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SQUIRRELKICKER

13/10/2011 12:04 AM

OK, Here it is the first NUTS IN MAY SPECIAL podcast. Not every track on it is by someone appearing at the festival but I’ll tell you here who they are and in every subsequent podcast there will be more as they are announced. By the time the next one goes up the website for the festival will be fully up and running and not the “holding page” that you’ll see at present.

Anyhow, here’s the running order for the current podcast…

THE BOAT BAND – CUMBERLAND REEL

THE POLYJESTERS – THOMAS BUILDER

MISHAPED PEARLS - ODI EL AMO

ACHISA - ACHISA

MALARCHY – VIOLIN DOINA

ANONYMOUS – DRUNKEN PRACTICE (MUDDY HYMNAL)

COLD STONE JIVE – GAY LOVE

FREE BEER – PICK UP THE PIECES

LES NEGRESSES VERTES – MAMBO SHOW

NEVERLAND – STONED AS A WALL

WALSH & POUND – THE WRONG SAMPLE

THE BLACK HARES – SKEWBALL

JUNCTION POOL – FUNKY WHIPPETS

EVIE PLUMB – JIGSAW

JENNY McCORMICK – MY SWEET WILLIAM

DELTA MAID – BROKEN BRANCHES

THE WISHING WELL – LIFE ON THE BORDER

ZOO SONG FROM MIKE LIEGHS “NUTS IN MAY”

As it’s early days yet bookings for the festival aren’t yet at full roster so to speak so this podcast features those who are definitely coming and first on the podcast are the sublime MISHAPED PEARLS who I’ve written at some length about on a previous blog (A CRACKING COUPLE OF FESTIVALS) so it would be silly to repeat myself other than saying that this group are simply wonderful.

COLD STONE JIVE is the new venture from Will Taylor who’s questionable tunes I’ve featured before. Will writes really funny songs that are so near the knuckle the actually cut into the bone and draw blood. If you are a fan of Tim Minchin or Stephen Lynch then you’ll understand what Wills work is all about. If not, you may be offended. Don’t be just put your worries aside and laugh your socks off on the way to eternal damnation. Will is of course too part of THE DISH OF CHEESE along with The Mighty Tree, Phil Dance, Elton Herzegovina and myself.

FREE BEER are a group of extremely talented musicians who are also part of The Lancashire Youth Jazz Orchestra and are as tight a musical unit as you can ever hope to find. The track here the Average White Bands “Pick Up The Pieces” isn’t the best recording as its taken from a YouTube clip of them playing live at The Gregson in Lancaster, but to see them live is a far more rewarding experience than this track suggests.

WALSH & POUND Dan Walsh the Banjo playing half of the duo is another who I’ve spoken of before after his brilliant set at Solfest in 2010 and the excellent night he gave at The Spinners earlier this year and although this track is just Dan playing solo here at NUTS IN MAY hell be with the equally talented Will Pound who is as good a Harmonica player as Dan is on the Banjo and their set at NUTS IN MAY will be very special indeed.

EVIE PLUMB from the Windermere (my hometown) area of South Cumbria and is just sixteen has already been featured on one of the BBC Introducing stage when they held the BIG WEEKEND in Carlisle earlier this year. Here’s what presenter Ally McCrae had to say about her

“I welcomed to the stage an immensely talented 16-year-old girl called Evie Plumb who, with her opening lines silenced the entire room. She sang and played the keys with a confidence that I definitely lacked when I was 16. Her tracks were down the Katie Melua route of pop and the crowd were hooked. The way she captivated and held the attention of the audience was something to be admired – especially when the beer was so cheap.”

The track here is another taken from a YouTube download and was made for her audition for The Pizza Express Big Audition with Jamie Cullum.

That’s it for NUTS IN MAY bookings for now, more to come soon I can assure you.

Of the other tracks there are one or two of special note The Boat Bands “Cumberland Reel” taken from the album “A Trip To The Lakes” and it’s just sums up the whole jollity that is gathering your nuts about you in the springtime. Following this is “Thomas Builder” from The Polyjesters a Canadian band who I saw in Mawbray village hall about five years ago and have tried since to get them booked for the Drystone, unfortunately they where always in Canada at that time of year. I love their lighthearted easy jazz sound and I’ve been meaning to put them on the podcast for ages but the CD had been hiding forever.

Achisa and Les Negresses Vertes are both two CDs that I got from I don’t know where in ages past, I think one was a cover mounted freebie on some world music magazine and one probably a charity shop job. The Malarchy and Junction Pool pieces are from my bottomless supply of submitted CDs for Drystone gigs (get them sent in for a chance to play on the Jack In The Green Stage) and both nearly got on, though Junction Pool I suggested that they’d do better on mainstage as at the time it came in The Drystone was a tiny babe, not the behemoth of latter years and the band has a huge number of personnel.

It says what is at the top!

The Black Hares and The Wishing Well are both emailed submissions and the latters track has prevously been featured on the podcast back in 2008 and being lazy I’ll just copy what I wrote then…

Jai Larkin sent me this via the demo upload page of my website which is cheaper than sending it through the post from Australia where this band hails from and what a fantastic track it is with Jai blasting out like Mark Chadwick of but only for a few seconds as it's soon clear that these are no Levellers rip off. They have their own sound and a confidence that only comes with experience Jai himself having performed with Bob Geldof, Liam O'Moonlai, Tim Finn and Andy White. For a band that have only been together for two years these chalked up an impressive 180 gigs and travelled 10 Australian festivals this year. Visit their MySpace for more stuff, it's worth it.

