The Lone Ranger without Tonto

Clayton Moore as the Lone Ranger

We knew it would probably be thin on the ground at last week's Dragon Folk Club session, but I feel sorry for Colin singing his heart out to himself. Well, I'm sure he treated it as a practice so perhaps that's OK. Let's come out in force this Friday to support him. The theme if you choose to follow it is Robert Burns whose night is tomorrow (Wednesday, 25th January) so we will just have missed it. In any case you will be welcome whether you mostly sing, play, recite or listen. Anything goes as long as it's acoustic and the theme, when there is one, is always optional.

You know the usual drill, you will find us from 8:15pm in the pool room at The Bridge Inn, Shortwood, Bristol (UK), BS16 9NG. If you don't know where we are be sure to mention the Dragon Folk Club at the bar and you should be directed to us. You will find FREE ENTRY, a warm welcome, great acoustics and a reasonably priced bar. While the welcome is warm I can't promise the same of the atmosphere. I hope it will be bearable, but just in case please do bring some warm clothing. We don't want a case of hypothermia on our hands.

Back to last week, I have to give Colin credit for singing (yes I trust him) a total of eighteen songs. To mark that achievement I will list all of them - I hope I have found the right songs:

• Misty - Erroll Garner, Johnny Burke
• The Illiterate's Alphabet - Chris Sugden
• The Souling Song - roud 304
• Two Good Arms - Charlie King
• Colón man a-come
• The Limerick Shanty
• Ballad of Richard III - Gwydion Pendderwen
• Take This Hammer - roud 4299
• If - David Gates
• Leave Them a Flower - Wally Whyton
• Back Home in Derry - Bobby Sands
• Cadgwith Anthem - roud 3314
• Oh What a World - Rufus Wainwright
• Tell Me There's a Heaven - Chris Rea
• Thunder Child - Jeff Wayne, Paul Vigrass, Gary Osborne
• Both Sides Now - Joni Mitchell
• What Have They Done to the Rain - Malvina Reynolds
• Tether's End - Jez Lowe

Now listen to a selection of songs sung during this session.

(Number of people present - 1 of whom 1 performed)

Avoidance behaviour - fine

The Anchor Inn, home of The Middle Bar Singers
at Sidmouth Folk Festival (Photo: Barry W*******)

Don't forget our St Andrew's Day session this Friday - OK, more St Andrew's eve but you get the idea, Scottish songs and tunes are the main dish with possible sides of his other patronages.

Back now to last weeks theme-free session, Colin started it off with Wally Whyton's Leave Them A Flower.

We proceeded through Derek's Locke Hospital (Roud 2, Laws Q26), and Mike's Rolling Home (Roud 4766) with no discernible theme apart from Derek declaring the efforts he was making to save his Scottish ballads for St Andrew.

That's not to say we didn't have links, both intentional and unintentional of course. Simon's singing of Down Our Street including its suggestion that in desperate times "tom cat tastes like air" inspired Derek to give us Silver Threads Among The Butter, which Martin Carthy took as the first verse of his song Girls: "When the dog died we had sausages, When the cat died, catnip tea".