I say "phew!" because we had to change the venue at short notice, there was a lot of up and down stairs to cope with to get everything in, and the skittle alley being long and narrow it was difficult to arrange all the heavy furniture, and not everyone had a good view or even good acoustics, and yet all of you were so good natured about the change and supported the Club just the same as usual. The Quay Inn too were most obliging.
Also it is so rewarding when we get feed back like this from a Club member: "The highlight of the evening for me was Jim's song 'When the snows of winter fall.' Beautifully sung. - Maureen Smith. (Written by Graham Miles).
However, we have been to see Brenda, the landlady at the Old Ship Aground, and booked in all our first Saturdays because it is on the ground floor, and bigger and wider with enough chairs, and we will be continuing at our usual venue.
Soon we will be hosting Pete Morton, Damien Barber & Mike Wilson, Mick Ryan & Pete Harris, for our Guest Nights, and wonderful features for our Club Nights, The Silver Street Band, Ian Hudson, Bob & Gill Berry, West Somerset College Young Musicians and The Owen Family, and last but not least, Eileen Ann Moore & Jim Parham supported by the Acorn Crew. Please click on Programme to see dates, and on Future Guests to read all details.
Tickets £5.50 in advance or £6.00 on the door. You can always email me acornfolkclub@googlemail.com to order. You can also Buy Tickets Online
Club nights are just £2.00 and of course to supplement funds and expenses we run the raffle and are always grateful if any of you can donate prizes.
We would like thank you for your fantastic support throughout our Seventh Season which culminated with a terrific Club Night on 4th July with the DOUBLE FEATURE of the gorgeous Nicola Clark with her superb guitar playing and beautiful voice and humour, and the delightful young people who are members of the West Somerset Folk Group, who have the "wow" factor, directed by the extremely talented local instrumental teachers Steve and Jeannette Owen. Please read full details by clicking on Reviews.
And of course, thanks so much to all our Floor Spots, no less than sixteen great spots on this occasion, many of whom travel a good distance and charm our audience every month with their stimulating variety.
Last not but least of course, thanks too to our listeners, both loyal regulars and visitors, who all add to the so warm and friendly atmosphere.
Beforehand at 6 pm our Annual Acorn Folk Club Dinner was well supported and we had excellent service from the landlady and staff at The Old Ship Aground. Please read on ....
On Saturday 11th JULY, THE ACORN FOLK CLUB hosted the OPEN STAGE at the WEST SOMERSET FOLK FESTIVAL from 4 - 6 pm approx. , during which Di Dibble served her AMAZING HOME MADE CAKES AND TEAS. Please click on Reviews and Photographs to get all the gen.
On 6th June (our Guest Night No 33) - another coup we achieved in our booking by getting the legendary MARTYN WYNDHAM-READ who lived in Australia and has brought a wealth of songs from the bush back with him, was a total sell out, and this utterly charming guest complimented all our floorspots, to whom his listened throughout, and organisers Eileen Ann & Jim on running such a fine club. Please see Reviews for full details. We are however very pleased to print here the email he sent us
in response to our thanks to him:
"I did so enjoy being with you and congratulate your goodselves on running such a good and friendly folk club. I also thank you for your kind words and favorable review, it makes everything so worthwhile....... Take care and once again many thanks for having me to your wonderful club and all the very best for the future" Martyn Wyndham-Read.
A real highlight of the season was on 7th February - the Guest Night No 31 with BELSHAZZAR'S FEAST - a virtuosic duo who gave us musical excellence and rapid-fire humour crossing all musical boundaries - traditional music with a twist! Please read the full Review (see left) and Photos. March 7th we featured Geoffrey Bowman, an excellent guitarist, (see reviews). And on 4th April we had the pleasure of hosting the respected Scottish singer/songwriter IAN BRUCE for our 32nd Guest Night - a really well supported night, with fans travelling from Cornwall, Devon, Taunton and Bridgwater (please see reviews and photographs). We thought we like to share this email with you sent to us by Elaine Hawkins, Ian Bruce's agent who was our guest on 4th April. "Hello, Great to meet you both. Thank you very much for the hospitality. Thanks again to Jim for the photos – they are superb. It’s a lovely club and a beautiful town. Thanks for the review. Elaine"
On May 2nd we were so pleased to host Pat (Spoons) Smith and Ned Clamp from Llantrisant Folk Club for a very welcome return visit, both being extremely popular with the Acorn audience. They were utterly fantastic and Dame Patti Smith EPNS trained and conducted the National Spoons Orchestra of Minehead - please read reviews and look at the photos. Again we had a couple of really enthusiastic emails next morning which are included in the review.
Our Seventh Annual Party on 3rd January with Devon-born singers Bill Crawford and Dave Lowry was great fun. Please see reviews and photos. We also had a really successful evening in the ballroom at the Hobby Horse Hotel on Saturday 6th December with fine north-east fiddler Tom McConville (who has been awarded BBC 2 Folk Musician of 2008), accompanied by Dave Wood. Please see reviews for the full write-up. This was our Guest Night No 30, and it is really gratifying to have achieved this.
