During the summer weeks club organiser Keith Taylor takes a rest from running the nights and club members are asked to take on MC duties. Theme nights were part of last year's summer madness, and they were so successful that there are themes for summer 2009 too.
To celebrate our tying the knot (the wedding is on 12th August), Keith declared this week's theme to be "A song for jiva" - what a lovely, thoughtful idea - and guess who was earmarked to run the night? Yep, right first time... jiva... Having run Ashington Folk Club for four years, and having MC'd a few Cramlington nights we were more than happy to oblige, but couldn't help wondering what this particular theme would have in store for us.
It was a great, fun night - full of good spirited humour, warmth and friendship... Cramlington really is THE most happening folk club that we know of, and we're proud to be counted among the core residents.
We started with two Thompson songs - 'Galway To Graceland' by Richard Thompson and 'No Telling' by Linda Thompson - then continued the night as MCs (and Jimmy even manned the PA desk while regular soundman Dave played and sang). There was a great mix of performers (15 acts in all), each playing two songs... many adapted the lyrics of songs to put a jiva slant on them, others sang some of our favourite songs, and there were even four songs that had been especially composed for this evening. And, breaking with jiva tradition, but keeping to the Cramlington Folk Club tradition, the act that started the night got up at the end for one more song - indeed it was our very own 'One More Song'... and we even managed to continue another Cramlington practice by asking other performers to join us in a 'big band' bash.
During the evening we had received good wishes, cards (and even a bottle of Champagne) from friends - and Keith surprised us at the end of the night with a presentation from the whole club... we were almost speechless...
Bless you, Cramlington Folk Club - and thanks again for making our last public performance before the USA trip such a memorable and enjoyable event.
Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Cramlington Folk Club website
Monday, 27 July 2009
26-Jul-09 Acoustic Rotherham 4
Acoustic Rotherham is a series of music events organised by the Rawmarsh Mashers. It gives performers the chance to do a 25-minute spot, catch up with friends (real and MySpace/Facebook etc), have a good natter and listen to the other artistes too!
We set off at 08:45, drove to Bishop Auckland to pick up good friend Terry Ferdinand (of Bishop fm fame), said 'Hi' to Catherine over a coffee, then drove to the Monkwood pub on the outskirts of Rotherham, arriving at just gone noon (first there as usual - we always like to get to a venue in good time to cause least disruption to the proceedings, to get a good seat, to find somewhere safe for the guitars, to have a sound-check if we're not taking our own Bose L1 system, to have a chat with those that arrive early enough!)...
It was a day filled with different styles of music, and comings and goings as people arrived and left at various times throughout the proceedings... sadly not everyone who played saw everyone else perform - bit of a shame really, as the whole event is about sharing and networking and enjoying the music and the event that Dickie and Myke work so hard at organising. Performers were: Rawmarsh Mashers, Nigel Lavender, a Rawmarsh local whose name we didn't catch, Tina McKevitt & Matt Hegarty, Taylor Maid (who provided the PA for the whole day), Lou Marriot, Fyrish, Dominic Collins, Michelle Holding, Abbot of Unreason, jiva, Paul Newman... and after proceedings had officially finished another local guy got up to do one song after much chanting and cheering from the locals.
For our set we played:
After the show we briefly chatted to people, thanked the Mashers, packed the car and headed off via Bishop Auckland, arriving home at gone 11:00 pm some 14 hours and a half hours after setting out.
Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Acoustic Rotherham MySpace
We set off at 08:45, drove to Bishop Auckland to pick up good friend Terry Ferdinand (of Bishop fm fame), said 'Hi' to Catherine over a coffee, then drove to the Monkwood pub on the outskirts of Rotherham, arriving at just gone noon (first there as usual - we always like to get to a venue in good time to cause least disruption to the proceedings, to get a good seat, to find somewhere safe for the guitars, to have a sound-check if we're not taking our own Bose L1 system, to have a chat with those that arrive early enough!)...
