PAST EVENTS

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For a wonderful way to end our Harwell programme of gigs for 2024, we had another full house for the marvellous Merry Hell and Wantage based Elsi, it was a splendid evening of music, audience participation and in the end dancing!

Elsi opened the evening with a very mellow set of songs which included her own compositions as well as a few covers from the likes of Kate Rusby.

Merry Hell delivered two very entertaining sets of old favourites and some new songs including from their new album.

They opened with ‘We Are Different We Are One’ and It only took until the third song to get full on audience participation when they played ‘Bury Me Naked’ which was of course introduced with the usual health and safety warning from Andrew. The first set closed with the lads trooping off stage and leaving Virginia to perform ‘Violet’, which she did unplugged and going up into the audience.

The second set was full of more old favourites such as ‘Come On England’, ‘Sister Atlas’ and ‘Leave It in The Ground’. Elsi was invited up on stage to join them for “One More Day” and by the end of the evening people were up and dancing to “The Bakers Daughter”. It was a fantastic evening rounded off with an encore, fittingly called ‘Let The Music Speak For Itself’.

Around 60 people enjoyed the delights of Edwina Hayes and Emily Slade at The Corn Exchange last night, in what will be the last BGTM gig in Faringdon for a while, so it was fitting that Edwina did the gig as she did our first gig there back in March 2023.

Emily, who is getting back into music after taking some time off to raise a family, opened with a lovely set of some original well written songs and a couple of covers from Bob Dylan and Joan Biaz. Edwina joined her on stage of the last song which was a cover of Dusty Springfield’s “I Only Want To Be With You”.

Edwina then did two sets with her usual amusing chit chat in between the songs with tales of friends and family including her somewhat infamous Dad and there was of course the Edwina Raffle. The first set was her choices of song, the send set was whatever had been requested by people during the break.

As well as her original songs there were covers of Leneord Cohen and songs she had written with friends or by friends, including the very funny if very non-PC “Waiting for the Guy to Die”. She was of course brought back for an encore when she did “Feel’s Like Home”.

We had yet another 100+ audience (one of whom who had flown in from Seattle that morning) at The Orchard Hall in Harwell Village Hall who were royally entertained by Man The Lifeboats and Harwell firm favourite, Anna Renae and it was Anna who opened the evening with a 30 minute set including the new song “Fresh Air” which sounds like to should be on a Radio 2 play list!

As Monty Python’s would say, “and now for something completely different” as Man The Lifeboats played two wonderfully upbeat sets which had a number of people dancing. The first set opens with just Aaron on accordion playing “Gravel Walks” before the rest of the band joins him and launch into “Godless”. The set continued with favourites like “Wasted Life” and “I Killed a Man” and we were taken into the break with “Doomed”.

The second set started with Rich playing the yet to be recorded “Wild Flowers” solo before the rest of the band joined him for songs which included “Somerston”, “County Kilburn” and “Nobody Home”. They closed the set with “Fires of England” and after rapturous applause came back to encore with “Born Drunk”.

It certainly was a joyous evening which will last long in the memory.

The Duncan and Vanessa welcomed The Dunwells and a sold out audience to The Lean To Sessions at BGTM HQ in Abingdon. They were treated to a really enjoyable evening.

We all had a bit of a chat while everyone arrived and then at 8pm Joe & Dave kicked off the first set with “Animal” and then “Battling Life”. There was the usual brotherly banter, but despite the gentle ribbing, you can see the love and mutual respect that exists between them. They did their cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark” and Dave did his solo song “Borrow Me” and Joe finished the first set playing solo with his song about mental health “See You Soon”.

After a break, in which they chatted with the audience around the merch table, we launched into the second set which was more of a request session, with “Communicate”, “Break My Fall”, Light Up The Sky” and “Summertime” all asked for, though the latter is rarely done in an acoustic set. We were treated to the first live playing of “Rich” and they encored with “Gold”.

It was a great evening full of laughs and full of love for the band and the time seemed to pass so quickly, but it was great way to start the weekend. There was no rush for everyone to leave and some stayed for a bit more chatting, though after everyone had gone, we were very rock and roll and enjoyed a cup of tea and toast with Joe & Dave.

If you want to be one of the 20 people at the next Lean To Sessions event, keep a keen eye on the BGTM Newsletter as the tickets tend to go very quickly.

We had a very low turnout for what was a lovely gig.  Elsi who was due to open the evening couldn't make it due to having Covid, but we had two great sets from Hannah, as described by our good friend Tony Birch.

It's always a delight to see Hannah Scott, but when the event is the launch of a new album then it's a very special treat.  Previous albums have set a high bar, but "Absence Of Doubt" is incredible.

The songs do what Hannah does so well as a writer; songs of love and loss that we can all relate to and sung with the feeling that can only come from experience.  Although the topics aren't always about the happy times there's feeling, passion and love in each one so they become uplifting and warming.  This was the first date on the launch tour and I strongly recommend getting along to another if you can.

The venue was interesting as well.  The Corn Exchange in Faringdon is right in the middle of one those typical market towns and goes back over 150 years.  Now used as a community centre it's a very open space and has, for some reason, a model horse above the stage.  Farrngdon's in the Vale of the White Horse, but it isn't white so answers on a postcard.

It was a wonderful evening and all credit to Big Ginger Tom Music for continuing to promote live music.

Big Ginger Tom Music’s second gig in September saw Craig Joiner and Alex Hart share the bill at The Folk House in Bristol. This is a great venue which has the choice of using the Main Hall or for smaller audiences the Cafe, which is where we found ourselves.

Alex opened the evening with a set of songs mainly from her most recent album, Visions a couple from her back catalogue and Neil Young cover. Her songs cover subject matter as diverse as her dog, Tilly, giving advice to friends and one inspired by David Attenborough, which is what she closed her set with.

After the break Craig then played songs from his two albums, The Art of Landing and A Kind of Calm. Again more diverse subject matter from fly fishing to having a stepson that knows everything about everything.

For an entire they did 3 duets, firstly Craig’s The wedding Day of Eliza May, then Alex’s Visions and finally John Martyn’s May You Never.

It was a truly entertaining and enjoyable evening which was the first of four double bill’s they are doing this September, so London, Leicester and Penistone, you are in for a treat.

Well what a night that was, two excellent artists in Lucy May Walker and The Dunwells putting on a real show and throughly entertaining everyone.  Another 100+ audience at Harwell had an amazing time last night.

Lucy May Walker delivered her sassy and  (mostly) upbeat songs which have the  most wonderful lyrics based on her keen observational eye.  Talking of eyes, there were a few tears shed when she sang "The Hardest Goodbye", a song about the loss of a baby.  The Dunwells joined her for "Run Back Home" and she got the whole audience singing along with "Heartbreak Song".  Very rightly she was asked back for an encore.  We will be looking to bring Lucy back next year.

The Dunwells delivered two great set as usual, starting with "Animal" and running through their back catalogue, some recently released songs ("Better Days") and the odd cover thrown in ("Dancing in the Dark").  They did a couple of solo songs and had Lucy join them for "Will You Wait For Me"

Watching them perform was a joy to behold as tit was obvious that they were thoroughly enjoying themselves and that feeling fed into the audience.  The in between song banter was gentle ribbing of each other, but you could feel the bind between the two brothers from Leeds. 

They got an extremely well deserved standing ovation and the audience left having been thoroughly entertained.

For the final gig before the summer break we had the very entertaining Jacob & Drinkwater and up and coming Detta Kenzie at Harwell Village Hall who delighted the audience of about 50 people some of whom had travelled from as far afield as London, Guildford, Brighton, Ormskirk and Washington DC.

