Here is Page 3 of our catalogue of past guests to let you know what you have been missing over the last few months - an insight into the calibre and variety of guests you can see at our little club.
Guests N - Z
Jeremy set Africa alight in the sixties with his Ag Pleez Deddy and was then banished for ridiculing apartheid. After two years on the West End Stage in Wait a Minim, he became a leading entertainer on the British folk circuit. Songs such as Jobsworth, Red Velvet Steering Wheel Cover Driver and Prawns in the Game were very well known and are still sung today. He shared the stage with Spike Milligan, Donald Swann and Sydney Carter, and he had extensive TV work including At Last It's Friday with Richard Stilgoe, Keith Dewhurst and Diana Quick and Pssst! with Julie Covington and Kenny Lynch. His programme, Songs from the Two Breweries, included The Dubliners, Ralph McTell and Pentangle. Finally he had his own BBC2 series, simply entitled Jeremy Taylor. In 1979 he was readmitted to South Africa.
He settled with his wife in Mid-Wales and continues to entertain widely in folk clubs. He also lectures in schools on the subject of South Africa. . He has also produced a new album of songs and poems by Sydney Carter entitled Lord of the Dance.
" Jeremy Taylor is rather an elusive man and an extraordinarily
good songwriter. He has the ability to reveal illuminating glimpses
without awkwardly constructed comment."
- Melody Maker
" The one-man show must be one of the most difficult forms of show-biz, but not for Jeremy Taylor. He's a joke-spinner, a creator of characters, a singer, a personality - in sum, an engrossing entertainer."
Last visited the Folk Club 23rd November 2005
Bram Taylor is an entertaining artist with a distinctive voice and relaxed stage presence who gives an evening "Taylored" to suit his audience. Bram calls on a large repertoire of traditional songs, together with contemporary and humorous material, performed on acoustic guitar, duet concertina, or unaccompanied. With a wealth of experience behind him, he has established a fine reputation which has gone from strength to strength from tours in the UK and USA of Folk Clubs, festivals and concerts.
Last visited Club: 3rd May
An evening of
goodtime ragtime bluesy folky skiffly stuff, with a real New
Orleans feel. It's hot, it's fun, and it's
finger-clickin' good.
More Tamale chat - pictures and sound samples here
Sian Philips and Danny Kilbride
"Their joint wealth of musical dexterity, experience and
knowledge accumulated from years of playing has given them
a musical authority that allows them to perform with warmth,
humour and great skill.
This is what they do. They play, they perform and they
entertain.
If there is an agenda, it's this - Enjoy."
For more information click here.
Brian
Peters
Brian
is one of
Brian
has played major folk festivals in
Last performed at Llantrisant Folk Club Wednesday February 27, 2008
Gareth Westacott’s passionate fiddle and Guto Dafis’ punchy melodeon blend perfectly make a full and powerful sound. They have rediscovered a largely and distinctively Welsh folk-dance music as hypnotically vibrant as that of Brittany. Their repertoire also includes harp airs, jigs, hornpipes and songs.
Fresh back from his Australian tour, Colum has got a sackful of stunning and beautiful songs to paint you a picture of his own native Ireland. He has performed in over thirty countries around the world, confirming the universal appeal for the songs and stories with which he observes the minute and often humorous details of life.
A
member of the internationally renowned Sands Family from
County Down, Colum established his reputation as a
songwriter with the release of his first solo album, Unapproved
Road
in 1981. Songs like Whatever
You Say, Say Nothing,
and Almost
Every Circumstance
were soon in the repertoire of artists from Billy Connolly
to Maddy Prior and June Tabor.
His second album, March
Ditch,
inspired a special BBC TV documentary and songs like The
Man With the Cap
and Looking
the Loan Of a Spade
confirmed his unique ability to observe locally and appeal
universally.
On his travels around the world he soon discovered that many
of his songs had arrived before him, carried by other
singers in the folk process and on recordings by fellow
performers like Andy Irvine, Tommy Makem and Liam Clancy,
Roy Bailey, Mick Hanley and Enda Kenny.
