Terry - Profile

This article is one of a series on regulars at the club.

Terry first came to the club in about 1976. His songs range from ant-war through mining, maritime and love songs to humour. He plays the guitar, melodeon and mandolin.

He discovered folk clubs in about 1976: Chipping Sodbury and Iron Acton clubs, the latter being the ancestor of the Dragon Folk Club. The atmosphere was so friendly and everyone joined in the choruses; it soon inspired him to learn some songs, initially singing unaccompanied. Some time later he bought a guitar, which he still uses and learned enough to accompany himself.

Terry started morris dancing in 1988. He says it's never too late: he was fifty five then and even now he still manages one or two dances in an evening.

Roger - Profile

This article is one of a series on regulars at the club.

Roger first attended the club around fifteen or twenty years ago but he recently returned after a long break.

His musical career began in 1942 when he joined the cub scout movement, singing around campfires. In Wales he was a member of a boys' choir and sang rugby songs on tour.

Roger's more recent musical background is amateur musical theatre and that's where he is happiest. He played with Avon Light opera in Salad Days, Oklahoma and White Horse Inn, which his wife, Christine, produced at the Redgrave Theatre. He tours with a "concert party", entertaining at retirement homes.

Roger is practising the harmonica, piano, electronic keyboard. He likes to attend the Sidmouth Folk Festival.

Phil - Profile

This article is one of a series on regulars at the club.

Phil first came to the folk club about ten years ago. He says he sings anything that takes his fancy but he has a strong affinity for early American rural music. He sings, and plays guitar and harmonica.

Phil's musical tastes developed by listening to skiffle bands and the AFN (American Forces Network) during his national service with the British Army of the Rhine (1954-56). While recovering from an operation about ten years ago, he encountered an excellent guitarist who encouraged him and taught him some of the basic skills required to play the guitar. Phil's hearing is now severely impaired, so he thinks it unlikely that he will improve his playing further.

Phil has a wide selection of music on CD and vinyl, such as hillbilly blues and string bands (The Carolina Tar Heels, North Carolina Ramblers, Carter Family and Memphis Jug Band)., and individuals and duos (Jimmie Rodgers, Cliff Carlisle, Kelly Harrell, Darby and Tarlton, Riley Puckett, etc.). He would like to know whether anyone else is interested in this type of music.

Maggie L and Gertie - Profile

This article is one of a series on regulars at the club.

Although she doesn't perform at the club, Maggie L is a stalwart supporter of the Dragon Folk Club and has been joining us for sessions since about 2007. Her skills in cooking and laying out a fine spread are certainly welcome on special occasions at the club such as our annual Harvest session.

These days Maggie is accompanied by her canine companion, Gertie the chihuahua, who will always put on a show, often a comic one, and at other times sits in a pouch which hangs around Maggie's neck.

While Maggie doesn't perform, she sings along with others. Maggie has previously sung with choral societies and choirs.

Rose - Profile

This article is one of a series on regulars at the club.

Rose is an occasional visitor to the Dragon Folk Club since she comes quite a long way but she has been coming since 2000. She usually plays guitar and sings, though she is learning bouzouki and banjo.

Rose used to sing in choirs, starting with the school choir, moving on to various choir-type groups thereafter including singing songs from the shows. She first sang unaccompanied folk song in 1999 at the White Horse Folk Club, Highworth: Bushes and Briars, which she learned from Julie Christie playing the part of Bathsheba Everdene in the film Far from the madding crowd.

Simon - Profile

This article is one of a series on regulars at the club.

Simon is the regular scribe for this blog.

At junior school Simon was a keen singer but the church choir folded at about the time he would have joined. He didn't take up singing at senior school, nor did he formally learn an instrument - though he dabbled with keyboards and guitar. He quietly developed a taste for folk music and many other genres besides. One particular friend introduced him to The Spinners, Mike Harding, Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, and Johnny Cash.

It wasn't until Simon was at college in Portsmouth that he started to think about attending folky events. The first was supposed to be an evening with Jake Thackray but when Jake had car problems and failed to turn up it transformed into an evening of floor spots. Among other things Simon discovered that Scottish folk music wasn't so bad after all!

Tom - Profile

This article is one of a series on regulars at the club.

Tom has been coming along to the Dragon Folk Club since about 1981. In those days it was held at the Lamb in Iron Acton and the pub shut by 11pm. Tom would rush back into Bristol to the Stone House which stayed open until 1am, with every artist imaginable dropping in on their way home from gigs - it was like a folk collage. Tom was able to learn from the best, including Fred Wedlock to Loudon Wainwright III.

Lesley - Prolfile

This article is one of a series on regulars at the club.

Lesley has been coming along to the Dragon Folk Club since 2003. She sings a variety of songs including folk from England and her native Wales, 60s and 70s pop, humorous songs and some which she has written herself.

Lesley has been a member of the Hotwells Howlers and has sung with various church and school choirs. When Lesley was at school she was the guitarist in a  five-piece group called The Cinq Unit which sang the songs of Simon and Garfunkel and The Seekers.

Andy, the son of Lesley and Richard is the lead guitarist and composer with Finnish death metal band, Mors Principium Est on their album And Death Said 'Live'. Even if death metal isn't your scene you may like to check out Andy's version of Come fly with me, recorded for his girlfriend.

Steve C - Profile

This article is one of a series on regulars at the club.

Steve has been coming along to the Dragon Folk Club since 2006. He sings mainly traditional folk songs and accompanies himself on the guitar.

Steve took up folk singing when he retired.

Steve G - Profile

This article is one of a series on regulars at the club.

