The Co-Operative Cambridge Folk Festival
Sunday

I'd seen Sean play two songs in the Brian McNeill Festival Session and was really looking forward to seeing him play a full forty minute set.

Word had obviously got around as the tent was pretty much heaving by the time I got there.

As I've said before, Sean has a pretty amiable personality that seems almost at odds with his playing, there's almost a cheeky smile on his face as he introduces himself. You can see that he's pleased to be here.

When he gets going, he's very much a musician that lets his playing to the talking. I don't really don't know any guitarist quite like Sean at the moment. England has a good crop of young electric blues players, but none that play electric acoustic the way Sean Taylor does.

The things he does with his guitar, including a strange, over the neck picking style have to be seen and heard to be believed, and then you add his growling voice into the mix.

More importantly he's also got a real feel for what blues was/is about. It's a genre that traditionally reflected the lives and times of the people that sung it. Yes there were songs of sex, love and girls won and lost, but that only formed a small part of the genre.

Taylor is quite happy to mix political songs into his set as well as songs about people and places going from real deep and dirty blues to more acoustic almost delta style songs.

Judging by the audience reaction he's got it all very right. There's call for more and even a comment about the injustice of what's on Stage One as Sean plays the Club Tent, not that he seems to mind, judging from the smile on his face between tracks. I'm told that he sold every CD he had on site, I'm not surprised he really hit the mood and the nail on the head. If Showcases are about introducing rising stars to a wider audience then this one did its job.

It does seem to be a weekend for heading back to the 1920s and 1930s and C.W. Stoneking is a master of it. Born in Australia to American parents, he has immersed himself in music from that era, not just from around the New Orleans area, but also further out into the Caribbean, picking up on hokum and vaudeville along the way.

From the limited amount of time I've spent with this type of music in the office at home, I'd say he's really got it sounding like the real thing, as he has with the look. It looks like he could have stepped out of a New Orleans barbers shop.

There's a danger of something like this drifting into the world of pastiche, but Stoneking manages to sidestep that by coming across as someone that has a genuine affection for both the music and the era, rather than someone that has discovered a novelty niche.

His music is as slick as his hair, the man really knows his way around a steel guitar, but it's his banjo playing that impresses most.

Ironically if C.W. Stoneking was around in the 30s we would probably know him from being the subject of a murder ballad, shot in a southern speakeasy by a disconsolate lover.

It's a quick dash across the site to catch the almost legendary Kris Kristofferson, that all too rare breed, someone that can actually sing and act, being genuinely successful and talented in both fields.

It has to be said, he's getting on a bit these days and the last couple of times I've heard him, he's not sounded his best. He's barely through the opening number before I have to, happily, admit those fears were unfounded.

There are people here that have definitely booked to see Kristofferson, judging by badges and t-shirts alone. The volumes of sound coming from the audience on the sing-a-longs rank as some of loudest I think I've heard.

He's playing the set solo, just him, his guitar and harmonica. I'm sure he could have growled his way through the phonebook and some of the audience would have gone home happy, but there's a reason why he has been such a major contributor to the American Songbook. When he sings "Me And Bobby Magee" there's pretty much an entire tent singing along with him.

Kristofferson shares a real connection with his audience, smiles and even a wink are used to charm them during the between song banter. His performance is consummate. He doesn't wander far from the microphone stand and yet he dominates the stage.

There's sparseness to his music, but that's not a problem, sometimes the simplest delivery is the most effective. He played virtually the whole show with a gob-iron rack on. It's sort of fair enough as most of his material used harmonica, but it would have been nice for his fans if they could have seen more of him sans iron work.

That really is the only quibble about his set and it's a very minor one. He really did exceed expectation when it came to his performance. I was really impressed by the guy and felt honoured to have been there.

At Cambridge the headliner doesn't go on last this is so the audience drift away in a more manageable way. That said there's a really difficult choice to make, even if both bands have already played the festival. Lunasa are bringing things to a close on Stage One, personally I'm off to Stage Two for my second dose of Show Of Hands.

As anticipated, the late night show is a little bit more raucous, a little bawdier even. There is an assumption that the young folkers are already in bed. A quick glance around pretty much confirms it.

We're into songs about wrecking stretching back to the... actually this century, start scratching the surface of almost anything and it doesn't take long for veneer to fall off.

Show Of Hands are officially the two greatest ever Devonians and Miranda Sykes, they have a wealth of local material to draw on as well as more universal themes. They're not afraid to play with their own material either adding lines or verses to suit.

I've seen the band play small stages and massive halls, afternoon sunshine and evening rain, they are a band that always rises to the occasion and they are a great way to end my Cambridge Folk Festival for another year.

Well almost. There's time for one last drink with the crew before saying goodbye to the rest of the Fatea team, the Pit Ponies and the rest of the snappers and writers. Most importantly a chance to say thanks to Christina McNally, Naomi Rose, Gemma Hogg and Polly Griffith in the new media caravan, without whom it would be impossible to provide the coverage we do. Many many thanks.

It's been a year of contrasts. This was not a classic festival though I did see one of the most impressive sets that I've seen in a long time, as well as one of the worst. As per usual the festival was also about meeting up with old friends and enjoying the craic over a beer or two. I still can't think of a better way to spend the last weekend in July.

Neil King

Photocredits:Neil King