Continuing our plan to push beyond our historic area of activities, this was one of a number of planned sorties over the Dartford Bridge to visit the folk clubs of Kent – and a very enjoyable night it was too! The tricky bits in such evenings are always at the beginning and the end of the night. First of all, there is the rush to get back to St Albans from work to set off in good time – with much munching of sandwiches in the car. The long drive home after the evening is fine but then the getting up early to return to work the next morning is tough. However, I’m pleased to report that our experience made it all worth it.
We have long known of the Tonbridge Folk Club, known to its members as Nellies. It takes place in a nicely sized room above The Foresters Arms in Tonbridge. The M25 was kind to us and we arrived in good time to meet and have a brief chat with organisers Roger Resch and Geoff Doel . As with so many folk clubs, the welcome was warm and there was much appreciation that we had travelled so far to be with them.
The house band struck up promptly at 8.00pm and set the very high standard for the evening. There was a lot of talent from the floor in the room that night and I was particularly struck by the significant presence of the concertina. Perhaps because the main act for the evening, Alan Day and Will Fly, had in Alan one of southern England’s great concertina composers and exponents currently playing, this had attracted other concertina players out. But, whatever the reason, we were treated to some great tunes and ballads sung to concertina.
The club organiser was kind enough to give us two slots in the first half, and we performed Three Bonny Ships and The Bite, and I am pleased to say that Geoff was able to find another slot for us in the second half to allow us to play Only For Three Months. The feedback at the end of the evening, after we had heard another lovely set from Alan and Will, was very positive and it is our fervent hope that, in 2013, we may be able to return to Nellies and provide their club members with a fuller rendition of the full range of the music forms we perform.
As with the rest of the country, our thoughts are now turning to Christmas and New Year. We have one last outing this year and that is to Maidenhead Folk Club where it will be lovely to meet up again with organisers Tony and Pearl O’Neill. Then, early in the New Year, we start with a bang. We are booked for a big concert on January 6th 2012 in one of St Albans’ town theatres, The Maltings Arts Theatre. We will be supported on the evening by young accordion player Owen Woods, who we haven’t heard but have heard lots about. This is the start of a series, on successive first Fridays of the month, where local folk talent is being showcased. Our friends King Alfred’s Cakes and Malcolm Hobbs are headlining the subsequent February and March events. Well done to Alison Macfarlane and to OVO Theatre for putting such an exciting series together. Hope to see you there!