Steve G has been coming along to the Dragon Folk Club since May 2010. He sings and plays the guitar and banjo, mainly contemporary British and "Americano", also with some self-penned songs.

Steve's influences include Bob Dylan, Bert Jansch, Jackson C Frank, Joni Mitchell, Loudon Wainwright III, The Incredible String Band, Leonard Cohen, Ray Lamontagne, Spiers and Boden, Martin Simpson and lots of others. His instruments are a Guild CO-1C, Takamine EN-20C and a "cheapo" 5-stringed banjo.

Steve comes from a musical family. His father played piano and performed in local pubs. His brother was a professional musician, as is his nephew. Both Steve's sons play the guitar. Steve himself has played the guitar for many years but only joined the local folk scene in 2010. His interest in singing and playing has never been stronger. Steve is inspired by another Dragon Folk Club regular, Ray - and hopes he too can play for a few more years yet.

Steve is a video director  / cameraman and graphic designer. He recently designed a web site for folkie friends, Alan Kirkpatrick and John Shaw.

• Email Steve
• Web site
• Video web site

Colin - Profile

This article is one of a series on regulars at the club.

Colin has been coming along to the Dragon Folk Club since 1999. He sings and plays guitar, doing all sorts of songs but mainly folk-based.

Colin has a chequered musical history. He joined a junior church choir and was thrown out. He planned to form a band with some friends, but was unsuccessful. He managed to learn three chords on the guitar in 1970 and having increased that to five chords by 1990, he joined a church music group. Music therapy sessions in 1996 brought him up to a grand total of seven chords. Finally on 25 October 1999 he attended the Dragon Folk Club for the first time.

Richard - Profile

This article is one of a series on regulars at the club.

Richard has been coming along to the Dragon Folk Club since 2003. He sings and occasionally plays guitar, preferring English and Welsh songs though sometimes performing his own parodies.

Richard started playing the piano when he was six and reached Grade 8 aged 44! He does Welsh hymn translation (or translations of songs, poems or prose for that matter). You can find out more about Richard on his web site.

Kevin - Profile

This article is one of a series on regulars at the club.

Kevin has been coming along to the Dragon Folk Club since about 2010 but his association with Mike and Maggie goes back much further than that! He is a singer and guitarist, playing mostly contemporary material such as Bert Jansch, Ralph McTell and Eric Bogle, but he also occasionally plays some traditional songs.

Kevin visited the Troubadour Club in Clifton in his 20s and was hooked. He learnt a lot from the players and singers there and became heavily involved with folk clubs, particularly at Iron Acton and Chipping Sodbury. He has worked as a pub singer and has played in a church worship band. He plays at sessions, festivals and clubs anywhere!

You can find Kevin on YouTube:

• Hiring Fair
• Dreams of Love
• On the Shelf
• Until the Real Thing Comes Along
• Battlefield Tree with Carole Sunter

Derek - Profile

This article is one of a series on regulars at the club.

Derek has been coming along to the Dragon Folk Club since about 2010. He specialises in unaccompanied traditional British folk songs and ballads.

He was brought up in the 1960s when folk song (of a sort) was being played as pop. In time he moved on to such artists as Woody Guthrie and Sarah Ogan Gunning. Then one day he heard a recording of Willie Scott singing the Dowy Dens of Yarrow. At that, Derek gave up Americana and has spent the last 40 years studying and singing British folk songs.

Mike - Profile

This article is one of a series on regulars at the club.

Mike has been coming along to the Dragon Folk Club for "many, many years", since it was held at The Lamb in Iron Acton. He is a fine unaccompanied singer.

Mike has a long history with music, not just folk music. He sang with Dave Marshall and Amanda as the "Terrible Two and Amanda", and also with the "Westerleigh Wailers" who performed many times at folk clubs and festivals.

He is now with the Bristol Shantymen and has appeared with them at folk clubs and festivals all over the country. The group is still going strong although only four original members are still involved: Mike, John Shaw, Dave Byrne and "Pru". Mike has sung with the shantymen on many sea-going vessels and at shanty festivals in Poland, Liverpool, Whitby, Bristol, and Cardiff, among others.

Mike is MC at Maggie's Dragon Folk Club. He has also successfully MCed at other folk clubs and at festivals.

Since this profile was written the role of MC at the Dragon Folk Club has been shared between various club members.

Maggie S - Profile

This article is one of a series on regulars at the club.

Maggie S has been coming along to the Dragon Folk Club for "many, many years", since it was held at The Lamb in Iron Acton. She doesn't usually sing but she is the lynchpin of the club, doing the organising, including ringing round the regulars when required. It's always nice to be on the receiving end of her warm welcome at the door.

Maggie used to play the bodhrán with "the Swindon mob" and has also sung in several groups over the years. She likes participating and her motto is "music and song by the people for the people", but she feels she is better at organising. She wrote for many years on the subject of folk song and music for Folkwrite and Somers Journal.

The Dragon Folk Club began at The Lamb, Iron Acton where it thrived for seventeen and a half years. Maggie became Treasurer and helped with the Iron Acton Folk Festival and continued to do so after it moved to the Holford Arms. The folk club moved to the Rose and Crown, Iron Acton for two years followed by the George and Dragon for six months and then found a home for the next five years at the Green Dragon, Downend. Maggie took over all organisation of the club and moved it to the Bridge Inn at Shortwood, where it has been since 1995.

Since this profile was originally written, the venue of the Dragon Folk Club has changed again (twice). After a spell at The New Inn, Westerleigh, we are now back at the Bridge Inn. Maggie is now only a very occasional visitor to the club while her husband, Mike remains a regular.