The Opening of our Seventh Season on 6th September, was a tremendously well supported and successful evening, featuring the talented young musician Stephen Snow - please see reviews. A visitor from the long established Somers Folk Club in Worcestershire said of the Acorn "This is a wonderful Club" - praise indeed. In fact just here I will pop in an email I received about this evening:
Dear Eileen
Just to say how much we enjoyed The Acorn Folk Club when we visited on 6 September.
Such a warm welcome from everyone we spoke to.
We have talked about it often, since our visit and reckon it is one of, it not the best we have been to.
Stephen Snow was excellent, he has a great future ahead of him.
Sorry we had to leave before the end, and we did not have chance to say good bye, you were up to your
elbows with the raffle when we went.
It is on our plans to visit again March/April time.
Keep up the good work and singing
Warm regards
Bob and Marian Dovey from Malvern, Worcs
(members of the The Somers Traditional Folk Club, Worcester)
We all enjoyed the velvety voice of Mike Nicholson at our October meeting, and on Nov 1st Simon Barron performed solo as Rosalind Brady, the other half of the expected duo Barron Brady, had a car accident that day and was shaken though unhurt, so we send her our really good wishes. Please read the reviews.
Our Sixth Season Jeff Gillett & Ron Taylor, Tom Napper/Tom Bliss, Sarah Deere Jones & Phil Williams, Paul Wilson & Matt Norman ended in July with an overflowing audience coming to hear the double feature of Minehead Flute Choir directed by Jeannette Owen and the Owen Family. We also had other excellent guests: Jez Lowe (what a night!), - to name a few - again for full details please see reviews and photographs.
We are always thrilled to see and hear our floor spots, regulars who come every month are very much appreciated, and guest floor spots really given a warm welcome. MCs Mike Dibble and Terry Matthews are a great asset to the Club with their wives Di and Marian, who help with door and raffle, and many regular members who donate prizes and get stuck in to help with chairs and tables and clearing up at the end - it makes us a real club and a good team.
All singers, musicians, floorspots, listeners are given a warm welcome.
We are able to keep prices so low by supplementing club funds with a raffle each meeting. Please come early for a floor spot on guest nights.
The Club is run on an entirely non-profit making basis by volunteers and exists to uphold traditional and contemporary folk music giving professional and amateur performers a platform, and giving listeners the opportunity to meet artists and hear good folk music in a warm, friendly and quiet environment, with plenty of space for banter and chat between acts and during the break.
The Acorn Folk Club is run on the very good example of Somers, of the Hoy at Anchor in Leigh on Sea (where my real interest began many years ago), and of Bodmin (to name but a few) where we start and finish on time, face the listeners when we perform, and show the performers the courtesy of not talking during their set.
We thank Brenda Freshwater and her daughter Melanie and all the staff at the Old Ship Aground for being able to use such a great venue for the Acorn Folk Club, and we thank all of you for your support and help, MCing, songs, music, listening, door, raffle prizes, furniture shifting etc etc throughout the year!
For further details email us and keep watching this website www.acornfolkclub.co.uk
Minehead is a lovely place - has good B & Bs and camp sites, marvellous walks and the Club is right by the harbour - so if you are planning a visit to Exmoor and the West Country then please include an Acorn Folk Club night!
And finally
Wiseheart@advantara.com has an almost new melodeon D/G with backpack case purchased at Sidmouth for £400 and would like to sell for £300. Contact direct.
Kindest regards to all
Eileen Ann Moore & Jim Parham
|
New and Used Guitar Sales Electric - Acoustic - Bass Amplifiers and Accessories
Full Guitar Set-ups & Repairs Tuition Service Available
STEVE OWEN, 24 Glenmore Road, Minehead, Somerset TA24 5BH
RING STEVE ON 01643 702933. |
|
Exmoor singer, guitarist and songwriter, Eileen Ann Moore has launched her CD ‘The Colours of a Dragonfly’ Eileen
Ann has been inspired by the beauty of Exmoor to write songs describing her emotions for the area and for her family and friends who live here
Her CD, featuring songs, words and music she has composed, has been praised for the way in which “it captures the beautiful simplicity ... the magic of Exmoor”
The ‘The Colours of a Dragonfly’ with 11 self-penned tracks is available at the club, £7.50, or by mail order, email acornfolkclub@googlemail.com
Eileen Ann was invited by the Porlock Visitor Centre to write a song for the launch of 'The Coleridge Way'. A CD with this title which includes two other compositions, is also available for £4.00.
Special offer - buy both CDs for £10.00
Eileen Ann is available for bookings performing with fine singer Jim Parham, presenting a selection of traditional and self penned songs from Somerset. |
