OCTOBER 2024
We had joint main guests this month, singer-songwriter from London, Andy Smythe a performer who is seeking to contribute towards a renaissance in the British songwriting with a meticulously arranged retro-sound that combines the melodic and lyrical craftsmanship of Dylan, McCartney and Buckley. He writes about his ‘inner world’ in a Lennon/Bowie style. Andy has been playing on the UK scene since the early 2000’s, performing at events such as The Borderline singer/songwriter festival and venues such as the 12Bar Club and the National Theatre. Andy is not seeking to pursue recent trends in music but explore and develop his distinctive voice, composing arrangements for his songs that continue to develop his signature sound. The most important thing for him is ‘the song’ and enhancing its message with a thoughtful and innovative presentation. There is more information on Andy’s website HERE.

Mulley and Winn finished off the night for us in grand style. Tony Winn has been a regular and popular guest at our club for many years. He is a great writer of comic as well as more serious songs. He is now performing  with Helen Mulley  a singer and flautist who has performed in Hadleigh previously with her band Helen and The Neighbourhood Dogs. They put on a great show for us with a variety of traditional and modern songs. More information HERE

SEPTEMBER 2024
Our first main guest for the new season was the John Ward Trio from Lowestoft.  John, Lynne and Les gave us a great opening night with a range of songs, many subtly or not so subtly political. John is a great songwriter  and has a knack of putting across his thoughts and ideas with passion and commitment.

There is more information on their website  HERE

Our Featured guest for the evening is Terry Hiscock. Terry has visited the club many times, solo and with his band Hunter Muskett. A consummate  singer song-writer who is always a hit with Hadleigh audiences.

JUNE 2024

 

MAY 2024
Our May evening featured two main guests: The Rabbitts and Jeremy Harmer.

THE RABBITS
Norwich-based indie folk band The Rabbitts are acoustic at heart but experimental in nature; they set out to avoid the well trodden path and instead define their own unique sound with creative harmonies, fingerstyle guitar arrangements, dreamy mandolin lines, and an intricate yet impactful rhythm section.
Their music has been featured on BBC Radio 6 Music, and was also included on the best of 2021, BBC Radio Cambridgeshire Folk Show. To date their Spotify catalogue has received over 300,000 streams. They went down very well with our Hadleigh audience.  Lucy’s mandolin playing was so wonderful that Val decided to learn to play the instrument herself.

There is more information on their website HERE.

JEREMY HARMER
Jeremy started singing and playing at school and university since when he has written songs, explored some areas of traditional folk music and performed in the UK and abroad. He plays a number of instruments and operates in a number of different music genres. Since his first LP many many years ago when he was at university Jeremy has more recently released a number of CDs. Jeremy performs at folk clubs, festivals and many other venues in the UK. He has toured his one-man showShakespeare and other folk in various countries around the world (including the UK!)
Jeremy ended his set at Hadleigh by getting the audience to join in with his singing of  “The Wild Mountain Thyme”.

There is more information about Jeremy HERE.

Our Featured guest for the evening was Elly Tree (aka Helen Woodbridge), a popular singer songwriter from Ipswich making a return visit to our club. Despite saying that she had a bit of croaky throat, Ely belted out her songs with gusto.

 

April 2024
Our main guests were Rosewood. The three members of band, Simon, Val and Phil, have have been performing folk and acoustic music for some years and have played at major UK folk festivals as well as on the club and arts centre circuits. They also play French / Breton music in  BOF! 
The trio is based in East Anglia, Hadleigh and Colchester and most of their bookings have been in the south and east of the country. Rosewood sing and play traditional and contemporary songs and instrumentals, some of which they have written themselves. Their unique features are the variety of their source material and the range of  instruments they play. Depending on venues these may include diatonic accordions, bandoneon, bagpipes, bouzouki, concertina, deskbells and guitars.
There’s much more information and songs to listen to on their website HERE

 

Our Featured guests for the month were local duo Trickerlily who perform songs of different styles on guitars. Many of their pieces could be described as Aamericana”

Unusually we had two floor spots: a traditional duo from Sheffield, John Bowden and Vic Shepherd, followed by a local trio, Washed up, who treated us to three of their own songs related in some way to the sea.

