What I love most about Southwell Folk Festival is how completely ordinary the bands look. This was best exemplified by The Poozies, four women who looked like they had just nipped out of their front room only to perform a breath taking set that drew on a wide range of styles and influences from English and Scottish traditions, as well as a cover of Black Eyed Susan and an acapella. The tone was set when they started with a song about dipping a raggedy old man in a river until he was clean which was delivered with dead pan commentary as you’d expect of songs with titles like ‘Memoirs of a geezer’.
We were informed that one song usually lasted for about 35 minutes but we ‘weren’t to worry’, they had a shorter version. Although we were all set out neatly on chairs in the large marquee, The Poozies demanded participation in their songs. They hadn’t travelled down from sunny Scotland to rain drenched Southwell to entertain a passive audience. The easiest task was ‘humming’ which was really quite moving, like being in a room full of docile bees drunk on pollen. For classics such as Ship of Love, ‘a song so old it was written on slate with chalk’, we were encouraged to join in with the ridiculously addictive chorus that I thought I’d finally got out of my head but is back again through writing this.
It’s worth commending the organisers of the festival at this point as not only were their two opportunities to see The Poozies (afternoon and evening) they also had a workshop earlier in the day, presumably for anyone who wants to learn how to set up a quartet and pull off stand-up comedy at the same time.
By the time The Poozies had finished their set the sun was back out so we headed over to the Sculpture Trail where various activities were put on for kids, offering a little magical hideaway in the woods. But despite the various headline acts the real beauty of Southwell is the informal gatherings that emerge. Musicians just start playing anywhere and everywhere so that you’re constantly surrounded by music. We had an impromptu harp performance from a lovely woman selling musical instruments in one of the tents and in the centre of Southwell, husband & wife team Croach Patrick came down from Lincolnshire and performed for free outside pubs just because they wanted to be part of the festival. When you add an incredible range of real ale and ciders, polar bears (don’t ask), outdoor theatre, and a randy St. John’s worker molesting passers-by (this was an act before you start getting ideas) it became a lot easier to forget the awful weather that seemed so intent on ruining proceedings.
Sunday saw Manière des Bohémiens playing a superb set of gypsy jazz within easy reach of the bar during the afternoon; three guitars, one sax, one fiddle and one double bass blending together in a gorgeous mix of easy familiarity and accomplished improvisation. It was tempting to sit, listen and sip beer for the full hour and a half set, but to do so would have meant missing out on Moya Brennan (of Clannad fame) and her family band doing a medley of Robin of Sherwood songs. For a brief moment it was like the eighties again, with Michael Praed swishing his hair fetchingly back and forth as Robin and Ray Winstone as Will Scarlett snarling in a fashion most unlike a Merry Man while sticking his sword into passing Normans.
The Ben Waters Band are no one’s idea of folk music, but when they boast a thirteen year old sax player who can blaze through the solo in One Step Beyond as Ben’s son Tom did it doesn’t matter. A storming set of rhythm and blues, boogie woogie and a tipped cap to fans of the Nutty Boys.
Vin Garbutt plied his trade with practised ease, mixing some truly terrible jokes with heartfelt songs. Silver and Gold, a true story about John Grant, a miner who took up embroidery to make his daughter’s wedding dresses, was a joy.
The evening saw Mischa MacPherson on the main stage, accompanied by Innes White and Conal McDonagh. Gaelic songs from the fishing islands off the coast of Scotland were much in evidence, all sung in MacPherson’s heartbreakingly beautiful voice.
Bella Hardy and the Midnight Watch followed, and she lived up to her recent crowning as the BBC Folk Singer of the Year with a fine set of her own songs and deadpan banter from Anna Massie on guitar.
The festival closed with Feast of Fiddles (five fiddles, in case you were wondering how many constituted a feast). Opening with a cover of Led Zeppelin’s Kashmir and closing with a rousing rendition of Mark Knopfler’s theme from Local Hero, it was a fitting end to the festival.
The Gate to Southwell Folk Festival ran from 5 - 8 June. See the website for more information.
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