Here’s an interesting vid of Jai discussing the background to “Life On The Border”

Jenny McCormick was one of the first acts ever to play the Drystone and I would have given her a return booking this year and I’m certainly going to be getting in touch regarding Nuts In May as I will with Delta Maid.

Which brings me finally to Neverland, my mate Boz who puts together Off The Tracks plays percussion for them and they are someone else who I’ll be speaking to, for quality Folk/Rock you can’t do much better.

YOU SAY GOODBYE AND I’LL SAY HELLO

04/10/2011 12:34 PM

I was intending this blog to be just another teaser about

Nuts IN May

(though it still will be that and more) but I can’t let last Saturday (October 1st) go by without writing some thing here.

Sadly it saw the very last DRYSTONE SESSIONS at The Spinners Arms. The sessions started about eighteen months ago and for a time were run in tandem with WIZARDMARRAS SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE SPINNERS Open Mic nights. The idea was to give a paid gig to some of the up and coming acts that were coming through the Open Mics which would also keep a weather eye out for promising newcomers who could then get an unpaid support slot.

It all started well, with decent enough numbers turning up every month. Though perhaps we should have seen the pattern emerging with the Open Mics which by this time, six months or so into the Sessions had died out completely. Barely a punter in sight and once or twice no performers.

So to see the delightful KATUS performing to about six people (four of which were Alain and Alison (of The Spinners) Karen and myself. There were about six others, but they hadn’t come for the music, a fact made obvious by their conversation.

The hard thing being that no punters equals no takings and the pub ends up making a loss. Add to that the fact that as with most pubs business is bad (certainly worse than normal).

But KATUS gave a set that was actually so lovely in it’s intimacy, instead of pretending that the room was full of beaming faces she sang and spoke to the few of us without any hint of the arrogance that so called bigger stars would have succumbed to in the same situation.

But here’s the rub, the question that makes me want to snap at the Simon Cowells of this world. Actually I want to snap at Louis Walsh more, who I think has a much colder heart than Mr Cowell despite his outward toora loora loo “I t’ink yer just Great, sure yer livin’ der dree’am” before he chews them up and spits them out. If you want a clincher JEDWARD, Slap slap slap to the three of them and bloody hard with it.

Why this anger that I’ve surprised myself with, well it’s people like that who are if not responsible for the downfall of the Drystone Sessions they are partly responsible for our attitude as a nation to what we consider to be good and quality performance.

By that I mean the use of backing tracks by live acts. Karaoke basically, that somewhere along the line it became OK for a singer to perform without a real musical instrument anywhere in sight. The singer may be great, but without accompanying themselves or working alongside other musicians all they are is karaoke with knobs on. The sad thing the really sad thing is that these acts can fill a pub performing songs by other people and it seems to me that it’s at the expense of those who spend long hours working on a craft, writing their own songs and learning to play an instrument.

All that remains is to thank Alain and Alison for giving me an opportunity to present some of the areas best and brightest. For three years or more of fantastic Saturday nights over which they have become great friends and to thank all the people who have come along and given their all at the Open Mics and Drystone Sessions. Too numerous to name each one. Thank you.

NUTS IN MAY

THE FORTH BE WITH YOU

So on to happier and more exciting things, something features real live music with as many instruments as can be imagined. I speak of course of Nuts in May which from the above header you will see that it opens on

STAR WARS DAY

and runs from the 4th to the 6th with at least four stages The Jack In The Green Stage, Bar Stage (cool and groovy name to be decided upon) organized by the able hands of Dave and Jude Proud, a chilled out venue presided over by the eminent Dubbers, I don’t if he’ll be calling it it The Love Shack or John’s Snug but anyone who’s familiar with those venues at Solfest or Beatherder will know what to expect. There will be a magical woodland stage and session tent (you can probably guess who’ll be running this but as i haven’t confirmed it yet). I can’t give you any clue as yet to any acts but rest assured that I’m working it and already have some fantastic names lined up and I know that Dave has too. My next podcast will have some of them on it so you won’t have to wait long and we’ll be making the official announcements before long as tickets will be going on sale very very soon.

Who’s the chap on the poster?

That’s Squirrelkicker and you will be wanting a tee shirt.

SPOILERS!

28/09/2011 12:04 AM

Just because I can’t resist and I can be a real tease sometimes and as Big Scott has asked me so very nicely. Here’s a first la’al taste.

NUTS IN MAY will be Cumbria newest festival, small yet perfectly formed nestling in an idyllic location just outside Workington (yes, they can be found) where the elven folk dwell.

The link above will take you to the website which although quiet and unassuming will soon grow into the locus of all wonders regarding NUTS IN MAY, a surprisingly economical festival.

As soon as I have more to tell you I will, but we are still at the stage where the proto festival still has rough edges to be smoothed, legal hoops to dive through and several more pints to be drunk.

One last thing for now…

…I can confirm that the awesomeness that is

THE DISH OF CHEESE

will be appearing on

I just have to tell the rest of the band!

A CRACKING COUPLE OF FESTIVALS

19/09/2011 02:20 PM

It has been my very great pleasure in the past fortnight to go as a guest to two excellent festivals…

OFF THE TRACKS

at Isley Walton in Derbyshire and

THE DOCK OF THE BAY

at Glasson Dock near Lancaster, the former so called because it’s slap bang next the the Donnington Park racecourse and these days can be considered one of the elder statesmen among festivals as it has been going twice yearly for twenty three years and has established itself very nicely as one of the good ones serving up a decent helping of good music washed down with perhaps one of the best real ale bars you can find anywhere. Sixty, yes SIXTY different beers, ciders and perrys. I can be very happy at a place like that.