The choice of Detta Kenzi as support (organised as long ago as December 2023) proved to be inspired as her accompanying guitarist is now Tobias Ben Jacob (this was their second gig playing together) and Lukas Drinkwater is currently producing her new EP. She delivered five songs which were a mix of traditional folk songs and two of her own. Lukas joined Detta and Tobias for the final song on double base and the audience went into the break humming the ear worm of a chorus. I’m sure if she had CDs to bring with her, she would have sold a fair few.

What followed were two wonderful sets from Tobias and Lukas with their trademark Morcambe & Wise banter between songs. The gig was part of their 10th Anniversary tour and was promoting their new album “Ten Years Greatest Hits Volumes 2 to 4”. The first set kicked off with “New Capri” and included the always brilliant and never the same “The Devil and Tobias Ben Jacob” done at their request in the dimmed down blue hue lighting setting and also their Country & Western song “Saragossa Sea”. They finished with “We Are The First Ones” Even and at this stage of the proceedings they left the stage to great applause.

After some feedback during the break, the blue hue lighting was voted by the audience the way to proceed with the rest of the gig. The second set included a couple of requests including “Polyphonic Life”. At the end of their set their was rapturous applause and cries for more, so they duly came back and played “To Call You Friend” dedicated to their friend, who sadly died young. They did this unplugged directly in from t of the audience. It was a wonderful way to end the evening.  

It was a small, but select audience (including Hannah’s old music teacher) at The Corn Exchange in Faringdon for the show with Anna Renae, Lizzy Hardingham and Elizabeth & Jameson.

First up was Anna Renae, who has played in Harwell and Abingdon many times, this was her first gig in a while having been poorly for a while, but she gave a good performance of songs from her debut album “Skin”, including my favourite, “Far From Sanity”.

After a short break, Lizzy Hardingham delivered a fine set of songs from her albums “Harvester of Gold” and “How Did We Get Here?” Lizzy’s writing covers many topics from mental health to decorating to global warming.

Lizzy is a very inclusive performer so there was a good selection of sing along songs such as “Floorboards” (another favourite of mine) and “Singing Together”. There was also one song “Memorial for a Glacier” from her album “Seven”.

Another shot break and then it was time for Elizabeth & Jameson. I have known them since Hannah was in Said the Maiden and Griff was the front man for Fred’s House. They blend the folk and pop genres wonderfully as shown in all four songs which they played from their latest EP, “The Old Town” and the couple of songs from the album “Northern Shores & Stories”.

They finished with the foot stomper “Ycha fi” (Welsh for disgusting), and were deservedly called back for an encore which they shared with Lizzy and they sang the classic “Stuck in the middle with you” with a lot of help from the audience.

A lovely evening, which would had been great to have been shared with more people, but c'est la vie….

Well what a night! Another 100+ audience enjoyed a stunning night of music.

First up was Natalie Holmes who delivered a great set of songs mainly from her last album "Vitamin Be"  combining her stunning voice with guitar and keyboards.  She was very well received.

Then Ranagri delivered 2 sets of music from their 5 previous albums plus some new songs that will be on the album that is in the process of being written.

The first set started of with the instrumental "The Hare" and included other favourites such as "The Bogeyman", "Tremors" and "Courting is a Pleasure", whilst the performance of "Fear a Bhata" was so moving, some of the audience shed a few tears.  We also had a new song in "Say Hello".

The second set was just as brilliant, starting with "The Wife of Ushers Well".  We then had a couple of new songs in "An Dereen/The Salmon", which had a marvellous intrumental interlude and "Strange World".  We had a marvellous performance of the seldom heard "Out There" before they finished with "The Medication Show" and had people dancing with "Rhythm Takes you Back".   After a standing ovation they came back to encore with "You Can Do Better".

This was Ranagri's fourth outing at Harwell, and it was all the better for having their fifth "band member", Drew Coleman with them doing the sound.

Another absolutely fantastic night at The Orchard Hall, Harwell Village Hall.

What a lovely way to restart our "Lean To Sessions" after a gap of four years.  The sold out audience of 20 people enjoyed an intimate evening of songs and banter from the irrepressible Alex Hart.

The evening starts with a chat and drinks in the kitchen while everyone arrives, then there were two lovely sets from across Alex's back catalogue and nearly all the songs from her new album "Visions", which includes a little help from the likes of Seth Lakeman and Benji Kirkpatrick.

The songs draw inspiration from many subjects including Alex's dog ("Tilly's Song" and "Losing You"), past and present friendships and of course past boyfriends!

She threw in a couple of covers with Gerry Rafferty's "Baker Street" and Neil Young's "Old Man" and she was of course asked back for an encore.

She has seven more dates left on this tour, but most dates have sold out, so get in quick if you want a ticket.

Duncan and Vanessa would love to have Alex back again in their home in Abingdon.

Many thanks to Jason Ritchie from Get Ready to Rock! for this review.

A pleasing sign to read on the doors tonight – sold out. Live music maybe in intensive care in some cases but signs of recovery are thankfully showing.

Opening tonight were Oxfordshire female duo Wednesday’s Wolves, who I had first seen perform live at this same venue supporting Sam Carter back in early 2022. Their voices combine beautifully on their own songs like ‘Beast’ and ‘Silver for the Boatman’, and went to another level on their stunning version of the Chris Isaak classic ‘Wicked Game’.

A well received set and I am sure Wednesday’s Wolves won over some new fans after tonight’s performance.

Ninebarrow - Jon Whitley and Jay LaBouchardiere – have built up a cottage industry around their music, which includes walking guides and tours in their native Dorset, planting their own woodland (partly funded by their Barrow Bods Facebook group) as well as a growing and loyal fanbase. This was the final gig of their March tour, and indeed the last time an audience would see them in 3D until 2025 due to their impending new arrival, a baby! Pretty sure said baby will have a pair of doting dads and certainly won’t be wanting for lull-a-byes sung to them!

This was the second time seeing Ninebarrow too, the first time being back in 2018 in Bracknell. They have certainly fulfilled their promise of folk magic since then with a series of superbly enjoyable and meaningful albums. Alongside the mighty Bellowhead, one of my favourite folk artists in the past decade or so.

Two sets tonight, with an interval so the audience could, as Duncan the promoter of these gigs, “spread the load” across the loos. In all seriousness it is promoters like Duncan who keep the folk scene and the wider live/gig scene going. Tonight’s gig was a deserved sell out, however, not all shows have been and if like me you can’t afford to travel to the arena sized gigs, stay local and support the grassroots scene. The established artists and cowshed arenas don’t need your valuable support as much as the grassroots and local music scenes do.

With Ninebarrow, both on album and performing live, it is songs like ‘Come January’ that set them apart, as their vocals and harmonies really do bring to mind Simon & Garfunkel. High praise indeed, however, they certainly deserve it, as does their musicianship on a song like ‘Nestledown’. Mind you, as they revealed during the course of the evening they started out playing rockier music including Lynyrd Skynyrd covers. Ooh, now how’s about a Ninebarrow album of rock classics?

Both Jay and Jon have a natural way of storytelling and banter in between songs, wherein lies part of their charm, retelling the stories of where the songs came from. A perfect example being ‘A Pocket Full of Acorns’. Not only wonderfully sung and performed tonight, but the backstory to the song is very interesting. It comes from the story of Vice-Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, Lord Nelson’s second-in-command at the Battle of Trafalgar, who carried acorns in his pocket to plant when out walking. His aim was to ensure wood for the warships of future generations, as he knew that the oak was a finite resource, even though the seeds he planted wouldn’t be mature until he was long gone, he knew it was important to do so. Ninebarrow have done something similar with planting their woodland to offset their carbon footprint from touring.