It was a day filled with different styles of music, and comings and goings as people arrived and left at various times throughout the proceedings... sadly not everyone who played saw everyone else perform - bit of a shame really, as the whole event is about sharing and networking and enjoying the music and the event that Dickie and Myke work so hard at organising. Performers were: Rawmarsh Mashers, Nigel Lavender, a Rawmarsh local whose name we didn't catch, Tina McKevitt & Matt Hegarty, Taylor Maid (who provided the PA for the whole day), Lou Marriot, Fyrish, Dominic Collins, Michelle Holding, Abbot of Unreason, jiva, Paul Newman... and after proceedings had officially finished another local guy got up to do one song after much chanting and cheering from the locals.
For our set we played:
- Love At The Five & Dime (Nanci Griffith)
- Two Old Friends (Chris Simpson)
- Best Friends (jiva)
- Different Dreams (jiva)
- Some Way Home (jiva)
After the show we briefly chatted to people, thanked the Mashers, packed the car and headed off via Bishop Auckland, arriving home at gone 11:00 pm some 14 hours and a half hours after setting out.
Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Acoustic Rotherham MySpace
23-Jul-09 Richard Thompson at The Gala Theatre, Durham
Richard Thompson is one of those people you must see at least once - we did catch a brief glimpse (only two or three songs) at Alistair Anderson's birthday bash at the Sage some time ago, and we were keen to see Richard solo.
The Gala is a super venue - small enough for intimate performances, but large enough to create a big crowd atmosphere. The support act was Emily Smith... she sang traditional and self-penned songs while accompanying herself on accordion and shaker, ably assisted on guitar and fiddle by Jamie McClellan.
And the man himself? What can we say that hasn't already been said? Whizzo guitarist, great writer, sings with passion, at ease with the audience, at times gentle, at times laughing, at times biting at injustices, and always giving 100%. Two encores pretty much sums up the audience reaction to a true professional... true, you must see Richard Thompson at least once.
Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Richard Thompson website
The Gala is a super venue - small enough for intimate performances, but large enough to create a big crowd atmosphere. The support act was Emily Smith... she sang traditional and self-penned songs while accompanying herself on accordion and shaker, ably assisted on guitar and fiddle by Jamie McClellan.
And the man himself? What can we say that hasn't already been said? Whizzo guitarist, great writer, sings with passion, at ease with the audience, at times gentle, at times laughing, at times biting at injustices, and always giving 100%. Two encores pretty much sums up the audience reaction to a true professional... true, you must see Richard Thompson at least once.
Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Richard Thompson website
22-Jul-09 New Tuners For Rio 910CE-L7
Rio (Jimmy's Taylor 910CE-L7) was fitted with a new set of machine heads by our friend and great luthier Mark Challinor... the original black ebonoid buttons on gold tuners are smashing, but Jimmy had always been super impressed and a little envious of the smooth Gotoh 510 tuners on Nams (Val's Taylor 910CE).
During a telephone conversation Mark pointed us to the Stewart-MacDonald (StewMac) website where there was a fine array of Gotoh tuners. We were quite taken by the Cosmo Black variant - same gear ratio as Val's, same shape, but with black metal buttons on black tuners with black nut, washer and fixing screw. We bought them online, and they were shipped the same day, airmail to the UK... great service. When they got to the UK there was a delay at DHL - they didn't contact us, but by tracking the shipment online (thanks again to StewMac) we found out that DHL were waiting for us to contact us as they had supposedly been unable to locate our address! Unbelievable! Especially as DHL have delivered numerous items to us in the seven years we've lived here, and also the package was addressed accurately with the full address, house number, and postcode. DHL confirmed our address details and told us to expect a call from the driver so we could guide him to our front door. Needless to say we didn't get a phone call, but we did get the package after it had languished with DHL Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday before delivery on Monday.
OK... rant over...
The tuners looked even better in reality than they did on the web, and we made arrangements with Mark to have them fitted. It was a 200 mile round trip, but well worth it - not only is Mark a master craftsman with great attention to detail and a genuine love of wood and guitars, but he's also a great bloke that we are honoured to have as a friend too. It was a lovely afternoon, swapping news, talking shop and seeing Rio renewed with what we can only describe as a stunning result... Mark says it's the most beautiful headstock he's ever seen, and we have to agree. Thanks Mark, the photo is on its way for your wall!
Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Mark Challinor
During a telephone conversation Mark pointed us to the Stewart-MacDonald (StewMac) website where there was a fine array of Gotoh tuners. We were quite taken by the Cosmo Black variant - same gear ratio as Val's, same shape, but with black metal buttons on black tuners with black nut, washer and fixing screw. We bought them online, and they were shipped the same day, airmail to the UK... great service. When they got to the UK there was a delay at DHL - they didn't contact us, but by tracking the shipment online (thanks again to StewMac) we found out that DHL were waiting for us to contact us as they had supposedly been unable to locate our address! Unbelievable! Especially as DHL have delivered numerous items to us in the seven years we've lived here, and also the package was addressed accurately with the full address, house number, and postcode. DHL confirmed our address details and told us to expect a call from the driver so we could guide him to our front door. Needless to say we didn't get a phone call, but we did get the package after it had languished with DHL Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday before delivery on Monday.
OK... rant over...
The tuners looked even better in reality than they did on the web, and we made arrangements with Mark to have them fitted. It was a 200 mile round trip, but well worth it - not only is Mark a master craftsman with great attention to detail and a genuine love of wood and guitars, but he's also a great bloke that we are honoured to have as a friend too. It was a lovely afternoon, swapping news, talking shop and seeing Rio renewed with what we can only describe as a stunning result... Mark says it's the most beautiful headstock he's ever seen, and we have to agree. Thanks Mark, the photo is on its way for your wall!Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Mark Challinor
Thursday, 23 July 2009
21-Jul-09 Acoustica at Croxdale Folk Club
Guest night at Croxdale Folk Club with Acoustica (Andy & Cath) - it was a grand night with quite a number of performers in the audience who had come along especially to see them. There was us, Brother Crow, Chris Milner, Phil Graham, Kyle and John Brindle. Marie Little was there too but she didn't play this evening.
MC John Kelly was away on holiday and the evening was ably run by Jackie and Mark who managed to give everyone two songs either side of Acoustica's two sets. We'd had a request from Andy to play Ralph McTell's 'Maginot Waltz' and we gladly obliged and then Jimmy swapped to the 12-string for 'No Telling' (Linda Thompson).
Acoustica by name, acoustic by nature... no PA tonight. We thoroughly enjoyed Andy and Cath's performance - accomplished musicians and talented writers with introductions peppered with good humour. Jimmy finally got his wish - to play a 'shakey egg' accompaniment to their rendition of 'Old Dan's Records' (Gordon Lightfoot) segued with 'Squeezebox' (The Who), and we had great fun yodelling along through 'If I Can't Live Without Her How Come I 'Aint Dead' (Tim O'Brien).
It was good to catch up with Terry Ferdinand, unfortunately no Catherine tonight as she was feeling unwell - get better soon! And... jiva won second prize (bottle of white wine) in the raffle and very generously, Marie Little who won the first prize (bottle of red wine) donated her prize to us as a present for our forthcoming marriage! Thank you Marie.
Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Acoustica website
Croxdale Folk Club MySpace
MC John Kelly was away on holiday and the evening was ably run by Jackie and Mark who managed to give everyone two songs either side of Acoustica's two sets. We'd had a request from Andy to play Ralph McTell's 'Maginot Waltz' and we gladly obliged and then Jimmy swapped to the 12-string for 'No Telling' (Linda Thompson).
Acoustica by name, acoustic by nature... no PA tonight. We thoroughly enjoyed Andy and Cath's performance - accomplished musicians and talented writers with introductions peppered with good humour. Jimmy finally got his wish - to play a 'shakey egg' accompaniment to their rendition of 'Old Dan's Records' (Gordon Lightfoot) segued with 'Squeezebox' (The Who), and we had great fun yodelling along through 'If I Can't Live Without Her How Come I 'Aint Dead' (Tim O'Brien).
It was good to catch up with Terry Ferdinand, unfortunately no Catherine tonight as she was feeling unwell - get better soon! And... jiva won second prize (bottle of white wine) in the raffle and very generously, Marie Little who won the first prize (bottle of red wine) donated her prize to us as a present for our forthcoming marriage! Thank you Marie.
Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Acoustica website
Croxdale Folk Club MySpace
Monday, 20 July 2009
18-Jul-09 jiva at The Smugglers Den, Morecambe
After our first gig here in October 2008 we were delighted to have been asked back by the Landlord, Chris, to play again. And... we'll be back again in October to do a shared night with Blackpool duo, and friends of ours, Penny Black.
