Acoustic Rotherham 7 Report + all the local stuff.

It’s going to be a busy Blog this week, so let’s get a start.

This was Myke Mashers week to be a Mad Frog in tandem with his beloved Phoebe, The Wyrd Witch. Two gigs in fact!! I shall have to watch this as they seem to be getting out more than The Mashers. hehehe

I’m told, ‘cos I was not there to witness first hand that both Gigs, Tuesday at The Cross Keys Handsworth and Thursday at The Princess Royal, Crooke went off according to plan.

Apparently audience numbers at The Cross Keys were not fantastic. Pity this as the Handsworth Club is one of The Mashers favourite Clubs and at it’s best makes for a great evening of Poetry and Song. So why not make a note to pop along on the third Tuesday of the month.

The next meeting is 17th May – and guess who the special guests are – why according to my Diary it’s those Folk Legends The Rawmarsh Mashers – ah ha.

It all gets under way around 8:00pm. Bit of an early start because of the buses.

And so to the main event of the week – Acoustic Rotherham 7. As a Promoter it was a fantastic afternoon, with much of the afternoon being standing room only, just great to see. And what a fantastic mix of music!? everything from traditional song to the very latest self-penned song from new talent.

Organisationally this one had been a little bit of a nightmare with Dickie having initially patted himself on the back way back in February that it was all systems go only for his computer to decide that enough was enough and blow a gasket which meant the entire list was lost along with contact details.

But hey – it all came together and everyone had their moment.

However, sometimes I am just staggered by the arrogance of some people.

I think it’s fair to say that through the Acoustic Rotherham jmucrate.com pages I go out of my way to keep people informed as to what is going on. Acoustic Rotherham Hiring Fairs in particular are particularly highlighted with notes on the type of event it is, descriptions of previous events, and a page dedicated to the guide lines for the events in terms of how the afternoon runs.

So I found it particularly disappointing that one band fell through the net. Not only did they not appear to have a clue as to the nature of the event, but one member of that band thought himself so important that the whole timing of the event was thrown out by one full hour.

Worse, when I mentioned the timing to this this individual, and the fact that it showed a lack of respect to the other artists appearing, I was not so politely told to “f*** off”. At that point the band can think themselves lucky that they were the guests of one of Acoustic Rotherham’s biggest supporters, otherwise they might well have been down the road.

I’m told that he was nervous. Draw your own conclusions.

This individual also managed to upset – god forbid – the sound man! The biggest no, no known to performing artists.

Hence while the audience were able to enjoy the playing of the Band the lyrics, which were the essential part of this act were completely lost as the speakers had been turned inwards. Some people simply cannot be told.

So my apologies to all the artists that followed this act as their on stage time was thrown back by an hour and with a nine o clock finish deadline we also had to cut back the time allowed for a few acts to try and drag some time back – in that respect I thank Kev (Short Supply) and Mark Hearne and Karen and Nigel of First Fall. I think all the acts that had travelled in got their full time although the little extra I would normally allow had to be cut out.

And of course a big thank you to Mick Padfield of Taylor Maid fame for having done such a wonderful job on the sound for the entire afternoon. It takes some energy to keep it going from 12 noon until on this occasion nine in the evening – and without any reward what so ever. THANKS MICK.

So to the great acts.

Well, we’ll start with The Mashers turning in another typically uncontroversial set of their new political numbers – the Dancing On The Grave of Mrs Thatcher number proving to be as popular as ever.

Enough said. At least it all proved that the sound was working OK.

David Paskell from Sheffield then shared some of his self-penned songs with us, not enough was the cry, but poor David was suffering with a throat and ear infection and his voice was about to pass out before he caught us all be surprise and finished. Get well soon mate and we’ll have you back for a full set once the Doctors have sorted you.

What we heard though was typical of Dave and his songs deserve a lot more of an airing.

We then had the electric sounds of a line up that went by the name of Cam – not the originals who are Scotland based but mainly from Manchester. We were treated to some well-crafted blues based instrumental sounds and believe me, classic song writing. And it was fantastic to see Hugh (Song Writer) overcome all his nerves to join the Band for their last number and make such a good fist of it. “Hats off to you mate” (that’s an in joke).

Then we were treated to some old time Americana sounds by The Backyard Buskers from Sheffield. Brilliant harmony and some fantastic musicianship made up this professionally crafted set. And what fun when they were joined on stage by the children of the band to do the chicken dance. This is a band we are all going to hear a lot more from, and if you get chance to see them in the South Yorkshire area well worth taking the time out.

All the way up the A1 from Peterborough came East Coast (sounds more like a Take That type boy band) but Nick and Nigel’s boyish looks were reserved for some pretty impressive musicianship and songs. Some covers and some self-written. A splendid set lads and I’m sure on this evidence we’re going to see a lot more of you around South Yorkshire in the future.

Not a lot can be said of next act, The Troubadors, that has not already been said. What enthusiasm? What a big sound? And such brilliant musicianship. This quartet from Wakefield had the audience in their hands for a full on acoustic big sound set of upbeat Americana style music. These guys really deserve to go a lot further than Rawmarsh. I know that throughout the Summer they are busy people with many Festival bookings, so look out for them and stick around for their set – it’s well worth the time. And if they have not visited your Club yet then get in quick before their diary goes into over drive.

A hard set to follow.

But Philip Cockerham is an old hand on the scene, not that he would admit it, and his experienced showmanship and simply spell binding musicianship won the audience over in no time at all. So congratulations to Phillip for that. Philip claims to be new to the scene. New to South Yorkshire certainly although his reputation is growing very quickly and his new CD is selling by the truck load, or should be!
We were treated to a mix of traditional and contemporary songs accompanied by some very clever guitar work, and his self penned songs are simply hilarious.

