Last Sunday was the launch of our new Severn Folk Club at the Reabrook Club and, well, let’s just say it was pretty incredible! Five minutes after the doors opened, there was a huge queue to get in and each time I went outside, there were more and more people arriving. At one point I went to grab a sandwich and, while I was chomping, at least ten more people came through the door! We had to delay our start by a few minutes, as the queue had both emptied and then filled up again so quickly and we rapidly became full up and booked out of seats! Our membership also grew more than thirty new members and the support we received meant so much to us all.
So for anyone who wasn’t able to come (or perhaps wants to relive the experience), here is our recap of the Severn Folk Club Launch.
The Reabrook B Band
We had several very famous Folk musicians agree to come together to form a house band, unfortunately the “Reabrook A Band” were a victim of the Reabrook Club’s very reasonably priced drinks and had to be stuffed in the cleaners cupboard.
The B band, which consisted of myself (Matt Woolley), Becky Woolley, Laurence Coey and Antony Titley, were able to step in though and we played a few tunes to get the night started.
The Reabrook B Band (Left Gavin Mitchell, above Graham Barre)
The Original Shrewsbury Folk Club & Friends
We then handed over to the Original Shrewsbury Folk Club and Friends for an hour. It was a wonderful mix of performances from the members, seated in a semicircle and each leading a song or tune, with others often joining in with beautiful harmonies.
Roger Drummond, the founder of the original club, did a wonderful job organising this showcase and gave a glimpse into what an original club night might have sounded like. I know that, if I had been around, I would have definitely been a regular at the original club to listen to the performances.
The Original Shrewsbury Folk Club and Friends (Above and below pictures Becky Woolley, right picture Gavin Mitchell)
Floor Performers
After the break, we had a couple of wonderful floor performers play for us.
The first was Sonya Smith, a wonderful singer and songwriter whose songs cover sea witches and lavender clothes (the last one might have been my fault, as it was based on a Shrewsbury Songwriters brief. It turned out pretty well though, so I’m happy to take the blame!). The audience was totally enraptured by her performance, you couldn’t hear a pin drop.
Sonya Smith (Becky Woolley)
Ben Proctor (Becky Woolley)
Songwriter Ben Proctor, who had come all the way from Hereford to play for us, then presented us with his songs, singing songs about growing up in Knighton and cabbages, getting the audience singing along and filling the room with everyone’s voices.
A Folky Finale
As the evening drew to a close, what better way of finishing the evening than with a bluegrass band made up of members of the original club, with bouncy numbers and songs that had the whole room joining in.
The Bluegrass group from the Original Shrewsbury Folk Club (above Hamish Kirkpatrick, top right Terry Carr)
Roger Drummond singing Wild Mountain Thyme (Terry Carr)
Roger Drummond then sang the last number, Wild Mountain Thyme, which was a song that had been used to finish the original club’s nights off. We all sang along and it was a wonderful thing to end the launch of the new Folk club on – a song that had represented the original club for so many years being used to herald the launch of the new club.
A Fantastic Start and Thank Yous
The night was a huge success and it was all down to the performers who had entertained us so well, the volunteers who had worked so hard to make the launch as good as it could be and the Reabrook Club, who had been so generous and supportive to our fledging club.
Next Club Night
Our next club date is the 10th of May and we have some wonderful floor performers playing for us – Rob and Mary Hands, who performed as part of the original club performance at the launch, the duo March Hares with a mix of traditional and their own songs and local Banjo wizard Dan Walsh. There will also be four open spots for anyone who fancies performing on the night. The resident Reabrook B Band will be starting the evening off again, as the A Band are still stuffed in the cupboard.
A glimpse of the audience and the original Shrewsbury folk club performing (Becky Woolley)
Guest Night Tickets
Tickets for our first two guest nights (Lauren South and Benji Kirkpatrick) will available to book from midday Sunday (26 April) on our Ticket Source page. Make sure to get your tickets early to avoid disappointment, especially if you would like to go to Lauren’s Scratch Fiddle workshop for beginners, as there are only 20 places available! To buy tickets, visit www.ticketsource.com/severn-folk
Raffle
We will be running a raffle again, so if you have anything you could donate as a prize, please do bring it along. If you have any leaflets of Folky events happening locally, please bring them with you and we can put them on the leaflet table and if you have any local Folk news then drop us a message and we will announce it on the night.
