30-Sep-09 Coppull Folk Club

It's a year and a half since we were last at the Coppull club, and they've since changed pub. So it was a combination of old friends and new venue... as usual we got there early and, as is often the case, were first - even ahead of the organisers. This gave us the chance to re-arrange the tables slightly, find space for our guitars (four tonight) and to make the acquaintance of two lovely cats!

There was a good turnout, and it was great to meet up again with Anthony John Clarke and fill him and John in with the stories around our trip to the USA and our wedding and also the progress on our CD. Among the guitars tonight were three 12-strings - 'Chalise' (our Taylor Custom Jumbo), 'Cissy' (our Taylor 855), and Ellie's Takamine. The songs ranged through unaccompanied, autoharp, guitars, traditional, classic, contemporary, self-penned... the whole gamut.

Simon runs the club as a singaround, going around in a circle with everyone having a song (duos get two songs), and then around again, and again, and again until the end of the night... tonight we finished at just past midnight, the landlord kindly providing sandwiches at around 11:20!

For our first spot we used two 12-strings (one normal tuning and one with 6th pair dropped to 'D') and performed 'Back Again' (Allan Taylor) and 'Small Town' (jiva). Next time around it was the 12-string and 6-string setup for 'Back Home To You' (Allan Taylor) and 'Different Dreams' (jiva). Then it was two 6-strings for 'Love At The Five & Dime' (Nanci Griffith) and 'Two Old Friends' (Chris Simpson). For our fourth spot it was back to 6 and 12 for 'An Acquaintance Of Mine' (Anthony John Clarke) and 'When' (jiva). At the end of the night Simon generously asked us to do one more to finish the night - so we stuck with 6 and 12 as we closed with 'One More Song' (jiva) which had everyone joining in heartily at appropriate times... a super way to finish a really good and friendly night.

It was after 02:00 am by the time we climbed the stairs back at Ingleton for some shut-eye, very happily tired.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Coppull Folk Club

29-Sep-09 The Plough Sessions, Staining

Our friends Penny Black run the evening which generally follows the usual singaround format of the hosts starting things off, then, going around the room in turn, everyone gets the opportunity to play and/or sing... and then around, and again until time runs out. There was a good mix of humour, classics and self-penned with guitars (7 Taylors this evening... 4 of them ours), banjo, bass, drums and whistles. Our new 12-string (Chalise) got a lot of attention and positive comments!

For our first spot we played Allan Taylor's 'Back Home To You' and our own 'Different Dreams'... for our second we did 'An Acquaintance Of Mine' (Anthony John Clarke) and 'When' (jiva)... there was a short break before the third round which gave Val the opportunity to change guitars so we could switch to the two 6-string format... we played 'Love At The Five & Dime' (Nanci Griffith) and 'Two Old Friends' (Chris Simpson)... at the end of the night Penny Black kindly asked us to do another one to finish the night, so we obliged with 'Louise' by Paul Siebel...

The wind is blowing cold tonight
Goodnight, Louise... goodnight

A grand night all round with everyone chipping in to the collection box for Arthritis Research - good music, good friends, good craic, and a good cause too... Goodnight, Louise... goodnight.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Plough MySpace

27-Sep-09 Bothy Folk Club, Southport

First club on our north west itinerary. We set off good and early at 5:45 pm as we'd been told to get there in good time if we wanted to be sure of a sing... it's just as well we did, the traffic on the M6 motorway was abysmal. After battling our way through two massive traffic jams we'd lost the advantage of starting out half an hour ahead of schedule. And then the traffic in and around Southport was really heavy - we learned later that this was due to the air show that week-end. Undeterred, we still managed to get to the Park Club ten minutes before official kick-off time... apart from two people on the door we were the first ones there.

After a slow start, people began arriving and the night got underway only fifteen minutes late - it seems everyone else had been caught up in the air show traffic too! There was a good cross-section of performers, mainly contemporary with some self-penned material and popular classics and traditional tunes and songs too.

We were on in the second half - the penultimate act of the night - and for a single spot decided on the 12-string and 6-string setup (so Val's 6-string didn't make it out of the case). Our first song was Allan Taylor's 'Back Home To You' which had the audience joining in well; then it was our own 'Different Dreams', again with plenty of joining in; last in our set was self-penned 'One More Song' where the singing along was even more hearty... super!

