This is the, "what's been happening at FAF" column.

Here you'll find regular updates on FAF activity, trivia and gossip......

​

10/12/2019

Our annual Christmas night was full of festive fun and food, all expertly compered by our MC Tony. Richard got things under way wearing a Christmas jumper, Donald Trump mask and a Christmas tree on his head (slightly unnerving!) and singing Hound Dog and White Christmas. Terry was up next with a song of his own about the plight of those less fortunate at Christmas and his version of Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas. It was good to see a full strength Pondlife with their seasonal Winter Song and All Around My Hat. Jane followed with two Christmas songs from the Kipper Family Bring Us In Hot Tea and The Ivy And The Holly and Geoff reprised his popular Foot Tambourine. The song mentions the said instrument as Geoff’s USP, but Gavin produced one of his own! It did make a good impersonation of sleigh bells and was put to use in the next song as Geoff was joined by Pete on ukulele to perform an extract from Sergei Prokofiev's Lieutenant Kijé Suite, opus 60 (!), better known as the tune in Geg Lake’s I Believe In Father Christmas. It was great to see Jess, making a special visit and accompanied by Stuart. She sang Winter Wonderland and Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas. Also good to see Sandy playing accordion with Sean on John Kettle’s We Need Each Other Now and the Kate Rusby version of While Shepherds Watched. Dave (in a string of flashing lights) gave us the Garth Brooks song Belleau Wood about the Christmas truce in the trenches and his brilliant rendition of Ronnie Barker’s Pismronunciation Of Worms that had us all in stitches. Trevor, The Bard Of Windmill Hill did If You And I Were Penguins (a Christmas love poem), his own version of Oh Little Town Of Bethlehem (about the tourist industry there) and Catastrophe The Careless Cat. Andy was in old time mode with two Bill Morrissey  songs There’s A Bright Side Somewhere and a lovely song about a couple discussing which type of wood to put on the stove Birches. Keith sang the blues as only he can, Every Day I Have The Blues and Hold On and Colin returned to the war theme with Mike Harding’s Christmas 1914 and Jona Lewie’s Stop The Cavalry. Tony had an environmental message with his song Green Christmas and sang Elvis Costello’s (What’s So Funny ’Bout) Peace, Love & Understanding? Gavin & Simon played Gavin’s Into Our Chaos and a nice jazzy version of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Martin sang Golden Vanity and the evening was rounded off by Sarah & Terry with a beautiful Silent Night.

​

FAF are pleased to say that door money and donations from this evening raised £60 which will be given to Elm Tree Farm (part of the Brandon Trust) who provide support and training to adults with learning disabilities and autism

​

26/11/2019

A night that started quietly, but filled up as it went along. Pete was our MC. There was an air of sophistication, particularly Richard wearing a snazzy waistcoat and tie topped of with  a red cowboy hat. He blazed his way through Folsom Prison Blues, Blue Suede Shoes and Worried Man Blues (perhaps it should have been a blue hat!). Geoff sang a couple of sea shanties unaccompanied, including the Dead Horse Shanty. John did Gold In The Morning Sun, Caroline Digby-Pratt (Jake Thackray) and his own Gloria, with rhymes galore. Terry gave us Two Sleepy People, the Phil Ochs song There But For Fortune and The Wild Mountain Thyme. Our only woman performer tonight was Jane, who sang three of her own songs Oak Tree, Autumn and I Love Green Olives (we didn’t all agree - such is the great olive debate that has split us more than Brexit). Tom did the Ralph McTell song (better known by Fairport Convention) The Hiring Fair, an Allen Taylor song and Damsel Fly and Sean followed with his own take on Yesterday, the Stan Rogers song Lock-Keeper and his own NHS. Roger broke new ground with his electronic keyboard, complete with funky drum parts for Silent Night. He then sang a capella with a couple of show tunes, I Believe and You Are My Heart’s Delight. Tony did Dylan’s Is Your Love In Vain?, The Eagle’s Desperado and Blind Alfred Reed’s How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Time And Live? Martin rounded things off with Linden Lea, Man In The Moon and Midnight Feast.