They did two covers in the second set. First was Nick Drake’s ‘River Man’, which they do their own take on as they said it is nigh on impossible to match the original. From the pre-song intro you can see what a big influence the music of Nick Drake has had on Ninebarrow. The other was ‘Ride On’, one of Christy Moore’s most famous songs (although it was written by Jimmy MacCarthy) and this one lends itself nicely to a bit of audience participation, as what folk gig would be complete without a chance to sing?!

They closed the second set with the crowd pleasing ‘Prickle-eye Bush’, before an encore of ‘Row On’, another tune that lends itself naturally to a sing-a-long.

A memorable gig and one enjoyed equally by audience and performers alike, as for Ninebarrow it will be virtual shows now for the foreseeable. Do seek out their online shows, the next one is scheduled for July.

Folk is in good hands with such talented and engaging artists as Ninebarrow and Wednesday’s Wolves.

Our thanks to Simon Coates for this review of our evening with Show of Hands.

Big Ginger Tom Music made a triumphant start to their 2024 Harwell gig series when they welcomed Phil Beer and Steve Knightley, aka the legendary folk duo Show of Hands, to the Orchard Hall in Harwell Village Hall, as part of their Full Circle Part II tour.

Having played vast venues such as the Royal Albert Hall before, this tour is very much a return to their roots, visiting village halls, small arts centres and other community venues, as they take a retrospective meander through their extensive back catalogue, built up over three decades of playing together, interspersed with their infectious senses of humour and anecdotes from how they got together and their time on the road.

I must admit that, before the gig I wasn’t that familiar with the Show of Hands body of work, but I was very much the outlier in the room, as a full-house of genuine aficionados lapped up an evening of wonderful entertainment, hanging on every word spoken or sung, grabbing each of the (many) opportunities to join in and generally having a great time. I’m now off to brush up on my knowledge of the Show of Hands body of work so that I can get even more out of it next time they come around, but until then I shall definitely be steering clear of Yeovil Town, in case their friendly local psychopath, is still hanging around….

Big Ginger Tom Music are back in Harwell on 15th March with the amazing Ninebarrow, so buy now to ensure you don’t miss out on the opportunity to see another fantastic folk duo hailing from the south west corner of our island. 

Many thanks to Alex Molton from the Faringdon Advertiser for this review.

On 16th February I was lucky enough to attend a fantastic live music event in Faringdon, the concert of Katie Spencer and Henry Parker at the Corn Exchange, organised by Big Ginger Tom Music.

Despite the reasonable size of the venue, with careful lighting and great sound, it had the atmosphere of a very intimate gig from the start.  With a short 'floor spot' from local talent Elsi to kick off, the atmosphere of the evening was very serene and tranquil and felt very exclusive, despite us being the largest audience that this series of concerts had been played to in that venue.

Having not attended a folk music gig before I was unsure what to expect but it turned out to be a real treat. With only guitar and voice both acts demonstrated an impressive array of guitar and song writing skills and showed us a window into their worlds which was really special.

Henry's songs had more of a historic focus, with references and tributes to traditional folk songs and ballads originating from his home county of Yorkshire, as well as some beautiful more modern tunes which he is compiling ready for his third album. With the use of pedals and loops Henry managed to create a far larger and deeper sound that you would anticipate and this gave a real richness to his songs.

Songs from Katie were more mixed, with some giving a nod to historic events and some other, more thoughtful tunes reflecting the human condition, relationships and memories of the past from her recent Album 'The Edge of the Land'. Katie recently received an award for her voice and it was easy to see why, with an incredible depth and silky resonance which makes her songs very evocative and creates a real connection between Katie and her audience.

Their next concert in Faringdon is on 17th May, with music from Elizabeth & Jameson, Lizzy Hardingham and support from Anna Renae. 

For more information about future Big Ginger Tom Music events check out their website at https://biggingertommusic.co.uk/, email biggingertommusic@gmail.com or find them on Facebook.

For more information about Katie Spencer and Henry Parker see their websites: https://www.katiespencer.net/ and https://henryparkermusic.co.uk/

Well, what a way to finish our 2023 programme of events off. Our third sell out audience of the year were treated to a wonderful evening of music.

Craig Joiner was back in Harwell for the third time, having previously opened for Kitty Macfarlane and The Magpies.  He preformed six great songs which were from his last album and his new album due out in January.

His delivery of 'The Wedding day of Eliza May' left the audience spellbound.  He finished with 'The Making of a Life'.  He left the stage to rapturous applause.  Look out for him on his headline tour in February and March.

Rusty Shackle were of course immense opening the first set with 'Devils Pulpit' and playing favourites such as 'Lanterns', 'Moving On' and 'Coming Home'.  They finished the first set with their cover of Jolene.

The second set saw some dancing from the audience, who had been remarkably restrained up until then, to songs such as 'Down to the Valley', 'Newport Rising', 'Love is the Answer' and of course '3AM'

Their last song was 'The Bones' and it was heartily joined in with by all.  It was a great end to the evening and a great end to the year.

We look forward to seeing you all back in Harwell in 2024.

Calum Gilligan is a songwriter and guitarist from Dumfries and Galloway, now based in Liverpool. Since winning Purbeck Rising in 2021 he has released an EP and his debut album, ‘Footsteps on the Broken Road’, in 2022 which received a 5 star review from Liverpool Sound and Vision and held a sell out album launch gig in his new hometown of Liverpool.

Gentle on the listener’s ear, ‘Oh It Begins’ and ‘For All Time’ are delightful to listen to. ‘Imagine Water’ is a good a choice as any on the album to highlight Calum’s delicate and entrancing guitar playing. Not only is he a good singer, he’s no mean slouch on the guitar either!

Katie Grace Harris is a multi-tasking, foot tapping, piano and accordion playing singer and story-weaver, and by day involved in music teaching at local schools.

Katie’s debut album ‘The Toledo Sessions’ was released in 2022. It includes two songs developed in collaboration with Reg Meuross and features musical contributions from Phil Beer, Odette Michell and Lukas Drinkwater.

The album is a proper storyteller’s one, in the vein of her musical inspirations such as Ralph McTell and Joni Mitchell. Highlights include her version of ‘The Ellan Vannin Tragedy’, which features some wonderful sound effects, the jaunty ‘Bedlam Boys’ and ‘Counting My Footsteps To You’, a truly moving piece of music.

Big Ginger Tom Music put both of these artists on for an enjoyable double header at Faringdon Corn Exchange on Friday 17 November 2023. Katie’s set included the exquisite playing of cellist Andy Nice – cello is a perfect instrument for folk and not used half as much as it should be. Both artists guested at the end of each other’s set – a nice touch – and I am now a fan of both.

Calum’s set included a number of fine covers including an excellent version of Richard Thompson’s ‘Beeswing’. They both shone on the evening’s closing number, ‘Leaving of Liverpool’ by the Spinners (the yellow clad Liverpool version, not the Detroit one!).

Proves that it is worth taking a chance on a live night of music put on locally, even if you have never heard a note of either artist’s music until the gig. 

Do check out both artists and Big Ginger Tom Music, who put an excellent series of gigs at Faringdon Corn Exchange and Harwell Village Hall. 

I may not go to as many gigs as I used to but I am really glad I attended this one as you can’t beat live music, especially folk where the stories and tales really come alive at the hands of such talented performers.

With thanks to Jason Ritchie at The Rock 'N' Roll Oatcake

An audience of mainly first timers to Harwell enjoyed a brilliant night of music from Hannah Scott and The Dunwells.

