Hi Everyone Quite an interesting week in more ways than one! The usual weekly happenings have been interrupted somewhat with not one, not two, but THREE trips to lend our support to the dedicated group of people who are camping at Stafford Hospital in protest of its losing its essential services and eventual closure. I know this topic is close to many people’s hearts here. So – Sunday started off with a fairly impromptu session under canvas at the hospital – the turn-out for such a short notice event was quite remarkable and there was a tremendous ‘all in it together’ atmosphere. Same again on Tuesday – a short notice event that some of us used as a pre-Spittalbrook practice! The Spittalbrook, following straight on from the Hospital event was musically very good, but was again plagued with noise from both pub customers and, sad to say, our own musicians and singers. There is a thread about this on our Facebook page if anyone cares to comment. Really good news from John Gregory about Ye Old Rose and Crown – Sean, the landlord has now put up notices saying the room is reserved for the acoustic night and people who want to listen; other customers are welcome in the rest of the pub! This should cure the noise problem for them there, and you can’t ask for more than that! Thursday we were again at the Hospital lending our support to the campaign, but there was a slight twist this time, a camera-man from ITN news was there for the duration and made a short video for ITV Midlands news which was aired last night. It is a full four minutes long and features interviews with the main camp protestors and there are some clips of some of us doing our stuff. Julie, my nearest and dearest was delighted to point out whilst watching the video on TV that she “could see my dangly thing on telly!” – Somewhat surprised I rewound it and re-watched it several times and can only conclude that she was referring to the North American beadwork charm that I have attached to the end of my guitar. Not sure whether to be relieved or disappointed really. If you want to see the video you can catch it here;- itv/news/central/update/2014-08-15/campaigners-fight-to-keep-stafford-hospital-services/ So, onto next week; Monday we have the Four Crosses at Cannock – Acoustic session with folk, Americana and county and western stuff – all welcome. Tuesday – Regular weekly Folk session. Almost always well attended and some really good stuff done down here, but can be a mixed bag some nights. Wednesday – Ye Old Rose and Crown – mixed acoustic session hosted by the Spring Chickens. Always a full and lively night and well worth a visit ,almost anything goes here! Thursday – Roebuck at Hilderstone – very busy pub session with lots of sing-along stuff and really good hot free food! Thursday – The Crown at Hyde Lea – Trad and Trad Style folk session – this session attracts some of the very best musicians and singers in the county and sometimes from even further afield. May be down a couple of people this month due to Towersy Festival, so there may be a chance to do a bit more if you are a singer or musician. There is a very slight possibility that we may have the full complement of ‘Ragmans Trumpet’ with us this week – wouldn’t that be nice! Get down if you can and if you like trad style music and really, really good free pub food. Just a reminder again that the monthly MET concerts put on by Fish Records will feature ‘The Stray Birds’ – yes, I know that you probably haven’t heard of them, but have a quick look on You Tube, there are plenty of clips and they do look rather good! So get down there for 1st September. Probably a good time to remind people that we do have a Stafford Folk Music and Dance Facebook page, if you want to view it or join in, you can find us here;- https://facebook/groups/staffordfolk/ I think that is about it for this week, hope to see you at one or more of the above. Cheers
Posted on: Sat, 16 Aug 2014 09:03:02 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015