March 2024
I first met our main guest Terence Blacker six or seven years ago at the Everyman Folk Club near Woodbridge . Like many other  singers that night, he was a man of a certain age accompanying himself on the guitar. All the more surprising,  then, that one of his songs that night was called Sad Old Bastards with Guitars about ageing singers who still hope they are going to “make it” and imagine they are still capable of “pulling the birds”. Neither of which of course is remotely likely.  Terence’s songs are intelligent, witty and often satirical, but what struck me as much as his lyrics was his accompanying guitar style. The singer–guitarist he reminded me of most was the French chansonnier Georges Brassens. I had a chat with Terence that night and told him this. Apparently, other people had compared him to our very own Jake Thackray and even Jacques Brel but both were way off the mark as far as I was concerned. On our March evening, Terence did in deed sing Sad  Old Bastards and also another favourite of mine The Young Girl with the Ukulele, which was particularly apt as our floor singers were our local ukulele group Under the Bridge.
There’s much more information and songs to listen to on his website HERE. And here’s a recent video.

Our Featured guest for the evening was Jackie Old

Featured Guest – Jackie Ord

Jackie should need no introduction to Hadleigh audiences, but in case you haven’t seen her before, here’s what she says about herself.
“As a singer songwriter I create modern folk songs with a lyrically reflective, witty vibe. I have been involved in writing, performing and recording music for over 30 years, first in London and now in Suffolk. I perform solo, and  sometimes work with other musicians, especially with  Double Take. 
My songs are about people,  places and situations that have been important in my life.  I also love to sing traditional songs, French songs, popular songs and blues.”
There’s more on Jackie’s website HERE
And here’s a video of Jackie singing one of her most popular songs with Double Take:

 

February 2024
Our main guests this month were Lynne Heraud and Pat Turner. Individually, and in combination with a variety of well-known singers and bands, both Lynne and Pat have served their apprenticeships on the shop-floor of folk music.  Lynne has performed with Sue Ashby, John Lambert and Frank Lee and has made a CD, with Keith Kendrick.  She was, for many years, the organiser and MC for the Hoddesdon Folk Club. Pat toured for six years with the folk band Filigree, making an album and also releasing a single! She was co-founder and MC of the City Folk Club in London.  Between them they play guitar, recorder, English concertina and a variety of whistles and are not in the least averse to dressing up or dancing when a song requires it.  They both agree, however, that their voices are their most important instruments. Their resulting style is a unique blend of stunning song and harmony, and a humour which takes their audience on a roller-coaster ride – “everything from high tragedy to ingenious smut in glorious vocal harmony!” More information on their website: HERE
Our Featured guest was Faradena Afifi a British /Afghan community musician and T’ai Chi practitioner, who plays strings, piano, found objects, percussion, sings and moves. Folk and improvised music. Fara’s piano and Julian Woods’ bass guitarist provided  perfect accompaniment for Fara’s unusual and hypnotic singing style. She sang an interesting combination of traditional songs and her own compositions; these included Kingfisher, a song she has entered for a song competition.
Maggie and Stan kicked off the evening with another selection of their comic music hall songs.

 

January 2024
Our main guests were Wildwood Jack, a guitar and ukulele duo from Kent. Having sold their home in 2013 to hit the road and tour the world they bring an intimate, heartwarming and adventurous spirit to their music and to audiences. With over a decade of touring and a life on the road, their adventures and journeys are richly woven into their songwriting, songs that sparkle with originality and the craft of storytelling.  Wildwood Jack are husband and wife Adam Piggott and Jayne Freeman, brought together by a love of music when they first met in 1991 at Hull University and they’ve been travelling on musical journeys ever since. Their songs based, many on their stories, went down a treat with our audience who joined in whenever they could. For more information, check WEBPAGE

Our Featured guests were East Creek Union, are an acoustic bluegrass trio known for their authentic renditions of traditional old-time Appalachian music. They comprise  Lexi on guitar and vocals, Scott on banjo and vocals, and Pete on mandolin and lap steel guitar. Their rousing songs helped us all to forget the freezing cold temperatures outside. More information on FACEBOOK.

