Denny - Profile

Denny (Photo: Simon Meeds)

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

Denny first came along to a Dragon Folk Club session in 1983 as an audience member when it was at Iron Acton. Returning to the Bristol area after many years away, she found her way back to the club after a forty-year gap on 10th March 2023 and has been regular singer ever since.

She sings unaccompanied with a preference for songs with gusto and a good chorus.

Denny first came to the Dragon Folk Club to listen in around 1983 when it was still at The Lamb in Iron Acton. She moved away from the area with work and her first participation at a folk club was in the North East, at the Cutty Wren Folk Club in Redcar, North Yorkshire around 1984-86. It was more usual there to sing than not, so she was persuaded to learn something. Denny says that "the folk scene up there was brilliant and you could go to a different club most nights of the week".

She moved again and due to her shift work was able to attend festivals but not a regular club for many years. She now finds herself free to do so which she says is "fabulous".

She has been delighted to be a Middle Bar Singer for the last few years at Sidmouth Folk Festival.

Paul - Profile

Paul (Photo: Simon Meeds)

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

Paul first came along to a Dragon Folk Club session on 10th March 2023 and has been a regular ever since.

He sings unaccompanied and while he's happy to sing any songs he particularly enjoys a good loud chorus, shanties, and music hall songs in a "traditional" folk style. He is beginning to learn a few ballads too.

Paul started singing in a school choir. He sang the Hallelujah Chorus at the Royal Festival Hall in 1966. 

He started singing again at the Tribe of Doris festival in an African Harmony Choir and learnt Zimbabwean folk songs with Chartwell Dutiro, a mbira player, in a singing group at Buckfastleigh in 2001/3.

Paul met Denny in 2004/5 and she educated him in 'British folk music' and festivals. He found his folk singing voice at the Towersey Sing-around Bar in 2007. He then sang annually at The (Wareham) Wail from 2009 to 2022. He has also been a Middle Bar singer at Sidmouth since February 2023.

Paul has built his repertoire from eight songs to over a hundred thanks to the opportunities for singing at the Dragon Folk Club. He says "we sing often and it's a friendly, non-critical, informal environment". He also now sings at WoTFolk at The Victoria, Westbury-on-Trym, and at Stan Drews in St Andrews, Bristol, both of which are monthly folk clubs. Paul has also sung at The Mutiny Shanty Sessions at Bristol harbour and at the West Somerset Folk Weekend in 2025.