Allan Wilkinson Goes Walkabout
Saturday
Everyone on site expected a downpour sometime on Saturday and they eventually got one during the late afternoon. Severe weather warnings had been announced from the media caravan by mid afternoon and the skies looked considerably bleak. For some, it would be a matter of taking up residence in either of the stage marquees; for others it would be an exodus to the sanctuary of the two bars. For many however, it was a case of riding out the storm in the open fields. It's only rain after all.
Earlier in the morning though, things were still bright and beautiful, and Rachel Unthank's singing workshop helped to keep at bay any real consideration for the weather. Rachel is no stranger to running singing workshops, even though most of them up to now have been by and large for children in schools up and down the country. Breaking off from a busy schedule, which has included recording a new album, reshuffling the band, preparing a grueling forty-date tour and, oh yes, getting married, Rachel brightened up Saturday morning by presenting a workshop aimed at getting everyone singing, with a little help from her younger sister Becky. I was quite amazed at just how many happy campers, who had incidentally already endured two nights in a damp tent, would be willing to go along with Rachel's 'Rubber Chicken' warm up routine, but they did, without so much as a peep.
I enjoy workshops that are just that, hands on joining in sort of workshops, so much so that anything masquerading as a workshop, such as last year's fiddle and mandolin workshop, just won't do. Rachel was determined to get everyone singing and not just because she wanted us to, but because we wanted to. Using examples of folk songs from around the world, including a Yorkshire street call and response song, which has been recorded and promises to be on the forthcoming third Unthank album, Rachel's command over communal singing successfully lifted the spirits of those in the Club Tent, the culmination of the workshop being a beautiful four part rendition of "The Newcastle Lullaby".
Directly after Rachel's workshop, I interviewed the siblings in the VIP Bar to the side of the main stage, just as Crooked Still were setting up for their main stage appearance. I asked Rachel about her approach to singing and how she felt about running workshops generally: "I really enjoy singing with a large number of people. It's really different from singing on your own or just with a couple of people. There's something quite spiritual about it and this morning those people were quick and good and they made a lovely sound. I've done a lot of workshops up in the Noth East for choirs and for kids and I do really enjoy it because it's what it's all about really".
After a good long natter to the Unthanks, I wandered down to the front of Stage One to see Hayes Carll's second set at the festival, having caught a bit of his Friday night set on Stage Two. Performing songs from his albums 'Little Rock' and 'Trouble In Mind', Carll exchanged the gritty Texas bars, which he is used to working in, for Cherry Hinton's gentle green fields, including in his set the songs "Knocking Over Whiskeys" and "Good Friends". Carll is said to have honed his craft in the seedier bars of the Gulf Coast of Texas by playing in front of tough crowds, six nights a week and has worked with amongst others, the legendary Guy Clark. Together with a wealth of good well constructed songs in the vein of Townes Van Zandt, Carll also proved to be something of a raconteur between songs.
In Andrew Webster's introduction, it was revealed that the BBC radio broadcast of Jim Moray's recent appearance at WOMAD, was extended from a planned two song allocation to the entire set, it being so good. Repeating for Cambridge some of the same magic, Jim Moray and his exceptionally good band including Mawkin:Causley's James Delarre on violin and hurdy gurdy, performed a strong set to a packed and buzzing main stage audience, with songs from his current album 'Low Culture' including "Leaving Australia", "Rufford Park Poachers" and "Lucy Wan" as well as one or two from his first album, the title song "Sweet England" and "Gypsies". Concluding the set with Moray's take on the infectious XTC song "All You Pretty Girls", the charismatic Moray preceded the performance with a dedication to a handful of such pretty girls in the audience.
Jon Boden and the Remnant Kings made their Cambridge debut on Stage Two mid afternoon on Saturday. Boden had been quite busy over the weekend appearing with Bellowhead on Friday night, and then again popping up in the main stage marquee to do an impromptu session with a bunch of people who had been following texts provided by the BBC giving hints to a 'special musical event' and then finally with his new band The Remnant Kings. In a relatively short period of time Jon Boden has become a much respected and hard working musician in collaboration with the likes of John Spiers, Bellowhead and Eliza Carthy but this exclusive festival appearance showed Boden in his own project and in a much more restrained mood as he performed songs from his current album 'Songs From the Floodplain'.
With two appearances at this years' Cambridge Festival, Derbyshire's Bella Hardy assembled a fine band of musicians to showcase her new album 'In The Shadow of the Mountains' which she launched over the weekend. Bella has come a long way in the last two years since the release of her debut solo album 'Night Visiting', already with three BBC Folk Award nominations under her belt, as well as reaching the finals of the BBC Young Folk Awards in 2004, she has become one of the leading lights on the British folk scene. Bella took command of both sets during the weekend and proved that she has the potential to take her music to places she probably hasn't even dreamed of yet.
Ella Edmondson returned to the Club Tent this year, this time with her fine trio consisting of Buddy Valentine on Bass and Si Paull on percussion, to perform songs from her debut album 'Hold Your Horses' released earlier this year. I asked Ella how this time compared to her first appearance in 2008: "Oh it was totally different, last time I just jumped up and did a couple of songs on my own, this time I have a band with me and it's a whole different experience". A year can make a difference in music and Ella has come on in leaps and bounds over the last twelve months, presenting herself as a much more assured performer. Ella's songs have strong radio friendly melodic structures, which could potentially cross the boundaries of alternative acoustic and folk pop with ease. Songs such as "Go Without", "Fold" and "Run and Hide", all of which were played during her set. Bad Shepherd Andy Dinan added a further dimension adding some pretty tasty fiddle to "Breath".
Diana Jones played two remarkable sets during the weekend, the first on Saturday night just as the heavens opened. Drawing on old time, country blues and mountain music of her native Tennessee, Diana is imbued with the same sort of authenticity as captured in the songs of Iris DeMent and Gillian Welch. With a selection of songs from both 'My Remembrance Of You' and the follow up 'Better Times Will Come', Diana captivated her audience with her outstanding performance.
I spoke to Diana backstage and asked her how she felt about playing on the main stage at the Cambridge Folk Festival: "Oh I'm honoured. I played two years ago in the Club Tent, with my friend Bo Stapleton and that was great fun and sort of a taste, but it's great to come back and do two sets and to get to know people and to be backstage. Everyone's so lovely, it's so well run; it's great, it's just like a little village, I love it".
Probably the most familiar sound at Cambridge this year, especially to anyone of my generation, would be that of Booker T of the MGs fame. As the Stax house band, Booker T and the MGs were responsible for the sound that underpins most of the classic Otis Redding and Sam and Dave numbers as well as being responsible for such timeless hits as "Green Onions" and "Time Is Tight", both of which the band played during their set. Throughout the afternoon I noticed a couple of cricket fans sharing a set of headphones, intently listening to the latest Test results and thought how ironic it would be to hear Booker T's 'Soul Limbo' being played live from the stage as Graham (not Green) Onions came out to play. Time was indeed tight as Booker T waited in the wings as at one point during the stage set up, no less than seven stage personnel surrounded his B3 Hammond Organ, all presumably making sure the old thing worked properly, which it seemed to in the end.