I’d been invited there by Andy “Boz” Borys one of the two organisers and asked to do one story which is a fair swap for a ticket for Karen and myself. The story was to fill in time in between John Otways set and that of Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick which to me was billing to die for. But the thing which made the weekend for me (and it was a weekend of some soaring musical highs from the swirling celtic pipes of THE PEATBOG FAERIES who gave us plenty of their familiar favourite tunes as well as a sizeable helping from the the new album DUST which I can only describe as brilliant classic Peatbogs but with a new edge, to the stomping banging wonderfully exuberant drumming of THE DHOL FOUNDATION.)was a set held in Helen Pinks tiny open mic marquee on traders alley. Karen and I had set off there as I’d promised Helen (a great friend and lovely person) that I’d do a bit of taletelling and when we arrived a band was well settled into a impromptu gig which lasted in all about two hours and it was the best two hours of the weekend. The name of the group is MISHAPED PEARLS and here is where I have to possibly use up my entire supply of superlatives for this year. Saying that how do I categorize this excellent band? Quasi folk/classical? I don’t really know, be be sure of this Mishaped Pearls make music of substance.

Just take five to listen this rehearsal

Ged Floods compositions are exactly that, to call him a songwriter would be to demean him slightly he is most assuredly a composer and when you add the haunting vocals of Manuela Schuette to this you find yourself listening to something very special indeed. Most of the songs are sung in languages other than English not that it matters one jot, for me listening to a song in a foreign language only helps as you hear the voice as an instrument in the fullest sense and what a beautiful instrument it is too. During the set I was transported to a delightful place where I could have happily sat for many hours and there were one or two surprises in there too, as at one point Manuelas voice was complemented by the esoteric sound of a Theremin which was even more of a surprise to find that it was actually an ap on an iPhone held up to a mic.

They will certainly be featured on my next podcast though in the meantime I wholeheartedly advise you to get the free download of HD video and track of theirs from their website, just click on the highlighted name above to go there.

THE DOCK OF THE BAY

Glasson Dock has been the home of a brilliant little festival for a few short years until it’s end a couple of years ago and has been the site of some of my most enjoyable storytelling sessions and indeed some of my more outlandish sessions.

Particularly memorable was my rendition of Homers Odyssey performed in its entirety on a toilet.

Sadly the worst rain for four decades had dampened the site somewhat and most parts of the festival had been relocated from the intended field. I no way did this spoil a great little event.

One thing you can be sure of at Glasson though is the quality of two things; the music and the fish and chips at the Lantern O’er The Lune cafe on the dock itself. It had come under new ownership since we last visited and I was worried that the best fish and chips to be had anywhere would become like the newspaper that once wrapped a nations chips and consigned to yesterday. But my fears were unfounded as it’s still the best.

Now let’s get down to the music, just about all of which was from Lancaster and environs. For such a small event the program was absolutely packed with acts most of which I didn’t get to see being pleasantly ensconced in “PIZZA SLUT” (incidentally I’ve just done a quick Google to see if there were any pictures or website/Facebook etc. for them and OMG! Let’s just say I didn’t expect what is out there.)

But of the music I did see I must give the biggest shout and kudos to FREE BEER

So young and so talented

This funky seven piece are all members of Lancasters Youth Jazz Orchestra and they are tight as Captain Tight of the good ship HMS Tight and the horn section are even tighter than that. I was so impressed by them that they became my first official booking for the JACK IN THE GREEN STAGE at NUTS IN MAY…

…But you’ll have wait for my next blog to find out all about Cumbria's newest festival.

A FANTASY LINE UP FROM A SAD OLD MAN

07/09/2011 10:26 PM

Presenting the ultimate FANTASY LINE UP for a final farewell and to show my appreciation for everybody over the years who made THE DRYSTONE STAGE possible.

WIZARDMARRAS

NOT

THE DRYSTONE STAGE

2011

THE TRACK LISTINGS

WIZARDMARRA - ANGUS' BOOGIE/GAYNES STAR

MARK SAUL - JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE CELTS

THE MYST – BURN

DRAGONSFLY – ISHQ ALLAH (LIVE ON THE DRYSTONE STAGE SOLFEST 2008)

MARY CUSTY - TALES FROM THE HEART OF CHUANG TZU

JENNY MCCORMICK - ME, I PREFER THE MOON

EVIE PLUMB - UNAFFORDABLE DAYDREAMS

SWEETBEATS – ORANGE STREET (LIVE ON THE DRYSTONE STAGE SOLFEST 2008)

HELEN PINK - MOVE UP (WITH THE SOCIAL IGNITION)

STEAM RADIO - THE BLUE BUS

QUERCUS BURLESQUE - TUFTY GUSSET

WALSH & POUND – CCC

NAKED - FEN NIC

KATUS YOUNG - FIGHTING & SCREAMING & DRINKING

TARANTISM – TURN IT UP (LIVE ON THE DRYSTONE STAGE SOLFEST 2008)

WIZARDMARRA - ANGUS' BOOGIE/DOMACLES PRATT/DELPHINIUM & HALFMOON

Well I thought that rather than mithering to myself about how bad I felt about things and how that sadness in me meant that I wouldn’t be able to face Solfest…

…You see the depth of feeling I had about the Drystone stage like parent to child and more. That the feelings I was having were like a bereavement and I was suddenly shocked to realise recently also like a divorce! and I could no longer go to see the stage in operation at Solfest than I could if I had been cuckolded, divorced and then get invited to go and watch the nuptuals take place with the filthy ne’er do well vile lowlife blackguard that took her .

