Four Rivers Folk Club

10/10/2025

Revised Date ...sorry!!! On thursday the 23 October we are having another Acoustic Bob Dylan Night. with the following performers playing four songs they've chosen. Here are the performers in approximate alphabetical order

John Abbott
The Badmen
Pat Crilly
Peter Crossley
Paul Hilder
Irvine Hunter (poetry)
Karen and Tony

You'll have to come along to hear who performs which of the Nobel Laureates songs they've chosen.

Hoping to see you "Aong the Watchtower" or at "Maggies Farm" for "Another Cup of Coffee"...

10/10/2025

A quick review of last Wednesday's Four Rivers Folk Club before the ad for next time we have a coven. I kicked off with a few songs of my own ( some rarely performed) with Claudio accompanying me on some subtle percussion. Mike Excell came long with some of his great songs about playing footie on the council green spaces and one about his father's lost Gibson. Then Vic Newman performed a mostly up tempo and dynamic set of his own songs. Mary Doyle performed a lovely set with her lovely voice and finished with a very nice version of The Black Velvet Band....nice to hear a female voice singing it. Unfortunately Peter Crossley had caught the dreaded flu and informed beforehand that he could;ldn't perform but we still filled

Our headline act was South of Polaris with a wonderful selection of songs with Spanish guitar and fiddle and superb vocals. Their music had a very Iberian feel to it and a lot of songs were in Spanish which we all appreciated...a lovely evening of music.

Now for next time out on Wednesday the 22nd October.... we will be blessed by the first appearance at Four Rivers Folk club of "The Medlars". The Medlars will come to us with great songs and musicianship. They have a very traditional approach with accompaniment of guitar and fiddle with great harmonies and a wealth of super songs!

Here is their bio....

Rich sounds in the authentic folk tradition that reminds me of the great folk bands of yesteryear.’

The Medlars are a folk trio from East Anglia, performing songs and tunes originated and rooted in the folk tradition, revisiting, and creating new arrangements of classic English folk songs with a contemporary feel. Alie grew up with the influences of the East Anglian fens in her blood and has been performing and running folk clubs since the mid-1980s. Emma has a classical music background and Tom is a self-taught guitarist, with a wide range of influences from folk to punk. Whilst original influences remain, these have expanded, drawing in ideas from within and outside the tradition.

The Medlars are Alie Barnes - vocals, Emma Hardy - fiddle/vocals, Tom Hardy guitar/vocals.

“Evocative and transporting, Tom and Emma’s beautiful, sensitive instrumental arrangements intricately weave and flow around Alie’s mesmerizing vocals.”

https://www.themedlars.co.uk
https://themedlars.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/TheMedlarsFolkTrio

Our floor songsters on this evening will be
Amanda and Elisha
Pass the Buch
Dueling Melodeums
Luca
Tashaney (a female poet)
I'll be doing the sound as Archie is performing with his band in London

See you all then

p.s. on the next evening, Thursday 23rd October, which is the anniversary of the The Battle of El Alamein and Frank my brother's birthday we are having another acoustic Bob Dylan evening with lots of local artists performing his songs with no repeats. More on that later...once I make a poster for it!

pip pip Pat

30/09/2025

We had another wonderful evening of music at the old Four Rivers Folk Club last wednesday with a variety of styles from our four song floor spots of Rob White covering the acoustic covers, Steve Ingrey a magnificent acoustic blues set, John Abbott with some mighty self penned and folky covers and Amanda & Elisha playing a very wonderful and appreciated uptempo set with great rhythm guitar from Amanda (shape up guys!) and super vocals from Elisha and close harmonies too. I did a few requests to fill in the time available to us.
Our headline act of That Blue Patch were superb as always covering so many styles in their performance. They're a favourite of mine and at the club and it was a real pleasure to have them back with Ruth on vocals, harmonica, ukulele , foot tambourine, melodica and swaying! With Dave keeping the steady rhythm he's known for.

Next time out on Wednesday 8th October we have "South of Polaris" a duo with a sort of "Spanish" feel. I've seen them at the Acoustic Club in Bishops Stortford and at The Cambridge Folk Club.
Our four song support acts that evening will be Peter Crossley, Mary Doyle, Vic Newman and Mike Excell all who have played at the club before.
Here is the "South of Polaris" bio...