After a canny night at this well-established club we drove back to Ingleton (our base for the week), arriving at 00:45... seven hours, three songs and 121 miles later.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Bothy MySpace

22-Sep-09 Croxdale Folk Club

Singers night at Croxdale Folk Club but unfortunately very few showed up. There was us, Gary Wingfield and Fred Brierley. Thanks to Terry Ferdinand for being the audience and, of course, John Kelly the MC was there too.

We began the night with 'Back Home To You' (Allan Taylor) and 'An Acquaintance Of Mine' (Anthony John Clarke) and then play went round the room in turns of two songs each. We also sang 'Different Dreams' (jiva), 'Tommy' (Kelly Joe Phelps), 'When' (jiva) and 'Some Way Home' (jiva).

In between songs there was plenty of time for chit chat and it was a nice relaxed and gentle evening.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Croxdale Folk Club MySpace

20-Sep-09 Dana and Susan Robinson at Alnwick Playhouse

This was a chance for us to see Dana and Susan Robinson for a second time on this tour. We were unable to catch them at the Davy Lamp Folk Club on the 19th (we were at Netherton Folk Club that night), so it was good that they had another local gig.

They did a concert in the studio theatre at Alnwick Playhouse. The room was set out mostly cabaret style with bottled drinks available at the back of the room next to the PA and lighting rig. The studio had been set up with PA but they did the whole night acoustically. The acoustics in the room were fine (the wooden floor echoing the good applause) and it was a grand night, and the lighting helped create a warm ambience for another fine performance by two of our favourite musician friends.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Dana and Susan Robinson website
Alnwick Playhouse

19-Sep-09 Netherton Folk Club

This club always feels like a home from home, and tonight was no exception. Jack Wilkinson even presented us with a wedding present from the club - a bottle of Taylor's port! Thank you for the kindness and the humour too... jiva have indelibly stamped two things into people's minds "purple" and "Taylor".

It was quite a busy night and Jack had decided rather than two turns most performers would have their turn in one go. We were on early in the second half and, rather than change guitars, we opted to stick with Val playing the 12-string and Jimmy the 6. We played 'Back Home To You' (Allan Taylor), 'An Acquaintance Of Mine' (Anthony John Clarke), 'Different Dreams' (jiva) and 'Some Way Home' (jiva). Jack asked for one more so, cue for a song, we did our very own club favourite 'One More Song' (jiva) with the customary 'competition' getting evryone to join in and sing along.

We'll be back there in November doing a full guest night - we're really looking forward to this return booking, and this time we should have our CD available... we've had loads of requests at Netherton for a CD.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Netherton Folk Club

17-Sep-09 Dana and Susan Robinson at Topic Folk Club

A first time visit for us to this club in Bradford. Topping the bill were two of our favourites, Dana and Susan Robinson from the USA. We always aim to see them when they are over here touring and Dana said to us that we are 'constants in their life' - they always know they will see us somewhere!

We had pre-arranged for a floor spot of two songs and were up second after the MC, David Kidman. We sang 'Different Dreams' (jiva) and 'One More Song' (jiva) and it was lovely to hear the audience joining in on the choruses.

Dana and Susan put on a great performance - they are accomplished musicians and writers whose love of the land, and the music it inspires, is clearly evident in every show.

In our introduction MC David had mentioned the upcoming release of our debut CD and we were delighted to receive a pre-release order!

We hope to get back to the Topic before too long.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Dana and Susan Robinson website
Topic Folk Club website

15-Sep-09 Foggy Furze Folk Club

A fairly quiet night at the Foggy but still a good mix of music. Sometimes the acoustics in the fairly large room are not too good but tonight everything was crystal clear. Was it us, or was it maybe the magic of our beautiful new Taylor Custom Jumbo 12-string guitar, Chalise?

The first half was the usual singaround style for non-guest nights - we played 'Back Home To You' (Allan Taylor) and 'An Acquaintance Of Mine' (Anthony John Clarke). The second half started with a spotlight set by keyboards and guitar vocal duo Dangerous Brothers who were trying out some new material. Then it was back to the singaround again - this time we played 'Love At The Five & Dime' (Nanci Griffith) and 'Two Old Friends' (Chris Simpson). MC Ian D'eath asked us back to do one more, and our last song of the night was our very own 'Different Dreams' which fairly bounced along with lots of joining in from audience and fellow performers.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Foggy Furze website

13-Sep-09 The Monkey Folk Club

We arrived in good time for the advertised 8:00 pm start to find the room still in darkness! But we put the lights on, got our guitars out and on their stands in readiness for everyone else turning up. We had both 6-string guitars and our new 12-string guitar with us tonight.

