“Sit down Downend Folk Club. It’s your own time you’re wasting”. In search of a bigger venue Downend Folk Club are on the road again. This time they pitch up at Downend School in the company of the truly wonderful Rachael McShane and The Cartographers. It’s been a while since the sad demise of Bellowhead.Continue reading “Rachael McShane – June 2018”
Author Archives: tallfolk
Daoiri Farrell – May 2018
At the end of his first set bazouki wielding, Irish singer Daori (pronounced Derry) Farrell tried selling some CDs; “I don’t call them CDs, I call them a life time of happiness”. After this incredible night at the Folk Club he’s not going to be the only one. Nominated for countless folk awards and winnerContinue reading “Daoiri Farrell – May 2018”
Rheingans Sisters – April 2018
Before the bands start a girl on the back row is reading a book by Ursula le Guin. The science fiction writer. This tells you something about the Downend Folk Club; it’s a place to escape the everyday, a place to explore somewhere different and a place where the extraordinary happens. Make no mistake theContinue reading “Rheingans Sisters – April 2018”
Edgelarks – February 2018
The best kind of folk music plays an odd trick. It faces backwards and forwards at the same time. Edgelarks play the best kind of folk music. The last time Phillip Henry and Hannah Martin played at the folk club they were two supremely talented musicians with four Christian names between them. Today they haveContinue reading “Edgelarks – February 2018”
Jim Moray – December 2017
What can you expect from an artist that is introduced as a “genius” before a note has been struck? What can you expect from a multiple Folk Award winner? What can you expect from the Downend Folk Club Christmas show? To start with it was in the slightly unexpected surrounding of Resound. A large, welcoming,Continue reading “Jim Moray – December 2017”
Granny’s Attic – October 2017
What’s in your Granny’s Attic? A stack of old 78s? Your Dad’s Subbuteo? A picture; slowly aging and showing the moral decay of an old lady? Some old rubbish? Or three frighteningly young, obscenely talented folk musicians who look as though they may have taken a wrong turn on their way to Fresher’s Week? ProbablyContinue reading “Granny’s Attic – October 2017”
Greg Russell and Ciaran Algar – July 2017
Something’s wrong. The usual air of bonhomie at the folk club is dark and oppressive. Maybe It’s the inclement weather, the glowering stormy skies that envelope Frenchay. Maybe It’s not. Soon after Russell and Algar take to the stage we find out what’s happened. Parked in a Bristol multi storey some scumbags stole their preciousContinue reading “Greg Russell and Ciaran Algar – July 2017”
India Electric Company – June 2017
Were you ever warned of bookish boys? Nerds brandishing words as weapons? The ones that know the difference between Heathcliff and Linton? Those that can pick the bones from a passing poem with the flick of an artfully floppy fringe? They’re the ones that’ll steal your heart. They’re India Electric Company. Songs peppered with allusionsContinue reading “India Electric Company – June 2017”
The Black Feathers – April 2017
What do you do on a Friday night? Fish & Chips? A glass of wine? Rubbish telly? If you spend it propped in front of music documentaries coughed up by BBC4 you might be inclined to believe certain things. You might believe that British Country Music starts and ends with The Shires or Ward Thomas.Continue reading “The Black Feathers – April 2017”
Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman – February 2017
Kathryn Roberts limps on to the stage. Injured. Leaning awkwardly on two crutches. She sits behind a piano. Before a note has played her husband, Sean Lakeman, mutters “It’s like playing with a Marvel superhero”. She shoots him a glance, grins and then proves that she is, indeed, superhuman. Roberts and Lakeman are the reigningContinue reading “Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman – February 2017”
TallFolk 