Countless other performers have been introduced to the air
waves through Colum's work as a presenter of BBC Radio
Ulster's Folk
Club programme. he has also broadcast a series of
programmes for BBC Radio 2 and his work in radio and studio
production earned him the Living Tradition Award for
services to Folk and Traditional Music. Last appeared at
Llantrisant Wednesday
April 18,
2007
Quicksilver - Hilary Spencer & Grant Baynham
They're
back! Hilary (That Voice in acapella meistersingers Artisan)
and Grant (ex-That's Life! and comic songsmith to the
stars) are here to entertain you - so let's just let Radio
2's Nick Barraclough have the final word: "What really
irritates me... is the absurd mastery of whatever genre
these two choose to take on. While the rest of us struggle
to hoe our own row, Grant and Hilary are the most varied of
market gardeners. Not only brassicas but also courgettes,
leeks, peppers…red and green. One could almost imagine
them with some small livestock. Maybe even an emu…
"Sorry, but the sort of versatility on display here is
quite stunning, and the trick they’ve pulled off is that
these are not pastiches. Quicksilver are as convincing as
English folkies as they are as chansonniers or, to quote
Grant himself, jazz/blues comedy-lieder yodellers.
"Set these boundary-busting principles in the hands of
an extraordinarily dextrous guitarist as Grant and through
such effortless tonsils as Hilary's and you have the answer
to the question 'But what is it?' And the answer is: 'Who
cares, when it sounds this good?'
Last appeared at Llantrisant Folk Club Wednesday May 9, 2007
Young Gareth has been playing guitar for just an incredibly short time, but he's got the virtuosos scrambling for superlatives - Dylan Fowler and Wizz Jones among them. See Gareth play and be amazed and flabbergasted!
Tane Raj Singh Sodha & Kahn Sakar Manganiar
Both these mesmerising, spellbinding musicians from Rhajasthan, India can delight any audience – and Tane Raj (a post-graduate) has an outstanding voice to die for. Their visit this time was the third foray in Indoceltic Connections, a series of music exchange projects between musicians in Wales and Rajasthan. Their dexterity on a number of Indian instruments, including harmonium, dholak, chotara and khartal, just has to be seen to be believed.
Good, solid, entertaining memorabilia from the master guitar virtuoso, who is influenced by a host of U.S. blues, bluegrass and ragtime musicians – and some British old-timers as well! Eddie’s been on the road, trading licks with the amazing John James as Carolina Shout. He’s recorded four albums and CDs, and the Folk Club keeps having him back!
Ian was born and brought up in Suffolk where he learnt much of his early material from singers like Phoebe Smith, the Ling family and Percy Webb. He left for Poland and now lives in Oxford, where he continues to vent his spleen, sing and write songs. He currently works with Ian Giles and Graham Metcalfe in the a capella trio GMW (in fact, there's a rumour that Graham might just accompany him!) He is the author of many songs, including One More Pull and Hooks and Nets. A warm welcome back for one of our oldest friends.
We just had to have Dana and Sue back – and they’re touring Great Britain from their home in Asheville, North Carolina. If you haven’t witnessed Dana and Sue’s magical performance nor their latest marvellous CD Native Soil, take a look at these reviews: “Many songwriters have been heralded as modern-day Woody Guthries or keepers of the American rural spirit, but that mantle might be entrusted to musicians who embody both the heart and the soul of folk music” – Dirty Linen … “Rural America explored with elegant simplicity. Their music and cleanly poetic songwriting bring to mind the great folksingers of our times” – Citizen-Times... Those in the know booked tickets and came from near and far, so don’t miss out.
Last appeared at Llantrisant Folk Club Wednesday October 25, 2006
America,
Wales and England provide the perfect blend when stunning
instrumentalist Chris Moreton (guitar and mandolin, from Usk
- his 2000 jaw-dropping appearance was the reason why we
count this among our birthday treats!), Pete Cooper (fiddle
and viola) and Dave Arthur (melodeon and
multi-instrumentalist) kick off with their very own Old Time
Music favourites. There’s loads of knowledge and
experience encapsulated in these three musicians – and
it’s fun, too!
Shonaleigh Cumbers is a Drut'syla, a storyteller from the Yiddish tradition and one of the foremost tellers of stories on the British scene. She draws you into the world of tales with images and music of breathtaking vividness. She’s going to do excerpts from her hilarious show The Gammon of Guilt, the Doughnuts of Desire - One woman's epic quest across Stamford Hill with a pork chop – don’t say we didn’t warn you!
