Thursday 18 November 2010

Incredible String Blonde

After another busy day at Medd Towers (making tea for tradesmen from 7.30am is taking its toll on me and the kettle) it was time for another walk down to the acoustic night at The Bay Horse. Little bit different this week - we had a guest, harpist Sarah Dean, doing two 20 minute sets either side of half time. It was a well attended night with players and bystanders alike just enjoying making and listening to music. I'd been persuaded to bring my guitar out of hibernation to entertain the troops. Suffice it to say I'd been dusting off my 3 chord trick book all week and reckoned I could go ten rounds with anything from Johnny Cash's back catalogue, maybe even a couple of Dylan's simpler tunes or, hell, just belt out Louie Louie for three minutes and beat everyone into submission. I didn't have to in the end: in the first half I played a fast and furious version of The Young Ones. I think It went down well - we even found an extra verse from somewhere. Prior to my slot we'd been royally entertained with jigs and reels, blues, Trumpet Voluntary on the violin(!) and an a cappella reading of the Quo's In The Army Now (you had to be there).

Then Sarah took to the stage (well, the front of the room) and completely mesmerised us all. Not only a very gifted musician (hailing from York and known on the circuit as The Incredible String Blonde) but she also has a nice line in inter-song banter - the bit a lot of musicians often get wrong.

She opened with this:



She played a couple more before a well earned beer refill, sandwich and the ubiquitous raffle. We managed to snaffle a nice bottle of red.

My second 'number' was something I've been wanting to do for a while. I left the guitar in its case for this one. I read Hovis Presley's I Rely On You. You can't go wrong with a bit of Hovis.

Sarah's second set mixed up more of her own material with a couple of tasteful covers chucked in for good measure: have you ever heard a harp version of Walking On The Moon? Thought not.

They're a good bunch up here and have really made me and Mrs M feel very welcome. Back again in a couple of weeks, hopefully.

4 comments:

  1. Blimey - that's some gear she's got going on there. Meant to be a bugger to play too.

    Hovis Presley is new to me - but I'm a fan from the off

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh, Hovis. So sadly missed. That poem is one of my all-time favourites. Well done for keeping his memory alive by reading it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. If you have a tight budget, then you should opt for the diamond simulant. This material is similar in appearance to the real diamond and you can find rings in natural tone or a combination of both. This diamond simulant will be distinct from the man-made diamond with the main difference in the material components. The diamond simulant features hardness and dispersion properties similar to natural diamonds and those attributes help to give a good imitation. Rings with Natural Materials

    ReplyDelete