The evening began with a few great songs from Maggie and Stan. They started with a song in  Stan’s authentic speciality, Lancashire dialect. They got the audience joining in  with their rendition of Joshua, Joshua, sweeter than lemon squash you are and finished with a hilarious song about one poor man’s desperate need for a toilet. He had no choice but to go even though the floor was covered in water (?) and there was no paper left; this is where the Tesco receipt was of use!
For this first night of the new year, we hade a large and enthusiastic audience for what turned out to be a memorable night.

December 2023
Our main guests for December were The Medlars,  an Essex folk trio originally formed  in 2009. The group perform songs and tunes  rooted in the folk tradition, revisiting and creating new arrangements of classic English folk songs with a contemporary feel.  Their line up, formed from a chance encounter at Folk East 2017, comprises  Alie Barnes – vocals, Emma Hardy – fiddle/vocals, and Tom Hardy guitar/vocals.  Alie grew up with the influences of the East Anglian fens in her blood and has been performing and running folk clubs since the mid-1980s. More information on their website – HERE

     
Our Featured guest for the evening was Sarah Stock, originally from Elmset, near Hadleigh, but now based in London. Sarah is a traditional folk singer and songwriter, whose own songs reflect her views on today’s political climate. She has been a finalist in the New Roots competition and was part of East Anglian Traditional Music Trust’s recent  Vaughan Williams project. Listen to more of Sarah’s songs on Bandcamp.

 

Bill and Sheila opened the evening for us with a selection of songs and tunes, including The wonderful Halsway Carol, a song version of Nigel Eaton’s Halsway Scottische.

November 2023
Our main guest for November was Georgia Shackleton accompanied Aaren Bennett. Georgia has visited Hadleigh before as a member of the Georgia Shackleton Trio, but this  tour was devoted to promoting her new solo album Harry’s Seagull, a celebration of East Anglian traditional music. The album is named after a tune she wrote and dedicated to the singer Harry Cox, after the touching discovery that he kept a wounded seagull as a pet. Find out more about Georgia on her website, HERE.

Our featured guest for the evening was Phil Lyons who performed a very varied set which included songs, instrumentals and an excellent poem by his daughter KAT LYONS
Phil is a regular performer at Hadleigh, either as a member of  BOF! or Rosewood and, as on this occasion, as a solo performer. In addition to traditional songs, many about the sea, he sings contemporary songs, often relating to social issues of the day. You can find out more about Phil HERE.

We had floor spots from Colin and Norfolk based duo The Browns

October 2023
We were privileged to welcome Bruce Watson from melbourne, Australia as part of his tour of the UK. It was clear from hi Hadleigh performance why he such a popular performer in  his own country. He is an accomplished songwriter; he had written all the songs he sang for us – many of them telling fascinating Australian stories  he had researched himself.

There is more  information and songs to listen to on Bruce’s website HERE

Our featured guest for October was Sascha Osborn from north London.

Inspired by jazz harmony, soulful melodies, descriptive lyrics and a love of simple everyday natural beauty, Sascha is a songwriter and performer of reflective and heartfelt songs. This was a return visit to our club. There is more information on Sascha’s website, HERE

September 2023
We had another great evening with the Jigantics, a three-piece on this occasion. They seem to be able to create a joyous atmosphere with their upbeat music. On several occasions they got our audience joining in choruses. We’ll be asking them back for a third visit as soon as we can.

The Jigantics are a four-piece band from Gloucestershire, who play mandolin, harmonica, melodeon and percussion. They are described as “a roots driven country band and a high class act.”  More information on their website HERE

Our Featured guest for the evening was Dave Tricker who stood in at the last moment because illness prevented our original guests Wickenwood from appearing. Dave did a great set of songs and tunes accompanying himself on guitar and mandolin.

JULY 2023

Dave Gibb is a singer of songs and a teller of tales from the hills of Dumfries & Galloway who happily fingerpicks his way through life’s  travails. His songs can be funny or sad, happy or grim, meaningful or meaningless and played fast or played slow (sometimes both at the same time)  Here is on e of Dave’s songs performed live at Moira Furnace Folk Festival. There is more about Dave on his website HERE.