Dave Minikin, organiser and MC, got the night underway with a couple of songs and then worked his way through the other performers. With Val on the 12-string and Jimmy on 6-string, we began our first spot with 'Back Home To You' (Allan Taylor) and wow, the audience were well away, joining in heartily! Then we performed the the gentler 'An Acquaintance Of Mine' (Anthony John Clarke) followed by our own 'Different Dreams' which again had lots of joining in.

After a few more floor spots and a beer break Dave managed to go round the room again and asked us to finish off the night. We happily obliged with 'Maginot Waltz' (Ralph McTell) and 'Dream On' (jiva) - a lovely gentle end to a good, varied evening covering different musical genres.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Monkey Folk Club website

10-Sep-09 Allan Taylor at Cutty Wren Folk Club

We've visited this club a couple of times on singers nights but this was the first time for a guest night. It takes an hour and a half for us to get there (127 mile round trip) but it's well worth it. John Taylor made us feel very welcome, and even bought us a drink in celebration of our recent marriage! Thank you John.

We hadn't taken our guitars as we were unsure of the format on a guest night, but there was time for plenty of the regulars to do floor spots before Allan got up for his first set. He played acoustically and it was wonderful. He told us he was feeling a little 'under the weather' - but you wouldn't have known it. There was the usual break for the selling of raffle tickets - prizes were a variety of wines, chocolates and vegetables... including a very large marrow!

Then Allan returned for his second set and he had the audience spellbound and joining in at all the appropriate places. It was a smashing night - we were singing Allan's songs all the way home in the car!

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Cutty Wren MySpace

10-Sep-09 MIND Active

Only played at this home once before... in 2007... so we were looking forward to getting back there. It was a very warm day so guess where they put us to play? Yes, you guessed it, the conservatory! It was so warm we had to take our gilets off! This was the first time we had played out acoustically with Val's new guitar 'Chalise' and it sounded great.

As usual we played two 30-minute spots with a short break for a gargle and tuning of the guitars. We sang:

• Love At The Five & Dime (Nanci Griffith)
• Two Old Friends (Chris Simpson)
• Back Home To You (Allan Taylor)
• When (jiva)
• Yorkshire Romance (C J Rowe)

Then:

• Different Dreams (jiva)
• Some Way Home (jiva)
• Maginot Waltz (Ralph McTell)
• Dream On (jiva)
• One More Song (jiva)

We had some good chat with the residents and we could see their feet and hands tapping along in time to our music. Great stuff.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
MINDActive website

09-Sep-09 jiva in the Recording Studio - Day Four

We turned up at the allotted time and this time we were recording a song with us both playing 12-string guitars. Jimmy on 'Missy' (Taylor 855) and Val on 'Chalise' (her new custom build). Then we added some more vocals to a previously recorded song and some guitar work to another track.

That was it! We have now recorded 12 songs which work out at not far under 60 minutes. That should be enough for our debut album. (There are more songs that we would like to record, so we're already planning the next CD... but we certainly won't be rushing back to start recording for quite some time yet.)

Next step is for Ron to do some mixing and then we will join him in the studio again for some final 'tweaking'. After that Ron will do the mastering and meanwhile we'll be finalising our artwork design for the CD label and jewel case inserts... then it'll be off for putting it all together. We're well on track (intentional pun) for our self imposed deadline of the end of November... seems the CD might be available before then!

We'll keep you informed.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Studio One website

08-Sep-09 jiva in the Recording Studio - Day Three

It had been some weeks since our last recording session with Ron - we'd been away in the USA, and had not played a great deal while out there. Still getting over the jetlag we weren't feeling on top form, but there was no problem - we carried on where we'd left off in July as if it was yesterday.

We continued working on songs featuring Jimmy using his Taylor 910CE-L7 6-string guitar and Val on her new Custom Jumbo Taylor 12-string guitar. What a beautiful sound... and captured perfectly by master craftsman, Ron Angus. It was a very productive day and we recorded 3 songs.

Just one more to go... watch this space!