But I’m not bitter!

I thought a better, more positive thing to do would be to put my energy into another podcast and with this one I broadcast my “Fantasy Line Up”. The acts that I would have booked this year if I’d still been running the stage.

Not to try and prove anything or to in competition to have a “better” line up. In fact I spoke to Dave Camlin who’s running the stage this year and complemented him on his line up. yes, there are one or two acts that I wouldn’t have booked but also a lot that I would have, have done in the past and will book elsewhere in the future. I started the ball rolling with one or two this year in booking them anyway before I resigned.

No, just for the fun of it. But as on this occasion I could give myself an infinite budget I could book some quality big name headliners. Then of course I realised the problem…

…that I can only play the music that is not covered by copyright or if it’s been specifically stated by the artist that I can, as yet I can’t afford the PRS license that would let me play anything I like.

But I can still write it down as it is just for fun. I had one or two rules to restrict me too as it is (light hearted or not) an alternative line up to that of The Drystone Stage at Solfest this year. So I decided that any of the acts playing the stage this year can’t be included, even as in a couple of cases I’d made initial bookings with them. Nor would I include acts that had been on my wish list for this year if they had bookings on the drystone (with one exception!). As I don’t know what the full line up is then I may make an unplanned “double booking” but if that is the case then it only goes to show that that particular act is good enough to get noticed.

Regretfully I’ve not got the huge selection of submitted CDs that I used to get to draw on and I’ve not heard that one track or voice that sends tingles down my spine and I know I’ve discovered someone special.

But I got some rather tasty stuff from the hundreds of mp3s I’ve been sent and I’ve still got loads from previous years a good percentage of them who I’d filed away for future reference and good enough for a gig. Return bookings too, that’s all part and parcel of the Drystone and I got plenty of their stuff.

Incidentally, things are in the pipeline for another stage, in another place and I’ve a need for talent. DRYSTONE PROMOTIONS requires submissions for future events.

alan.drystone@gmail.com

for details

So on to the the line up. I was going to lay it out like an actual programme with timed sets for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, then I thought “bugger that for a game of soldiers” so here are merely lists of who I’d have on each particular day. Each day with at least one impossible headliner who would more than likely be way out of my real life budget but I would love to have them on that stage.

so here goes…

FRIDAY

…and in no particular order

MELODICA MELODY AND ME

FEN NIC

*I must say too that I’m as excited as buggery because next weekend I’m telling stories at “OFF THE TRACKS” on Saturday night in between JOHN OTWAY and MARTIN CARTHY & DAVE SWARBRICK! How’s that for a billing!

SATURDAY

THE TREACHEROUS ORCHESTRA

RORY McLEOD & THE FAMILIAR STRANGERS

SUNDAY

ROB HERON & THE TEA PAD ORCHESTRA

THE SWEETBEATS

THE MYST

THE LOST PADRES

THE LOSCOE STATE OPERA

TONGUE TIDE

WIZARDMARRA

Well, that’s it for what it’s worth. Of course had I actually been doing it the line up would have looked different again in reality. But it’s been a bit of fun and saved me from being a total Billy No Mates as I sit here on Saturday afternoon August 27th, the sun is shining and I know the punters will be having a great time on the Solfest field. Somewhere in there the beloved Ladymarra, Karen will be either happy or fraught. Possibly the latter if her phone call to me last night is anything to go by.

I am sad not be there and I missing friends that I see there, I’m missing the backstage buzz, I have not missed for one second the stress of being involved in the Solfest committee and because of that I’m not missing Solfest as such. I’m really happy to have got out of that nonsense, nonsense that gradually took over from the important task of putting on the best damn festival possible and eroded away a fantastic team. The vision seems to be changing and I really don’t feel that it’s the right one. It is true that Solfest must evolve and adapt as the years go by, change is good and right and proper, but it has to be the correct change especially so in these penurious economic times where the disposable income of the audiences is strictly limited. The choice of festivals nowadays is vast and only the very strong and very good survive.

But where one gate closes on field, another opens up elsewhere.

Now lets see if I’ve time to record an extra bit of nonsense for the start of the podcast….

…Yes I had and it’s right at the start GAYNES STAR it’s something made fresh today for you.

FROM PEDALS TO PODCAST

13/08/2011 02:54 PM

Well as it’s high time I got this blog and my podcast updated I can’t have a better reason to do so than commemorate the 4th annual Spinners Arms sponsored cycle ride for Cancer Research and both the blog and the podcast are dedicated to this.

As well as dedicating this and the podcast to all my fellow riders I must say a huge, Huge, HUGE

HUGE

THANK YOU

to everyone who sponsored me. I raised £175 (I’m still waiting for £15 you know who you are!) and I’ve learned from a visit to the Spinners and this why a bang up update today 12-8-11 that so far £3483 pounds has been raised so with my £160 I handed in today that’s £3643 and there’s still 30 riders yet to hand in their cash so with luck and a fair wind seven grand may well be in sight.