​

12/11/2019

It was a packed night with Stuart as MC and a strong war theme, being close to Remembrance Day. Richard got us underway with Salonika and Drink Up Thy Cider. Stuart & Pete followed with Jez Lowe’s If I Could Buy A Blightly and were joined by Louise for Crazy Man Michael. Some new faces next (and young too!) as Eleanor, Jade & Rachel brought us up to date with Hey Ho (The Lumineers) and Anyone Else But You (The Moldy Peaches). Sean sang two of his own songs, The Days Before The War and Kindred Spirits (about the link between some Native Americans and the Irish). Terry did John Condon (the youngest soldier to die in the first World War) and Sally Wheatley, Jane sang Red Poppies and Poppy Red (she had obviously thought this through!) and Andy sang Picture In My Pocket (about his Grandfather in WWI) and Dance Of The Fingers (about families divided along the Mexican border). Roger entertained us with When You’re Smiling and And This Is My Beloved from Kismet. It was good to see a full strength Kitchen Kapelye with their Klezma tunes, a couple from eastern Europe (both called Happy) and a set of tunes including the popular Hava Nagila. Mike kicked off the second half with The Dive (Steve Knightley) and Stranger To The Season (Ralph McTell) and Jake (complete with a splendid resonator guitar) sang Brown Trout Blues and his own song Into The Groove. Tony & Grace had us all joining in on Where Have All The Flowers Gone? and Tony sang There’s A Light In The Darkest Place. Geoff had two war songs from different perspectives, Elvis Costello’s Shipbuilding and the Chris Wood song Spitfires. Colin sang two Roy Bailey songs, Maria Diaz (about Nicaragua) and Ghost Story (about the Falklands), Martin did Will Ye Go To Flanders? and On The Road To Passchendaele and Tom rounded off the evening with Lasso The Moon and I Miss My Friends Tonight.

​

22/10/2019

A splendid turn out tonight with Andy as our MC and a wonderful spotlight from our very own Sarah. Richard started us off (wearing an enormous pair of spectacles) with a song from 1928 Button Up Your Overcoat and Jambalaya. Andy followed with his tale about a plan to use motorway verges to solve the shortage of burial grounds Bury Me Not On The M4 West, then Tony & Grace sang A Stranger’s Just A Friend You Haven’t Met and a song about the Enclosure Act. Sean sang his ode to our squeaky floorboard Woody, The Loudest Floorboard In The West and did an instrumental in the spirit of Pentangle, Nightangle with some excellent guitar playing. John played tribute to Leon Redbone with Settin’ By The Fire before returning to Jake Thackray with Country Bus.

Sarah ended the first half with four songs, starting with her ‘greatest hit’ A Change Is Gonna Come and was then joined by Sheila, Louise & Anne-Marie becoming the recently formed all woman shanty crew A Rum Do for Maid On The Shore. Next she sang I Put A Spell On You and ended the set, complete with baseball cap, sparkly jacket and mirrorball for Rapper’s Delight/Good Times, Pete providing the Nile Rodgers funk on ukulele.

The second half began with Geoff (number 1) and two murder ballads Two Sisters and Polly Vaughan, then Jane sang Lily and Thomas Hardy’s On Martock Moor and Geoff (number 2) did Lakes Of Pontchartrain and The Mexicans Dance On Their Hats. There was a rare Pondlife performance and they were in spooky Halloween territory on Lady Eleanor. Stuart & Pete followed with Love Potion Number 9. A new face last month, Phil returned with the Johnny Cash song Devil’s Right Hand and Tell Old Bill, Andy sang John Prine’s Linda Goes To Mars and Martin did Homeward Bound.

Sarah rounded off in great style with three more songs, Sugar In The Hold, the Beach Boys’ Vegetables and Hindi Zahra’s Beautiful Tango.

