Beverley Folk Festival
Beverley Folk Festival 2011
Friday June 17th - Sunday June 19th
Multiple Venues
Beverley Yorkshire
Friday - Saturday - Sunday - Gallery
Beverley Folk Festival - Sunday
I'm fired up by a full English Breakfast, the weather is good and I'm ready to go.
I really have to say how impressed I am with both the artists and the festival goers at Beverley. The Wold Top Marquee had been going until 2am Sunday morning, before closing down for the night and yet here we are at the, for a festival, ungodly hour of 10:30am in the very same tent and there's a few people here that I recognise from last night. I tip my hat top them.
The reason we're all here is to catch "Brunch With Reg" a sort of concert cum workshop cum question and answer session delivered by one of the best observational singer-songwriters of his generation, Reg Meuross.
I wonder if he can get an observational song out of trying to compete with the volume of the machine emptying the chemical toilets. He certainly get some witty banter out of it.
There's a real mystery around Reg and that's why isn't he a household name, or at the very least better known than he is. I guess part of the answer is down to radio shows that are constrained by dogma. Reg is not country enough for the country shows, blues for blues, folk for folk etc. Most of the shows that cover a wider selection of the acoustic spectrum tend to focus on the region they come from so the likes of Reg and Robb Johnson have to continue the constant graft of touring to get the recognition they deserve.
"Brunch With Reg" identifies why his songwriting ability is so well recognised in folk and acoustic root circles. He can turn an overheard phase and then imagine it into a place whilst the mere mortals amongst us are still recognising a clever line. Similarly to many of us seeing a strange person wearing an Elvis wig in a cafe is normally a sign that we need to sit on the other side of the cafe, for Reg its a sign that he needs to write a song.
"Brunch With Reg" is scheduled for an hour, but like all the best brunch dates, it over runs considerably, much to the delight of the late risers who thought they might just catch the last ten minutes or so. There are few songwriters that have a natural gift like Reg and for those of us that want a bit more, he's got a new CD, "The Dream And The Damned", which catches up some of the lost tracks from the last few years. A great way to start the day.
There's some morris type activity going on in the village area, so whilst the Wold Top Marquee prepares for the afternoon session, I wander outside to see what's happening. There's a rapper side giving it all they've got. The rapper sides are the ones that use the flexible swords as part of the dance. The Beverley Film Society are hosting "Morris - A Life With Bells On" later, it's one of those films I always intend to get around to watching, but haven't quite made it yet.
Being first on in the Session seems to be cursed position, yesterday's opening act was hit by car problems, today Edwina Hayes is running late. It might be a blessing in disguise. It moves Something Nasty In The Woodshed up the bill and as they've got a full drum kit, it gives them a chance to get everything on stage without having to rush the interval.
Something Nasty In The Woodshed are a five piece that draw on traditional music from both sides of the border as well as penning their own tunes. They've gained themselves something of a reputation as a festival band in these parts, but I don't think they've ventured very far south.
In some respects they're a bit of a growing old disgracefully band, in years probably past what many would consider to be prime, but being blokes that doesn't matter, there's still the hankering for getting out making a noise and having a good time.
The noise they make shows the whole band to be more than competent musicians, they do a good line in between song banter and I find myself being quite impressed. It's a late Sunday lunchtime and they've really got the crowd going, I'm guessing that they would lift the roof with a bit of darkness and a slightly more drunk audience.
As well as including bagpipes in the lineup, they use electric pipes, which the lead singer describes as being ten inches of vibrating plastic, I did mention the banter. I'm sure Rabbie Burns would be turning in his grave, but at least he would be doing it in time with the tune. The pipe player is also the lead singer of the band, so there really is a practical application to the electric pipes.
Another advantage is that you don't have to have the constant drones sat behind it and you are able to change the key and tunings, making it easier to drop into a wider range of songs. Apparently Something Nasty In The Woodshed have got one album already under their belt and another in the pipeline.
They are a band that are part of a proper festival spirit, don't take things to seriously, but do the best you can with the music and the best these boys can do is to give everyone a goodtime. If they do travel south well worth checking out, if you live local to the festival, I guess you'll be seeing them again.