It was an interesting two and three quarter hour drive over to Morecambe, we experienced brilliant sunshine interspersed with horrendous torrential rain but followed by the most gorgeous rainbows.
It was an interesting two and three quarter hour drive over to Morecambe, we experienced brilliant sunshine interspersed with horrendous torrential rain but followed by the most gorgeous rainbows.
rain...
...bow
We arrived around 8:00 pm which gave us more than enough time to get our gear set up. As the pub is quite small with a very low ceiling in the bar we could only use half the Bose L1 stack wich we set up on a table to our side (its optimum position is behind with us about 7-8 feet in front). But the modular design and adaptability says a lot about the Bose L1 system - so versatile and still a great sound! The standard format at The Smugglers is 3 x 30-minute slots playing at 9:30pm, 10:30pm and 11:30pm and we were still raring to go by the finish at midnight.
Throughout the evening it was a changing audience as people did the round of bars in the area, which is pretty much what you would expect on a Saturday night anywhere - but there were those who settled in to enjoy the music for the entire night.
It was an enjoyable evening and we are looking forward to being back at The Smugglers in October.
Set 1
1. Back Home To You (Allan Taylor)
2. Passin Thru (Johnny Cash and Randy Scruggs)
3. Best Friends (jiva)
4. Maginot Waltz (Ralph McTell)
5. Sonny (Ron Hynes)
6. Galway To Graceland (Richard Thompson)
Set 2
1. Love At The Five And Dime (Nanci Griffith)
2. Two Old Friends (Chris Simpson)
3. Dream On (jiva)
4. Tommy (Kelly Joe Phelps)
5. 4 + 20 (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
6. No Telling (Linda Thompson)
Set 3
1. Yorkshire Romance (C.J. Rowe)
2. Different Dreams (jiva)
3. When (jiva)
4. Some Way Home (jiva)
5. One More Song (jiva)
6. Louise (Paul Siebel)
Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
The Smugglers Den
Throughout the evening it was a changing audience as people did the round of bars in the area, which is pretty much what you would expect on a Saturday night anywhere - but there were those who settled in to enjoy the music for the entire night.
It was an enjoyable evening and we are looking forward to being back at The Smugglers in October.
Set 1
1. Back Home To You (Allan Taylor)
2. Passin Thru (Johnny Cash and Randy Scruggs)
3. Best Friends (jiva)
4. Maginot Waltz (Ralph McTell)
5. Sonny (Ron Hynes)
6. Galway To Graceland (Richard Thompson)
Set 2
1. Love At The Five And Dime (Nanci Griffith)
2. Two Old Friends (Chris Simpson)
3. Dream On (jiva)
4. Tommy (Kelly Joe Phelps)
5. 4 + 20 (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
6. No Telling (Linda Thompson)
Set 3
1. Yorkshire Romance (C.J. Rowe)
2. Different Dreams (jiva)
3. When (jiva)
4. Some Way Home (jiva)
5. One More Song (jiva)
6. Louise (Paul Siebel)
Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
The Smugglers Den
Monday, 13 July 2009
12-Jul-09 Buskers Night at General Havelock East Sleekburn
We'd not been to one of Ken Phillipson's nights for some time, and so decided to pay a visit to the General Havelock and play a few songs at the Buskers Night. There were a handful of performers and the PA gear was set up in the corner of the bar area.
We played 6 songs - the first 3 through the PA and the last 3 acoustically. For some reason the guitar cable would not work in Val's Taylor 855 12-string guitar! (Sigh...) Our set was:
- Love At The Five & Dime (Nanci Griffith)
- Two Old Friends (Chris Simpson)
- Dream On (jiva)
- Different Dreams (jiva)
- Some Way Home (jiva)
- Back Home To You (Allan Taylor)
First thing we did when we got back home was to plug Val's 12-string into our Bose L1 system... no problem, it sounded exactly as it should. What is it about cables? We're definitely going to have to carry our own if we want to be 100% certain.
Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
11-Jul-09 Natures World Folk Festival
Friendly atmosphere, good music and the sun shone all day... what more could a folk festival organiser pray for?
Trevor Lister has been organising this event for 17 years and it keeps going from strength to strength... we all want to play there!
