The day had finally arrived. It was time for Na-Mara to start our mini- tour; seven gigs in eight days, ranging from Margate in the east to Redruth in the West.
Our first adventure couldn't have been better as we were returning to the wonderful Cambridge Folk Club where we have lots of friends who have supported us and our music from the outset.
Knowing the capricious nature of the A1(M) at teatime on a Friday evening, Rob and I, helped on this tour by our great friend Dave Berry, we set off early to get through the worst of the traffic. Having achieved that, we parked up for a quick sandwich near Cambridge ahead of getting to The Golden Hind pub, home of Cambridge Folk Club.
We were sharing the headliner spot with Sarah Yeo, with the Tennessee Twin kicking the evening off.
It was a hot, sultry, night - a night when even some of the most ardent fans of folk music might feel they wanted to spend it with a cold glass of beer or wine in their gardens. However, as the sound checks for all three acts were processed expertly and efficiently by Calvin and Chris, the room began to fill a little.
During this time, we were able to chat with club organisers Marion and Andy Treby, Robin Mansfield and others before the evening began, catching up on all the club news. Then, Les Ray from the band Red Velvet and presenter of the Strummers and Dreamers folk programme for Cambridge 105 arrived, and it was great to hear all about what red velvet have been up to and how the Strummers and Dreamers show was going. Les has been very helpful to us providing information on how bands are now sending new material to radio show hosts like him. This advice will help us plan the release of the EP we have both been working on over the spring.
The Tennessee Twin started the evening with an exquisitely delivered trio of their own songs in their America style; sublime harmonies and great guitar playing on a lovely sounding Gibson acoustic.
Then Sarah Yeo took to the stage. Having travelled to Cambridge on a very hot day all the way from Exeter, one might have expected her to be a little fatigued, but not a bit of it! We were treated to 50 minutes of beautiful vocals, lovely guitar work and heartfelt songs, all delivered with a lighthearted mien. Sarah’s performance, mixing Americana, Country and Western and Folk, was highly polished and very professionally delivered. She is going to be a star. She was joined for one song by Tennessee Twin, and the harmonies were wonderful.
We then took to the stage after the break where, as seems to be the law these days, Paul won the raffle and helped himself to a bottle of white wine.
With a sound setup as expertly delivered as it is at Cambridge, it is a pleasure to perform. A good sound system draws a performance from artists. We were highly energised, and the set seemed to go very well. The audience sang along throughout the performance and, after a final set of warm remarks from Robin Mansfield, we performed an encore of Maid of Culmore to finish off the evening.
It was lovely to receive such positive feedback after the show, and we stayed on to chat for quite a while after the performance before an uneventful journey home.
All in all, it was a great, possibly final, returned to Cambridge Folk Club and we would like to thank the club organisers at Cambridge profusely for all that they've done for us over the years.