"South of Polaris is the Flamenco-infused Alt Folk duo of Danii Reales (UK) and Saúl Díaz (Spain), whose music is as emotionally raw as it is sonically rich. Their sound blends intimate folk storytelling, the fire of flamenco, and the theatrical energy of rock, anchored by Danii’s unforgettable vocals and violin, and Saúl’s intricate Electro-Classical Guitar.

Born from grief, their music became a form of healing, transforming intense emotion into honest, relatable songwriting. Their performances are immersive and dynamic, offering audiences a visceral experience that’s both grounded and transcendent.

In just three years, South of Polaris has carved out a distinct space in the UK folk scene. They’ve been featured on BBC Introducing, Alan Ritson’s Fine Folk, and Cambridge Radio’s Folk Club, and have opened for acclaimed acts like Mad Dog Mcrea and Rioghnach Connolly & Honeyfeet. Their debut EP The Year After (Dec 2024) marked a powerful artistic milestone, earning them a nomination for a Cambridge NMG Award in the Folk & Americana category."

11/09/2025

I'm way ahead of things today just trying to get ahead before going on a short holiday to Amsterdam next week.
Next meeting of the Four Rivers Folk Club Coven will be on Wednesday 24th September with another magnificent line up for you all (three of you anyway!).
So we will have a more than welcome return of club favourites "That Blue Patch" who happen to be on a round British Isles Cruise at the moment...maybe one of the ports of call will be Methil in Fife which the late Prince Phillip called the white head on the boil on the backside of Britain...why do we call them Royals?
Supporting will be Steve Ingrey, Rob White, John Abbott and Amanda & Elisha.
It'll be another great evening...see you there...pip, pip Pat

11/09/2025

Well even though through a mishap and an illness we had a reduced line up and headline act....BUT we still did have another excellent evening of music and poetry. Although I'd nominated Paul Hilder and myself to replace the headline act I did a 4 song support of songs I don't normally do with Paul. Anyway I kicked off the evening with some trad folk and some of my own "folk" songs. Next up was our resident ( and my favourite local poet ) Peter Hart with an assortment of his topical and relevant poetry just sooooo cleve! We then had a new performer , well to the club anyway and she was our youngest performer too! Amanda Burgess perform a great set with a bluesy come folky set of songs...great! Then we had visitors from further afield ..Bishop's Stortford, Karen and Tony always provide us with excellent voices and musicianship and they did it again, thank you both. We than had Paul Hilder performing a 4 song spot. He had disappeared for a while but then appeared with what I thought was a wee lunch box but proved to be a small selection of inedible harmonicas! Another wonderful set.
Then we had the main act , myself and Mr. Hilder, and ran through a bundle of my songs , some were requests but we managed to avoid them! Paul played fantastic lead acoustic and even harmonica on a number. Big Terry , a foundation audience member showed out a request for a Dylan song. We performed "One More Cup of Coffee" we managed it unrehearsed but mind you we hadn't rehearsed any of the selection....no change there!
More anon....I have to rush and take Mrs. C to her Cello lesson!

pip, pip Pat

09/09/2025

Revised poster for Wednesday 10th September...featuring that dynamic duo...Pat and Paul.

03/09/2025

Advertising for an approaching Folk concert on Friday 19th September in Royston.

02/09/2025

Ok then, fully refreshed after a couple of pints of strong coffee and ready for more typing....I seem to be doing more typing than playing guitar...but hey...that's no loss to music!
Next time out on Wednesday 10th September we have as our headline "Terry Hiscox".
Terry ahas been at the club a few times and he is the ultimate professional, performing wonderful atmospheric songs with his great vocals and he'll be ably accompanied by Roger Trevitt on bass or mandolin.
Terry has been well supported over the years by the BBC who play his songs regularly. His lyrics are wonderful and it should be a great evening.
Supporting Terry will be Colin Frid, Tony and Karen, Peter Hart and newcomer to the club Amanda Burgess. I haven't heard Amanda but on the 27th August as I was heading down Bull Plain to the Hertford Club I noticed a young woman with a guitar on her back. I stopped and asked if she performed in public and she answered positively so I took a chance and invited her to the next outing. Serendipity..we'll see.

