Curated with care by Beans on Toast, this year's Foolhardy Folk Festival at the Arboretum once again provided great music, good vibes and trees galore...
There's no doubt Beans on Toast (Jay McAllister) is a bit of a local legend: the folk singer, songwriter, promoter and all-round supporter of music has appeared on countless stages around the city over the past years.
Thanks to Jay's hard work and dedicated curation (and the firm support of DHP), Foolhardy Folk Festival has now become a regular event on the local and national festival calendar, attracting music lovers and Beans on Toast fans from across the country (the people behind me in the event queue on Sunday had travelled all the way up from South Wales). The Arboretum provides a really sweet site for a small festival like this, with a natural slope down to the almost magical bandstand. There are plenty of hay bales to sit on, as well as benches and picnic tables, a decent-sized bar, and a handful of good quality food trucks scattered around the perimeter. Not to mention the artworks created during the festival and auctioned for a good cause.
The weather was iffy, but Jay's enthusiasm was bubbling over as he introduced this year's event with a short acoustic performance, and many words of support for trees (a bit of a theme among the performers and perhaps unsurprising given the beautiful, leafy setting; Jay also talked about this and lots more when we chatted to him a few weeks ago).
After that, Beans handed the stage to Dan Ottewell, a local singer-songwriter who launched straight into his set and performed with flair and a constant smile. His style is direct and dynamic: raw folk for the people, with localised lyrics. He uses a DIY pedal set up as well acoustic guitar and doesn't hold back on the energy. But it was his slightly quieter songs, which appealed to me, where the brief lyrics gave way to noodling guitar.
We were introduced to Bassey Gracey after that - a regular member of the Beans On Toast band who also moonlights as a spoken word artist. She has a brilliant way with words, launching into what appears to be a casual monologue but which then segues almost imperceptibly into poetry. It's a very modern form, but one with echoes of tradition as rhyming couplets appear seemingly out of nowhere.
She came back several times during the day, providing welcome interludes between music and keeping interest levels up during the changeovers.
Next up was, Jack Francis, who sings a more soulful style of folk in an unexpectedly mellow voice. There are hints of Sam Fender in the passion he puts across, and also elements of modern roots groups such as The Lumineers.
It was a great set drawing from Jack's extensive back catalogue.
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From Jack to Lady Nade - a Bristol artist with a powerful, soulful and almost operatic voice, who mixes folk with Americana and jazz - and then Ríoghnach Connolly (performing with Ellis Davies) who hails from Armagh.
From an almost regal position, Connolly switched from an engaging gravelly speaking voice to a beautiful, chiming and lilting vocal as she sang.
"Most of the folk songs I know are miserable... that's the way I like it," she said with a mischievous and beguiling laugh.
Connolly's style is to combine songs from various Celtic traditions, and beyond, and so during her eclectic set we were treated to a Scottish folk mash-up as well as plenty of beautiful Irish tunes.
An interesting interlude after that, when Finn took to the stage to perform an original song, Monte Carlo ... a great solo performer, charismatic, confident and entertaining. The difference here: Finn is only 10 years old!
Samantics took over the stage next. Sam describes himself as a rap poet, and he was astounding. First, beat-boxing into a looper to lay down the rhythms, he then launches into rapid fire, almost manic lyrics.
"Hi, my name's Sam, I smile all the time, I'm living my life" he raps and sings, frenetic at times but lapsing into melody, too. His songs ring through really true, with themes of mental health struggles and being a survivor. There's a song about social media abuse ("Just a banjo-playing Eminem wannabe..."), lyrics encouraging us to thing of a world without music or art, and reflections on growing older.
This is perhaps the most hard-hitting part of the day, but enjoyable too - his quick cover of the Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme is brilliant.
Colchester lads Pet Needs are a big name on the line-up, and their T-shirts are perhaps the second-most ubiquitous around the site after Beans On Toast's. They deliver a strong set: energetic, heartfelt, youthful suburban folk. They're the kind of band that reassures you that the future of folk is safe, with humorous but well thought out songs such as Tracey Emin's Bed coming through srongly.
They also tell a great story about being on ITV1 where they played a Lily Allen cover, which led to an Instagram message from the star herself, and a strong friendship after that by the sound of it.
Black Water County are also a huge draw (Jay is very well connected), and absolutely blast through their set, getting scores of people dancing manically as the first hints of twilight arrive. Their folk-punk is rowdy and true to its pub roots, but it's always open and engaging, too. They sound and look on top form as they deliver songs like Rise and Fall.
Vocalist Shannon Byrom frequently switches to tin whistle, which works well with the crunchy guitars as well as the gruff tones of Tim on lead vocals.
English singer-songwriter Will Varley is a good choice after that, allowing the stage to be cleared, minds and bodies across the Arboretum calmed, and providing an interesting counterpoint to the rougher sounds which went before.
Will has been described - by Frank Turner - as the best songwriter on the planet, and he's a prolific one too. He has an engaging story-telling style, with really clever lyrics, and he's the kind of performer that makes you listen closely, too.
And then it falls to Beans On Toast to unite with his full band for a joyous closer to the day. Somehow Jay still has boundless energy left even at this point, and Gracey plays her bass with skill even after delivering all those poetic lines throughout the afternoon.
What a very special day this was, thanks to Jay, his friends and the passion and love which he exudes. Don't miss it next time round.
Foolhardy Folk Festival took place at Nottingham's Arboretum Park on 25th August 2024.
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