Club Of The Month
Club Of The Month is a regular feature that gives a club a little extra space to sell themselves. Please contact us if you would like your club to be considered:
Cambridge Folk Club
The University city of Cambridge is well known for its cosmopolitan atmosphere and thriving local music scene, with many venues and acts to choose from. The Club, which meets every Friday in the function room of the newly refurbished Golden Hind pub, and which has been a well-established part of this scene for over 40 years, offers a vibrant and varied programme of events. We also have close links with the Cambridge Folk Festival; our president, Joan Woollard, is the widow of Ken Woollard, the driving force behind the earlier years of the Festival; the Club continues to host the folk club stage on the Friday night of the Cambridge Folk Festival.
The Club's liberal interpretation of 'folk music' ranges from the traditional to acoustic rock, taking in blues and jazz and the occasional helping of world music; we book local and national artists, with the occasional international act thrown in. One of the highlights of last year's programme was the visit of Tanglefoot from Canada; another international act was the Australian duo Cloudstreet. Each month we alternate Guest nights with Open Stages and Showcases; therefore, we not only provide our audiences with a rich choice, but also aim to promote local talent.
Our Open Stage nights offer artists both local and from further afield, the opportunity to come along and share their music with our appreciative, listening audience, and to network with other performers. The Club sees supporting and promoting local talent, particularly young local talent, as an important part of its role; therefore, in addition to spots when artists are invited to perform two songs, each Open Stage night includes a 30 minute spot for a booked act selected from our base of local artists, which, incidentally, includes our sound man. The Club also promotes local acts at its occasional Showcase nights, in which three acts take part. Our Showcases have attracted artists from further afield, such as Marina Florance from Norwich, Na Mara from St Albans and Sunday Driver from London. The Club has also hosted CD launches for local performers, such as No I.D, and Strangeworld. Acts like these may not only be asked to support our guest artists, but may also be chosen to play on the Cambridge Folk Club's Friday night Club Stage at the Cambridge Folk Festival. Amongst our guests on this stage have been local singer/songwriter Paul Goodwin, and local celebrities the band Lightning Jack, who are about to launch their second CD with us.
Our guest artists range from new young talent such as Jackie Oates and Jim Causley, and up-and-coming duos such as Megson and bands such as Kerfuffle, to long-established performers The Sultans of Squeeze and the Bully Wee Band, not forgetting more established names, such as Uiscedwr. In the past year, our acts have ranged from the traditional, with the Pete Morton, Roger Wilson and Chris Parkinson Christmas show, to blues from local duo Hot Lips and Chilli Fingers and with the sophisticated self-penned jazz-influenced music of duo Landermason. Another stellar evening featured the thought-provoking music and lyrics of local acoustic favourite Boo Hewerdine. We also enjoy comic acts, and have hosted unforgettable evenings with Les Barker solo, and with the Mrs. Ackroyd Band.
The Club also promotes occasional concerts at other Cambridge venues. Amongst its successes this year have been two sell-out concerts held at the Emmanuel United Reformed Church in the Autumn, one featuring Show of Hands and one featuring Ralph McTell.
In 2009, our guest list includes lyricist Jez Lowe, Breton influenced band The Churchfitters, folk's 'boyband' Mawkin/Causley, and an act that went down a storm at last year's Cambridge Festival, Heidi Talbot with Boo Hewerdine and John McCusker. Also planned is an evening celebrating traditional music presented by local author Les Ray and duo Mary Humphries and Anahata, which will include an investigation of Vaughan Williams' local connections as folksong collector.
The Club is run by volunteers and meets every Friday at The Golden Hind, 355 Milton Road, Cambridge, CB4 1SP. All events begin at 8.00pm, and PA is provided. For more details visit our website www.cambridgefolkclub.org or contact 01638 603986.