Check out his full details on the Acoustic Rotherham 7 page. 

The next act attempted to get a spot on Acoustic Rotherham by suggesting that they were a group of young’uns looking for a platform to show off their considerable skills. HHHHmmmmmm - wot we got was three old b****** belting out seafaring songs and shanties the like of which there are few on the folk scene could equal.

Yes Owd Chyver, based in Hull, are three great big voices born to sing together in perfect harmony and while they may have a total age of well over one hundred fifty these guys are full of fun and very much young at heart.

Great stuff guys and I look forward to seeing a lot more of you over the Summer as you tour the Festivals – there certainly will not be a problem in hearing you!

And so to Marzipan Moon, being Worcestershire’s contribution to the day’s festivities. Well, it was Marzipan Moon 0.5, they wisely decided that the bass and drums might be just a little bit of over kill for an acoustic event.

With Tracy playing both guitar and some delightful key board accompaniment to her haunting vocals, the man otherwise known as The Abbot of Unreason, or Gaz to them that know him, played some wonderful intricate guitar accompaniment.

This was spot on performance of contemporary Acoustic Music, and was really well received by the audience. In their louder mode I can see this band being really popular at many live music venues and lets see if can get them back to South Yorkshire so that we can see the full line up in action.

At this stage we were running one hour behind time and I really have to thank all the Bands for being ready and up for it when it was their turn to perform, and no more so than when we moved into the “local” part of the afternoon.

And what a Band to kick off the final push. Florin are a collaboration between Bob Humphries of Lanterns fame and Rob Dickson who comes out of the Bluegrass Buddies. Their arrangement of classic rock, folk and Americana songs demands to be heard, as well as the odd self-penned song.

Testament to their music is the number of people that they held in The Queens who were planning to leave just as they were getting underway. On their first number they were joined by Jono out of the Lanterns who added that little bit extra to their stunning harmony and throughout Martin from The Rogues bowed away on his double bass. The later I think might well become a lasting feature of the Band.

If Edmondson and his Bad Shepherds can make such an impact on the Folk scene, I promise you that Florin has a big and bright future before them.

Making a return to Acoustic Rotherham came Short Supply. A big name for a one man band, but this is Kev out of The Rogues doing his own songs. To appreciate just how good the songs are you have to go listen to the tracks and you can down load his full demo disc for free in the Acoustic Rotherham CD Shop.

And then a right rockin’ collaboration as Kev joined up with the returning Mark Hearne for a couple of numbers – it’s fun to see talent like this having so much fun together.

Mark’s solo performance was a Master Class in art of guitar playing. I’m going to be honest, I was getting just a little worried as Mark tended to give great credence to his trusted axe which unfortunately was beginning to give signs of conking out on him. But for this performance he used his Taylor and what a difference it made. On the evidence of this and if he is serious about getting out more then this performance should attract the bookings.

By now the audience were fading. The extra hour was beginning to have it’s affect, so just when we needed it along came Karen and Nigel in their First Fall mode with some amazing chill out sounds. Karen’s distinctive and glorious voice blending perfectly with Nigel’s masterful use of the guitar.
And hats off to them. Playing to a dying room is not easy but their performance was so good and perked the atmosphere up just when it was need.

And we just dragged back enough time for the last performer of the day Vicky Cottam to give us an impressive set of contemporary songs. Vicky, I have discovered was well known around the Folk Clubs of South Yorkshire back in the mists of time, well before the Rawmarsh Mashers were ever thought of let alone heard. Now she is looking to make a come back, having established her career etc., and all the other things that tend to get in the way of music and it’s rock’ roll life style.

This set was very accomplished demonstrating that she has lost none of her talent and I’m sure it won’t be long before she is a Special Guest at many Folk Clubs and local Festivals.
But get in quick - the sound of tiny feet will be heard in the Cottam household sometime in October.

So forty five minutes late we got to the end of what was an extremely long and relentless afternoon of music. The variation of the sounds was fantastic – the performance levels from every act brilliant. A big thank you to everyone for the entertainment.

We hope that your appearance at Acoustic Rotherham 7 was as much fun for you as the pleasure everyone got out of your performances.

We also hope that support from Acoustic Rotherham will help to broaden your profiles.

Hey! And those who indulged in the Pork rolls and chips – a nice little treat. So well done to Chris the Land Lord for getting it all on.

Acoustic Rotherham 8 is on 25th July. There are a limited number of places left. We will not be overstretching time or audience loyalty by putting on so many acts in future. Ten will be the limit from here on in and no more.

Look out for updates to Acoustic Rotherham pages throughout the coming week as we tie up the final bits of AR 7

This coming week – the main event is the Love Music Hate Racism Festival in Barnsley. UB40 et al and of course throughout the day live music throughout the whole of Barnsley.

It all happens on Saturday 1st May

You’ll find The Mashers around the market place around 1:00pm - but be early 12:00pm to be exact as you won’t want to miss The Bar Steward Sons of Val Doonigan and Jonathon Taylor and then after the Mashers Jerry McNiece, Richard Kitson, our good friends Tina McKivett and Matt Hegarty all ending up with the super Chris Minlner.

Tickets for the main evening concert are still available by using the Link you’ll find in the News Feed HERE 

And I think that is enough for one Blog.

Again thanks to all for the support shown to Acoustic Rotherham – and so good to make so many new friends. Please spread the word about what we do and of course the Web Site. The more people that visit the site the more people will to hear your music and find your contact details.

A Non Review but loads of News

So let’s get the important stuff done and that’s to wish each and every one of you a very Happy and Peaceful Easter. 