Hannah opened with a set of songs with much emotional outpouring finished off with a tongue in cheek song about the pitfalls of renting a house.  We had favourites such as 'Untangling', 'Skimming Stones' and 'Sitting in the Dark'.  She went off stage to a very well deserved long applause.

The Dunwells delivered two very polished, yet relaxed sets.  The first was started with 'Animal' and worked through songs from their back catalogue and included a cheeky cover of 'Dancing in the Dark'.

Their on stage banter help everyone amused with references to Dave's banjo playing and his good looks.  

There was great variation in their sets with each of them playing a solo song  and they occasionally came to the front of the audience to serenade them.

The second start went to plan until near the end and then they went off piste and took a couple of requests, one of which had not been played on this tour.  They received rapturous applause and came back to do an encore where they sang 'Gold' unplugged, wandering amongst the audience.

After such a great night we will certainly look to have them back next year.

Well what a way to celebrate our 40th gig at Harwell Village Hall as 75 people enjoyed  the return of Gilmore & Roberts and Anna Renae, both for the fourth time (in fact it was Katriona's fifth time as she has also played with The Willows in Harwell).

Anna opened the evening beautifully with songs from her album 'Skin' and one from her EP 'Speaking Her Mind', she was very well received and was asked for an encore.

Gilmore & Roberts the delivered two stunning sets.  It had been 4 years since they were last in Harwell and they have been sorely missed.  They are currently touring their new album 'Documenting Snapshots' and we were very happy to host them on release day especially as they brought cake! 

The sets mainly comprised of songs from the new album (no surprise there) with 'I, Burnum  Burnum' going down particularly well, there was the tune 'Harriett's One" and the very personal 'I'll Take What I Can Get' which was about Kateriona mourning the loss of her aunty. 

There was of course old favourites such as Bone Cupboard (set one opener), 'Fleetwood Fair' and She Doesn't Like Silence' (which hasn't been on the set list for a while).

The evening culminated with a cover of a Dawes song (the names escapes me at the moment) sung a cappella.  It rounded off the evening wonderfully.

Our second Big Ginger Tom Music gig at the Faringdon Corn Exchange saw us welcome The Askew Sisters and Wednesday’s Wolves. We had been trying to bring Hazel and Emily to Oxfordshire since 2020, this was the fourth attempt with Covid getting in the way each time. Some people had bought their tickets in late 2019 and it was well worth the wait.

One of Oxfordshire’s most underrated duo’s opened the evening, we have had them open several times for our shows in Harwell and those at The Unicorn. They played a lovely opening set including ‘Maps’ and ‘But You Settled on Me Like Dust’. As always there were very positive comments from those that hadn’t seen them before.

And so to the main act, The Askew Sisters who played two wonderful sets of songs and tunes from their back catalogue.  These included ‘The Wounded Hussar’, 'Goose & Common’, The Zodiac/Joy After Sorrow/Minoway and ‘Moorfields’ from ‘Enclosure’ and ‘The Wife of Usher's Well’, ‘The Unquiet Grave’, ‘The Young Girl Cut Down in her Prime’, ‘Parson’s Farewell/St Martin’s’ and ‘I Wish the Wars Were all Over’ from ‘In The Air or The Earth’.

They closed with the audience singjng along with ‘If I was a Blackbird’ and were asked back for an encore by the 50 or so people there. All in all it was a very enjoyable evening. 

A second sellout audience in a row were treated to an splendid evening of music at Harwell Village Hall on Friday 19th May. The event had sold out the week before though a few returns on the day meant that a few lucky latecomers managed to get in. It had been four years since Lady Maisery had been in Harwell, so this was a much anticipated event.

The evening was opened by Amelia Coburn who had travelled down from the North West by train, suffering a number of delays on the way and was very relieved to arrive on site in time for sound check. Everyone was very happy that she made it as she delivered a delightful set of songs with her beautiful voice and varied instrumentation (a dulcimer and two ukuleles) and had very humorous in between song banter, she’s like the Wirral’s answer to Edwina Hayes.

She received wonderful applause from the audience who then bought all but a few of the CDs she had bought with her.

What followed were two delightful sets from Lady Maisery which include many songs from their new album Tender, including the Bjork cover “Hyperballad”, “Bird I Do Not Know”, Tracy Chapman's “3000 Miles”, “Scientist” and the title track “Tender”. There were of course some old favourites such as “The Crow on the Cradle” and “Order and Chaos”.

Their show is always so varied with the switching of instruments (I lost count at 10) and lead vocals, their harmonies are glorious and Vincent on sound did a magnificent job of making sure every note could be heard.

Of course the evening had to come to an end and they encored with another old favourite Katy Cruel. As the audience were on their way out someone was heard remark that they hoped it wouldn’t be another four years until they come back.

Well what a way to start our Harwell programme of gigs for 2023, we had a full house for Merry Hell and Corrie Shelley, it was a splendid evening of music, audience participation and in the end dancing!

Corrie Shelley had last been in Oxfordshire in 2022, when she opened for Ninebarrow at The Unicorn Theatre in Abingdon, she made such an impression that we had to get her back and she was chuffed to be opening for her favourite band. She sang a set of beautiful songs about miners, dementia and broken relationships, but hey, it was a folk evening, so what else would you expect!

Merry Hell delivered two very entertaining sets of old favourites and some new songs including ‘Peace is Louder than War’, where the audience were invited to sing along as the band want to collect a 1000 voices to go on the single when it comes out.

They opened with ‘We Are Different We Are One’ and It only took until the third song to get full on audience participation when they played ‘Bury Me Naked’ which was of course introduced with the usual health and safety warning from Andrew. The first set closed with the lads trooping off stage and leaving Virginia to perform ‘Violet’, which she did unplugged and going up into the audience.

The second set was full of more old favourites such as ‘Come On England’, ‘Sister Atlas’ and ‘Leave It in The Ground’, and by the end of the evening people were up and dancing, it was a marvellous evening rounded off with an encore, fittingly called ‘Let The Music Speak For Itself’.

This was a night that will last in the memory of those that came for many years.

About 60 people, some from as far afield as Essex, attended the first Big Ginger Tom Music event in The Corn Exchange in Faringdon.

The evening was opened by Oxford based Barton Hartshorn who delivered a very accomplished acoustic set of half a dozen or so songs from his back catalogue, plus a new song which came to him in a dream.  He is certainly someone who will feature in future BGTM gigs.

Edwina Hayes is someone we have wanted to get to Oxfordshire for some time and she was certainly worth the wait.  Her first set included songs from her last couple of albums including favourites 'Pour me a Drink', Leave a Light On For You' and 'Aunty Betty's Song'.

Of course, one of the most delightful things about an Edwina gig are the wonderful stories she tells between songs, normally about friends and family which bring a smile to everyone's faces.

Her second set was made up of requests that she had been asked for either in advance or while she had been chatting to people during the break.  Many of these were covers (some of which are on her albums) of artists as diverse as Leonard Cohen and Leo Sayer.  She also played the very unPC 'Waiting for the Guy to Die' which had everyone in hysterics.

She was of course asked to do an encore so she finished the night with 'Starry Starry Night' and left the stage to a standing ovation.

I think we can say that the first BGTM event in Faringdon was a great success, next up Good Habits and Anna Renae in June.

Well what a way to finish the year off in Harwell.  An enthusiastic audience of over 70 were treated to two great performances from Calum Gilligan and Fred's House.

Opening the evening was Calum Gilligan, a brave move coming to the heart of The People Versus territory as he beat them in the Purbeck Rising competition in 2021!