"A class act," "a cut above all the rest," and "a new approach to an old genre" - that's how the American maritime media describes the Shifty Sailors (from Puget Sound, USA). The reputation of the Shifty Sailors is spreading not only in the Puget Sound area, but nationwide and around the world. They started simple enough - the Island County Historical Society was planning a signing and reading to promote their newly published book Sails, Steamships and Sea Captains. Fearless captain Vern Olsen was asked if he could form a group that could sing seafaring songs - he did, and it was so successful that over the months and years more singers joined in and they began practicing and honing their act.
In 1997 the group recorded its first CD Heave Ho My Lads followed 3 years later by their second CD Haul On... Now in 2004, Ho For The Life has hit the stands to early acclaim. All from Whidbey Island, the songsters are busy in their professions and avocations - there is a lawyer, three doctors, three teachers, a counsellor, two bus drivers, a retired navy man, a contractor, an acupuncturist and a retired town planner!
This is a tale of two musicians, one a master at his folk art (Napper) and the other a pop professional with links to Pete Waterman (Bliss). As Tom Napper continued to work the clubs and festivals, Tom Bliss became disillusioned with amplified music. Then he was persuaded to bring his Eko Ranger to a session, and you know the story... Sessions became an obsession, including Tom Napper's regular haunt. Inspired by the sheer joy of playing acoustic music, Tom Bliss was writing folk songs and tunes again, wrestling with the fiddle he hadn't played in ages - and planning an acoustic duo which he knew held the key to bring his songs to a wider audience. Then, in a call to Tom N. about something else entirely, he said: "You don’t happen know anyone who might be interested in forming a duo, do you?" to which the reply was: "well - now you come to mention it...!"
Latest CD: The Kelping. Stage sparkle: Unbelievable. Audience rapport: Just see them cheer!
Family
band NMTB is a versatile five-piece from North Wales,
fronted vocally by Neil, Meg and Kate Browning, and driven
by rhythm section Pete Walton and David Browning.
Collectively, the range of their experience in roots music,
from Cajun to ceilidhs, via Blues and folk-rock, ensures a
fresh and unique approach to traditional Welsh music and
song.
Ex-Bluehorses member Neil Browning is one of North Wales’
leading button accordion players. His debut instrumental
album Scwîsbocs
was released in 1999 on Sain records, to critical
acclaim.
In addition to her leading role on vocals, Meg is a talented
bodhrán and box-player in her own right. She is also
finding a unique voice as a composer and songwriter.
Missing is David Browning - he couldn't get time off school.
So it's no consolation to tell you that as well as being a great
kit-drummer and orchestral percussionist, David won the
Sidmouth Festival bodhrán competition in 1999, aged just
13!
Kate Browning was part of the 10-strong Degogenod, the young
Welsh contingent at last year’s Falun festival in Sweden.
As the newest member of the band, she now adds whistles and
clarinets.
Completing the line-up is non-family member Pete Walton. More usually these days seen playing fiddle with
Cajuns Denbo, he now returns to his first love: the
bass. Last performed at Llantrisant Folk Club October
5th 2005 - Dave Browning was not able to be there, but the
others gave a stunning performance.
Hans is a Dutchman who lives in lives in Vienna and plays blues - and just read the quotes:
"One helluva guitar player!" (Bo Diddley)
"Hans Theessink is an international blues treasure. He is one of the world's pre-eminent pickers and his warm baritone expresses blues" (Blues Revue, USA)
"Theessink
sings the blues with a voice the texture of black molasses
and plays guitar as if he were born to it. The overall feel
of the music is devastating competent. Theessink is
deservedly outstanding in his field - Nobody living does it
better" (The
Living Tradition, UK)
"Hans has got an instantly recognisable sound. He's a
fine songsmith and a strong, confident composer, often of
songs with a social conscience"
(Blues
on Air, Australia)
Last visited Llantrisant Folk Club on Wednesday 30th November 2005
From
Seattle, USA. "William
Pint and Felicia Dale rank among North America's most
exciting interpreters of music based in the traditions of
the British Isles and France... unconventional but
spine-tingling... unique and mesmerising"
- Dirty
Linen
Maritime music, nautical music - the music of the sea. Whether they be contemporary songs or shanties, the traditional work songs were sung aboard the tall ships to organise the labour of the crew. Those crews were Welsh, English, Irish, German, French, from the West Indies, The United States and other sea-going nations - but the music itself was inspired by the oceans that link all these places together and cover two-thirds of our planet. William and Felicia take all of this as a source of inspiration for their music - giving it their own spin with guitar, hurdy-gurdy, mandolin and other exotic sounds. The result is an unusually energetic and exciting approach to folk - and they say: "We have a tremendously good time playing this music, and hope that you will enjoy listening and participating in it - either at a live performance or through our recordings."