Our Featured Guest for July is local singer songwriter who has built up a profile for herself at our cub: the warm and very talented performer Jackie Ord. Whenever she plays for us, our audience hopes for and usually gets to hear Jackie’s autobiographical, Number Two Riverview.  There is more about Jackie on her website HERE.

JUNE 2023
Our main guest for June was Rob Barrett, a Dudley-born comic poet and singer who now lives in North Cornwall and writes all his own material. This was his second visit to our club. Rob always has you in stiches within minutes of starting his performance.  Seventeen in Aberdeen, Never Pass a Pissoir and Missing Letterland (below) were three of the highlights of his visit to Hadeligh. There’s more information and video clips on Rob’s website HERE

Our Featured guest was Chris Fox, a singer-songwriter who has made rapid progress through the UK folk scene, using a variety of traditional, contemporary, country and blues styles.He treated us to some unusual songs and showed us the marvels of looping technology. We will be asking Chris back for a longer set in the future. There is more about Chris on his website HERE

The evening kicked off with some melodic songs and ukulele playing from Hadleigh-based Under the Bridge.

MAY 2023
Our May evening started with a a few tunes from Simon and Val and a poem from Simon which made the audience chuckle.
Our Featured guest was Terry Hiscock, a regular performer at the club, both as a solo singer-songwriter and as part of the  folk rock band Hunter Muskett. Below is a video of a song Terry sang as part of his set. There is more information on Terry’s website HERE.

Our main guest was Zoë Wren another of our favourite performers. This was Zoë’s third visit to Hadleigh. Her first visit, as a soloist, was just before the first Covid Lockdown. Then last year she came with Jasmine Watkiss as part of the duo Roswell. Zoë made such an impression on both these occasions that we asked her back. Most of the songs in Zoë’s repertoire are her own compositions, but she also adds  traditional songs and material from modern songwriters she admires. She also performs regularly on the live streaming  platform Twitch which you can watch HERE. There is more information on her website HERE
Below are two videos, Cecilia which she performed on this visit and Vapour which demonstrates  Zoë’s looping talents.

APRIL 2023
Unusually, this evening took place in the United Reformed Church, rather than the usual Ansell Centre, but this late change proved very successful. We had another excellent evening of varied folk music. Hazel Bradshaw, accompanying herself on guitar, gave us a great start, featuring her own unusual and very catchy songs,

Our Featured guests were Wandering’ Soles, a bluesy duo comprising John Poole, on guitar and Jonathan Potts, on violin.  Their choice of songs and presentation went down very well with the Hadleigh audience and we will certainly be asking them back in the future. Jonathan’s violin playing was hypnotic.

Our main guest, all the way from Hertfordshire, was Odette Michell. Odette is an award-winning folk singer, guitarist and bouzouki player with a bold new take on the acoustic tradition and a voice capable of demonstrating the finer points of both folk and traditional song with genuine craftsmanship.
There is more information on Odette’s website HERE

MARCH 2023
Our main guest on our March evening was The John Ward Trio. John has earned an excellent reputation as a writer of powerful, thought-provoking  folk songs that often draw upon his life in a gritty port town and his wider travels in the world. In 2014,  after a life travelling on the road and making music, Les Woodley, joined forces with John and Lynne to bring a fuller sound to these excellent songs that often capture the spirit of the times, and to perform them at folk clubs and festivals across the UK. The Trio also draws on its wider repertoire of traditional and contemporary songs and tunes, particularly songs suited to chorus singing.Here’s a video of the trio in action.

There’s more information about the John Ward Trio HERE

Our featured guests were The Larks, a duo who describe themselves as a Folk Pop duo. Liz Miller and Chris Wilbraham, who are based near Bury St Edmunds, use guitar and mandolin to compliment their voices, as they call on a wide range of influences and experiences to entertain their audiences. Their original songs can be populated by mermaids, nightingales and vampires and have been known to describe a lifeboat disaster or warn of climate change. Find out more about them on their website HERE.

Here’s one of the YouTube video.

