21 Today
Hah! I wish…
This year my birthday just happened to fall on a club night.
These days we only normally do cake and all that palava for members’ BIG birthdays.
However, Jayne insisted mine was big enough, so cake it was and we fed the five thousand. Well okay, not quite. But forty-two, exactly half of whom were performers.
For those of you with a morbid curiosity, I’m actually only nineteen, but with fifty years experience!
The first of the 21 performers was Lynda Degey who, as a birthday request, refrained from singing about the rain. Another request was for Harry Robertson to do “Hotel California”. Accompanied by John Rowell on bass, they performed it in grand style, then to be joined by Richard Davies and Tom Degney for the rest of the Tom, Dick and Harry band’s set.
Cath, Joe, Colin, John and Ros variously gave us Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen,McCartney and Bobby Darren.
Peter Leslie and Mike Whittaker both sang lovely self-penned songs with Peter throwing in a Kieran Halpin number too.
Two new faces this week belonged to Mike Hastings and Eric Price from Mold. Between them they covered material by Don Williams, Ralph McTell and Lynyrd Skynyrd.
For the second week on the run, Rhyl’s Tony Grant made an appearance. Tony’s set included Willy Nelson’s “Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground”. I think we would all love to see this comedic, kindly-natured purveyor of ballads and blues, become a regular here at Ruthin too!
Another musician we don’t see half enough of is Chester Weiss. Accompanying himself on slide guitar and foot drum, Chester sure knows how to deliver some pretty darn good, foot-tapping, R&B.
As a special birthday… ahem… treat, Glyn got up and sang the most annoying song in the world, which I made even more annoying by joining in on the “Nya, Nya, Nya, Nooten Nya Nya” chorus, completely cocking up the words, stanza and pitch!
Someone who doesn’t forget his words, is guitar maker/mender extraordinaire, Harry Millar. Harry entertained with a stand-up routine and had the room in stitches.
Jayne and I always try to get together with our two boys when it’s one of our birthdays. so being a club night made for a cheap night out! 🙂
Despite having a long drive down to the Cambridge Folk Festival ahead of him (to see Glen Hansard, lucky bugger!) Jordan stuck around to hear his brother Isaac, who we’d persuaded to perform a rare set at Ruthin AllStyles.
Accompanied on the cajón by fellow band member Andy Cooper, Isaac sang “Whiskey in the Jar” and Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower” followed by a unique and uncharacteristically laid-back acoustic version of Nirvana’s “Territorial Pissings”. What you might call a lightweight alloy version of a Heavy Metal song!
I think Harry Millar had come along to see what sort of punishment Isaac gives the Breedlove guitar that he looks after for him. Well let me tell you Harry… this was the folk and acoustic club. You ain’t seen nothing yet! 😉
The finale spot went to Tom Dick and Harry (plus John Bass) who suggested we “wanna get lost in your rock and roll” before we “Drift Away” to our beds. Needless to say we did so with that great Mentor Williams song still ringing in our ears.
Finally, I’d like to wish everyone who came and made it such a memorable evening – a big thank you!