This trio promise a collection of songs and music that will keep you listening and thinking all evening. Outstanding harmonies gently sway between traditional and contemporary folk, to music hall and old favourites, from the 16th to 21st Century. Not only does John Eyre (the lap dog) write some of the songs - he arranges and writes the harmonies. The Amazing Arthur Hyde (the wild dog) also writes songs and is a strong influence on the harmonies. Sally Stamford (the pretty puppy), also known as the Lemonade Lady, sings some traditional folk songs and makes freshly squeezed lemonade (sometimes both at once). As Sally and the Shot Dogs say: "We hope you’ll laugh and dream with us..."
Last appeared at Llantrisant July 12th 2006
Although an Englishman, this singer has nonetheless become one of the greatest ambassadors of Australian folk song, having spent over 30 years playing music absorbed from the musical tradition of drovers, bush workers and cane cutters. Having spent time employed as a bush worker himself, Martin first fell in love with the traditional Australian songs when he was working on a South Australian sheep farm in the early sixties. Only 18 years old, Martin found himself enraptured by the songs he heard from the local farmhands, and after leaving his job, travelled the Australian outback, playing in pubs and trading songs with those he chanced to meet. By 1967, he had befriended Australian-born singer Trevor Lucas and was recruited to join Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick to contribute to Bert Lloyd's classic Leviathan. He soon found himself at the centre of a Australian folk music revival, recording his own debut with Nic Jones and a cast of friends and playing the country from end to end before returning home to Britain, where he found a similarly receptive audience. With over 30 albums to his credit, Martin is still an active touring act, presenting commentaries on Australian history, reciting bush poetry, and delivering outback anecdotes that have earned him a reputation as a tremendously warm and hypnotic performer. Martin last appeared at the Folk Club on Wednesday August 16th 2006.
Having relatively recently discovered folk singing in 1997, Hilary (Hils to her friends) spends much of her spare time on the fringe at folk festivals and supporting local clubs, intent on encouraging others, listening and collecting songs. As organiser of MudGathers at various Folk Festivals, she is known as My Guru Always Said on the worldwide music discussion forum, www.mudcat.org. Hilary’s love of stories shows through in her collection of unusual ballads and traditional songs, which she normally sings unaccompanied. Her wide repertoire also includes many songs from contemporary artists with subjects ranging from the sad to the hilarious. Last appeared at Llantrisant Wednesday April 4, 2007
Jeff Warner performs the traditional music of America's rural past, from the outer banks of North Carolina to the Adirondacks and Coastal New England. Whether singing a cappella or accompanying himself on banjo, concertina, or guitar, Jeff presents the voices of real people, and their understated emotion in one entertaining package.
Jeff grew up listening to the songs and stories of his father, Frank Warner, and to those of the traditional singers his parents met during their folksong collecting trips through rural America. Wherever he goes his well-tuned ear collects traditional songs which can only be called great. He presents the oral literature and music of the American people with warmth, humor and understated scholarship: ballads sung in old England and New England, songs of Revolutionary War heroes and work aboard wooden sailing ships, African-American banjo tunes, and Irish concertina tunes. An evening spent in Jeff's company is a garden full of precious delights.
Here is a mouth-watering prospect to look forward to... Mick is known on the folk scene as a superb singer of traditional and original material - in fact, Froots described him as "definitely the most underrated singer in the country". Pete Harris plays guitar, bouzouki, mandolin, mandola, bass guitar and whistle, and he comes from Newport, Gwent! He has worked with a number of successful bands, including The New St George and The Burlesdon Village Band, and is also a fine solo performer.