I always look upon this time of the year as a time for reflection and renewal and this year more than ever with so much happening in my personal life that requiring major changes to the lifestyle that had become the norm.

Thanks again to all of you who have been continuing to enquire about the health issues, a change in the brand of drugs prescribed appears to have settled things down, although we’re still not firing on all cylinders yet.

And so our week started with an excellent practice session at The Bridge Inn.  Yet another new song added to the rep. we’ve added one of our favourite Ray Hearne numbers.  Don’t forget, if anyone wants to watch the blood flow we’ve been well hidden by Ben the Land Lord in the small upstairs room.

On Tuesday we headed over to The Riverside in Sheffield, a new venue for The Mashers.  This was Dave Paskell’s Fund Raiser for the UNICEF Haiti Appeal, and we joined up with our old friends Tina McKevitt / Matt Hegarty, Phillip Hartley and Paul Pearson to put on an evening of acoustic music.  There were also excellent short spots from Dave himself and Al – better known as the Mist Hills Mountain Rambler.

What an evening it proved to be with everyone seemingly on top notch form and turning in some impressive sets.

For a wet Tuesday night in Sheffield the audience size wasn’t all that bad and certainly seemed appreciative of the efforts made by the acts.  It was good to see friends from all over the Region paying a visit.

Dare I say that The Mashers were on red hot form – we really enjoyed our set, even if no one else did.

You can see pictures taken by Linda Gamston HERE

And congratulations to Dave who raised £170 on the night for the UNICEF Appeal.

Saturday was a real downer.   Crossphyre were due to play at The Bridge Inn, that’s Tom and his mate who made their debut at the first Acoustic Rotherham.  

The Boss and I arrived at the point in the evening when we expected everything to be in full swing only to find a very quiet pub, except for a Party going on in an upstairs room. 

It appears that the duo arrived, set up and sound tested, when a couple of vocal Wednesday supporters entered the pub and did there bit for local relations with a few chants.  I’m told it was really nothing.

But that was enough for Tom who walked out of the Pub, and did not return, leaving a very frustrated Land Lord with no live entertainment on a Saturday night.

I’m afraid that I can’t in any way give support to the artist on this occasion.   The minor disturbance did not even happen during performance time. 

Worse, The Bridge Inn currently gives full support to local artists, providing them with an opportunity to showcase their music no matter what the genre.  It’s so unfair, and very unprofessional to leave the Land Lord with an empty venue and having to watch people head off to other venues on a Saturday night and Easter Saturday at that, when he might have expected a good night of takings.  Although, my Wife did her best to help out on that score.

This was to have been Grossfyre’s second appearance at The Bridge, and came after a recommendation from me, which makes me even more cross that the artist was so petulant.

We all have a responsibility to fulfil commitments, even if we may not be “up for it” or the audience is not in tune with what we are doing.  In this case, to storm off before even starting, is just so stupid and selfish.    Perhaps Phillip Hartley’s song “Folk Club Prima Donna” should be played to Tom – several times over.   

And at the risk of being a Prima Donna myself.......  what you'd already sussed that out?  Well, I was well peeved on Thursday night to discover thata Folk Club that will not be named had been put off from booking us because they had heard on the grapevine that The Mashers demand what could only be described as an excessive fee.

I only wish we could demand the sum that was quoted to us, it would have solved one or two problems with the Bank Manager. 

If you want to Book The Mashers then go to our Booking page and give me a call - we do it mostly for fun and we charge nowhere near what is apparently being suggested on the whisper market - in fact as many will vouch, including my Bank Manager most places get us for beer and or petrol.  The Booking page is HERE

As promised I’ve made changes to the Gig Diary on the Acoustic Rotherham Web Site.   I hope that it’s all much clearer now and because of the Diary layout it gives a chance to list all the regular Club Nights as well as the one off events.   To get listed just Email acousticrotherham@jmucreate.com  You can check out the April and May listings so far HERE

The sharp eyed amongst you will have also spotted that there’s a new page.  The Rotherham Political Forum.    I hope the page will grow to include links to various and interesting Left sided activities.  However, it’s not Richard’s page, it belongs to the Political Forum and articles etc. will follow.  

There’s an Open Meeting coming up on the 22^nd April, where there might well be a musical interlude of rabble rousing songs from The Mashers, and of course the Festival on 31^st May.  More details on the latter coming soon.  

And if you live in Rotherham there’s a sort of feature on Mike Sylvester’s Independent Local Election Campaign for the Wingfield Ward.  HERE

On Web matters.  The Acoustic Rotherham site continues to grow in popularity.  Of all sites globally it’s now placed within the top 700,000 and Nationally 27,000.  Not bad for a localised site. 

I’m not sure what I said last week’s Blog but it proved to be one of the most popular so far – although not coming close to the hits that Richard’s agro Blogs got. 

The Mashers continue to hold the Number Two spot for South Yorkshire in the Reverbnation Charts, translated to the top twenty Nationally, being held off the number one by our good friends (he says through gritted teeth) Jack’s Rake.  What all that means one is not sure as the Reverbnation method of calculating the Equity is always changing.  But it’s good to see that we’re consistent.

The Acoustic Rotherham Reverbnation ranking is slipping though - get to the music to change all that please.

And isn’t it good to know that Bishop FM’s Folk Show, introduced by that Giant of Internet and local broadcasting, Terry Ferdinand, will soon be back on our computers.   What this guy has done for us local Folkies deserves a medal, and what’s more his choice of music gives everyone a chance, which is why his Folk Show wins over many others out there in Local / Community Radio land – there is no questioning of what constitutes Folk music, and no narrow definitions placed upon the genre.  Well done Terry.   You can link up and add Bishop FM to your Favourites HERE

Just to add our name to the folks complaining about the current problems that everyone appears to be having with Myspace.   One feels the message is, if it’s not broke, then don’t fix it”.  In trying to change things and keep up with some the features offered by Facebook they have in fact shot themselves in the foot.   Let’s hope that all the problems are sorted out soon.

