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Bournemouth Folk Festival

Venue: BIC
Town: Bournemouth
Date: 23rd-24th March
Website: http://www.bournemouthfolkfestival.co.uk

Saturday

I was really impressed with the trio's debut release, the "Demonstrations" ep, to the extent that they were offered and accepted a place on the current Fatea Showcase Session, Spring 2012 Walking. I still hadn't caught them live, up 'til now.

Though now based in Bristol, the band all have Bournemouth connections, sort of making this a hometown gig. I'm really looking forward to this and from the very start, it looks like my faith has been justified, because they are straight into a strong start.

There's quite an aggressive edge to their songs, they're young and there's a whole world of injustice to rail against and it forms an interesting juxtaposition with the laid back aspects of both the sound, semi-laid back, with a hint of funk, and the general disposition of the band.

Holika are a band at the start of their careers, they're more than happy to experiment with a sound and it seems to be doing them a world of good. I was impressed with their recorded output and they've more than carried it into the live arena, well worth checking out if they're playing near you.

It's been a bit of a while since I last saw Martha Tilston, longer still since I saw her performing with The Woods and with this being one of her last gigs before going on maternity leave, it may well be a while before I see her again.

I've been fortunate enough to see Martha in a number of different size venues and she makes you feel at home in all of them. She can do quiet and intimate, she can do loud and brash, more importantly, she can do them one after another with seeming to big or too small.

Her set is stunning, she has a very expressive voice and she can turn it on a dime, twist a song from seeming about a loose almost fey feeling into something that feels like home, about everyday life, everyday life that is anything but mundane.

She's very relaxed with people, she can share stories about lousy machine coffee with the best of them. Joke about pies and pregnancy bumps and share thoughts on how dark nursery rhymes.

In The Wood, she has a band that allows her to give the songs more depth, more atmosphere. There is a real richness to the sound that is reverberating around the Tregonwell Hall, delightful is an adjective that easily attaches itself to the set, exciting another. Enjoy your time off Martha, we'll miss you.

Martyn Joseph is a singer/songwriter who wears his Welsh roots on his sleeve and pretty anywhere it can break free if the denim. He's a man that's proud of his working class roots and a man that's proud of his faith, with both factors informing his material.

He's also a highly personable chap who engages the audience like an old friend, whether that's through his songs or his between song banter. Sometimes he's coming at young like Springsteen, sometimes like Elvis, but more often than not, he comes at you like a Welshman riding a wave of social injustice.

That may make it sound like he's a little bit preachy, far from it. His songs show a shrewd sense of observation and the ability to turn that into some fine social commentary within a song. When there are few politicians prepared to represent the working man, then maybe it does fall to the folk singer.

As is so often the highlight of his set is his trademark walk through the audience pretty much playing totally acoustically, jumping up on tables, engaging with fans on a one to one level, even so this is more than a press the flesh opportunity, this about being part of the community, where singer and audience are one and the same thing.

It was an excellent way to end to end the afternoon, lively, yet also thought provoking, it's a good way to sum Martyn Joseph up, there are some political singer/songwriters that forget to keep the fun in music, not a charge that can be levelled here, entertainment is very much part of the package.

The Tregonwell Hall moved out of use for a while to allow some of the seating to be removed to allow for a more band and ceilidh focused evening session. Some of the visitors find their way into the Purbeck lounge either to watch or take part in the Open Mic session, others take the opportunity for a visit to the bar or to get food and others still headed for the final workshop of the day, a songwriting workshop given by Martyn Joseph himself.

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