He delivered 40 minutes of mellow music which he called his "Christmas set", on account that several of the songs contained the word snow!  His honeyed voice and accomplished guitar playing received very warm applause before we went into the first break.

Fred's House gave us 2 sets of songs from their back catalogue, some that haven't been released yet and some covers.  The first set was almost an hour long and was opened with 'Walls & Ceilings' and we heard all 4 tracks from that EP over the course of the next couple of hours.

After the sad loss of Christine McVie this week the second set was rightly opened with their great version of 'The Chain' and then we had favourites such as 'Careless', 'Fine Life' and 'Beautiful You'.

They were of course called back for an encore and they played an unplugged version of 'The Wrong Time' from their Looking Glass EP.  In all the times I've seen them live this was a first for me and it was sublime and the night was finished off with the band belting out their version of Jefferson Airplane's 'Somebody to Love'

It surely was a wonderful way to round off the year.

What a wonderful night of music that was, with songs about witches, miners and settlers, plus of course the odd murder or two.

Malcolm MacWatt opened the evening with an energetic set of songs mainly from his excellent album "Settler", including "The Millers Daughter" which was co-written with Eliza Carthy.  His superb guitar work and telling of tales had everyone spellbound.

Having seen Malcolm earlier in the year at Ace Space and thoroughly enjoyed his set, we started the music 10 minutes earlier than normal so we could more of his stories and songs.

Ellie Gowers then delivered two mesmerising sets with songs from her debut album "Dwelling Place By The Weir' which takes it's inspiration from the tales of Warwickshire life and people.

Her seconds set was opened with two songs from her EP "Parting Breath", though we had to wait for the seond song whilst an impromptu battery change in her guitar was carried out with Simon the sound man's help.  It proved to be an amusing interlude as Simon tried to do the change while Ellie tried to teach the audience the chorus of the song!

Ellie's lovely voice and excellent guitar work got a well deserved encore and she played us out with the title track from her album.

Another great night of music in Harwell, just one more to go this year we hope to see you there.

Once again out good friend Tony Birch travelled fro Hemel Hampstead to our gig in Harwell.  Words and picture from him, with some slight edits from us.  It was great to have turned around the fall in audience numbers with 50 people in the hall for a great evening of music.

There was another lovely catch up on Friday with Kim Lowings Music, along with The Greenwood.  To make the night even better, support came from Stevewarnerfolk!

Steve entertained us well with his own songs, including tracks from new album "Corran Ferry" as well as some earlier tracks. One, in particular, called "Mud" was based on a visit he made to the war sites in Flanders and was very moving. Battles may have ebbed and flowed but the mud was a constant. This was another polished performance and the reason why I see Steve so often. Living quite close together his songs do have a local interest, as well, so I often drive past the old Vauxhall site in Luton and I've shopped in Harpenden Sainsburys.

Kim was on sparkling form and her shows are always a joy. There's a real vivacity to her music so even the most miserable song has got a bounce in the melody. That's not unusual in folk music but Kim does it better than most. Backed by The Greenwood of Andrew (Jarv) Lowings, Tim Rogers and Dave Sutherland they add so much to her music and keep the banter going throughout. Of course there were the favourite songs, as well as new material that I hope to hear again soon.

This was another excellent, and well attended, Big Ginger Tom Music event at the always welcoming Harwell Village Hall and Simon Jury was on form with the sound as usual.

Thanks Tony hope we see you again soon!

Our good friend Tony Birch had this to say about the gig..

Another excellent evening was had courtesy of Big Ginger Tom Music yesterday, with a duo who're new even though the names are very familiar. Evan Carson Drums and Georgia Lewis got together when live music went a bit quiet and they have something going here.

Evan is one of the best percussionists in the country and Georgia combines a lovely voice with mandolin and whistles.

Together they're re-imagining some previous work and also putting a new spin on traditional pieces. I hope there'll be more gigs to come and an album is in preparation.

Chris Cleverley is somebody I'll see time and again, as he's probably the most thoughtful songwriter around. He has a way of exploring the human condition without ever being judgemental or flippant but also with some wry humour.

His songs make you stop and listen and the new album (out in November but available to pre-order) is going to be a bit special. We also had songs from the back catalogue, including The Rafters, which is a bit special, as well as And Thinking Makes It So.

With excellent sound from Simon Jury this was another great evening and there are good gigs coming up as well.

Our thanks to Tony Birch for the picture and his review of the gig.

I had another night of terrific music courtesy of Big Ginger Tom Music.  Chris Fox played an excellent headline set, confirming that's where he belongs.  The two 45 minutes sets turned in an hour and 45 minutes, with just one traditional song and the rest being his own.  

There's more as well.  The songs from the upcoming album "In Plain Sight", due out 9th Sept are real quality and in contrast to "From The Shadows", being more introspective and focused on people.  That doesn't mean the genre is restricted in any way or that the touches of surrealism have gone, but there's warmth and humanity in them.  This is an album I've been looking forward to for a while now.  Chris was accompanied by Ace Of Bass John Parker Double bassist and there's a buzz between the two that lifted the songs so well.  It's that perfect combination of musical ability, writing skill and personality that sparkles.

Opening the evening Anna Renae is always a delight to see and a performer I think will go a long way.  With an incredible voice and songs drawn from life she draws an audience to her.  

This was a classic Big Ginger Tom Music gig with great acts in a good venue, with great sound and lighting,  and a very supportive listening audience.  The evenings are about enjoyment and the atmosphere says that's exactly what happened last night.  Do check out future dates because there's a good programme coming up.

Well what a night that was with two fantastic sets of music from Lizzy Hardingham and Forty Elephant Gang. The 40 plus people who came made the most noise I think I’ve ever heard in the hall such was their appreciation of what they were listening to.

Of course this was another show originally booked in pre-pandemic times so Lizzy Hardingham has come on leaps and bounds since then and is a headliner in her own right these days. She delivered songs from her back catalogue (‘Orpheus’ and ‘Rolling Down To Old Maui’) and some new ones (‘They Will’ ) moving seamlessly between guitar, shruti box and a cappella.

The audience demanded an encore and were treated to an a cappella version of James Taylor’s You’ve Got A Friend, which we were all encouraged to join in with.

Forty Elephant Gang gave a rip roaring show of bluesy americana and the occasional waltzy song with some great guitar work from James Bachmann, mandolin from Sean Mannion and stunning vocals from Andrew White. In my humble opinion they produced one of the best albums of 2021 with ‘Next Time Round’ and it was a joy to hear such songs as ‘Strange Things Happening’, ‘Sweet Marie’, ’Songs of Praise’, ‘Drunken Promise’ and my favourite track on the album ‘Hollow Man Blues’ played live.

They played with the tightness of a group who have known each other since they were at school (though they thought their first song was “a bit slack”) and at the end people were on their feet at the end the audience was baying for an encore which they duly delivered

It has taken 5 years to get Forty Elephant Gang to Harwell, but boy was it worth the wait.

A small but beautifully formed audience were at Kitchen Garden Cafe for BGTM’s third gig in Birmingham.

This was the third date in Joe’s short May tour and for this one he bought two band members along in the form of Tom Millar on guitar and Sam Winfield on keys, backing vocals and guitar.

The evening was opened with the wonderful guitar playing and mellow voice of George Boomsma, most people will be familiar with George from his work with Katherine Priddy, but he is a wonderful solo artist in his own right. He played tracks from his great EP Chinatown, did an a capella song and the one about his strange weekend which always makes me smile.