Poster attached ..cheers Pat

02/09/2025

Well then "Guys and Gals" to quote someone infamous but not to be mentioned by name!
We had a most wonderful evening last Wednesday at "Four Rivers Folk Club" a complete evening of Female only performers , with the exception of a few male musicians accompanying the females. The female only evening came about because my darling wife Margaret has commented on more than one occasion that there have been occasions at the club when there hasn't't even been a token woman.....gulp, crivens help me Bob!
This evening was so successful that there will be more in the future.
If I remember correctly we ran the list alphabetically so kicking off the evening was "Jess Brett" and was as excellent as ever with wonderful guitar playing , superb voice and great choice of songs. Then we had "Mary Doyle" performing solo and again great musicianship, vocals and a very original choice of songs and it was great to have her return! Then we had "Nuala" who dragged a long a couple of "token men" to accompany her, Nuala has a superb voice, performing great original songs and left us wanting more. The token men were "William Hayter" on percussion and "Sam Smith" on baritone guitar both giving perfect accompaniment to "Nuala's" music. Who was next? Oh yes that was "Why Not?" our local talented duo who graciously perform local songwriter's songs and they do it so well. Lovely stuff accompanied on 12string guitar and wonderful harmonies.

Our headline act was "Lara Gisborne" a beautiful singer with wonderful crafted songs accompanying herself on finger style guitar and accompanied on a couple with Ian Middleton on guitar, bhodran and vocals (he was our third token man!). Lara had the audience singing along and was so entertaining she had a very good hat collection which I passed over to her in its entirety.
A huge thanks to archie for the sound control, the bar staff for their patience, Aiden for his generosity and to our audience for contributing to our main act and making it worthwhile for them to travel to us.

Another post will shortly follow for our next outing once my aching fingers have recovered with a mug of coffee....pip, pip Pat

13/08/2025

Poster for our outing on the 27th August where I decided to make it a female only evening with a token male for a change.
Lara Gisborne has a wonderful voice and a laid back style which is very entertaining along with her perfect accompaniment on guitar and possibly some from the token male on the bill, Ian Middleton.
Lara's songs are inspired by family stories, nature and small natural moments in life. You can find her music, including her latest release Ammonite, on Bandcamp.

Our support acts that night should be Jess Brett, Why Not?, Nuala o' Halpin and Mary Doyle. We've had them all before and they're all great.....shape up lads!!!

10/08/2025

10/08/2025

Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa (some of my altar boy Latin if my memory serves me well.
I'm very late posting this but I have a busy life outside music and music isn't the most important thing in my life...
So then ...on our last outing we had Hertford's answer to Shed 7 , "The Badmen" as our headline and what a superb headline it was even though they haven't given up the lyric sheets, mind you there were a considerable number of music stands scattered amongst the orchestra at a recent Proms we attended so maybe I shouldn't harp on about it...!!!
The Badmen were more than ably supported by "Pass the Buch", Mark Dellar and Peter Crossley who gallantly stepped in as two acts cancelled at fairly short notice. A big thanks to all!

This week , on Wednesday 13th August, we have a sort of American "old timey" influenced headline from Robin Gillan who is a true multi instrumentalist on acoustic guitar, banjo , fiddle, mandolin and harmonica. I've known Robin for many years and first encountered him at Cecil Sharp House where he very much impressed me with his "old timey" repertoire. He has also impressed many American musicians including Tom Paley and has been invited to perform on their albums. Robin knows what he's doing so it should be an educational and entertaining showcase.
We have support from some of our regular and some of our "irregulars"? Supporting will be in the order I wrote them down on the phone Martin Day, Pass the Buch, Paul Hilder, Peter Crossley and maybe I'll get time to squeeze in a few songs too.

It'll be a great night.

Later in the month on the Wednesday 27th August we will be having a female only evening with Lara Gisborne as our headline act (with Ian Middleton backing...he has to put on a wig and a dress!) Support will be from Jessica Brett, Nuala o'Halpin, Mary Doyle and Why Not!

FYI I'll be amending the Folk Club listing to include another Bob Dylan evening in late October and another "Americana" evening in late November....it's all to much

Cop you later! no, no, no not copulator!