So Tuesday you’ll find The Mashers at The Three Tuns Stainton, helping out Sue and Barry in the absence of regular host John, who has chosen this week for a holiday (well earned he says).

We may also be somewhere or other on Monday as The Bridge is closed for Bank Holiday Monday.  

Keep a check on the status bars of Myspace or Facebook or Twitter for everything else.

AND DON’T FORGET TO JOIN UP WITH THE ACOUSTIC ROTHERHAM FACEBOOK PAGE – HERE

Sad News + Masher Outings + Acoustic Rotherham News

It’s been a sad week.  I have learnt of the death of two of my all-time Music heroes.   Diz Dizley and Fred Wedlock. 

Apparently Fred Wedlock died on the 4^th March, so this is by way of catching up.  Fred was a master of the comic song, he was very much part of my formative years on the South Coast Folk scene, where he would ply his jokes. 

He was performing to the end, although more recently he could be found doing after dinner speaking. 

His leaving came as a bit of a surprise as he great plans for 2010, touring and with one or two projects up his sleeve.  Apparently he had gone into hospital for a few days to recover from a bout of pneumonia, only have a massive heart attack.

A naturally funny man, you just had to look at him to laugh, he’s going to be missed by many fans out there especially around his beloved Bristol. 

But he leaves a catalogue of great material all of it still available so head to his Web Site and get ordering before it’s lost forever.

http://www.fredwedlock.com/recordings/

At the other end of the musical spectrum, although Fred would have loved to have had his guitar playing mentioned in the same sentence as this man, is the sad news that after quite a long illness Diz Dizley has departed this World.

Personally I’m no fan of the clever guitar player, looking on with extreme envy as I do.  But Diz was different to the average clever show off, in fact he was no show off at all, he was a natural, both as musician and man – or that’s how I found him while he was working the Folk Clubs on the South Coast.  Easy to talk to, easy to get along with and one famous Christmas, easy to have a drink with.

Diz was a virtuoso of the Jazz, / blues / swing guitar.  He made it all look so effortless and easy.  I’ve seen Diz do solos where you had a feeling that the guitar was singing, almost talking, all with a smile on his face.

As he once said after a particularly brilliant blues solo at The Railway Folk Club in Southsea, “I don’t know where that came from”, that was the genius of the man.

He was an unassuming man, playing with many of the Worlds greats, most famously with Stephane Grappelli with whom he toured the World, with his band the Diz Dizley Trio. 

Diz was one of those truly international people and you can read about the man’s life and the various strands of his career here

http://www.jazzeddie.f2s.com/GJdiz_disley.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diz_Disley

While they will not have known it, both Fred and Diz made an impact on a very young Dickie Masher’s life.

And so to various Masher rambles during the week.

Sunday night I crawled across to my local Club to see Rawmarsh / Parkgate’s own Billy and The Boys.  Wheeled out every March as a passing gesture to St Patrick’s Day. 

I’ve seen Billy and The Boys at the Club on several occasions now and as my memory served me they had always  held the audience in.  Given the Mashers and Friends night in the same venue and our abject failure to hold the audience after the bingo was over, I was hoping to get a few pointers.

Unfortunately, this time they fared worse than the Mashers had, and one could not even point to sizzling temperatures keeping the hordes outside.   

Folk,  it seems, of any sort, is not for this Club.

Then again it might be that everyone was just Irished out, having had a week of Paddy Day  Celebrations.

For those who don’t know Billy and The boys, it’s a sort ad hoc collection of lads from the Rawmarsh / Parkgate Folk scene – sorry they are the Rawmarsh / Parkgate Folk scene, and roll themselves out annually for an extensive tour of locals and Clubs.

I’ve got to be honest, much that I love the boys and their performances as individuals, collectively for me it doesn’t work.  It might be the poor quality sound engineering, one that turns one of the classic baritone voices into one that sounds as if it’s coming from the bottom of a cast away Bake Bean tin – it could be that the session type completely loose performance style, doesn’t cut it for me in a Club environment, or simply the staid song arrangements, or the feeling that it’s not right to jump off the stage to re-fill glasses during the performance – I don’t know.  But for me the act don’t work. 

I know it does for some – and in the right place like the small snug of a pub, it has worked for me, but on the Club scene nop, nor as something that is being promoted by Pubs and Clubs as Pro entertainment.

Attention to the basics like “sound” is crucial, and some togetherness would help. 

My argument is that if you’re being paid to perform, there has to be responsibility to do some work to produce something people can listen to and I know they know about their problems with sound yet still they do nothing about it.  Just plugging everything in the right sockets and knowing that it’s coming out of the speakers is not enough.

OK – I’m being harsh – the boys are having a good time and all power to them for that.  And as individuals, we love you and really enjoy the music.

So it was onto Nellie Folk at The Bridge on Monday night.  A small yet select group gathered…… one thinks the five Monday month caught many out yet again.

A lovely evening of music with some super individual performances.  And congratulations to Sue and Barry who were celebrating their forty fifth wedding anniversary – and as if to prove that romance never dies she shared the image of her falling into the arms of a young Barry, dressed we heard in cord hot pants (not Barry)an image I’m finding hard to delete from the mind!!!   Or was it Sue shouting at the end of the night, “right let’s get you home to bed”.

And we had another great night on Friday when we went across to The Venue in Stocksbridge to join the hordes at The Last Friday Folk Club. 

Wow, what a night of top quality folk music, from contemporary to traditional with notable outstanding performances all introduced by the lovely Charlie Barker.