All the usual links and details of the artists on the podcast are detailed below but first here’s an account of the ride itself. I have to say that it was one of the most enjoyable days I’ve had for some time even though the weather could have been better. Just how bad it was you’ll understand in a moment but an indication is given in the above picture and from now on I’ll always think of it as

THE THUNDERIDE

It all all began on a wonderfully warm and sunny summer Saturday morning as some sixty odd riders and their bicycle gathered outside the Spinners Arms at Cummersdale. Last minutes adjustments and tunings being made to a large assortment of bikes in varying degrees of newness and sophistication. Here I must send out a huge thank you to Scott daly who loaned me a beautiful bike that was the sweetest thing to ride and made the whole event easy, particularly the gel seat which took the worst ache and removed it from the whole scenario at the very start.

So after instructions from Alison Davis and the nice lady from Cancer Research whose name I forget we set off on the first leg down into Carlisle and its marvellous traffic. I was once told by a seasoned motorist that driving in Carlisle was worse than London.

“In London they don’t take any notice of other road users, in Carlisle they just drive at you.”

That unfortunately proved true as the ride suffered it’s first casualty before we’d gone too far due to a driver just not giving a fellow cyclist a little bit of consideration, thankfully he didn’t suffer any serious injuries and was able to continue.

Ben Delivo of the freewheelin’ Delivo brothers lost his chain as he arrived at Bridge Street and bravely walked his bike to Scotby Cycles for repair intending to catch up with the rest of the party later (and he did).

The weather was still good as we sailed (much later on that will be used as literal description of the the ride and not poetic as here) round the Castle past Bitts Park and up over the Eden to glide down through Rickerby Park, Rickerby itself and then Linstock. (Which recalls to mind that fine actor Sir Rickerby Linstock star of so many triumphs of the Stage, who indeed can forget when he gave us his Bottom at Stratford.) Finally crossing over the M6 and finishing this, the longest stage of the ride at The Stag at Crosby on Eden.

Replenished by water and bananas we set off on stage two Little Corby to Great Corby (which appears from looking at Google Earth to be smaller than it’s “little” namesake, perhaps it was named because the original settlers just thought it was that much better.) Cruising in what was to be the last of the sunshine, an easy idyllic ride past well kept tidy houses and an immaculate golf course. Birdsong ringing on high and I was feeling great, happy and content that it was a sheer pleasure and I was doing something worthwhile possibly the most worthwhile thing I’d done for years.

Then came the ominous warning from the stewards at Little as they directed us to Great…

…”You’ve got the big hill coming up.”

To be fair it’s the only really serious hill on the route (in this direction anyway) but it’s not too long though quite steep and given that there were no prizes for cycling every inch of the way, I wimped out and got off and pushed it uphill to be rewarded by the sight of the next checkpoint at the very top The Corby Bridge Inn.

More water and bananas consumed there and sandwiches too, and of course being a public house some of the more health conscious riders felt duty bound to exercise their drinking arms quite extensively.

You’ll perhaps notice the beginning of a theme here.

It was here we noticed the dark and ominous cloud drifting somewhere northwest of us, it looked like it was going to miss us and we could continue in sunny bliss but it wasn’t long until we found out how wrong we were for shortly after crossing the impressive Wetheral railway viaduct the heavens began to open. Slowly at first, like holding the door ajar slightly to let the cat out and keep the dog in but then thinking “Oh the hell with it!” and letting all the dogs out along with the cats, rabbits, pot bellied pig and the wolf who you’d tried to keep from the door but then let it inside to starve with you as it was great with the kids. So by the time reached the next stop of The Lowther Arms at Cumwhinton we’d got properly wet.

Let me make it clear that quite few of the riders were liberally pouring ale down their throats at every stop so along with the rain they were in effect just a collection of cells swimming in an aqueous solution and I’m not sure how they managed to keep upright on a bike. Here of course special mention must be made of one of the rides heroes, Big Neil Ferguson (who Alain Landlord tells me was one of the initiators of the ride)

This year he was sponsored not to drink on the way round after consuming 14 pints during the ride last year. He didn’t and got round quicker than I did and made up for it that night. So there’s at least three reasons to raise a glass to a really nice fella who is as they say “As sound as a pound”

The next section from Cumwhinton to Durdar was as close to the dictionary definition of hell as you can get, that is if hell is seen as a cold wet bleak landscape lashed by rain, scoured by wind and populated by maniacal motorists who when seeing somebody wearing a T shirt saying Cancer Research feel the need to blast their horns and call out in the manner of a New York ruffian “ Get off the &$%!!@# road!” or as happened to me on this stretch to actually play a game of Grand Theft Auto for real knocking the cyclist from his velocipede to whoops and cussing amain. This particular idiot who I imagine probably makes a “BRRMMM BRRRMMMM BRRMM” sound as he drives not only nearly took me out but also Tina and Harold as well.

All respect and power to Harold seventy odd and can ride better stronger and faster than men half his age.

By this time the sky was darkened to an ominous Tolkienesque roiling mass as I pedalling like buggery to get as far from Mordor as possible, deep and booming thunderclaps rattling like Brian Blessed belching in an echo chamber while the ghost of Oliver Reed loudly farts next to him. Lightning flashed across the sky like the Dark Lord with prostate trouble trying to piss electricity into the Solway Firth and missing bowl entirely.

