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Lucy Ward

Venue: Lymm Folk Club
Town: Cheshire
Date: March llth
Website: http://www.lucywardsings.com

In these times of high /extortionate [delete as appropriate] fuel costs, most of us have to be selective about which gigs we go to and how far we travel. When I heard that Lucy Ward was playing at Lymm Folk Club [ a 75 mile round trip for me ] I was undecided as to whether to go or not. Then I re-played Lucy's debut album "Adelphi Has To Fly" and my mind was immediately made up - I'm going!

Furthermore, I'm really glad that I did go as it was a wonderful performance by Lucy who is, without doubt, one of the foremost rising stars in the English folk music firmament. If proof were needed, she recently [last month] won the Horizon Award at the prestigious BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards ,which are the Oscars of the Folk world. If even more proof were needed, Lucy was also nominated for Best Traditional Track in the same awards, alongside such luminaries as June Tabor and the Oyster Band, Martin Simpson and Emily Smith. Lucy was nominated for her version of "Maids When You're Young" [the award was won by June and the Oysters for " Bonny Bunch of Roses ", incidentally].

Immediately before Lucy's first set club organiser/host/sound man/performer Bernard Cromarty treated us to a rousing version of " The Titanic", which was apparently requested by Lucy herself. Accompanying himself on his mighty accordion , Bernard got the crowd joining in with various Titanic -related sound effects before launching into the theme from Monty Python's Flying Circus [a souza march, I believe ] with a bit of "Blaze Away" thrown in for good measure !

From the outset Lucy charmed the audience with her bubbly, effervescent presence [and Mermaid Blue hair]. Her jocular personality contrasts with the often dark nature of her material .For example, we had songs about homelessness [Alice in the Bacon Box]; sisterly murder [Two Sisters]; domestic violence [A Stitch in Time] ; gothic horror [Mr.Fox] and economic depression [For the Dead Men].

On the lighter side, we had the aforementioned, slightly risqué, award-nominated "Maids When You're Young" and also "Fair and Tender Ladies". Somewhat unexpectedly, we had cover versions of two "Britpop " classics , Pulp's "Common People " [as performed by Lucy in a cabaret at Sidmouth Festival] and Blur's "Tender". Both went down well with the audience, judging by the level of crowd participation for both songs. We even had a Monkees' song -"Daydream Believer "- in tribute to the recently deceased Davy Jones [who , of course, grew up in nearby Manchester].

Lucy told us how nervous she was when she met June Tabor, one of her great influences, at the recent Awards ceremony. However, in my humble opinion, Lucy shouldn't be in awe of such performers, as she is already up there with the best of them. She is a very expressive singer and can hold an audience spellbound with the purity and clarity of her voicewhether singing unaccompanied or accompanied with her own guitar or concertina. Her Derbyshire accent gives her voice an added edge.

Lucy is also a very fine songwriter and she performed a number of her own songs, including "Julia", "Alice in the Bacon Box" and "Bricks and Love", which is a very moving song about a man who is reduced to tears in a folk club on hearing a song which reminds him of his late wife, to whom he was devoted .The line "Now the man lives alone in a house he used to call his home" is particularly poignant.

Another highlight was Lucy's performance of her new single "For the Dead Men". The song has been described by Billy Bragg [no less] as "brilliant and inspirational". High praise indeed.

As well as her music, Lucy treated the audience to a reading of extracts from the "Dating Dictionary" from a Boyfriend Magazine Annual dating from the early 1960's.

So, was it worth taking the journey to see Lucy Ward? The answer is, most definitely, "Yes" and I would recommend that if Lucy is playing in your area ,you go and see her too. You won't regret it.

Peter Cowley
pics Neil King not taken at gig