It’s strange, when the evening was billed as an open mic night attendance was limited, yet under the Folk Club label it has bucked all recent trends as far as we have experienced and now is packed out – and if you want a floor spot, get there early or it could be getting close to the bewitching hour before you get called.

And in October, as if to confirm the success of the Club, The Second Friday Folk Club will be launched in the same venue.

 Well done Charlie.

Onwards to the future.  Plans for both Acoustic Rotherham 7 25th April and the Festival for the 31^st May are progressing.   Of the later I’m still looking for people to come on board – so if you want a spot or have something else to offer the day then please contact me at springfestival@jmucreate.com.

This coming week,  The Mashers will be joining Phillip Hartley, Paul Pearson, Tina and Matt at The Riverside to support David Pascal’s Haiti Appeal evening.   It all kicks off around 8:00pm so get down to Mowbray Street Sheffield  S3 8EN and join the fun.

We’ll also be at Stainton on 6^th April at The Three Tuns, helping Sue and Barry contend with the missing John, who we think may be up in Scotland on holiday, tut tut.

Those in addition to our practice on the Monday nights at The Bridge.

Don’t forget all the rest of the news and Easter fun can be found on the Acoustic Rotherham News page HERE with local and National happenings all covered.

The David Kidman Reviews can be found HERE, if you’ve not yet caught up with the Jude Cowan review etc or any of his latest thoughts now is the time.

And of course you’ll find CDs from many of Acoustic Rotherham’s artists, plus those reviewed by David in our CD Shop HERE or our Amazon connection HERE

And if you’re looking to open your wings a bit this year and take your music further afield then there is the very cheap “Making Your Musical Footprint” guide HERE and listings of Folk Clubs and Open Mic evenings in the Rotherham South Yorkshire area HERE.

Have a great Easter folks. 

Personal Note + Masher Adventures and New Stuff

We’ll start this week with a personal note. Thanks to all those who have been sending their good wishes about my health, they’re much appreciated.


I don’t want to get too heavy, but it really is good to know that there are so many nice folks out there, many of whom I’ve never even had the opportunity of shaking the hand of.
The current slowdown has been caused by a flair up of type two diabetes which is complicated by the other condition. Unfortunately it’s in the gene’s and despite diet and exercise it’s taken a hold at the moment. Worse, the tablets I’ve been given, only the normal stuff, have made me feel even worse, but I’m assured that if I persevere I’ll feel a lot better – for an impatient bugger like me this cannot happen quick enough.

So energy levels are running at very low.

And just at this moment I could do with them being very high as besides the music side of life I’m fire fighting business and personal issues that have reached crisis point.

Therefore The Mashers are sorry if some Folk Cubs and Open Mics in the Rotherham area are feeling that we’re neglecting them, once life returns to some sort of equilibrium The Mashers will be more active.

But we are getting out at least once a week for a sing. On Monday we put our “Practice” to one side and headed out to the Boostrapes Club which meets at The Commercial, Chapeltown on Mondays.

We’ve been meaning to make a visit for some time, being regulars at the Chapletown August Bank Holiday Festival and having made a couple of visits to the No Smoke Club which meets at the same pub every Friday night.

While this was a first visit to Bootstrapes for The Mashers, Myke Masher had once been a regular and dare I say after twenty odd years was remembered. Well, once seen never forgotten.

And if a return of the prodigal son was not enough history for one night then there was at least one other returning hero.

With the exception of George Hill, always good to see him and hear his songs, and yes we did note that he had a CD available, well done George, and a Folk Club regular, it was rather strange to discover a local Club that had not heard of The Rawmarsh Mashers – it just goes to show.

It was good to see a couple of young lads in as well, a novice dragged along by his more accomplished and refreshing, musically, friend. Excellent stuff.

But even with our youngsters, the average age would still have been in the top fifties at best.

I really like to be positive about our experiences when we’re out and about but unfortunately I have to say that my feeling by the end of the evening was rather flat. Well, it’s horses for courses I suppose. Perhaps also my reflections are coloured by the positive reaction to Saturday’s Gig at The Bridge.

The Mashers did the new songs, with Cows With Guns and Dance on The Grave Of Mrs Thatcher going flat on their faces, despite a rather interesting dance routine we’ve added to the later (lol) – while the more traditionally based Matt McGinn numbers, Rich Man’s Paradise and We’ll Have A May Day at least getting a singing reaction.

What was clear though, is that this was one Club where our music did not quite fit with the normal musical diet. It would have been nice to have raised the odd smile though……………

My impression though was that people were not listening. Really listening. I don’t know if this will make sense…………. But sometimes you come across Clubs where there is a sort of closed atmosphere, yes you’re welcomed as new faces etc., but that essentially the members are there to do their own thing, and ears are not tuned into new musical experiences. I might be being a bit harsh, I’m sure I am, but that was the feeling we left Bootstrapes with.

On the other hand they probably feel the same about us. In some Clubs The Mashers brand of humour is simply lost.

So everyone there on Monday will be less than happy to learn that we’ve put last Saturday’s “political set” up on the Web Site HERE and as a Reverbnation Tune Pack HERE

OK the recording is a little naf and poor Myke is lost in the ether somewhere. It seems the recording device was only picking up the vocal mic and not the full sound going through the mixer. We’re hoping that poor Phillip who made the recordings might give it another go, but with more of the sound content at the Haiti Appeal Gig on 30th March.

Acoustic Rotherham now has a Facebook Group Page. Find the link on our Facebook Profile page HERE

I’ve intentionally left it open so that members of the Group can put up their own Gig listings etc. However, it will be monitored regularly and if people are taking advantage.