The ever darkening sky sending sets of staccato bursts of plasma on the road to Durdar where the pub is dry…

As we cycle to Durdar

Where the pub is dry

Three for Karen and Alison sheltered from the sky

Seven for the Sponsors sitting at home

Nine for the riders doomed never to dry

One bell to ring as they’re drenched to the bone

One bell to ring them

One bell to chime them

One bell to ding a ling ling

As the deluge slowly drowns them

As we cycle to Durdar

Where the pub is dry

After crossing the M6 (via bridge dumkopf and the rain was so bad at this point that a whale had actually got itself stranded on the motorway) I was up a in something of a quandary as I’d kept track of the unfamiliar route by always keeping some other riders in sight ahead of me so I wasn’t sure which way to go, luckily I’ve got a good sense of direction and set of in the direction of Durdar (luckily I was right though it could have gone so easily and badly wrong) and the worst section of road which was a long long drag uphill and in the pouring rain was thoroughly miserable but also provided for me the best moment as Joe White dressed in full clown costume raced past me with a cheery “Come on Wizardmarra!” and the image of his feet in enormous clowns shoes pedalling furiously still makes me laugh.

Next stop The Black Lion at Durdar I’ll say no more about it other than I would have thought when a hostelry, inn or tavern suddenly gets a crowd of sixty odd folk arriving at their threshold and a goodly amount of them wanting ale. One would have thought that they would be welcomed with open arms and cash registers. Not so at the Black Lion as the miserable buggers were closing and gave what can only be likened to the eponymous Lion showing us it’s arse.

Nearly done and spinning into Dalston the rain began to stop…

…no it didn’t it carried on pissing down and then through down more as we reached The Bridge End Inn, a really brilliant pub run by friendly people. By this point I was just wanting it all to be over so after a brief rest and a cough and drag on to the next stop (after the shortest stage in between) at The Blue Bell and it was here that I succumbed to having a swift half, discovering as I did that when your body is chittered with cold, your clothes soaked with rain and your gentlemen parts shrunken to the size of peanuts and a jelly worm the last thing you want is ice cold beer inside your body and I nearly went into hypothermic shock.

So I bit the bullet and set off on the last leg, along the lovely smooth riding cycle path that runs between Dalston and Carlisle and along this section the rain began to come down harder faster and crueller than at any other time that day. I cursed myself for not bringing a snorkel after a brief detour when I didn’t realise I should not have gone over the bridge but soon after that it was the final slog uphill into Cummersdale (and yeah, I got off and pushed as there were no prizes for staying on the bike) I proudly dripped and splashed into The Spinners Arms. It would also have been Karen's arms too but I was too wet for a hug but the kiss she gave me calling me “her superhero” made the whole thing worthwhile. That and the fact that it was despite the rain one of the very best days of my life and I raised nearly £200, the whole event will have raised three or four thousand for Cancer Research.

Not bad eh.

A big warm hug of thanks and respect and love to Alison Davies who got it all together along with the support crew for sandwiches bananas and so much more.

…………………………

I’ve just found out how to put a player for the podcasts on here so here is the current one.

WIZARDMARRAS

DRYSTONE

WIRELESS SHOW

THE THUNDERIDE

Track listings with links to the artists website (where possible)

WHISKEY SUITS FOLK - MACARTHURS ROAD/SPOOTISKERRY
STOOSHIE - FIDDEN SANDS
EVIE PLUMB - PURPLE LAKE
FEN NIC - SHE CAN DANCE WITH THE STARS
SUNDAY DRIVER - GAYATI MANTRA
CELLOMAN - GOBI
PHIL SAUNDERS - WHO DO YOU LOVE
RUGOSA NERVADA - BORNEO FUNCTION
RA NI - SUPERCOLLIDER
WILL TAYLOR - HMP
DAN WALSH - JOXERS TUNE/BOXING DAY/VORTEX
HELEN PINK - ONE LIFE
DIDDLEY SQUAT LIVE ON THE DRYSTONE STAGE, SOLFEST 2008

Now I’m no longer involved with Solfest and The Drystone Stage there is in another's hands I’m no longer restricting the music to acts only appearing on that stage and so I’m taking the opportunity to put out some of the other acts from the amazingly large collection of music I’ve had submitted to me that didn’t make it onto that stage (for a variety of reasons) and I feel deserve a hearing to a wider audience.

Coming out on Saturday 27th August 2011 the next edition of

Wizardmarras Drystone Wireless Show

will be

and will feature a “fantasy line up” of who might have been the Drystone Stage this year if I’d still been doing it.

Here also is my brand new podcast it’s a fantasy serial read by me and I aim to get an instalment out a month and it’s called…

TALES FROM THE STANDUP CHAMELEON

…and relates the adventures of the singing barbarian Jib Longwilly and his partner Swanky Morris in one corner of the multiverse and in another of Jabberlique and Smiggle Banjaxx the interdimensional repair men. The first instalment is the begining of Book 1, THE ETERNAL SIDEKICK the next instalment will be out by the end of this month.

…………………………

I’m still grieving somewhat for the end of my association with Solfest, events causing my resignation still leave a bad taste in my mouth and I feel that the future of what was the most wonderful festival is in jeopardy but at the same time I feel whether the festival is a huge success or a dismal train wreck of a failure I can hold my head up and say that I’m proud to have been a part of it’s past and equally proud that I have nothing to do with the 2011 event. But I have nothing but the best wishes for Ben Durkan, Gerard Irving, Tosh, Karen, JT, Matt, Simon T and everybody who is working hard against tough circumstances.

FAREWELL TO SOLFEST

05/01/2011 02:25 PM

Before I get down to the grimness I’ll put a full stop on the current thread extoling the talent and success of Emma’s Imagination and it’s succinctly put. Following getting signed to Gary Barlow's Future records her Album Standing Still is released on January 10th and a new single version of This Day is released on Monday January 3rd.

Now for the hard bit.

Here’s a blog that I never thought I would write.

I’ve quit Solfest and my heart is heavier than it’s been for many along year but I don’t feel that I’ve been left with any other choice.

