Bromyard is a lovely town and it hosts a lovely folk festival. This was our second invitation to perform at the festival and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves again, performing four concerts and hosting a workshop over three days. The trip to bromyard also afforded us the chance to stay with close friends in a village close to Bromyard and to catch up with all of their news.
We set off from St Albans on Friday morning to travel to Bromyard and, a mighty pub lunch later, we were on site and getting our wristbands and information at the Artists’ Reception from our friend Jenny Davies from Loughton Folk Club and saying ‘hello’ to festival organiser, Dick Dixon.
We then pressed on, despite the best efforts of our SatNav to confound us, through country lanes to find our friends’ house in nearby Yarpole where we said our hellos and then quickly went to visit the village church (St Leonard’s) where we have been booked to play a concert in May next year - watch this space. Event organiser Rose, gave us a tour of the delightful church and told us about the new series of performances she has organised for the venue. It looks to be an excellent programme of events in a glorious setting with wonderful acoustics– so, we are mightily excited and we wish Rose every success with this venture.
After a quick cuppa back at the house, Rob and I then returned to Bromyard for the sound check for our first performance and it was a great comfort to see it was Alistair Russell in charge of the desk as we walked into the marquee. Since we were first on the evening’s bill, we sound checked last. The Club Stage marquee then filled up quickly and we were off. The intimate nature of the venue really helped to build an atmosphere and our 40 minute set went down very well. The audience was ideal for our kind of music, keen to listen, very willing to participate and very supportive of what we performed.
After we came off stage, we were able to stay a little while and listen to JIB, the North-East supergroup comprising Jim Mageean, Ingrid Temple and Barrie Temple; great songs, stage presence and skills, and thanks to them for their kind words to us as we came off stage. Thanks also to Bendigo Davies for his excellent MC-ing.
The next morning we were back on site early to host a workshop on Celtic tunes from France and Spain in the Pete Geoghegan tent, named after the Bromyard Folk Festival stalwart and founder of Bromyard’s first folk club in 1970 who sadly passed away recently. The workshop was modest in numbers but great fun was had with one attendee teaching another the various dance steps to go with a particular piece Rob was teaching. It was also nice that a few people who had enjoyed our set the previous evening had come along simply to sit and listen to the music behind the workshop. Rob soon had them on rhythm and singing duties..
Then, as the rain poured, we stashed the gear away and went to have a coffee under cover. We had a little time before our afternoon performance at The Falcon Mews theatre in Bromyard Town so, after lunch on the festival site, we had a wander down to the town to watch the various festivities. Every pub we passed had a morris team, a mummer’s play or a session in full swing and the town centre was buzzing.
We shared the afternoon session at The Falcon Mews with Jason Hinchley, Winter Wilson and Granny’s Attic, with old friend Dave James MC-ing and were rewarded with a very sizeable audience. The theatre was packed and I’m pleased to say our performance went down very well. Very kindly, after our performance a young woman approached us with an invite to play the Gardeners Green Folk Club on Vancouver Island if ever we are in that part of North America. Let’s hope we get chance to accept that invitation one day!
By the time we left the theatre, the dark clouds had dispersed and the sun was shining and that is how it stayed for the rest of that day and the next. Rob and I drifted back up to the festival site to meet up with my wife and our friends from Yarpole who were coming to our evening performance at The Falcon Mews. After a tour of the festival site, a quick check on CD sales and a cold drink we returned to town for the evening’s event.
Opening the evening session were the very talented singer songwriter Russell Joslin accompanied by Sarah McCaig. Audience numbers grew throughout the evening and by the time we went on there was a decent gathering in the hall. It was nice to see our friends and family in the audience and to see familiar faces from our earlier performances who had returned to hear more from us. Again, the show went well and, after previously giving our apologies to Cardboard Fox who followed us on, we then quietly exited the theatre to go for a curry. Many thanks again to Dave James for his excellent MC work.
Sunday morning in Herefordshire was glorious and, after a wonderful breakfast with our friends, yet more friends arrived to see us, this time from Cheshire. Not having a morning commitment and secure in the knowledge that Alistair Russell had our sonic measurements from our sound check with him on Friday, we were all able to have a Sunday morning stroll together through the highways and byways of Yarpole – and magnificent it was too!
We returned to the house for an early lunch before saying our goodbyes and heading back to the Bromyard Club Stage for our final performance. Knowing that there were ongoing festivities in the town centre, we weren’t sure how many would be in our audience but were very pleasantly surprised to see the marquee fill up, including a number of familiar faces. There were people who there who were coming to watch us for the fourth time that festival, something deeply appreciated by us. There were also friends there from folk clubs around the country. It was especially lovely to see Mary from Cambridge Folk Club, Christine Connelley from Herga Folk Club and Jenny Davies from Loughton Folk Club. Whatever happened in the venue that lunchtime really clicked and, despite the rigours of a pre-set bill of artistes, we were asked by MC Ken Johnson to provide an encore. Having made way from the stage for Russell Joslin and Sarah McCaig, we then had the pleasure of chatting with people interested in our songs and music whilst still being able to hear the wonderful harmonies of Russell and Sarah. Very satisfying.
Eventually, we headed back to the car and the three of us headed home and, for once, the roads were kind and we were back in time for a well earned drink. Many thanks to Dick Dixon for the invitation to play the wonderful Bromyard Folk Festival again. There is a great warmth and intimacy to this very well run festival and we certainly hope to return to perform at the festival again in the years ahead. Thanks also to our friends Adam and Henny for their seemingly boundless hospitality and for Vince and Mandy for travelling down from Cheshire to see us. It was really great to see them all again!!