For our 15-minute main stage spot we played 'Different Dreams' (jiva) 'Some Way Home' (jiva) and 'Back Home To You' (Allan Taylor). Thanks to MC Dave Kidman for keeping things running smoothly and to Yorkie on the sound desk.
Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Trevor Lister has been organising this event for 17 years and it keeps going from strength to strength... we all want to play there!
For our 15-minute main stage spot we played 'Different Dreams' (jiva) 'Some Way Home' (jiva) and 'Back Home To You' (Allan Taylor). Thanks to MC Dave Kidman for keeping things running smoothly and to Yorkie on the sound desk.
Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
10-Jul-09 Day Two jiva in the Recording Studio
Day two also proved to be a very fruitful and productive day at Studio One in Chester-le-Street, the recording premises of Ron Angus.
We continued working on the songs with both of us using our Taylor 910CE 6-string guitars and both laying down some vocals and then moved onto the jiva 'signature' sound with Jimmy on the 6-string and Val on the Taylor 855 12-string.
We've now recorded 8 songs and are feeling positive about what has been achieved so far. We're booked in for more sessions to record the remaining songs, and then it's on to the mixing and mastering... on schedule so far for a jiva CD launch by November.
Watch this space!
Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Studio One website
We continued working on the songs with both of us using our Taylor 910CE 6-string guitars and both laying down some vocals and then moved onto the jiva 'signature' sound with Jimmy on the 6-string and Val on the Taylor 855 12-string.
We've now recorded 8 songs and are feeling positive about what has been achieved so far. We're booked in for more sessions to record the remaining songs, and then it's on to the mixing and mastering... on schedule so far for a jiva CD launch by November.
Watch this space!
Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Studio One website
Sunday, 5 July 2009
04-Jul-09 Music Fun Day at Clennell Hall
Jack Wilkinson arranged a music fun day at Clennel Hall to raise funds for Netherton Folk Club. The bar was crowded with musicians, audience, campers, hotel residents, all intent on enjoying the day and having a good time. It was a very warm afternoon and people outside on the grass were peering in through the open windows to join in the fun as Jack kept us all amused with jokes, quizzes, 'magic' tricks and good natured introductions and thankyous for everyone - he's a great MC/host and a lovely gentle person too!
We played three songs for our first turn: 'Back Home To You' (Allan Taylor), 'Passin Thru' (Johnny Cash and Randy Scruggs) and 'Different Dreams' (jiva). For our second turn we sang three self-penned numbers 'Some Way Home', 'When' and 'One More Song' with a lot of the audience gamely joining in (almost managing to drown out the more raucous good-timers).
Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Netherton Folk Club
We played three songs for our first turn: 'Back Home To You' (Allan Taylor), 'Passin Thru' (Johnny Cash and Randy Scruggs) and 'Different Dreams' (jiva). For our second turn we sang three self-penned numbers 'Some Way Home', 'When' and 'One More Song' with a lot of the audience gamely joining in (almost managing to drown out the more raucous good-timers).
Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Netherton Folk Club
03-Jul-09 jiva In The Recording Studio
We spent a very fruitful and productive day at Studio One in Chester-le-Street, the recording premises of Ron Angus. We're at last getting on with work on the long awaited jiva CD (working title is 'Best Friends').
Ron is an excellent sound engineer, much respected and revered by performers and also his contemporaries in the the recording business. He is renowned especially for his expertise in acoustic music recording and production... and he's also good to work with - relaxed, supportive and focussed on getting the best out of everyone.
We worked on four songs (with both of us using our Taylor 910CE 6-string guitars and both laying down some vocals)... it's sounding good so far. There is at least one more 6-strings song to add next time and some tweaking and polishing what we've done so far, and then it's on to the signature jiva sound of Jimmy on 6-string and Val on 12-string.
Watch this space!
Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Studio One website
Ron is an excellent sound engineer, much respected and revered by performers and also his contemporaries in the the recording business. He is renowned especially for his expertise in acoustic music recording and production... and he's also good to work with - relaxed, supportive and focussed on getting the best out of everyone.
We worked on four songs (with both of us using our Taylor 910CE 6-string guitars and both laying down some vocals)... it's sounding good so far. There is at least one more 6-strings song to add next time and some tweaking and polishing what we've done so far, and then it's on to the signature jiva sound of Jimmy on 6-string and Val on 12-string.
Watch this space!
Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Studio One website