Changes have taken place in the way the organisation runs which in some ways is a good thing, I have been advocating a change for a long time. But the changes as they now stand have been I feel hurriedly made without full consideration of the implications and the structure of the organisation not fully fleshed. I don’t believe it will make for a better festival.

When long standing bands split the reason is often given as “musical differences” usually this is a euphemism for “personal conflicts” of some form or another and I think in this case it’s probably apt too.

So I thought it’s better I go and let people get on with rather than sit filled with negative energy and make a bad situation worse, I will miss Solfest more than I can express here and the sense of bereavement I now feel knowing that my beloved Drystone Stage will no longer be a part of my life and will be in someone else's hands.

I will not put down here those personal feelings I have against some who I feel are now involved in the festival, they are my feelings alone and I am as susceptible as anyone to getting it wrong. I am sure that if you asked some of them they would declare that they are so passionate about Solfest that if you cut them in half they would have Solfest written all the way through. I’d prefer it if it was heart on display and I worry about the quality of the event this year.

SHE’S A WINNER

19/09/2010 11:06 PM

SHE’S DONE IT!

Emma has won the final of “MUST BE THE MUSIC” after winning a place in the final three acts, she won the phone vote boosted by huge audience support in the Wembley arena beating bands “Missing Andy” and “The Pictures”.

Giving a beautiful performance while visibly fighting with nerves she won over everybody, including the judges who had been vocal in their support and belief in Emma from the start.

Before the voting opened they said of Emma.

Dizzee Rascal said “That was beautiful and I think you’re a star already” Jamie Cullem added “You are the most complete artist we have here at the moment – a winner!” and Sharleen Spiteri said “God I love you and your experience really showed the amount of time you have spent practising.”

Here’s how she did it.

Song copywrite Emma Gillespie other stuff Sky

This is even better, it’s Emma recording “This Day” for the downloadable version.

This Day, copywrite Emma Gillespie

I’ve actually got video of this track of when she sang it the very first time (the day after she wrote it ) at The Spinners Arms. But I’m waiting for her to give me permission to use it before I post it on YouTube.

Anyway I’ll close now as I’m knackered but in closing I just have to say

CONGRATULATIONS

EMMA!

YOU DESERVE EVERYTHING YOU HAVE ACHEIVED

THE IRRESISTIBLE RISE OF EMMA, AND SOLFEST2010

06/09/2010 12:07 AM

First of all huge congratulations to EMMA GILLESPIE or as I should correctly say EMMA’S IMAGINATION who has won through to the finals of “Must Be The Music” on Sky1 and will be singing live next Sunday at Wembley against the other finalist/s the group THE PICTURES. Biased as I am I am bound to say that Emma is hands down and head above shoulders in an overwhelming winning yoga position. Unbiased, I would still say that as her song “This Day” is a masterpiece and a winning song anyway. If you don’t believe me check out the i Tunes download chart and you will see it’s currently at number five.

Check out the “Must Be The Music” website for details of how to download the song and how to get other goodies to support Emma

When you download it remember that 100% of the net profits go to Emma herself and not into Sky’s coffers.

Emma’s Imagination, The story so far. Copyright Sky

As a nice little addendum to the story, I am a honoured and delighted to say that the song “This Day” received it’s premiere performance at The Spinners Arms earlier this year the day after she wrote it.

She is truly an incredibly talented and beautiful performer and deserves every ounce of success she gets and it was a great 45 minutes or so for me to sit and watch her on The Drystone last week, fronted by a wall full of kids.

So on to a review of sorts of some of the best moments for me at Solfest 2010.

And by cracky what a good one it was too, an exceptional event and this year the weather was our best friend.

It was hard work leading up to it for several reasons not in the least spending the previous four months suffering from a mystery infection (which I now know to be “prostatitis” a severe infection of the prostate, and it’s likely to be another four months before it’s sorted out) but this enforced me to let go of the reins and sit back while my fantastic and capable crew did the lions share of the work.

I discovered something quite wonderful because of this as for the first time in six years I was actually able to relax, sit back and enjoy entire sets by the acts I’d booked. I saw The Drystone Stage through the audiences eyes for the first time and was quite amazed by the magic that is created before your eyes on the stage. My goodness it’s wonderful, how did that happen as I’m sure it’s got nothing to do with me; though I can’t express in words how proud I am to be a part of it.

OK, so who rocked my boat this year other than Emma and everybody else.

FRIDAY. Jonny and Lucy followed Rob Heron and The T Pad Orchestra and set me up for a good night to begin with before an act that I’ve been waiting to see gave a standout set. I speak of course of SEAN TAYLOR. Sometimes I’ll book an act knowing full well that this is a standout performer who is going to go a long way and then be totally knocked out by the set they give as it transcends any expectation I may have had. I like sets like that, to know I truly am in the presence of greatness. That’s how it was with Sean on the Friday, a fact underlined by the large crowd sitting down and just listening. Quality, quality, quality.

Later that night the incredible INDIAN POSTAL SERVICE did exactly what I thought and pulled a blinding set out of the hat. I can pick up all manner of influences/tones in their music, recalling sixties psychadelia, R’n’B, to eighties agit folk/rock. Damn fine tunes though and a set that makes me think they’ll be back on the Drystone very soon.

Anyhow it’s late now and I’m beginning to feel a little crappy so to bed I shall away.

More to come soon…

HOW COOL IS THIS…

22/08/2010 11:02 PM

You will recall in my last blog a had to rewrite it to take account of the fantastic news that Emma Gillespie had won round one of her audition on the Sky1 show “Must Be The Music”.

