The Welcome Mat: Do Come In, New Talkawhile Member

[Kathryn]

has Dolly never done "Shady Grove"?

my guess is that there is somewhere a recording of Dolly doing SG

[Agnes]

Hi gang, Sir Robert, *bows*


My name is Agnes, and I was born in the tiniest village you have never seen, Leersum. It's in Holland, where I still live, though the UK feels like home too by now Since a couple of years I'm located in Utrecht, a fairly old city in the centre of the country.

My joining TAW was instigated by a fellow folkie I met on the Janis Ian forum. She steered me in the direction of Chris While & Julie Matthews for which I must say I'm most grateful

That, of course, brings me to FC, Chris While having dared to walk in the footsteps of the legendary Sandy Denny. As far as I'm concerned, she did a great job. Cropredy, unfortunately, is not yet part of my experiences with folk festivals. My friends Kas and Stanley have convinced me I really need to attend this year, but I still haven't been able to convince my boss to let me go for a couple of days in August  

My musical taste is rather ecclectic, ranging from gregorian music to metal, though looking at my collection I must admit the vast majority of the albums are folky. Janis Ian, While & Matthews, Dougie MacLean, Mary Black, Albion Band, etc

The last real gig I attended was in December   St. Agnes Fountain and they were absolutely brilliant. Last month I went to a cabaret show by Lenette van Dongen, who has a singing voice that easily matches Mary Black's  

The latest addition to my CD collection is David Hughes' album I Can Explain. Haven't received it yet, so I can't say I recommend it, but I do have high expectations!

As for Tonight, Sir Robert, I am going to be my all time favourite singer Chris While and I will sing 'The Sum Of What I Am'. After that I'll sing Janis Ian's 'Joy'. I hope you'll enjoy the show  

[Paul]

Welcome Agnes

I know Utrecht a little as we once cycled from Utrecht to Arnhem. Who lied to me that Holland is flat?

I am sure you will be made very welcome on this forum, we already have several members from the Netherlands.

Paul

[Agnes]

Thank you, Paul.

Utrecht-Arnhem is a very nice bike ride! You may even have passed Leersum   I really like the forest in that area and though it's not quite flat, the highest hills we have here really are mole hills...  

[martin driver]

Welcome Agnes, as Paul has already said, we have several friends from the Netherlands who come each year to Cropredy,  I hope you can convince your employer that you should join them in August this year.
A word of warning however, if you do make the trip over to the festival, be aware that some TAW members enjoy a glass of beer with their music, so look out for them, I know the Dutch people don't usually like to drink so much.  

[hurdygurdyman (Paul)]

Just discovered this introduce yourself page.  So sorry for any discourtesy on my part and modesty generally stops me saying too much about myself (!) but in the interests of social niceties and to oil the wheels:

1.   Who are you and where are you from? Paul Saunders aka wynndebagge, minstrel about town and piper of this parish (Much Wenlock)

2.   What made you join Talkawhile? At the behest of one DP, I found myself at Cropredy playing the hurdy gurdy surrounded by other fez wearers.  My excuse is my profession, theirs is their obsession (I was going to say passion but it doesn't rhyme).  I wished to learn more about these individuals who shared a passion for the music.  What interests me about TAW is how broad the membership is, from those who who have just discovered the Fairport family tree to those who seem to have been in there from the beginning -  a very good place to start, as Julie Andrews once said.   A very interesting and friendly bunch it seems.

3.   What do you know of Fairport Convention and/or Cropredy if anything? The first gig I went to was the Rising For The Moon Tour at Birmingham Town Hall, and my first Cropredy was the Farewell tour.  I keep meaning to clear out my collection of memorabilia of all things Fairport - programmes, badges, T shirts, beer mats, posters, vinyl/cassette/CD duplicates - but you know how it is.