FEBRUARY 2023

Our main guests were London-based Capella Broomdasher, who  first  formed in 2016. They reguarly sing at folk clubs and festivals and have hosted their own radio specials. In 2022 and 2023 they are singing at British Cathedrals with Belshazzar’s Feast’s Paul Hutchinson’s new band Coracle, as the only Ralph Vaughan Williams 150 Festival touring event celebrating the composer’s 150th birthday.
They encouraged our audience to join in many of their songs and this went down very well. Here is a video of Broomdasher in action.  There’s lots more information on their website – HERE

Our Featured Guest for the evening was Chris KIng, a singer-guitarist from Felixstowe. Chris sang a variety of songs he’s collected along the way, from his childhood days in Ireland, schooldays in Liverpool, student times in North East England, and a lifetime working at sea and offshore.  Here’s video of Richard Thompson’s  Galway to Graceland, one of the songs Chris sang at our February evening.

A floor spot from the duo Trickerlily kicked of the evening with lively songs and instrumentals.

JANUARY 2023

BOF!

French and Breton music from popular East Anglian quartet Bof! Phil (guitar), Simon (diatonic accordions) and Val (bagpipes, flute, recorders and bells) accompany Breton singer Gwendal Moële. More about Bof! on their website HERE

Featured Guest

SARAH STOCK

Sarah is a locally-based traditional folk singer and songwriter, whose self-penned songs reflect her views on today’s political climate. A finalist at New Roots 2019. More about Sarah on FACEBOOK

 

DECEMBER 2022
Our main guests on our last evening of 2022 were one of the club’s favourite acts: Hunter Muskett, a three-piece folk rock band who formed in ’68, and are still going strong, with Doug Morter (guitar & vocals), Terry Hiscock (guitar & vocals) and Rog Trevitt (bass, mandolin and glockenspiel) – all survivors from the original  line-up. Their blend of vocal harmony, acoustic/electric guitar and distinctive original songs gave their set a folky, bluesy sometimes Americana feel. They got the audience joining in with their Buddy Holly song and finishing advertising slogans from yesteryear.Lots more information on their WEBSITE. 

Our Featured Guests were another of Hadleigh’s favourites PARK AND RIDE. Cara and Nel are always guaranteed to put on a brilliant show, treating us to excellent songs and instrumentals. Their musicianship is exemplary. As we’d hoped they finished their set with hilarious version of Je t’aime.

The mandolin quintet, Under the Bridge opened the evening with a varied set of jolly songs to get our toes tapping.

NOVEMBER 2022
Our main guests in December were A Different Thread, a collaboration between Robert Jackson from Lichfield, England, and Alicia Best from Durham, North Carolina, USA. On our evening they were accompanied by Mike Seal on double bass.
Pulling from their respective roots, Best and Jackson have developed a sound that embraces elements of country, 70s’ folk revival, and piedmont blues as well as traditional English, Celtic, and Appalachian folk.  More information on their website HERE

Featured guests for the evening were Capstan Full Strength,  a six-strong East Anglian vocal harmony group who have sung songs of the sea, land and work since 1998. Their powerful ‘broadside’ of sound has been welcomed at festivals in the British Isles, mainland Europe, and Scandinavia.  ‘Capstan FS’ offer an incredibly broad repertoire of maritime songs enhanced with beautiful  harmonies and arrangements that will leave you enchanted.

Maggie and Stan kicked off  the evening in humorous vein with four songs of the music hall variety

OCTOBER 2022
Our main guest was Johnny Campbell from Huddersfield

Since 2015, Johnny has been writing self-penned material and delving deep into Northern English folk song and story. In that time he has released three albums and two singles, earning a formidable reputation on the British Folk and European underground scenes performing over 500 shows by relentlessly touring UK, Europe and the USA, More information on his WEBSITE

Our Featured guests were Kelly and Woolley, an acoustic duo from Cambridge and Bury St Edmunds. They sing songs and play tunes in a wide variety of styles, but particularly Cajun, folk, bluegrass and country. 
SEPTEMBER 2022
Main guests were Sally Ironmonger and Brian Carter, making a welcome return to the club.

This was one of our double main guest nights, featuring Tony Winn from Laxfield in deepest Suffolk and Na Mara, a duo from St Albans. Sadly Rob from Na Mara was struck by the dreaded Covid and couldn’t make it

Accompanying himself on acoustic guitar, Tony mixes the touching with the hard-hitting, the poignant with a laugh. He sings about humankind and it’s world, reflecting his own oblique views on life as a member of the human race (which he is determined to win!)

