From Melodeon to Button Accordion

Having seen John Tams playing the melodeon in the Albion Dance Band in 1976, I decided that was the instrument for me. But where to buy one? At that time, Hobgoblin was a very small business selling second-hand concertinas from a garden-shed sized building somewhere in rural Sussex. I eventually tracked a one-row Hohner pokerwork instrument in C to a shop in Streatham, South London. I had to stop smoking to afford to pay the £30 they were asking for it! It wasn’t long before I progressed to a two-row G/D Hohner pokerwork instrument.

Read more: From Melodeon to Button Accordion

Upstairs at the Red Lion in Manningtree

• Clubs

A history of the Upstairs at the Red Lion Manningtree
The acoustic and roots music nights Upstairs at the Red Lion in Manningtree celebrated their 20th anniversary in 2017. The music nights were established by a group of local music enthusiasts in January 1997 as a forum for top UK and international acoustic based musicians and singers to perform in intimate surroundings supported by the best in local talent.

Barry Carter, one of the founders explains: "The intention wasn't for it to be another folk club as the organisers shared a variety of musical tastes." The first gig took place on 17th Jan.1997 and featured the folk duo Steve Tilston and Maggie Boyle who fused traditional and contemporary music and were already making waves in the UK and across the Atlantic. This trend continued with the club's first major coup when Bert Jansch, the iconic guitarist from the 60's appeared to a packed house in May '97.

Read more: Upstairs at the Red Lion in Manningtree

Colchester Folk Club 1964 - 2018 - Elaine Barker

• Essex
• Clubs

The folk club opened at The Recreation Hotel (‘The Rec’) in 1964 during the ‘Folk Revival’. It was the brainchild of the late Brian Hughes who had strong connections to CND and the sixties protest movement. That first night 16^th March, the audience seemed to consist largely of Brian’s personal friends but by December that year membership stood at 300 and weekly audiences were between 80 and 100. Its first guest artist was a young Julie Felix who was about to become nationally known for her appearances on That Was the Week That Was. The following year, The Essex County Standard reported that Julie Felix had verbally agreed to play for the first birthday on 22^nd March but in fact was booked by The Troubadour and Dave Moran of Chelmsford Folk Club to play in Colchester’s Moot Hall on the same night. After this mix-up the club went ahead and celebrated the first birthday with Sandy and Jeanie, Bob Davenport and other residents performing to an audience of 300. To the folk club’s delight, Julie Felix turned up (along with The Spinners) towards the end of the evening after the concert at the Moot Hall and treated the audience to a few songs. Organizer Brian Hughes claimed it as a triumph for the club pointing out that only 98 had attended the concert at The Moot Hall!! The third time Julie played, her agent phoned the organiser to say she’d like to play the club but there was to be no publicity and it was to be for members only. By then she was filling big concert halls. The fee was £50 so the ticket price had to be doubled. Many years later Julie returned (in 1999) to play for the club’s 35^th birthday.

In the early years guests booked included Mike Harding (formerly of the BBC Radio Folk Programme), Arlo Guthrie (of Alice’s Restaurant fame), Long John Baldry, Jasper Carrot, Ewan McColl and Peggy Seeger, Louis Killen, Alex Campbell (a regular visitor), Sandy and Jeanie, A.L. Lloyd, Anne Briggs, Nadia Catoose, Bob Davenport, The Strawbs, Alexis Korner, The Watersons and Martin Carthy. Many artists were repeatedly booked since there wasn’t the network of professional artists there is now and with the explosion of folk clubs starting up and down the country the few professionals were very much in demand.

Read more: Colchester Folk Club 1964 - 2018 - Elaine Barker

East Anglian Traditional Music Trust Ruddock Bursaries

Ruddock Bursaries 2022-23

East Anglian Traditional Music Trust are delighted to be able to bring back 3 small bursaries for young musicians/artists involved in Traditional Music within East Anglia. One bursary will help towards the cost of a Burwell Bash place which is a week long summer school. Tickets went on sale on 18th December and by the end of the weekend all places were sold out. A number of young musicians applied for this place and over the coming weeks EATMT and Burwell Bash will be selecting a candidate. For the remaining two places, this will be launched at the end of January with decisions being made at the end of March. For more details see our Bursary Page.

Mick Graves (1949-2021)

• Bands
• Essex
• Ceilidh
• Singer

A personal memoir by Adrian May

I first met Mick Graves, along with his wife and musical other half Sarah, in the 1970s. They were a mostly traditional, mostly instrumental duo at Chelmsford Folk Club and I was a songwriter and resident singer at the Blackbirds and Chestnuts clubs in Leyton and Walthamstow. They were one of the first to ask to cover one of my songs, The Old Wood Fire. They seemed a bit serious to me, if likeable and bright – also very good musicians. It wasn’t until the 1980s that Peter Booth, guitarist and humorist, phoned me in Halstead to offer me a gig playing bass with him, Mick and Sarah, who were doing English barn-dances as the Metric Foot Band. I borrowed a bass and an amp. The gig was good and they played well. After a while, Pete and I changed their rather passive on-stage presence to loosening up, having a laugh, posing ironically and actually praising each other’s playing when merited. Mick was always brilliant but shy. Sarah was brilliant too and actually fearless. I loved playing with them. We quickly started doing songs. I remember Pete’s enormous presence, standing posed on his tiny amplifier, like a giant on a transistor radio set and everyone laughing.

Read more: Mick Graves (1949-2021)

Flying Folk

• Norfolk

According to June Thaine, a small group has been working on the future of Flying Folk Club. Everyone concerned is 100% positive that the club should continue and there has been a good response from those willing to source a venue and to host a night initially.

The date and venue we now have for the celebration of Geoff and Myrtle’s lives are
Saturday 25^th September at 8.00 pm. at The Norfolk Lurcher, Highhouse Farm Ln, Colton, Norwich NR9 5DG.

Thereafter, we are looking to set up nights not too far out of the city during the rest of the winter months, planning to venture further afield as the weather improves in 2022.

Flying Folk belongs to us all, and when we meet, please come forward with ideas of how you can contribute to ensure its success going forward. It is almost impossible to comprehend how we will manage this without Geoff at the helm, but manage it we must.

To opt into future communications re Flying Folk, please send your email contact address to Louise at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. I am hopeful of a smooth handover and remain contactable while the new contact address takes hold.

We are also looking to set up a Facebook page for Flying Folk, where other similar folk events may be posted.

One of Geoff’s great strengths was his inclusivity which helped us build Flying Folk over the years, so, in the same spirit, every one of us is included in its future. Naturally we are all at the mercy of Covid restrictions and obviously, these will dictate the future. So if we can, lets all meet up on September 25^th at The Norfolk Lurcher and give Geoff and Myrtle a superb send-off.

It is hoped that we can hold an annual Geoff Day each September and also it is considered important to keep the Boxing Day tradition alive. To that end, The Lurcher has kindly offered to be available to us from 1.00 pm to 6.00 pm this year.