14-Feb-10 Bishop fm - live concert

We were the first guest on Terry Ferdinand's new Sunday live one hour concert series (no name for the show yet) - it's quite something, and indeed an honour, to be 'guinea pigs' for each new project that he dreams up.

We took along our Bose L1 sound system and plugged this straight into the studio desk to ensure the critical jiva balance providing our trademark gentle blend of acoustic guitars and vocal harmony. They also used the studio mics to capture the live room ambience in the mix. It sounded good to us in the studio - Gary and Terry were quite animated with thumbs up signs and scribbled messages on a mini whiteboard... at one point Gary wrote that all he needed was a sofa and a beer and he'd be made (it was a little difficult to concentrate on song lyrics while reading these messages).

We played:

• Back Home To You (Allan Taylor)
• When (jiva)
• Love At The Five & Dime (Nanci Griffith)
• Louise (Paul Siebel)
• Dream On (jiva)
• Yorkshire Romance (C J Rowe)
• Some Way Home (jiva)
• Different Dreams (jiva)

It was an hour long programme - play a couple of songs, chat a bit, play a bit, have a jingle or two, play a bit more, and so on. And there was a live telephone call with Anthony John Clarke as well. Phew! The hour, as usual, just flew by - and before we knew it we had just over 4 minutes left and goodbyes to say and one more song to sing... no we didn't finish with that song - we finished with 'Different Dreams', the final flourish/strum being hit with less than a second to spare (how's that for timing).

Thanks for having us along Terry - we had a great time - and good luck for future shows.

 Links
jiva website

jiva MySpace
Terry Ferdinand MySpace
BishopFM

11-Feb-10 MIND Active

It's lovely to turn up and find everyone in their chairs ready and eagerly waiting for us to play. We were in the Reception area so there was a fair bit of movement from staff and visitors, but it didn't detract from a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon. Men were greatly outnumbered by women so they had a bit of a challenge for the men verus women in 'One More Song' so we declared it a draw!

We played:

• Back Home To You (Allan Taylor)
• When (jiva)
• Love At The Five And Dime (Nanci Griffith)
• Louise (Paul Siebel)
• Dream On (jiva)
• Yorkshire Romance (CJ Rowe)
• Passin Thru (Randy Scruggs and Johnny Cash)
• Different Dreams (jiva)
• Some Way Home (jiva)
• One More Song (jiva)

After an hour's performance we had a cup of tea and a chat with residents and staffand there were lots of positive comments and requests for us to come back soon. We left them a copy of our 'Best Friends' CD so they can practice the words and sing along even more at our next visit.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
MINDActive website

08-Feb-10 Nanci Griffith at The Sage Gateshead

Although we both enjoy listening to our Nanci Griffith CDs neither of us had seen Nanci Griffith in concert, so we'd been looking forward for some time to a night out at the Sage. The evening got underway prompt at 19:30 with the support act - singer/songwriter Edwina Hayes. She's making quite a name for herself...someone to definitely watch out for.

There was a short break and then it was time for Nanci Griffith. She had two members of the Blue Moon Orchestra with her, a guitarist and drummer/percussionist, and began with the John Prine song, 'Speed Of The Sound Of Loneliness'. Before too long she did 'Love At The Five And Dime' (a song oh hers that's not only in our own repertoire but also on our 'Best Friends' CD).

There were lots of good songs, and Nanci and the boys performed in a very laid back and relaxed style, enhanced by the good work done by the soundman who ensured clarity at a comfortable volume. We can't remember all the titles of the songs, but it was a smashing evening and we had a great time. The evening just seemed to whizz by.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Nanci Griffith website

07-Feb-10 Guisborough Folk Club

First visit this year - bad weather had kept us away in January.

Not quite as busy as some nights we have been to, but there was the usual friendly welcome from performers and audience.

We were on in the first half and, like everyone else, got two songs. We did Love At The Five And Dime (Nanci Griffith) and Louise (Paul Siebel).

Customary beer break and raffle selling followed before the night got underway again with performers who had not got on in the first half and then with repeat of some performers. We didn't get on again (shame), but we did win a prize in the raffle!

As we were putting our guitars back in their cases at the end of the night we received lots of lovely comments from performers and audience alike... and more still as we loaded our stuff into the car for the 60 mile journey home.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Guisborough Folk Club website

06-Feb-10 Comrades Club, Whitley Bay

We'd not been to one of John Jeffrey's acoustic/folk nights since October 2009, so were pleased to be back in familiar surroundings among comrades in the local music scene. Although these nights did start as purely acoustic (ie no PA), Gerry Beldon has provided such gear for a few evenings now, and it looks set to continue in this vein. That's fine with us as long as (like the Comrades Club acoustic nights) it continues to be used to lift/enhance the sound slightly - we definitely don't like things too loud... apart from spoiling the ambience it can permanently damage the hearing of audience and artists alike.

OK - rant over...

John and Fraser got the first half started with 2 songs, accompanying their vocals with 6 and 12-string guitars. Then we had a solo performer doing a Ralph McTell song followed by Simon and Garfunkel's boxer. There were 3 banjos in the room and, in a somewhat strange  running order, John decided to have all the banjo players perform their 2 songs immediately after each other. We didn't catch the name of the first guy, but the second and third were our good friends Doug Wood and Maurice Baker. Gerry finished the first half with 3 songs.

Then, after a short break, John asked us to start the second half with a 20 to 25 minute slot. This evening we had planned to do numbers with us both playing 6-string guitars so we performed:

• Love At The Five & Dime (Nanci Griffith)
• Two Old Friends (Chris Simpson)
• Best Friends (jiva)
• Dream On (jiva)
• Louise (Paul Siebel)

John and Fraser got up again to do 2 more songs, then John sang a solo a capella number before inviting Gerry back for another 3 songs before Few Broth finished the night in fine style with mostly Geordie songs that had people singing along with gusto.

Thanks for the invite, John... we can't make the next one, but will hopefully get to the one after that.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace

02-Feb-20 MIND Active

We arrived in good time to find the room set up and ready - the residents were just finishing their lunch and we were told they would be along soon. We were playing in the 'cinema room' so called because they have a pull down screen, projector and a Wii!

We had plenty of time to set up the gear before the residents came in. Today they were all women. We played the usual two sets of five songs in each with a small break in the middle for re-tune and gargle. We played:

• Love At The Five And Dime (Nanci Griffith)
• Two Old Friends (Chris Simpson)
• Yorkshire Romance (CJ Rowe)
• Back Home To You (Allan Taylor)
• When (jiva)
• Dream On (jiva)
• Best Friends (jiva)
• Different Dreams (jiva)
• Some Way Home (jiva)
• One More Song (jiva)

One particular resident was over the moon with us - she gave us both a kiss and a cuddle! It was a lovely afternoon.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
MINDActive website