Tony cites as his influences Tom Waits, Bob Dylan, Kurt Weill, The Beatles. Randy Newman and Jake Thackeray.  There is more information and music to listen to on Tony’s WEBSITE.

JUNE 2022
We had another lively and varied evening with a large jolly audience. Two floor spots kicked off our evening with three songs each: Joka and David Rumble.
They were followed by 45 minutes from local duo False Colours whose tuneful, melodic  jangle folk consists mainly of self-penned songs based to their own life stories.  Polly and David both sing, accompanying themselves tastefully on electric upright bass and electric guitar.The duo began performing together in 2018 and in their first few months were booked to perform at FolkEast Festival. Determined not to miss an opportunity to make a good impression, they recorded their first EP Here’s Something live in one day and released it that summer. Find out more and hear their music HERE.

Following the raffle, the evening was rounded off by a cappella foursome Sound Tradition, fresh from their appearance at The Chippenham Folk Festival,

MAY 2022
Our main guests for May were the inspiring duo Oka Vanga with a wide selection of songs and tunes. Brilliant guitar playing from William Cox and Angela Meyer accompanied original songs composed mainly by Angela whose voice is strong, melodic ethereal. They promote themselves as a “Folk / American duo”, but this seems to limit their appeal unnecessarily. The Hadleigh audience were very impressed. Find out more about them on their website: https://okavanga.com
Our featured guest for the evening was  Elly Tree (AKA Helen Woodbridge) who accompanied her own songs on guitar, bajo and ukulele. Her songs and style of singing are powerful and demand attention

APRIL 2022
Our April evening was cancelled due to Covid.

MARCH 2022

Our main guests were the duo Roswell: Zoё Wren and Jasmine Watkiss, harmony-obsessed multi-instrumentalists who got together after an impromptu Cambridgeshire gig in 2018. There’s more about Zoe and Jasmine on their website HERE.
On our evening they sang mainly their own compositions, but added a few covers, including The Cranberries’ Dreams (video below)

Our Featured guest for the evening was Phil Lyons, Colchester singer-guitarist.

Phil sang songs in his inimitable style and played an instrumental – here’s short clip from it.

Find about more about Phil on  FACEBOOK.

FEBRUARY 2022
Back in business in February, Simon and Val kicked off the evening with a couple of tunes and were followed by Two pages (Angela and Mark). Our joint main guests for the evening were Maggie and Stan and The Medlars

Maggie & Stan are a Suffolk based folk duo, who sing songs with strong melodies and choruses. They also play traditional tunes with loads of bounce and lift. All this plus a healthy dose of humour. The last time they came to Hadleigh, they went down a storm.
Below is a  song some of you may remember. There is more on their WEBSITE.

The Medlars, from Colchester, perform songs and tunes which originated from and are firmly rooted in the folk tradition. Alie Barnes – vocals, Tom Hardy – guitar and vocals, Emma Hardy – fiddle and vocals.
Watch a video below and find out more about them on  their Facebook

JANUARY 2022
Sadly we had to cancel our January evening due to Covid. We would have had  main act, Sound Tradition with featured guest Jeremy Harmer. Both will be rebooked next season.

DECEMBER 2021
Our last evening of 2021 featured Rosewood as our main guests with Stan Harvey as our featured guest. The evening started with three songs form the Hadleigh Community Choir. The audience joined in the chorus of their rousing version of Shane McGowan’s Fairytale of New York.
Stan Harvey’s set featured a wide range of American songs from the 1940s to the present day. Stan has real stage presence and his set was appreciated by the Hadleigh audience.
Rosewood, a trio comprising Phil Lyons and club organisers Val and Simon Haines, performed a varied range of songs and instrumentals, kicking with two rousing tunes from the repertoire of 19th Geordie fiddle player James Hill. Songs in their set included The Apprentice Boy, Kirsty McColl’s In These Shoes, Maloney Puts His Name Above the Door, My Son in Americay, and John Tams’ All Right Jack. After being persuaded to give the performance a standing ovation, Rosewood finished the evening with two of Simon’s waltz  tunes: March 10th and Laura’s Waltz.
 
