Saturday
Saturday starts in the traditional manner, shower, shave etc. Then off to The Unicorn for breakfast. Allan makes an appearance and we compare notes. The new Fatea crew shirt makes an appearance. For the first time in many years, it's a red wine coloured shirt, with a simple white print. It's taken the famous man growing up from apes sequence and added a fiddle player with the slogan Folkin' Evolved.
Breakfast consumed time to head for the site and the first event of the day, Karine Polwart's Singer's Workshop.
The workshop starts off with some vigorous exercise, some shaking down. There's a lot of people of all ages and a fair bit of creaking during some of the bending exercise. From where I'm stood it looks amusing, but it's an important and often neglected part of the singing process.
You wouldn't go out and play football without a proper warm up and it's good to get your lungs and vocal chords ready to go.
After a good preparation session, the singing starts in earnest. Well once a few nonsense words are sung though. It's time to do a bit of food orientated cannon singing and the workshop starts in earnest. The workshops are hard work, at an hour and a half one of the longest events on site. It really doesn't matter what level you're at, there's normally something for everyone. Tomorrow is Eric Bibb doing a guitar workshop.
It's time to check in at the Media Caravan to see if there's any changes or events happening on the unscheduled side and then it's off to the Brian McNeill Session. The Session is the reason why Brian has the longest number of credited performances at the festival. It's also a place where you'll see combinations of artists you won't see anywhere else. Last year saw Show Of Hands with Martin Simpson and Jackie Oates.
There's some frantic rehearsal going on as I arrive backstage, questions as to who knows which tunes. Whose going to lead, that sort of thing
The session starts pretty much the same way as the previous year comes to an end, with Brian McNeill, bass playing compere, Keith Day and a couple of other Cambridge regulars providing continuity from last year.
A jig provides the opening sequence after which Wheeler Street take to the stage to perform a couple of numbers. Wheeler Street are a seven piece based in Kent and just starting to attract interest. The debut cd, "Complaints & Privileges" going on sale at the festival.
They start with a rocked out version of "Raggle Taggle Gypsy". Young they might be, but they know how to take a classic and give it a work out. It's rockier than a lot of versions, but retains the sense of freewheeling along life's road. Wheeler Street are still young, but also remind how quickly youth gets talented these days. Then I remind myself that Brian McNeill was a teenager when he founded the Battlefield Band so maybe it's always been that way.
They follow that with a pitch perfect seven vocal harmonies gathered around three mics. It's a contrast power and pace to cool calm and collected in little more than the blink of an eye.
It's a totally enchanting switch, but that's it just two songs. They've got a full showcase later in the festival. The Session is the only part of the festival that turns over quicker than the Club Tent.
Jeana Leslie and Siobhan Miller, the winners of this year's young tradition award at Radio Two as part of that they get a gig at Cambridge Folk Festival to see them as part of The Session is a big bonus.
You won't be surprised to discover that they've got a new cd, "In A Bleeze" out in time for the festival. The set starts with a simple number, Jenna on the keyboards accompanying Siobhan's clear water vocal.
The Young Tradition Award is one of the hardest fought competitions, the standard just so high. The next number which sees Jeana switch to fiddle shows why the award went their way; to be honest I'm running out of superlatives.
They bring a guest on for the last number, Siobhan's dad, Brian, to accompany the song on guitar. It gives Siobhan a chance to show her dancing skills as well as her vocal ones. Unfortunately the foldback speakers mean that the audience can only really see her top half. I make a mental note to check out the full gig later in the weekend.