After the break Joe Hicks delivered a great 75 minute set which included old favourites such as ‘Rest Your Head’ and ‘Talk To Me’ and his latest single Mirror Mirror. He had the audience singing like a parliament of owls with Cold, he played his acoustic version of The Cardigans Favourite Things (which is amazing when he is with his full band) and encored with Burning - which had the audience singing again.

All in all a great night so many thanks to Brett and Andy at KGC for looking after us so well.

Big Ginger Tom Music’s second event of Folk Weekend Oxford was a lovely afternoon of music from Patrick Griffin, Anna Renae and Craig Joiner at The Blue Room in the St Aldates Tavern.

Patrick opened the afternoon with his mix of dustbowl blues, slave anthems and self penned ballads.  These were about such thing as long distance relationships ‘Pen-y-Lan’ and being in search of the Northern Lights.  He even confessed to “borrowing” some lyrics from a poem penned by his father ‘A Different Drum’.  

Anna followed with a a selection of songs from her 2020 album ‘Skin’ and 2021 EP ‘Speaking Her Mind’, we were also treated to a yet unreleased song ‘Fresh Air’ which will be on her new album due out later this year.  I was very pleased when she played three of my favourites ‘Far From Sanity’, ‘Loving You Silently’ and ‘The Blame’.

The afternoon was closed by Craig with his masterful guitar work and songs about love and life and some old folk tunes which will be on his new album.  'Art of Landing’, the title track from his last album, is what drew e to his work in the first place, so it was good to see it in his set.

Who knows BGTM may be back at FWO next year if they’ll have us. 

On the opening evening of Folk Weekend Oxford about 50 people enjoyed a lovely evening of music from Wednesday’s Wolves and Sam Carter.

Yzzy & Chrissy last appeared at Harwell when they opened for Ninebarrow in September 2019 and it was really good to have them back and hear some of their earliest (War Paint) and newest (Maps) songs. They created great harmonies and blended voice, guitar, kahon and glockenspiel seamlessly.

Sam Carter deceived two fine sets of crisp guitar work and strong vocals playing songs from his solo portfolio as well as those where he had collaborated with other such as Jim Moray (False Lights) and Eliza Carthy, Martin Simpson and Nancy Kerr.

He opened with The Forge, from his 2020 album ‘Home Waters’ and played a number of other songs from that album such as ‘Fly The Flag’ and ‘Slow Waves’. There was some older material as well such as ‘Taunting The Dog’, ‘Jack Hall’ and ‘Waves and Terrors’.

He got an well deserved encore and everyone headed home in good cheer

On a grey and chilly night about 50 people filled Venue 2 at the Hare & Hounds in Kings Heath for rousing and heart warming performances from Ranagri and Merry Hell.

Opening the evening were Ranagri with a 45 minute set that included a songs from their back catalogue as well as a few that will be on their forthcoming album Tradition II.  One such song, ‘The Wife of Usher’s Well’ was having only its fourth live outing!  The songs ranged from taking the Mickey out of some current and past political figures to a haunting tune that transported you to the Isle of Skye.

I lost track of time when Merry Hell came on as they were due to play 75 minutes, but I’m sure it was nearer to 90. The set showed the songwriting capabilities of all the members and included a solo song by Virginia as the boys thought she should sing the song about women with big mouths (their words not mine!). Towards the end of the set people at the back were putting chairs away to create room for dancing and the encore had and two songs that had everyone singing.

A very enjoyable night of music.

Many thanks to Tony Birch for this review.

You sometimes get that question on what was your gig of the year.  It's always a hard one to answer, because there are so many, but undoubtedly there are those that will stick in the memory for a long time and Big Ginger Tom Music gave those of us fortunate enough to be there one of them last night.

THE PORTRAITS are Lorraine and Jeremy Millington who, with long-term fiddle player Vincent Imbert, produce music for the soul.  They don't shy away from the darker sides of life, be it dictatorships or abuse of power by those who should be caring for the vulnerable but their songs are full of compassion and humanity and always with a sense of hope that things will be better in the future.  As has been said before they're two beautiful people exuding warmth and kindness.  Bright lights in a dark world indeed.

The music is wonderful and with such a back catalogue their performances will always be different.  Particular highlights were “The Rest Of Time”, the song that first introduced me to their work and Moon Song which is so beautiful and a great favourite of mine although there were plenty of others.  Together In Electric Dreams may have been an issue to play as lead vocalist, and daughter, Ciara wasn't.  But the miracles of technology came to the fore and a virtual Ciara was able to take the stage.  That was special, and very moving, summing up the evening perfectly.

There was excellent support, too, from Dom Prag who impresses me more and more each time I see him.  Dom's the whole package.  He's got a good voice, and is a skilled guitarist, but beyond that he sits in that area of folk protest song with a social conscience.  Whether it's in interpretations of the work of the pitmen poets or his own songs about  societal change he can make a point without lecturing the audience.  His new album “Needle and Thread” is well worth getting and his song “The Shoemender” (on YouTube) is a great example of his work.

A huge thanks to Duncan and Vanessa Chappell for continuing to bring us the best of the best.

Well what a way to start the Big Ginger Tom Music programme of gigs of in 2022. An enthusiastic audience of about 50, some of whom had come from as far afield as the Midlands and Suffolk, enjoyed a barnstorming night of pop and rock from Joe Hicks and his fantastic band.

The evening started with a set of Americana from Sean Duggan of Steady Habits, we were due to have them as a trio, but unfortunately his band mates were having to isolate due to Covid. Some may know Sean from Loud Mountains who he was in with his brother Kevin and also from his stint as the bass player in The People Versus. Sean played songs from his Loud Mountains days as well as those current and yet to be released Steady Habits songs.

Joe Hicks started his uptempo set with ‘Hollow’, which had the audience singing like a parliament of owls. ’Best Clothes’ and ‘Cold’ from his back catalogue and the treated us to ‘Out Of My Mind’ and ‘Hand in Hand’ from his new album due to be released later this year. After ‘Rush’, the mood mellowed and we had the beautiful ‘Pieces’ (another new song), ‘Sign’ and then Joe’s take on The Cardigans ‘My Favourite Game’ with a change from acoustic to electric guitar to do a superb guitar solo.

The last 4 songs of ‘Mirror Mirror’ (yet another new one), ‘Swim’, ‘Fade Away’ and ‘Talk To Me’ had the hall baying for more and Joe duly obliged with an encore of ‘Rest Your Head’ and then he had the whole hall singing again with ‘Burning’. The band of Tim Hillsdon (drums, Giles Stelfox (bass), Sam Winfield (keys) and Tom Millar (electric guitar) left the stage to rapturous applause.

It was a fantastic evening of music brilliantly engineered by Bradley Bowers of BCB Media, I do think we will be having Joe back in Harwell again…

“Probably the best Big Ginger Tom Music gig to date” is how one person described the evening in the company of Katherine Priddy, George Boomsma and Katie Grace Harris. This was the 3rd time that BGTM had sold out a Katherine Priddy Gig with audience numbers doubling each time - over 100 tickets sold for this show.

Katie Grace Harris opened the evening with her songs about derelict towns and her take on a sea shanty with a feminist twist. She played keyboards, accordion and shruti box and was accompanied by Andy Nice on cello. It was a delightful 30 minute set.

Having listened to George Boomsma’s solo material on CD it was great to have the opportunity to see him perform it live. His mesmerising vocals, intricate acoustic guitar work along with his laid back banter went down very well with the audience. If you only know George as KP’s on stage sidekick, check out his solo work, you won’t be disappointed.