​

8/10/2019

Another night of fab music with faces new and returning, all hosted by Geoff in his inimitable style! Andy was back with us to pay tribute to two recently departed legends of rock. He played the Grateful Dead song Ripple in memory of their lyricist Robert Hunter and Pressed Rat And Warthog for Ginger Baker. Stuart & Pete were in seasonal mood with Autumn Almanac and celebrated 50 years of the Abbey Road album by playing Maxwell’s Silver Hammer, Tony providing the ‘hammer’ on triangle. They anticipated Halloween with Then He Bit Me, an old Pondlife favourite. Sean was topical with When Your Brexit Plans Unwind (to the tune of Windmills Of Your Mind) and his climate change song Costing The Earth. He was even thoughtful enough to provide an aide-memoire for us to sing the chorus - a strip of drawings. He went trad later with The Cuckoo. Tony was in a more mellow mood after his protest song burst of recent weeks. He sang his own song A Stranger’s Just A Friend You Haven’t Met and the Eagle’s Peaceful Easy Feeling. He returned to protest later with This Land’s Not Your Land, adapted from Woodie Guthrie. A new face at the club, Jake, wowed us with his singing and guitar playing. He did the lovely Johnny Flynn song Detectorists (from the TV series) as well as a couple of his own, Lily Rose (about his newly adopted daughter) and Get Back Home To You. Nice to see Jane performing again and doing her wonderful song settings of poetry, this time it was Thomas Hardy’s Lizbie Browne and a hunting song. She also sang her own song Autumn. Geoff had comedy for us with Hugh Laurie’s brilliant Mystery and his own equally brilliant DADGAD Addict, about his love for the popular open guitar tuning. It was great to see Viv back again and joining John for their accordion duo Squeezeboxing. They played a French mussette, a tango, a Northumberland Lullaby and ended with The Trumpet Hornpipe, better known to us all as the Captain Pugwash theme! Colin was philosophical with Die And Forget It, Phat Bollard’s Lovin’ Your Neighbour and the old folk club favourite Streets Of London. We had the return of Jo after a long spell away (masterminding Chipping Sodbury Folk Club). She sang the Passenger song Travelling Alone and a traditional song. Keith went back to the blues for the Mavis Staple song Change and was joined by Joy for a spirited version of Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da. Martin was both modern with Ed Sheeren’s Thinking Out Loud and trad with Next Market Day.

​

24/9/2019

It was a busy night with some returning faces and Tony as our MC. Stuart & Pete kicked off with When I’m 64 to mark Gordon’s recent milestone. They followed with My Grandfather’s Ferret, a rather gruesome tale! Eddie was next with Shaggy Dog and Glendalough, then Richard acknowledged the inclement weather with Singing In The Rain complete with guitar shaped specs, a kazoo solo and dancing with Grace and her umbrella! He then donned a (Beatle-ish) wig for Love Me Do. Pat brought things back down to earth with Sloop John B and Folsom Prison Blues and Terry sang Keith Hancock’s Absent Friends and was joined by Andy on banjo for The Tennessee Waltz. There was a new duo next, Lynne on autoharp and Andy on banjo. They performed an instrumental of My Grandfather’s Clock (what a coincidence!) and Fly Around Pretty Little Miss. Geoff (number 1) sang unaccompanied as usual with Lament For The Fishing and Far Away In Australia. Gordon celebrated his recent turning of 64 by stepping from the audience to sing the Faces song Sweet Lady Mary and Jonathan Kelly’s I Used To Know You. Tom was typically mellow on You’ve Got A Friend, humorous on She Loved a Portuguese and finished the evening with Tom Paxton’s When Annie Took Me Home. Geoff (number 2) was in protest song mode, singing Matt (The The) Johnson’s Heartland and Maggie Holland’s A Place Called England and John dazzled with accordion versions of a Russian folk song and some polkas. Sean marked two recent 70th birthdays, Bruce Springsteen (The River) and Mark Knopfler (Sultans Of Swing, with some very fancy guitar work!), Tony & Grace sang Now You Don’t Call Me Anymore and Tony did a new song What Did The Romans Ever Do For Us? Martin performed Blackwater and Courting Too Slow to round things off.