Rosewood                                                                        Stan Harvey

NOVEMBER 2021
Our November main guest was the ever-brilliant singer-songwriter, Kath Tait, originally from New Zealand but now resident in London. This was Kath’s first live gig for nearly two years and she admitted to feeling a little nervous. This didn’t show in her performance as she treated us to a mixture off old favourites and newer songs. Some of her songs had the audience in fits; Shrunken Sisters and Bastard (video below) were good examples of this, but Kath has a knack of changing the mood in an instant and on this evening she sang Childless Mother (Video below) and Right Time of Year.

Our Featured guests for the evening were Gwendal Moele & Paul Riley who treated us to a selection of of their French chansons including two Charles Trenet songs: La Mer and Boum. They also sang two French songs in English: Charles Aznavour’s She and Jacques Brel’s The Port of Amsterdam.  On Pour one amourette, they were joined by Simon Haines on accordion.
Val and Simon Haines opened the evening with a few jolly tunes on accordion, recorder and bagpipes.

OCTOBER 2021
We had a great second night after the enforced break. Our main guest was singer-songwriter-guitartist Terence Blacker with his mixture of humorous, satirical and more serious songs. Highlights of his set included Fake News, inspired by an advert Terence saw in a local paper, which included an advert claiming that beautiful oriental women who were looking for older men in Beccles, the oh-so-savage Sad Old Bastards with Guitars and the wistful I’d rather be French.The Hadleigh audience loved all his songs. One of his more recent songs that he didn’t do, Europa Mein Amour is worth another listen, especially in view of the current shortage of lorry drivers, hospitality staff, vegetable pickers and careworkers.
There is lots more information and songs to listen to on Terence’s website

Terence was supported by Anni Meeham and Tom Crosthwaite; the duo were augmented on this occasion by Richard on guitar, percussion and vocals and by Brenda on tin whistle.
They performed a most enjoyable variety of country-folk music which the audience lapped up.

The evening was kicked off by Dave Tricker who played a wonderful set of tunes on a mandolin he made himself and sang three songs, including the moving Icarus, a wonderful, imaginative  song written by Anna Lister. You can find out more about Dave’s wonderful mandolins on his website, Tricker Mandolins

SEPTEMBER 2021
We had a successful first night after the 18-month enforced Covid break. Our main guests were Norwich duo Alden and Patterson: Christina Alden – guitar (banjo and vocal) and Alex Patterson (fiddle)  played music from their recently released CD, Hunter.

They were supported by local singer-songwriter Jackie Ord, who sang some of the Hadleigh audiences’ favourites, including 2, Riverview Wrabness.
Simon and Val Haines opened the evening with a few tunes on accordion, recorder and bagpipes and a couple of poems from Simon’s new collection: Sea Planes and Seed Trays

AUGUST 2021
So we’ve made the decision is made to re-open, at least for September. We have booked guests until December and will continue to run our evenings as long as circumstances allow. Our provisional list of main guests from September until December is as  follows:
•  September 3  – Christina Aden and Alex Patterson
•  October 1        – Terence Blacker
•  November 12 –  Kath Tait
•  December  3   –  Rosewood

In view of the current uncertainty, our evenings will not be exactly as they were before the pandemic struck.
•  We still intend to start at 8.00 but will probably finish around 10.00
•  The evening will be run acoustically, ie without amplification.
•  The Ansell Centre has the NHS QR code and automatic hand gel at the entrance.

So that we can run the evening successfully, and as restrictions are now the decision of  event holders we would like to canvass your opinions about the following:
1  Mask-wearing –  either all the time or when moving about
2  Booking in advance – this would help us put out the chairs
3  Ventilation – this would mean opening doors and windows which may be difficult for us all in colder months.

We’d welcome any thoughts you might have on any of this and, of course, we hope to see you as many of you as possible on the 3^rd September.

NOVEMBER 2020
If you remember Zoe Wren who was one of guests back in January, you may be interested to know that she has released a new album, Reckless River which has been reviewed on the Mardles.org website. It’s a fine recording with some impressive songs.
https://mardles.org/reviews/cds/452-reckless-river-album-by-zoe-wren