4.   What kind of music do you like?  I was going to say ABBA to Zappa but I never got into Frank.  So what finds its way into the CD player most - the Fairport family tree, English folk rock and trad, Scottish and Irish trad, Bob Dylan, Plantxy, Bothy Band, Traffic, Led Zeppelin, Blowzabella, Martin Simpson, Dick Gaughan, Ravi Shankar, Bach, Susato, David Munrow, Julian Bream, Nigel Eaton, Focus, Oasis, Nanci Griffith, Jethro Tull, Greenday, RHCP, Hendrix, Chris Wood... you get the idea. I was going to say ABBA to Zappa but I never got into Frank.   If it's got a tune I can hear, words I can join in with and a rhythm I can dance to, that's good enough for me

5.   What was the last gig/festival/recital/concert that you attended?  What was it like? Technically my own at Oxford Folk
Festival leading The New St George Waits (great fun) but as a listener Fairport's Birmingham Town Hall 2009 gig - always fab. I know I'm not alone here when I say Fairport seem to play soundtrack to my life  - well from my early teens anyway!

6.   What was the last CD that you bought?  Would you recommend it?  Levon Helm, Dirt Farmer and Nigel Eaton, Pandemonium.  Absolutely first class essential weld-it-to-your-CD-player, both of them

7.   Complete the following sentence:
          “Tonight, Sir Robert, I am going to be my all time favourite singer Val Doonican  and I will
            sing:  'Walk On The Wild Side'  

[Tasha]

Welcome Hurdy Gurdy man! You live about three miles from me!

[Zoe]

Saw you on the Pier in Cromer one year if my memory is right, very entertaining

[gower flower (Shirl)]

Welcome, HurdyGurdyMan. Missed you at the OFF, but I might have been stewarding at the time.

Don't worry about your geographical proximity to Tasha. She is quite harmless as it goes.

[Nick]

aka wynndebagge

Ah! That explains things..!

Glad you enjoyed OFF this year. You had a packed house for your show and it all seemed to go really well! You should contact Alan, aka Music Festival Photos of this parish as he has some great pictures of the set.

Cheers

Nick

[Anne Dunn]

Just discovered this introduce yourself page.  So sorry for any discourtesy on my part and modesty generally stops me saying too much about myself (!) but in the interests of social niceties and to oil the wheels:

 Paul Saunders aka wynndebagge, minstrel about town and piper of this parish (Much Wenlock)

Hello and welcome.  
We see you at Towersey every year, and I was sorry to miss your gig at OFF.

[hurdygurdyman (Paul)]

What  a nice welcome - I feel like I know you already.  AnnieD, don't despair that you missed us at OFF, I shall once more be at Towersey but with the full band of New St George Waits and doing proper concerts as well as larking about in the sunshine - come and say hello!  I also programme English Heritage's Festival of History at Kelmarsh, which features Lark Rise, LJE, John Kirkpatrick and more of that ilk this year - I'll post more details on the appropriate pages.

BTW, how do you do that thing where you upload your own profile pic?  Not that I'm a self-obsessed narcissist, just curious.

[Anji]

........Not that I'm a self-obsessed narcissist, just curious.

Most of us are self-obsessed narcissists, and curious with it  

Welcome aBoard  

[Bob Barrows]

BTW, how do you do that thing where you upload your own profile pic?  Not that I'm a self-obsessed narcissist, just curious.

Happy to meet you (virtually, that is)  
The answer to your question can be found here:
http://www.talkawhile.co.uk/yabbse/index.php?topic=21156.0

[Sir Robert Peel]

Blimey.  A New St George Wait in da house!

A very warm welcome to you.  I saw you at Oxford Folk Festival, dear boy.  (I was the nineteenth century Prime Minister on the front row, blocking the aisle with my zimmer frame.)    

Now then, Talkawhilers.  As you all know, town waits were the fore-runner of my great and glorious modern police force service and it is with great pleasure that I welcome constable Wyndbagge and his hurdy gurdies to our little community.

Do come in, sir.  Take off your boots, your early music instruments, helmet and truncheons.  Oh, I see - you're just pleased to see our fragrant and charming lady members, are you?  A word of warning in that case - keep your hands orf them, for gawd's sake - admire them from a safe distance, if you must.

[Ollie]

I also programme English Heritage's Festival of History at Kelmarsh, which features Lark Rise, LJE, John Kirkpatrick and more of that ilk this year - I'll post more details on the appropriate pages.