​

10/9/2019

Stuart was our MC and Webbly made another appearance on a busy evening. Richard did his traditional opening spot in typically flamboyant style. Playing banjo and accompanied by ‘Thomas Chatterteeth’, he gave us Swing Low and The Wild Rover. Stuart & Pete followed with the rather un-PC Fred Wedlock song Sunkissed and Show Of Hands’ Roots. Eddie explained his long absence earlier this year as due to ‘mixing concrete’! He sang the topical Blame The Government and George Harrison’s Taxman in a tasteful country blues style. John (number 1) played the musette Under Paris Skies and a couple of Irish jigs and we had a new face, Phil, who sang Freight Train and The Bird Song. Sean also returned after some time with new songs Ice Cream In The Rain (about the English sea side) and Vukovar (about an unlikely tourist stop on the Danube). Geoff (number 1) did the Marty Robbins song Big Iron and the old favourite The Curragh Of Kildare while John (number 2), also returning after a lengthy spell away and sang People Like Us (Talking Heads) and Why Do You Do This To Yourself? (Evan Dando). Geoff (number 2), with his foot tambourine (grade 1 exam next week) was in trad mood with Riding Down To Portsmouth and Rackabello and it was good to see Roger, who invited Stuart to play Ethel Merman for You’re Just In Love before doing Willie Nelson’s For All The Girls I’ve Loved Before. Tony announced that he would now only do protest songs (!) and gave us Streets Of London and a The Goose And The Common. Sarah did Beautiful Tango and a poem A Rap For England, Colin sang songs loosely themed on harvest, Gone Gonna Rise Again and All The Good Things Are Dead And Gone, and Martin sang Limbo and Rigs Of The Time. There was just time for a third tune from Phil (Wild Mountain Thyme), Tony (This Land Is Your Land) and some rousing polkas from John.

​

27/8/2019

Pete was our MC as we saw some new faces in the audience viewing the proceedings. Stuart & Pete got us underway with Hotel California, a raucous Jollity Farm and a slightly haphazard Back In The USSR! Eddie reprised some of his faves, Mr Superglue, Junkyard Dog, Lockjaw McGraw and Music Maker and Andy played banjo for all of his songs, Let the Sun Shine Down On Me, Between The Wars, The Folkestone Gold Rush and Peg And Awl. John sang a trio of Jake Thackray songs, The Cactus, The Hole and The Lodger as well as Pam Ayres’ Clive The Fearless Birdman. It was great to have a visitor all the way from Cromer, Sue who sang unaccompanied, The Terrible Knitters Of Dent, Hold The Lantern High, A Drop Of Nelson’s Blood and a song about the Settle to Carlisle railway. Tony & Grace began with Three Little Birds and did a couple of Cajun tunes, J'ai Passe Devant Ta Porte and Jambalaya. Tony also sang his ode to the Shropshire heather, Back To Purple. Trevor, The Bard Of Windmill Hill popped in and performed poems about tennis and a couple about Boris, our new PM. We also had an impromptu band, Stuart, Pete, Louise, Tony, Grace and Chris joined forces for Dirty Old Town.

​

13/8/2019

Tonight we welcomed Geoff (hereafter known as Geoff Number 1) as a new MC. He kept us entertained between acts with witticisms and occasionally going into character as Colin Crompton from The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club! This was nothing compared to the ever increasing eccentricity of Richard (hereafter known as Richard Number 1) who started us off with Summer Holiday, complete with a Cliff face mask and a bag of tricks representing the other Shadows, some of whom did solos. He followed with Wimoweh (in a lion mask) and Drunken Sailor (in a Long John Silver mask). Eddie remarked, “I used to like those songs”! Jane restored sanity with songs of the harvest, her own Horses Of The Field and a setting of the Eliza Cook poem Song Of The Haymakers as well as Dylan’s God Gave Names To All The Animals and Highdown Fair. A new trio was next, Stuart & Pete being joined by Richard (number 2) on whistle for Rout Of The Blues and harmonica for Hangman’s Dance and a couple of Richard’s own tunes (with Pete switching to bodhrán). It was great to see Eddie back after a long absence and he was back to his best with I’m Sorry Lou, Lazy Man and some tasteful blues guitar on Junkyard Dog (“there was always a big Alsatian in every junkyard”). We were pleased to welcome visitors from a distance as Eleanor & Sam visited from Malvern. Both singing unaccompanied, Eleanor began with Jenny’s Gone Away and Big Yellow Taxi followed by Sam with Botany Bay and Did You Ever See Such A Funny Thing Before? They joined forces for Gossip Joan and Round The Horn, a sea shanty sung partly in Welsh. Gavin was back with us, singing a song by the absent Si, Summer Days and his own He Would Pray (about George Muller) and I’ve Started So I’ll Finish. Geoff (number 2) was in humorous mood with Allan Sherman’s Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh, a song about Ronald Reagan meeting a leprechaun who mistakes him for John Wayne and Seven Drunken Nights. Geoff (number 1) completed proceedings with the lovey Furrow Collective song I'd Rather be Tending my Sheep, Roy Harper’s When An Old Cricketer Leaves The Crease (with Pete on uke) and an unaccompanied Windy Old Weather.

