Formed at short notice in 1978 to help out Christchurch Festival who had a last-minute cancellation, some Club singers from "darkest" Portsmouth turned up for a one-off booking and found themselves billed as above. The folk world started taking more interest in maritime music and 2 years later they reformed for ‘Folk Afloat' interval music on HMS Foudrouyant. Another 2 years (and some personnel changes) later, they got offered a main concert spot and never looked back. The owners of fine resonant voices, Pete Luscombe, Nick Gough, Pete Watkinson, John Lansley (and hopefully Sooty Broughton - shown in the picture rather than newcomer John) now have a large repertoire of nautical and landlubber songs in addition to the shanties they started with and they perform at many UK festivals, clubs and functions as well as in Ireland and Brittany. Listeners will find it impossible not to sing with them in the joining-in bits, so tune your vocal cords! They also have some CDs.
Tuesday 11 November 8pm |
Play or Sing, read a Poem, tell a Story, listen, fetch the beer, anything
They are seasoned campaigners who have achieved substantial recognition in their own right. Traditional music is in their blood. Both were brought up in families with strong folk music involvement and they are happily carrying this onwards throughout the the British Isles as a duo. Roy collects/sings traditional songs and ballads from all over the UK and especially from Cheshire, his home county. Neil (another Cheshire man) is an experienced dance musician with a huge repertoire of tunes, many from lesser-known collections in the North-West. Roy's singing and playing (on concertina or guitar) are enhanced by Neil's English-style fiddle musicianship. They have a CD called ‘Another Round' which was recorded by the increasingly highly-regarded Wildgoose label.Play or Sing, read a Poem, tell a Story, listen, fetch the beer, anything