Friday
From Quebec it's time to move very much further south. Cherryholmes are a traditional bluegrass band and very much a family affair, mom, pop and the four kids, two boys and two girls. The family started performing back in in 99 when the youngest family member was just six.
Before long they were performing at the Grand Ole Opry. This is their first trip to the UK. I missed them on Stage Two last night, it's time to make up for it and as it turns out, make up for it in a big way.
Cherryholmes know their craft, not only as musicians and singers, but also as dancers and performers. This is not so much a set as a show. As with all bluegrass, tight harmonies. with other instruments and voices make up the core of the gig
There's plenty of movement and lots of clustering aound the microphones. It's not just glitz and glamour, Cherryholms are masters and mistresses of their craft. They have found a niche in the bluegrass genre that has their name on it.A fair number of the songs come from within the band. They are very much adding to a genre that has been in danger of stagnating and very much breathing life back into it.
Cherryholmes are a band that can very much cut it both live and on record. They're signed to Skaggs Family records and well worth checking out. There's a phrase, blood harmonies and it really is applicable here. When singing, particularly when gathered around a single microphone, Cherryholmes sings with a family voice.
Harmonies and counterpoint just seem to happen because everyone knows each others voices so well. There is a polish to the band, but it's the polish that adds a sparkle, rather than the one that shines so brightly you can no longer she the item that's been polished only sad reflections on things that might have been.
The audience reaction would indicate that they've made a friend or two on this trip across the pond. On my way out of the site on Thursday night, I'd spotted Pop(Jere) deep in conversation with English story teller, John Row, I'm prepared to put money on that conversation including beards.
There's time to sneak around into the backstage bar and grab my first cider of the day. Contary to popular belief amongst my family and friends, Cambridge is not fueled by an excess of fermented apple juice, rather a carefully controlled diet.
To be honest you couldn't do what the media crew do at the festival if you drink. There's an awful lot of running around to do. I always lose weight at the festival, maybe I should market the Cambridge Diet. Then again I'm not sure it would go down well with the crowd.
It's switch back to this side of the pond. Eliza Carthy is viewed as being from the first family of folk, it's a double edged sword, she's an immensely talented individual, both as a musician and a singer. She would be more than capable of founding her own dynasty even without the Carthy name.
As it is she is just about to do just that. She's performed the festival many times and in many guises, she will be performing the next day as part of Imagined Village. It is however the first time she has performed at Cambridge whilst with child.
Being pregnant has it's advantages, the bump is a convenient place to rest your accordion whilst your engaged in between song chats with the audience. Eliza joked she was having a table not a baby.
It's not for nothing that she has already picked up seven folk awards and a Mercury nomination. It speaks volumes that her awards are across so many different categories.
Eliza's set is a scintillating mixture of English and Gaelic. She chops and changes between instrumentation, fiddle and squeezebox that allows her to play with various sounds.
'Liza's new album "Dreams Of Breathing Underwater" is going down well and this is my first chance to hear tracks from it live. She's never been an artist to replicate her recorded work on stage. There's always variations in it that keep it very fresh and vibrant.
She's brought a really good band with her, Emma Smith, Phil Alexander and Willie Molleson and an audience eating out of her hand. Eliza looks like she's having a really good time.
She's conveyed that sense of enjoyment to the crowd and everybody is having a really good time. The more pop elements blend seamlessly into the traditional folk to bring about a really expressive sound.
It's a good set and one that Eliza and team can be really proud off and judging by the audience reaction one that's gone down really well with the audience.
I'll catch up with Eliza again tomorrow when she closes the Saturday night with the rest of Imagined Village.
As Eliza's act came to a close I was reminded by a fellow festival goer of a previous appearance a few years back. Eliza had just finished her first song when there was a shout of "Get your kit off from somewhere in the crowd." Eliza came back with, "I'm not being paid enough to do that." Then in the best clipped English accent from another part of the tent came "How much would that cost" It's the only time I've seen Eliza lost for words.