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Studio One website

08-Sep-09 Cramlington Folk Club

It was a singers night at Cramlington and we were looking forward to catching up with everyone. We took some wedding cake which went down very well. and we also had our netbook with us so we could show the slideshow of some photos from our wedding that we have uploaded to YouTube - click click here to see the slideshow with background music from Allan Taylor.

We thanked everyone again for their kindness and generosity - their gift of dollars had paid for a wedding night meal at Alfonso's restaurant in La Jolla, California.

In the first half we played:

• Back Home To You (Allan Taylor)
• An Acquaintance Of Mine (Anthony John Clarke)

There were quite a few performers in this evening but by 10:30 Keith Taylor had managed to get everyone on, so it was time to pull numbers from the raffle ticket bag to choose people to sing again or nominate performers. So, we did manage to squeeze in one more:

• When (jiva)

It was a grand night - good cross section of performers, good humour, and a good time was had by one and all.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Cramlington Folk Club website

06-Sep-09 Evening Of Celebration

We wanted to invite friends to help us celebrate our marriage - but we didn't want a formal reception-type event. In the same way that the wedding and its location reflected our music we were looking for a venue in keeping with the same ethos. Having attended some performances at the Seaton Delaval Arts Centre, and having headlined a concert there we thought it would be ideal ... this Salvation Army Hall is being turned into a great venue for performing arts and we give it all the support we can.

They did the catering (superb food, great choice, and plenty of it too), and the wedding cake iced in jiva colours with purple flowers and piping, set the place out in cabaret style, candles on the tables, attentive staff, and created a wonderful friendly ambience for a super evening. Friends came from far and wide, and it was smashing to see people enjoying the food, the wine, the company, the music... everything.

There was an initial 30 or so minutes for guests to arrive, find themselves a table, settle in and have a bit of a chinwag. Then jiva took to the stage amid cheers and applause as we picked up guitars and walked up to the microphones - wow! We started with both playing 6-string guitars and sang:

• Love At The Five & Dime (Nanci Griffith)
• Two Old Friends (Chris Simpson)

Then, as Jimmy recounted the day at Taylor Guitars in California, Val swapped her 6-string for the latest addition to our Taylor collection - the gorgeous custom build 12-string (Chalise). There had been some singing along to our first two numbers but, once we got into the self-penned songs the audience/guests really let fly with their voices filling the hall with multiple harmonies... better than many folk clubs! The songs were:

• Different Dreams (jiva)
• Some Way Home (jiva)
• One More Song (jiva)

jiva - 'One More Song'

After our set we had a few words from Terry Ferdinand, did the cake-cutting bit and then everyone tucked in to the superb buffet, followed by jiva taking the stage again to toast the happy (very happy) couple.

Top of the bill for the evening was Allan Taylor - we're very fortunate to count Allan among our friends, and he readily accepted our invitation to join us for the evening as well as agreeing to sing for us too! He had written a song especially for us as a wedding present (we played a recording of it during the actual wedding ceremony). Allan was superb - and we especially loved the clarity of his sound through our Bose L1 system ... it's not often we get to sit in the audience and hear it - and this was something special! Naturally, he sang our song, and some requested favourites too.

There were cries for more and he duly obliged with an encore - he persuaded us to join him for 'It's Good To See You'... wow! Incredible! Jimmy picked up the new 12-string and he and Val shared a microphone for the choruses. A fabulous way to end the evening's music.

What a magnificent, unforgettable night - we extend our thanks to everyone who accepted the invitation to join us and to the volunteers at Seaton Delaval Arts Centre for 'doing us proud' - thank you, thank you, thank you one and all.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Allan Taylor
Seaton Delaval Arts Centre

05-Sep-09 Allan Taylor at The Davy Lamp

We are always happy to get to an Allan Taylor concert, and September at the Davy Lamp Folk Cub is a regular treat as he usually opens their season.

Allan was was on top form, obviously enjoying this gig - the audience were well on board as he mixed in some of his newer songs with his earlier favourites. Eric Freeman was up to his usual antics, quipping about the performers and even suggesting that people should pass on their tips to the newlyweds (ie jiva!)... there were a few good 'uns, some laughs and a few that might not be repeatable depending on the company one is keeping.

We were given one song after the break and we sang 'Different Dreams' (jiva) - it was lovely to hear the audience joining in, and it was a pleasure to be asked by a fellow performer if would object to his adding the song to his repertoire ... no problem, Alex - we'd be delighted.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Allan Taylor
The Davy Lamp Folk Club

04-Sep-09 Carlisle Folk Club

This was our first visit to a singers night at this club... we had been a few months previously to see Anthony John Clarke. Also it was their first night back after the summer break.