Also, for those interested their will soon be a Group Page for The Rotherham Political Forum. This will be a page for discussing local issues, and will jointly carry details of the Spring Engage With Youth Festival.
The confirmed date is Spring Bank Holiday Monday 31st May. Venues etc. still to be confirmed.

A number of acts etc. have already offered their services and we’re hoping for more soon. If you would like to be involved then Email springfestival@jmucreat.com

You can read about the basic concept in a Blog which you can find listed HERE

The progress with the Web Site continues, if slowly. The main Site has now reached the 790,000 mark World Wide according to Alexa who do these things.

The hits on the CD Shop page are going up, but we could do with a bigger catalogue, so please if you’ve a CD get the details to us and we’ll get the CD featured on the site.

The download of The Making Your Musical Footprint – basic guide to getting yourself out there, be you serious about developing your profile or just wanting bit of fun, are going quite well, if you’ve not already got your copy you can find details HERE

Don’t forget to keep your Gig listings coming in – or minor Festival details Email acousticrotherham@jmucreat.com

That’s it for another week.

You’ll find us at Nellie Folk at The Bridge on Monday, and if all goes well Last Friday Folk at The Venue, Stocksbridge on Friday.

New Song : Great Gig : Th Mashers Keep Going - Just

Keeping the old body moving has been the central theme to this week.

Ever since the Doctor added to my medication to combat the diabetes (genetic , not self-inflicted he adds defensively) I’ve not been too good. In fact all the symptoms I’ve never had have raised their ugly head, which I find just a little ironic.

It’s been hard to concentrate on anything, and just been completely washed out, this besides the complicating effects of the other condition.

So not a lot was done.

Monday Myke and I polished up the songs for Saturday’s Gig, focussing upon the new material. And that was it for me – until Saturday that is.

The Rawmarsh Mashers and Friends night was I think a resounding success, despite most of Rotherham’s folkies concentrating their energy on Kiverton Park’s Folk Club Fortieth Birthday Celebrations. My spies tell me it was a great success too. So well done KIverton Park on your magnificent Land Mark.

Of course it would have been nice if as was suggested all the local Folk Clubs had been invited to join in, but then, as I know so well, phone numbers and emails addresses do tend to get lost.

But to my surprise The Bridge was quite full on Saturday Night for an acoustic based event, when their Musical Saturday Nights have almost exclusively been rock / blues based.

It was nice to see so many familiar faces, and some new ones as well.

Myke and I were particularly pleased with the reception to our second set. Broadly labelled “the Political Set”, with the new additions to the rep. in the form of songs by Matt McGinn and John McCullagh being real hits with the audience. We could hear folks singing along and generally making noise which is what it is all about.

It must have been good as we even dragged in folks from the other bar for the set.

And what support we had to. Tina McKevitt and Matt Hegarty were on really great form producing a magical mixture of sounds – brilliant stuff, while Phillip Hartley produced one his well poilished live performances that mark him out as a talent to watch.

Thanks to both for adding so much to the evening.

The full set of photographs including those taken by Linda Gamston can be found as a slideshow HERE

We also hope that we might have some of the tracks from the night for you to listen to. Our Phillip is working hard with his recording gizmo’s to see if he can make sense of the recording levels.

The first of these, Cows With Guns, is now on the players and will be available as a FREE DOWNLOAD on a Masher page soon.

So turning to the Web Site.

I know from some comments made that some of you get frustrated not being able to turn down immediately on the music players when going to the main pages. The first thing we are doing about this is to place the player in the same place on every page, and in a position where it will be instantly accessible.

So as I get around to updating pages you’ll find the player in the top right hand corner of the page. The sound is adjusted by simply clicking on the speaker – once cuts it – twice brings a low volume.

It does mean though that you will have to accept the random playing of songs.

On the main News Page for Acoustic Rotherham and the Mashers I will place a full Player from which you can select songs – as soon as I can.

We’re shooting up – or is it down the World Charts according Alexa – they are the people who measure these things – we’ve reached the 880,000 mark this week. Brilliant stuff.

Don’t forget you can find all sorts of services on the site – we particularly recommend that you take a look at the Printers. It’s a brilliant idea and the price is more than reasonable.

Also the CD Shop and the related section for demo tracks – it’s up to you to make use of these services, the more we have on line the more interesting it is to the folks who visit the site and the more the more likely they will be to buy the CDs.

Don’t forget the 30th March over at the Riverside in Sheffield, Dave Pascal has put together a bill that includes Tian Mckevitt and Matt Hegarty + Paul Pearson + Phillip Hartley + The Rawmarsh Mashers to raise money for the UNICEF Haiti Appeal.

Thanks to all of you who have contacted me about the Festival being planned for the 31st May to Engage Young People. There’s still room for a lot more artists and if you have other skills like song writing and feel that you can share this with young folks then we would love to hear from you.

Yes the date is now confirmed for 31st May - that’s Spring Bank Holiday Monday, the one where most of us are either broke or simply Bank Holidayed out, following Easter and May Day.

This week the Mashers are out and about a bit – is your Club on the target list? Watch out.

Our Future - Young Folks

I’ve been enjoying the sunshine and filling my lungs with freezing air.   Not sure that it’s done me much good, but there you are Mac Masher needs to be walked.

And it’s a busy News Blog this week. 

It’s not often that I bother picking up The Sun, but on Friday during a trip around a shop I happened to pick a copy up, just to flick through the pages, he says.  I’m glad I did, and not just because Amanda from Tunbridge Wells featured in seemingly 3D effect on page three – not that I noticed while reading their deep analysis of why Gordon is a moron.

Friday’s cartoon was a stunner, and basically making the point of my theme of the week, the alienation of Youth from the political process.  

