple of strong numbers.

It may also be worth mentioning that Lisa has now finished at the Green Man in Ringmer so we may see more of her so…watch this space!

It is always good to see new people coming to perform so it was nice to introduce David Dale who, I believe, had been over to the White Horse. He played a good set and expressed a positive enthusiasm for the club saying he will definitely be back so it is good to get that positive feedback.

Derry played for us and it also good to see Ella come and play her Bazouki and sing a couple of lovely songs. She is very new to this but I think she has found her feet in this style and instrument and I think there is great potential here for her. Really nice to see….
It was also good to see Mr Simon Watt who did not disappoint with his usual topical wit and repartee and then I finished up with a bit of a blues number so a great night to be honest and a really pleasant evening from all points of view.

So, overall, I think it was a very positive and creative start to the year……a year which will see some changes to the folk club and, hopefully, continuance of our quality and creative approach…..but more of this in due course….

For now I say 

See you soon and please continue to come and take part and encourage anyone you may think will enjoy the club to do so…

All the best

chris