As usual for jiva we arrived in good time. The room was already beginning to fill up in readiness for the 8:00pm start. We were the first act of the evening so we were able to get our guitars set up ready and waiting on the small stage. By the time we got up for our three songs the room was buzzing and the atmosphere was good. We sang:

• Back Home To You (Allan Taylor)
• Different Dreams (jiva)
• One More Song (jiva)

Wow! It was great. This was the first public outing of our new 12-string guitar ... and the PA set up was good ... and the audience were on top form joining in at all the right places ... it was pretty much a draw between the men and women for 'One More Song'!

Thank you Carlisle Folk Club for making us feel so welcome... we'll be back.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Carlisle Folk & Blues Club

01-Sep-09 New Guitar - 'Chalise'

Remember the wedding? If you look at the first photo in that blog you'll see Val playing a gorgeous sunburst 12-string guitar during the ceremony... afterwards we asked if we could buy it (well, hardly surprising) and, to our delight, they said yes and arranged to have it shipped to coincide with our return home.

16 days later we were back in the UK... a few degrees colder, less sunshine, more rain... welcome home. After a long trip (made even longer by a flight delay from London Heathrow) we were very tired by the time we got around to checking through the small mountain of mail on the floor in the hall - and among them was a card from UPS saying that they'd attempted to deliver a parcel but there was no reply so they'd try again the next day. Then we found a second card saying they'd tried again and would try once more. Then we found a third card confirming that as no-one was available to take delivery they would send it back!

Panic quickly set in - customer services was closed for the day (by now it was 22:00 local time on a Friday), and depots would not be open to the public again until Tuesday as it was a bank holiday weekend. We logged on to the UPS website and tracked the package... and, sure enough, it was all laid out on screen - shipment from Taylor, flight to the UK, then on to our local depot, then the failed delivery attempts. Aaarggghhh!!! We submitted an on-line request to allow us to pick it up from the depot and were relieved to see the request actually appear on the tracking page... so went to bed having done all that we could, but still nervous that somehow the internal UPS mechanisms might carry on with returning it to Taylor over the weekend.

On Saturday we phoned UPS and they confirmed that the package would be held at the depot awaiting our collection. As you can imagine it was a very long and frustrating weekend, even more so because of the additional holiday Monday. So, first thing on Tuesday morning we checked the UPS website and to our dismay the note about us collecting it had gone completely and had been replaced with something about return process... oh no! This could not be happening!!! After another call to UPS we were assured that the parcel was still at the depot and, yes, we could collect it any time after 10:00 am.

Needless to say we drove straight off to the depot. After a nerve-wracking wait while they checked the paperwork and searched out the paperwork we were eventually presented with the package - a carton with the Taylor Guitars logo prominently displayed on it. Then we paid the import duty/VAT and signed the appropriate paperwork. We could hardly contain our excitement as we drove home... would it be OK/undamaged?... would it look as good as we remembered?... would it sound as good as we remembered?

We need not have worried! We were overwhelmed and euphoric... as perfect as any guitar could be... and the perfect reminder of our wonderful wedding day. Guitar geeks may wish to read the guitar specification (somewhat cut down version for the blog)... and we apologise to the TMI brigade :>)

Custom Jumbo 12-string
Venetian cutaway
Top: Sitka spruce
Back and Sides: Cocobolo

Nut width 1-7/8"
Scale length: Standard 25-1/2
Nut and Saddle: Bone
Binding: Ivoroid
Trim and Rosette: Abalone
Purfling: Cream
Fretboard Inlay: Abalone 900 series
Tuners: Gotoh 510
Electronics: Expression System
Finish: Gloss, Sunburst
Logo: Mother of Pearl

We've named the guitar Chalise after our contact and friend at Taylor (with her permission of course). She sounds beautiful acoustically as a solo instrument and also paired with our Taylor 910CE 6-string guitars and also with our Taylor 855 Jumbo 12-string guitars too. The sound through our Bose L1 system is just as beautiful but even more so - guitar controls set straight up the middle, select the Taylor Guitars Jumbo preset on the Bose ToneMatch (personal mixer), and leave the Tonematch with no EQ adjustment ... voila!

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Taylor Guitars website