Mick and Pete have released six albums, Drink up the Sun, Another Place, Another Time, The Widow's Promise (a CD compilation of the best of the previous two), Hard Season, The Long Road and the follow-up album to The Long Road, entitled Something to Show and featuring the customary mix of Ryan originals and traditional songs, plus one by Graham Moore. Just out is The Island of Apples, featuring seven items from folk musicals and the remainder from either Graham or Mick with two traditional songs. Hear them! Last appeared at Llantrisant Folk Club Wednesday July 18, 2007
Red Duster - The Northwest Passage
Ross Campbell and Ron Baxter are Red Duster, and the Red Duster is the Red Ensign - the flag of the Merchant Navy. They live in Fleetwood, on the Fylde peninsula and home of the Fylde Folk Festival. Ross and Ron present thematic shows which are both entertaining and informative - and the range of material at their disposal enables them to put together a whole host of songs and stories, tunes and monologues to keep any audience enthralled. This is a story about the explorer Lord Franklin and the Canada's Northwest Passage from Ron, interspersed with songs from Ross.
Former actor Mike is one to watch and hear! He lets his deep-brown voice breathe new life into traditional and contemporary songs, and the audience just laps it up. In fact, it’s time for several quotes:
"Those who have heard Mike Nicholson sing will not need me to tell them what a delightful experience that is. When Mike sings a song it stays sung - and you won't forget it" - The late Bob Copper, Copper Family…
"His songs are wonderful - his delivery is so laid back he makes Perry Como look like St. Vitus' Dance. He's brilliant" - Folk on Tap…
"A voice
to be proud of, songs to die for and a great
personality" – Bodmin Folk Club...
Last appeared at Llantrisant Folk Club Wednesday October 24, 2007
Whiskey River (Aidan Sheehan, Martin Blake & Rob Strawson)
The Whiskey River Boys are expanding – they’re bringing fiddler Rob Strawson (ex Blake’s Three) with them! Cajun musicians Aidan Sheehan (from Cwmbran) and Martin Blake (also leader of Blake's Three) made the trip to Cajun country in south-west Louisiana and visited Angelle's Whiskey River Landing on the Levee Road, just out of Henderson, LA, in the Atchafalaya Swamplands. This is a dance hall to die for, an experience not to be missed… Aidan and Martin will have lots of good tales to tell you as they whip up a storm! Laissez le bon temps rouler!
With a grin from ear to ear and a sack of songs and stories to keep the most varied of audiences delighted, Shep is the complete folk entertainer. Often compared with the Jasper Carrott school of observation comedy, his song introductions are peppered with one liners and social comment - plus the odd shaggy dog tale. He says he's a folk singer, stand-up comedian and entertainer; he's recorded eight LPs, music cassettes and CDs, he's a radio producer, a presenter and a script writer, a Special Event and festival director, an after-dinner speaker - and a shantyman as well. A truly international performer who has delivered the goods from Bahrain to Bermuda, Oman to Ontario, Huddersfield to Hong Kong and left them all shouting for more. With 26 years' experience, a great eye for detail and the ability to think and act on his feet, Shep Woolley really is the Act Not To Be Missed.
Aidan Sheehan’s Harmonica Workshop
Aidan, who is a
qualified National Harmonica League tutor (and a
Lauren McColl, Scottish fiddler and BBC2 Young Folk Award winner, joins this amazing and stunning international band who are making their debut in South Wales
Last appeared at Llantrisant Folk Club Wednesday August 13, 2008
Steve comes from a family of singers and concertina players. His grandfather was known to have sung and played the instrument in the 1890s.
He began his career on the Manchester folk scene at the end of the 1960s. Joining the Geordie band Canny Fettle in 1970, he made two albums and toured in Britain and Europe with them for eight years. In 1979, he won the Melody Maker "Stars of the 80s" national competition, which persuaded him to turn professional for 12 years until 1991. During this time he made four solo albums with Fellside Records and toured internationally.
A period of 13 years away from the folk scene followed, with Steve building a violin retailing business and diversifying musically into a more classical mode - but folk music has a habit of getting into your blood. So 2004 saw Steve make a somewhat nervous return to the folk scene, and he was warmly welcomed to the extent that he was asked to make a new fifth album, which is now completed, at Ollie Knight's studio in Robin Hood's Bay and includes guests like Martin Carthy, Nancy Kerr and James Fagan, Kevin Brown and others.
Last appeared at Llantrisant Folk Club Wednesday September 17, 2008
Making contact
For booking information and general club enquiries, contact Pat Smith:
Telephone 07989 209824 or 01443 226892
Email ................. Pat Smith
Copyright © 1998 Mari Arts.
Last modified: 21 September, 2008