Finally George joined Katherine Priddy and they did fantastic set of beautiful music from her album The Eternal Rocks Beneath including Indigo, Eurydice, Icarus, Wolf and Letters from a Travelling Man. George was given rest for a couple of songs such a About Rosie and the yet unnamed written for her Dad’s 60th birthday.  

After Katherine had played for just over an hour she and George came back for an encore and they gave us an exclusive - the first airing of their first co-write.

It was a fantastic evening of music made all the better by a superb job on sound by Simon Jury and so probably deserves the plaudits mentioned at the beginning of this review.

Over 50 people enjoyed Ranagri's third appearance at Harwell Village Hall on the last night of their November tour.  With them were Plumhall who were playing at Harwell for the first time.

Married couple Nick and Michelle opened the evening with a cover or two, music from a film they had been asked to write for (The Runaways) and songs from their 2 studio albums.  There was a lot of banter and some fine guitar solos finished with a real rocking number.  They left the stage to rapturous applause.

Ranagri then performed a brilliant 75 minutes set with some old favourites such as 'High Germany', 'You Can Do Better' (which had people dancing down at the front) and 'Tremors' as well as a song from their yet to be released album Tradition II, 'Follow Me Up To Carlow'.

Joining the core members of the band, Eliza Marshall and Donal Rogers were the ever brilliant Evan Carson on drums and percussion and Ellie Dunsden (some may recognise her from The Moonrakers) on harp.

As always the gig finished far too soon and we were treated to an encore of 'Sad Songs' and Ranagri exited stage right to a standing ovation.

This was another evening made great by the so wonderfully giving and appreciative audience, once again both acts said what a lovely audience you were.

Thank you and see you next time!

A small but enthusiastic audience witnessed an intimate gig in the company of Anna Renae and Ranagri at the Hare & Hounds in Kings Heath, Birmingham.

Anna showed that she has real talent and with her wonderful voice and great style, she delighted the audience even though she had a slight cold.  It certainly didn't detract.

It was a wonderful set and Anna showed she can write with real ability and across a range.  It was also good to see that technology was part of her work, with a beautiful final song of her own to a backing track of a string quartet, something she would like to do for real at some point.

Following their excellent set at The Slaughtered Lamb the previous evening, Ranagri delivered a uplifting set with their satirical work (The Medication Show and The Bogeyman) and wonderful tunes (The Hare) and traditional pieces (High Germany) which they made the most of, all being excellent musicians. They really got the audience engaged as they joined in singing and some even danced at at the back!

For the second night running the venue sound engineer (in this case Dan, previous night Grant), did an excellent job in bringing out the individuality of all the instruments, it was lovely to hear the harp of Ellie Dunsden and flutes and whistles of Eliza Marshall.  Jordan Murray did an excellent job on bodhran and percussion and Donal Rogers was in good voice, though after skipping a song on the set list (added later) he did admit he needed to go to SpecSavers.  

All in all an excellent evening of music.  Both artists have tour dates over the rest of year which you should look up. 

Our largest audience since before the pandemic were treated to a fantastic night of music from three very different sounding acts which ranged from the dustbowl blues to gypsy folk through to electric museum pop.  The event also had a very local feel as well with all the acts having connections with Didcot, Abingdon and Harwell and it was our second event with three acts which always makes for an interesting soundcheck!

This was Patrick Griffin’s fourth appearance at Harwell Village Hall and he opened the evening with his relaxed banter and short set of songs with well observed lyrics.  He had the audience singing along to his “throw away” song ‘Bad Love’ and finished his set with Hobo Blues, his nod to artists such as Leadbelly.

Although now Birmingham based, Ben & Lucy from The Lost Notes are Abingdonians at heart and there was a large contingent of Lost Notes friends and family in the audience from around Oxfordshire.  They are normally a five piece, but were playing as a trio for this gig, the third member of the act being Oli on guitar, and what a fantastic guitarist he is.

They blew the audience away with a very tight 45 minute set of upbeat and amusing songs delivered with great energy and lovely chat between songs and I can’t wait to see them headline at The Unicorn Theatre, Abingdon in September 2022.

The third act were The People Versus, lead by Harwell’s own Jack Wilkinson.  They are currently experimenting with their sound and for this gig they went with their “Electric Set”, with Jack on electric guitar rather than acoustic.  The beguiling voice of Alice Edwards was as great as ever and though she was recovering from a cold, you couldn’t tell.

They played a number of new songs including one which the bass player had only learnt over the phone, as well as some old favourites such as ‘Ground Opening’, ‘Barefoot’ ‘Driftwood’ and ‘Charybdis’.

TPV are going places - they already have slots at Cambridge, Towersey and Beardy Folk Festivals for 2022 and I’m sure they will impress when they play at the English Folk Expo in Manchester next week.

It was a bit of a later finish for this gig, but oh so worth it especially as the sound by Simon Jury was absolutely spot on - great job Simon - thank you!!

A small, but very enthusiastic audience of 35 enjoyed a superb evening of music from The Last Inklings, Anna Renae and Roswell.

Leo Mackenzie and `David Hoyland of The Last Inklings have previously headlined at Harwell when they were part of Kadia and it was good to have theme back again.  They played a short support set of songs from the ir forthcoming album 'The Impossible Wild' and and were persuaded to add a song from their debut EP as an encore.  Their voices, cello and mandolin blended beautifully.

Anna Renae did the middle set with songs from her debut album 'Skin' which was released in March 2020, just in time for lockdown, so this was one of the few opportunities she'd had to showcase it.  She also played a title song from her soon to be released EP 'Speaking her Mind' and as an encore played a second song from the EP which she delivered brilliantly even though she admitted she had very rarely played it live!

The final set was from Roswell.  Zoe Wren and Jasmine Watkiss wowed the audience with their songs of effortless harmonies and combination of guitar, ukulele and violin.  They played songs from their last two EPs and got the audience singing with their rendition of 'Big Yellow Taxi' and did an encore of 'Last Thing On My Mind'

A fantastic evening enjoyed by an audience who had come as far afield as Southend and even San Francisco!

Our first "almost back to normal" gig was a great success with about 70 people attending.

Craig Joiner opened the evening with some crisp guitar work and songs with great lyrics, including 'The Shed Song' and some songs that will be on his new album due out next year.

 Holly Brandon, Kate Griffin & Bella Gaffney, aka The Magpies treated the audience to two wonderfully entertaining sets with a collection of self penned tunes such as 'Foss Island' and songs mixed  in with some traditional folk songs ('Angeline the Baker', 'Galway Shawl').

For the encore they did their very original take on that well known 80's traditional folk song 'Sweet Dreams' with some great singing along from the audience.

All in all a wonderfully enjoyable evening.

With the June 21st Government Covid Milestone not being met, this was another sold out socially distanced show in Orchard Hall at Harwell Village Hall.

Duotone (aka Barney Morese-Brown) proved to be a wonderful late substitute for Thom Ashworth who was originally down to play, but was then unable to make it.

Barney hadn't play live for about 15 months and treated us to some instrumental improvisations he had written during lock down and finished with the wonderful 'Martha' from his 'A Life Reappearing' album.  He was also unusually talkative compared to previous times that he has performed.

After the first break Hannah Sanders & Ben Savage delighted the audience when they said they were working on a new album and played 3 or 4 new songs along with favourites like 'Seven', 'Way Over Yonder In A Minor Key' and 'A Thousand New Moons'

There was the usual banter and we learnt from Hannah that once on a Winter Union tour that Ben, Hannah and Jade had missed the start of the second set as they were mucking around in the dressing room, leaving Kat & Jamie (Gilmore & Roberts) on the stage alone.  This nugget was unearthed when they nearly came back too early after hearing some applause to an announcement the MC had made.