My thoughts were first shifted this way on Wednesday evening where by accident I caught the end of a Programme on BBC 3 called Pre-Election Question Time. It was hosted by the chap who does the links on X-Factor, proving that first impressions can sometimes be completely wrong; very quick witted with a grasp of the issues, unless there was some production chappie shouting unseen into his ear.

This version of Question Time was aimed at young people, and the audience was made up of eighteen to twenty five year olds asking questions of a big panel of “experts”.  

What disturbed me was that while the audience was clearly quite intelligent, with an interest in “current affairs” over three quarters were clearly completely alienated from the political process. 

OK many of us older buggers like The Mashers don’t exactly feel at one with our decision makers and prefer to keep them at arms distance, or further, but most view the democratic process as being important, so much so that at least 65% – 70% will go out and vote come the named election day.

But you see age and experience has warped our view of the democratic process – hasn’t it? 

There was a time though where being a rather strange boy by modern standards, I was a starry eyed who believed that by being a part of the process, by being involved, one could influence the decisions of our Town’s Aldermen.  The idealism of Youth.

That idealism still burns a bit to day, which is why I was so disturbed by the complete lack of idealism amongst the gathered young people for the programme.  So what would these young people be like by the time they reach my age.

Even more frightening was that they appeared to have little grasp of the “political” issues affecting their lives, be it unemployment or student loans, and absolutely no idea as to how they could attempt to change the status quo. 

From my point of view this is a failing of our Education system, and poor History teaching in particular – sorry History teachers – but your failure to discuss in any detail the development of Working Class Movements, left and right, leads to a lack of understanding about what it is all about.

It was this that moved me to pop along to a meeting of Left Groupings in Rotherham on Thursday night.  I had been invited many times, but always had a really good reason for not going, but Thursday I changed priorities for a day.

I’m glad I did. 

Nine people around the table, seven well above the age of fifty or more.  Now that says a lot in itself.

No one under thirty.

But it was good to be amongst folks with similar ideals, and a desire to try to do something about it. 

It’s true, if folks like us sit back and do nothing and simply bemoan the lack of youth interest, then carry on as if nothing can be done, then quite simply we’re as guilty as the young people who simply vote with their feet.

Which is where the idea of a small music Festival with a theme geared towards issues affecting young people, was aired. 

Two dates for the Festival have been aired, May Bank Holiday or Spring Bank Holiday. 

It looks as if we will be heading towards the latter being 31^st May as many people are already committed over the May Day Holiday.  A firm date will be announced soon – and we hope to able to use The Bridge Inn for the event.

The idea is to have a day of music, supplemented by Workshops / Discussion Groups, and the odd speaker, around the theme of Youth Issues.

Anyone wanting to be involved Email me at springfestival@jmucreate.com.   All offers from artists or offering other skills will be much appreciated.

Thanks to those who have already responded.

PRINTING

Sharpe eyed Acoustic Rotherham watchers, will have noted a new advertisement on our pages, from Secprint.  We’re happy to introduce this service to our friends, especially as Brian the proprietor, and his family has been a supporter of Acoustic Rotherham events. 

It’s quite an inventive service, offering the opportunity to create your artwork online or simply complete with your own for a quick turnaround print service at a reasonable price.  Click through on the ad and take a look at the site.

WEB SITE

Five, yes five new Reviews to the pages of Acoustic Rotherham from our writer David Kidman have been put up.  Jude Cowan’s, Doodlebug Alley; jiva’s Best Friends; The Troubadors Stolen Time; Tina McKevitt and Matt Hegarty’s  Dew Drop on the Barley; and Chris Milner’s Four Fields Meet; get the Kidman ears.

If you want your CD reviewed by David or listed on the CD Shop page then email acousticrotherham@jmucreate.com or go to the site pages.

In the CD Shop itself in the Free Demo Download area you’ll find a couple of tracks from South Yorkshire’s base out in Australia, John McCullagh, including, I’m sure you’ll be pleased to learn, the studio version of “Dance on The Grave of Mrs Thatcher”.   Rather apt I thought, for a week in which we learnt of the death of Michael Foot. 

THE RAWMARSH MASHERS AND FRIENDS

We hope that as many of you as is possible will turn out on the 13^th March for The Mashers and Friends evening at The Bridge Inn Rotherham.  It promises to be a super evening, with our special friends Tina and Matt along with Phillip Hartley all joining in.   We’re throwing in a few extra Irish songs and the last half hour or so will be given over to a full on sing song, so bring your voices.  

It all starts at around 8:30pm.

HAITI APPEAL EVENING  - date correction

Whoops – a classic Dickieism – got the day and date wrong in my mailing on Friday.  It’s at the Riverside on Tuesday 30^th March.  A super evening of music, from all of the above + the magical Paul Pearson.

 And that I think is that for another week.

Have fun folks and if you can help with the Festival in any way please get in touch.

Technology sends me mad

-->

It’s been one of those strange weeks’, busy, yet when sitting down to work out what progress has been made, little or nothing has progressed.

It all started, as usual, with a shorter than usual Masher practice at The Bridge.  Well, in all honesty it was a quickie before the main event of the night, Nellie Folk.  But we did manage to get two of the four new songs planned in to some sort of shape.

Our repertoire is beginning to have a very political look to it as the big boy Politicians gird their loins for the General Election.   We think it’s important to get the message out there that there really is an alternative to the three main Parties if people are prepared to empower themselves. 

If nothing else the songs do at least have some brilliant choruses for folks to join in with.

Nellies, and all the usual suspects could be found in residence, supplemented by a surprise appearance from Paul Pearson.  A super evening of music again though, with some great songs.  Well done Rob and Roy.

