 |
| Calvaire à la Sainte-Baume (Photo: Simon Meeds) |
Lee and Kris, members of the band Reivers' Gallows, had intended to visit us before, but at that time their chosen campsite was waterlogged, so it was not until now that they made it. Sam, the other newcomer, was on his travels by train and decided to drop in. The problem was that Facebook had sent him to the Bristol city-centre pub of the same name, so on finding us he was a little later than planned (no issue), and had to leave early to get back into town and catch his onward connection. Let's hope all three of them find their way back to our little club again. They all seem to have enjoyed it and we regulars definitely enjoyed their contributions.
The lesson is, to check that you have the right address for us. The most common issue is that Facebook insists on providing an inaccurate map (not exactly Sam's problem), so make sure you find us on Google maps or some other system, not using Facebook's mapping.
This Friday's session is very tentatively themed "Numbers" since it falls on the hundredth day of the year. We are likely to be low on the number of regulars, so your presence as well as your singing, playing, storytelling or anything else will be most welcome this week whether or not you wish to follow the proposed theme. As always, anything goes as long as it's acoustic.
Although Lee and Kris had arrived first it seemed a little unfair to ask them to open, so stand-in MC, Simon, started off in the Easter theme with The pace-egging song (roud 614). The theme was only lightly followed during the evening, but that's perfectly fine; our themes are always optional.
Next came Lee (guitar and vocals) and Kris (violin). Lee warned us that though most of his songs may seem familiar, they are usually somehow modified. I have taken a slightly inconsistent approach in this report to their songs, but where possible I have linked videos of Lee singing so you can get some idea of what was happening.
As usual for a duo we asked them to sing two songs. First they gave us Back Home in Derry (Bobby Sands, Lee). Sam asked whether the song was written before or after Gordon Lightfoot's Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Lee agreed with Simon that the simple answer was "after", but said that his Irish father remembered singing something very similar before, so it was most likely adapted from a traditional song. Their second song was Matty Groves (* roud 52, child 81).
Paul's first song of the evening was Seven virgins (roud 127) and Denny added The good old way (roud 23864).
Sam's first song was Barbara Allen (roud 54, child 84). He said he'd added a refrain which is fair enough, but digging through the Dragon database I found Lucy Stewart's version, which seems fairly close to Sam's version and repeats the last line of each verse.
While this was strictly the end of the first rotation, it was at this point that Bob and Sue appeared. It seemed unfair to put them straight in the limelight, so they joined in early in the second rotation, Sue with The whistling gypsy (roud 1, child 200) and Bob with So much trouble (Brownie McGhee).
As is customary, I will mention all of the further songs from the newcomers. Kris's violin lost its tune due to the cool of the evening, so their last came from Lee performing alone with a little support from the chorus.
- Lee and Kris - The Handsome cabin boy (roud 239, laws N13)
- Lee and Kris - Roll the old chariot (roud 3632)
- Sam - Cells (* Rudyard Kipling, Peter Bellamy)
- Lee and Kris - Ye Jacobites by name (roud V31021 - Robert Burns)
- Lee and Kris - Blackleg miners (roud 3139)
- Lee - Crooked Jack (* roud 41020 - Dominic Behan)
Apart from those mentioned already there was just one song added to the Dragon database, which was Sue's I will survive (* Freddie Perren, Dino Fekaris).
Simon brought the evening to a close, complete with a mention of Easter and with much support from the chorus, singing When all men sing (Keith Scowcroft, Derek Gifford).
Now listen to a selection of songs sung during this session.
(Number of people present - 9 of whom 8 performed)
In the above report songs new to the Dragon database (though no always new to the club) are marked with an asterisk (*) and any songs not included in the "a selection" playlist are marked with a hash (#).