​

23/7/2019

After the excitement of our anniversary special, it was a quieter night tonight on a hot evening. Andy was our MC and got things underway with his own song about the steel industry. He also sang two John Prine songs (he was wearing the t-shirt so felt obliged!), including Somewhere Someone Is Falling In Love, and the Pokey LaFarge song Josephine. Stuart & Pete did Fred Wedlock’s Jogging Song, Ukulele Man, Proud Mary and I’m The Urban Spaceman (marking 50 years of the moon landing - sort of!). Jane sang some of her own songs, Yellow Sun, Fetch My Horse and Taste The Sweetness Of Love as well as a setting of Kipling’s A Smuggler’s Song. Nice to see Steve back again after a while with a song by John Smith, Dylan’s You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go, Kris Kristofferson’s Me and Bobby McGee and Jeffrey Foucault’s Northbound 35. Geoff sang his familiar Irish ballads, including Red Headed Anne and The Patriot Game and Roger gave us a couple of classics, And Her Mother Came Too and When You’re Smiling. Martin sang two ‘Nancy’ songs, Blackbirds And Thrushes and Ramble Away as well as London Town and Let Union Be.

​

9/7/2019

It was 20 years ago today… (more or less).

Yes, tonight FAF celebrated 20 years and what a cracking evening it was! Tony did a fab job as MC on a packed night with regulars old and new, a few new faces coming to watch, a special visit from Webbly the guide dog and founder members Paul Mobey (all the way from Birmingham), Richard Bond and Colin Owen. There was even bunting and a birthday cake!

Stuart & Pete got things underway with a version of Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band with a few lyric changes - ‘we’ve never really been in style, but we’re guaranteed to raise a smile’, and something about an ‘old farts folk club band’! Richard was up next with his usual flair doing Hound Dog (for Webbly), and was joined by Roger for Sloop John B. There was ukulele, kazoo, a triangle and swanee whistle, not mention juggling! Sarah sang Summertime rather beautifully (it was a warm night) before Colin took the stage. He had written a brilliant song about the story of FAF with great historical detail and also sang Lamorna, a favourite of Jon Davey, the other founder member of the club. Andy also had a new song, about opiate addiction in the USA, Jane sang Victoria Wood’s Ballad of Barry And Freda and Pat was also in humorous mood with A Pub With No Beer. Tony did another couple of songs that John was fond of, Mary Skeffington and Country Life. For the latter he invited anyone who wanted to to join him and Stuart, Pete, Grace, Roger and John (on fiddle) added to a rousing version. The first half ended with some songs from Paul, who we were delighted to see back at the club after many years. He started with what he thought was the first song he ever sang at FAF, Cousin Jack before performing You’ve Got A Friend, Galway Farmer and a beautiful version of Who Knows Where The Time Goes?

During the interval there were nibbles, including the marvellous birthday cake, and (possibly a first for FAF) a raffle! Stuart had organised this as Richard had been saying for years that we should have one, and tickets had been given for free on arrival. It soon became clear that things weren’t what they seemed when the only winners were Colin, Richard and Paul!

John & Keith started the second half as a slimmed down Canon Fodder, the band who had been a mainstay of FAF in the early years and they played their Ploughboy Set. Roger (complete with Welsh tie) sang Cavatina and Martin did Farewell My Dearest Nancy. Richard returned with Octopus’s Garden (complete with teeth solo!) and Colin for a spirited A Drop Of Nelson’s Blood. There were old faves from Pondlife (Meet Me On The Corner, with Tony guesting on harmonica) and Keith (Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time). We then had a rendition of the club song Keep Your Lamp Trimmed And Burning, sung with great gusto by all, before Paul returned to finish the evening with a brace of Dougie Maclean songs, Feels So Near and I’d Like To Say Hello and ending the evening with Drink Up Thee Cider.

All in all a fitting birthday party for the club. Webbly also delighted the crowd, even joining in with the odd bark! In honour of his attendance, a total of £110 from the door money and generous donations will be making its way to Guide Dogs.