On Thursday The Mashers had the honour of being Special Guests – their term, not ours, - of the Princess Royal Folk Club at Crookes, Sheffield.  We always enjoy taking our music to the unwashed who live on the other side of the M1and this trip was no exception. 

The Princess Royal is part of the South Yorkshire Folk empire run by the hard working Pete. 

We were treated to a veritable feast of excellent singing and playing before making our contribution to the evening which appeared to go down quite well, me thinks.

To end both evenings we tried out one of our new songs, the classic Matt McGinn Number, We’ll Have a May Day.  We’re told it’s one of our better songs, hmmmmmm , we’re not sure how we ought to take that.  Anyway people seemed to enjoy it and so I’m sure it will feature in our Spring collection quite a bit.

The Mashers were also doing their bit for Sports Aid.  Yes, we were!!!   We were wearing Sports Relief sweat bands throughout the entire performance.  

If you were execting news of The Mashers having run all the way from Rawmarsh to Sheffield or swimming ten lengths of the local pool – forget it.  We might look and sound mad – but not that mad.

Pictures of those attending will soon be with you – except for the concertina player who was a little camera shy – not wanting to be a part of the Acoustic Rotherham picture collection.   “I’ve seen the site” he said “and no thanks”.  Oh well.

Of course no trip to a new venue for The Mashers would not be complete without us getting completely lost, reading Maps from all angles except the correct one and so it was on this adventure.  Strange, we travelled eighty miles for Kirkby Fleetham and went door to door; ten miles and we’re totally out of our depth.   

We had an excuse though.  Myke was feeling under the weather with a touch of Man Cold, while that day The Doctor had prescribed me new tablets, and having warned me about the consequences of taking the medication proceeded to tell me that they would make me feel a little strange for a couple of weeks until my body adjusted to them.  He wasn’t wrong.

All just what I needed.

You see it had been one of those weeks.

It all started with a switch in our communication supplier, having come to the end of my patience with Virgin. 

We’ve actually switched to Talktalk who initially had a pretty poor reputation in our area but as they’ve sorted out their technical problems it is now considered to be a reliable service and a lot cheaper than Virgin. 

Mobile phone and and my very slow (it needs a big memory boost) Laptop computer linked in two minutes flat.

Main problem for me was that the connection to my main computer had to be Radio.   Apparently a line from the living room of Masher Towers to the Office at the top back would bankrupt BT (who have to put the line in) and the charge would have had to be paid by me, Bankrupting me, so Radio Hub it is.

Problem, my version of Windows XP had decided to delete all the files that handle wireless networks.  Nightmare!

So I dutifully went about backing up all my stuff – including Email client etc.   Getting serial numbers etc.  

And then the main task, reinstalling Windows, oh what fun that is.  I think there’s a song all about that, I might have to see if I can find it.

You would have thought that by now Microsoft would have come up with an Operating system that allowed one to repair the critical areas without having to undertake a major reinstall.  But no. 

And then of course the software has to go back on.

Worse still when I came to import the Email client I discovered that the file had been considered too large and corrupted itself!!!  

So the cry goes out please – if you’ve had any business with The Mashers or Acoustic Rotherham please send me an Email so that I can rebuild my data base.

And now everything looks different.  It’s strange isn’t it how some of the programmes take on a completely different appearance as they are re-installed.    Strange – I’m sure there is a reason for it, but I can’t think what it is.   Just the magic of those digital files.

So folks, there is nothing new to tell you about the Web Site this week.   Those amongst you who are keen on the statistics might like to know that with a little push we might just slip through the million trap door in this coming week.  That would be quite something for the Jmucreate site.

So pop across and bounce through Reviews or even check out our Pete’s Animation page, listen to the music and help send us soaring up or is it down the charts – a bit like my map reading not sure which way to read it.   Jmucreate HERE

On the Reverbnation scene, The Mashers made it to number one for a few days again before being beaten off by our good friends, he says between gritted teeth, Jacks Rake.   The Acoustic Rotherham page has slipped just a bit having enjoyed that long run in the number one spot.

If you’ve not already done so you might find that a visit to The Mashers Influences page quite interesting, a real trip down memory lane, with links to loads of interesting acts.  Who were the Yetties?  And not the rock band of the same name.  Find out HERE

And don’t forget the Cd Shop and the Amazon Associate Shop – the best place to buy all your listening and music accessories. 

The Mashers next major outing is of course The Rawmarsh Mashers and Friends night at The Bridge, (formerly Nellie Deane’s) Rotherham, - it’s the pub on the bridge near the Railway Station.  Saturday 13^th March.   We’re bing joined by our good friends, Phillip Hartley and or course the amazing duo Tina Mckevit and Matt Hegarty.

And guess what, March 30^th will find virtually the same crew, with the addition of Paul Pearson playing a Fund Raiser for the Haiti UNICEF Appeal at The Riverside, Sheffield, organised by Dave Paskell.   Should be a super night for a great cause.  

The 13^th March also sees a special Festival to Celebrate the 30^th Anniversary of The Kiverton Park Folk Club.

The event will be going off at The Kiverton Park Folk Club home at The Cricket Club.  Always fun to try and find when you’ve never been before – or in the case of The Mashers – even when you have been before.   It promises to be a fantastic event with Clubs from all over the Borough coming together for the knee’s up.  It all starts at twelve noon.  

Plenty of time then to pop along and get back to The Bridge to join The Mashers night.

This week is quite quiet – we’ll be practicing hard at The Bridge on Monday Night and then it’s open – so who knows where we might spring up.  Keep an eye on the status bar for any news.   Tuesday night at the Three Tuns, Stainton, has a ring to it, but it’s a clash with that big England versus Egypt match………   oh alright we’re try to get the Folk session into the number one priority spot.