  Please do post details, that looks like a fantastic line up! And living history to boot! Ooooh!!

Welcome by the way.  

[CALE]

1.   Who are you and where are you from?
Sir Laurence (Call me Larry) Wood. Here: Cale, sometimes Adrian. I'm from The Forest of Dean

2.   What made you join Talkawhile?
Saw Maddy get her Hancock in Wellingborough, went home and surfed.

3.   What do you know of Fairport Convention and/or Cropredy if anything?
Attended 1979 when we all thought it was the end. Returned a couple of times around the turn of the century to indoctrinate my son. I know the toilets have improved and breakfast at the village hall is excellent value.
What do I know about Fairport? How much time do we have? I was there when they had that spat in Allentown Pennsylvania and Simon and Ric went on as a duo, with The Strawbs helping out On Meet On The Ledge.

4.   What kind of music do you like?
Folk in all its forms.

5.   What was the last gig/festival/recital/concert that you attended?  What was it like?
Steeleye in wellingborough. Only the fourth best gig in the last year. Behind Seth Lakeman, Bellowhead, and The Saw Doctors

6.   What was the last CD that you bought?  Would you recommend it?
Matachin. Might have spelt that wrong. But it's pronounced brilliant. Recommended

7.   Complete the following sentence:
          “Tonight, Sir Robert, I am going to be my all time favourite singer ……. (name of singer) and I will
            sing:  ' ................................'   (name of song)
Ralph McTell, Maginot Line. Just in my range and I sort of know the words.

[Sir Robert Peel]

Blimey!  What credentials - I am exceedingly impressed.  You are quite obviously a knight of good breeding, impeccable manners and a superior taste in music.  In fact, you're just like the rest of us Talkawhilers.

Make you way to the Corporation Arms toute suite if not sooner, for a sherry, some nibbles and some dancing girls.  (They are always frisky on a Sunday night, I'm afraid.  Look but don't touch if you want to keep your manhood).  

[TimH]

Well,

1. My name's Tim and I live in Northampton.

2. I have browsed this forum for a while and like the atmosphere and the good musical tastes to be found.

3. I went to Cropredy in 1989, but was always aware of Fairport from my teens and loved the Daves P & M as a rhythm section.

4. I listen to a wide range of music, from Classical to Improvised through Electronics and Metal.

5. Sonic Youth at the Scala on monday. What a band, they have a timeless quality and some of the sounds produced were breathtaking.

6. Music for Double Bass by Giacinto Scelsi. A man who never went out by day. The soloist is Robert Black, who is among a number of Bass Players who are seriously extending what's possible on the instrument. Recommended to those who might be interested in that (!).

7. Ooh, it'd have to be J. Mascis singing 'Freakscene'.

[Greg]

Hmm.  I've been around here on a casual basis for a while now.  Best introduce meself properly...

1.  My name's Greg and I mainly live in Faversham down Kent way.  Though for about a month longer I'm at university in Birmingham...

2.  As I say, I've dropped in and out for a while now but everyone seems very friendly and, in my circles, it's rare to find people to chat about folk with!

3.  Despite being a mere 22, I have formed a rather deep Fairport obsession over the last 5 years or so, starting to get to worrying levels!  First Cropredy in 2006 so I'm a newcomer really.

4.  Music?  All sorts really.  I've a deep love of folk (obviously) and many of the late 60s era folk acts, along with some modern guys.  Away from that, I love stuff like Paul Weller, REM, The Band and the like.  Beginning to get into klezmer music in rather a big way too.

5. Last gig I went to was Noah and the Whale at the Birmingham Town Hall.  I loved it!  Hugely pretentious but in a good way (I'm a student I hasten to point out...!).  Off to see Beirut in Kentish Town on Friday.

6. Last CD I bought was Picaresque by the Decemberists.  Only recently been introduced to them but I feel another addiction developing.  I would highly recommend it, though I feel most will already know about it.

7. 'Tonight Sir Robert, I am going to be my all time favourite singer Rick Danko and I will sing It Makes No Difference'

Cheers all!