The second set went by all too quickly and they did an encore to celebrate Bob Dylan's birthday by playing 'Spanish Boots of Spanish Leather'.   They left the stage to a standing ovation from a very appreciative audience, many of whom being first timers to Harwell and they said they were sure to be back.

The next show will be on Friday September 3rd with The Magpies and Craig Joiner.

Thanks to Tony Birch, who comes all the way from Hemel Hempstead for our gigs for this review and the picture.

The first live show of the year and what a good one to start with.  Big Ginger Tom Music always put on quality shows and Harwell Village Hallis a good place to see them, with distancing and one-way systems in place. Drinks are brought to you, which is nice.

Opening the evening Chris Fox was on cracking form, with favourites and new songs. His strange dreamscapes have a very human touch to them, backed with a sense of irony and humour but also social messages.

The Black Feathers are a stunning Americana folk duo who never fail to impress with their dynamic presentation and passion. They also loved being in front of a live audience and applause again, which made a change from a screen and emojis. I'm sure there's a song for them in "judging eyes", all they could see over the face masks.

It was so good to get back to real music and meeting friends again. Hopefully there's plenty more to come ad I will be back at Harwell next month for Hannah Sanders & Ben Savage with support from Thom Ashworth.

Thanks to Richard Markham one of our friends at Ace Space in Newbury for this review of our most recent socially distanced gig.

We must thank Big Ginger Tom Music founders Duncan and Vanessa Chappell and their enthusiastic helpers hugely for bringing top notch folk and acoustic music to Harwell in the first place and in particular for assembling this particular COVID-friendly gig, allowing around 40 of us to enjoy a terrific night as securely as possible in these strange times. The organisation was absolutely impeccable and it was great just to be out watching live music again!

Duncan had secured three core members, Jack Wilkinson, Alice Edwards and Danny Evans of local band The People Versus to open the night with a lively half hour set, including acoustic versions of excellent songs from their debut EP “Ground Opening”.  I attended the EP launch with the full six-piece band and it was fascinating to hear these songs in such a different setting.  Their essential energy, the sublime harmonies and the vocal acrobatics of the launch night were still well in evidence and the trio was warmly applauded.

After the first break Katherine took to the stage with her trademark warmth and gentle humour and had the audience engaged from the off.  Her musical partner for tonight was close collaborator, Yorkshire-based singer-songwriter George Boomsma, who has appeared with her in several lockdown internet sessions.  Here he proved himself indeed the perfect light foil, both musically and as a stage companion generally.  Katherine was noticeably at her most relaxed and confident here in the duo format with him.

Katherine sings quietly but with perfect diction and pitch, such that you find yourself almost hypnotised and gave us almost all of her own staples, including tracks from her one official EP “Wolf”, both sides of catchy single “Letters From a Travelling Man” and the latest (topical) track “Still Winter, Still Waiting”.  A heartfelt song written for her own father brought a tear to the eye, but of genuine emotion; key features of Katherine are her complete sincerity and lack of sentimentality.

She also delivered some really entertaining covers showing her versatility, emotional maturity and sheer ability to recall lyrics!

Especially notable moments over two absorbing full 45-minute sets included Leonard Cohen’s “One Of Us Cannot be Wrong” and Richard Thompson’s notoriously challenging “Beeswing” and three “trad folk” pieces showing Katherine’s natural ability at the genre, both straight and bawdy story songs getting the treatment.

At all times George would create discreet colours on electric and acoustic guitars that were a perfect backdrop to Katherine’s delicate phrasings and his own vocals - whether backing or duetting - fitted beautifully.

Katherine has become the consummately engaging and endearing host and time sped past far too quickly as she told anecdotes, explained the background to various songs and engaged in amusing banter with George, who proved a good sport at all times; even coming up trumps when caught out by a song he claimed never to have played before!

This was truly “An evening with…” - a complete all round “performance” from a young performer who is destined for great things and who thoroughly deserved the encore standing ovation she received. Roll on that first album!

Our second sell-out socially distanced show with 40 people in attendance.  They were treated to some great music from Kitty and Craig.

This time I thought I'd let you see what one of the audience thought of the show, Tony Birch is a familiar face on the Folk scene and you've probably seen many of his photos.   He also writes for FATEA, so here is his take on how the evening went.

Live music continues on as best it can, and I certainly saw the best last night thanks to Big Ginger Tom Music who gave a wonderful bill of Kitty Macfarlane more than ably supported by Craig Joiner.

Harwell Village Hall was very well laid out for the event with plenty of spacing, a one-way system and seat service for drinks.

Kitty is a highly regarded, award winning, singer songwriter and she brings her love of the outdoors, particularly her native Somerset, to her music in a way that captures the spirit of the landscape.  Not many people find salt marshes attractive but Kitty does, and so do I.  They have a stark beauty all their own.

Not many people write songs about eels either, but Kitty compares their journey across the Atlantic as elvers with our own journey through space and time.  This song may also be unique in mentioning Pangea!

It was a beautiful performance and the new album "Namer of Clouds" was on loop on the way home and will get a lot more plays.

Craig Joiner has had a long career as a songwriter for both other people and films, but his own songs also resonate with an audience being set around home and family.  His precise playing style and good voice made for a very good opening set.

Huge thanks to Duncan and Vanessa, along with their team, for continuing to put on live music which is proving very popular with all events selling out.  It must be even harder work than ususal; as Duncan said he's now got a week of hoping nobody phones in sick, but it's very appreciated.

Do keep an eye on Big Ginger Tom Music's page as they have some great music coming up.

After six months of lockdown on Saturday 12th September the Big Ginger Tom Music team ran a music event in the village hall under socially distanced conditions.  The idea had been discussed with the Hall Trustees who agreed to allow the event to go ahead and any learnings will be shared with other groups such as the Film Club.

It was a great night of music from Patrick Griffin and Anna Renae who were so pleased to be out playing to a live audience again, having spent the summer doing gigs from their homes to a camera phone.  

Patrick kicked off the evening, he has done 3 support slots for us before so it was great to be able to give the chance to headline.  As well as some reworks of his older material he did a number of new songs as well.  He improves every time I see him and you could see that he was really enjoying playing to a live audience.

After the break Anna did a very accomplished set with songs from her excellent debit album 'Skin' a new song she hadn't planned to do and also some great covers (Fleetwood Mac 'Go Your Own Way', Bob Dylan 'Blowin' in the Wind' and John Denver's 'Take me Home Country Road'.  Although there was no singing encouraged (or allowed) I'm sure I heard a few people singing along quietly.

To finish off they did a couple of duets, which considering they only met that evening were beautifully delivered.  Both were artists were very well received, though not as noisily as usual owing to people being required to not cheer and shout.

Ticket sales were limited to 30 and the event was sold out 4 days before the night and although the atmosphere was a little more subdued than normal everyone who came has said that they really enjoyed the evening and appreciated the efforts to keep them all safe.

As we were unable to put on the planned gig in Harwell Village Hall the artists put together videos for us to enjoy via Facebook Premiere on the Big Ginger Tom Music Facebook page.

This is now available on You Tube

Gleb, Evan and Toby performed a virtual concert.  They played original trio tracks and material from their existing back catalogue.  The concert was recorded in St Petersburg and variousness places around the UK.

Jasmine and Zoe from Roswell did a song from their excellent EP, Come Home, and Anna Renae opens the evening with a track from her fantastic debut album, Skin.

You can make donations to the artists via their tip jars - listed below.

Anna Renae - paypal.me/annarenaemusic
Roswell - paypal.me/roswellbanduk
KC&S - paypal.me/evancarsonmusic