Well, it gets better for Emma has won a place in the live semi finals which will be broadcast the week after Solfest. Click on the line below to see her audition.

EMMA'S IMAGINATION ON TELLY

“Captivating” Jamie Cullem

“The song was beautiful and you have a wicked voice” Dizzee Rascal

“Your voice is stunning, it’s an absolute pleasure having someone of your talent coming through” Sharleen Spitteri

Here is the link to the latest and full gen on Emma’s next step to the big enchilada.

YES, I WILL CLICK THIS LINK AS I THINK EMMA'S BRILLIANT

and as a special celebration of this Emmafest here’s a great la’al vid of her track “Stamp Your Feet”

Emma’s Imagination, Stamp Your Feet.

Her appearance on The Drystone Stage at Solfest will be the last chance to see Emma live before she sings in front af a television audience of millions and after that. Who knows where?

Good luck Emma, you deserve all the success and everything that it will bring with it.

COMING AROUND AGAIN…

19/08/2010 01:03 AM

The ongoing tale of one mans life caught up in a “groundhog day” of festival preparation and execution…

Read on…

Well it’s that time of year again. So it’s time I wrote one of my accounts of how things are doing, who’s doing then and for a bit of spice, who’s doing it to whom.

It’s odd though as I feel I’m watching the festival develop from afar, taking a back seat on the scary rollercoaster this year and yet still doing all the stuff I usually do. Although I have to say that I’m getting lot of help

You see the old fart isn’t well and I’m having a shitty time due to a nasty infection in my nethers. After countless anti-biotics and an ultra sound scan. I still don’t know what’s wrong and after Solfest I have further tests including one in a machine that goes “BING!” and another where a camera is going where the sun don’t shine (and I’m not talking “backdoor” either) DVD not available on You Tube.

So I’m having to take it easy and the huge thanks going to Laurence, Jo, Dean, JT, Kat and everybody who are helping me along the way. Most of all my wonderful wife, Lady Marra herself. Karen.

I am still doing my bit getting the contracts sorted out and so on, drudgery stuff that has to be done. But perhaps this is the karma that comes with all the happy hours listening to all the free CDs.

But sadly I’ll be as visible at Solfest this year and I’ll not be storytelling on the Saturday as usual. Dr Theatre is amazing and can sometimes cure you completely and make you healthier fitter and brighter than before. Sometimes it’s a permanent cure, more often it’s setting your body up for a hell of a kick as the illness or infinity smacks back into your system with the finesse of an Intercity 125 driven by a berserker on coke and coffee.

This is one of those times where I know I can’t do that to myself.

I’m hoping to do a little bit of comparing and I really want to do one or two songs with THE DISH OF CHEESE but that might not happen.

There is much to be exited about though, along with some acts coming back who’ve just got that little bit better and stronger over the year/s. There are some amazing people making their debut.

ARCOMNIA – ALEJANDRO TOLEDO & THE MAGIC TOMBOLINOS – THIS FRONTIER NEEDS HEROES – JONNY KEARNEY & LUCY FARRELL – SEAN TAYLOR = AND LOADS MORE.

but it’s late and I need to get my head down, though sleeps never brilliant at the moment.

Love

Wiz

End of part 1.

So part two begins…

Which along with my usual aimless ramblings from life at Solfest central (although I’m not really up to speed with what’s happening and I can’t comment really on what’s been decided in committee) there will be all the attendant hoo-hah, links and news of my latest podcast which is up now and has some magnificent tracks there by artists who’ll be on the Drystone this year to hopefully get you in the mood as well as a couple tracks by a mainstage act that I really like and I feel deserve to be heard.

Before all that I must tell you about FESTIVAL HARVEST a rather cracking double CD your purchase at various places, hopefully the new merchandising CD sales tent adjacent to the Drystone will have a copy or two. Incidentally I’m hoping we can set up one or two “meet and greets” there. But back to the point I was making, this special CD.

This year Solfest has been proud to have been working with the “A Greener Festival” organisation and if you need me to explain what it does I’ll say “It’s on the bloody tin.” because the name says it all. But this fine body of men and women has brought out a double CD in collaboration with UK festivals including Glastonbury, Isle Of Wight, T in The Park, Kendal Calling, and Solfest and it features 28 (count em) tracks by the best of emerging talent working the circuit. Among the recommendations I made for inclusion on the CD (and there is at least four others from that list appearing on the Drystone this year) was Drystone favourites MR & MRS and their track “Cut All Strings” is track 2 on CD 1. Though they have changed their name to CHANGING HORSES it’s still the Ric and Bev that we know and love.

It’s also rather cool to have my name in the thanks and acknowledgments along with Emily Eavis and a whole charabanc full of names of the great and good of the festival industry. click the underlined link above to find out more and where you can get this very worthy CD that (never mind the cause) it hasn’t got a bad track on it.

“BREAKING NEWS REQUIRING EDIT OF POST”

This lady is on the Drystone!

http://sky1.sky.com/must-be-the-music-emmas-imagination-the-audition

As a special treat though to get you all excited and ready for Solfest and because she’s damn good and gorgeous here is a vid of EMMA GILLESPIE performing live at one of the DRYSTONE SESSIONS at THE SPINNERS ARMS, Cummersdale, Carlisle.

Emma Gillespie

THE DRYSTONE SESSIONS are on the first Saturday in every month and has a featured artist in for the full night with occasionally a support. WIZARDMARRAS SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE SPINNERS now happens on the second Saturday in the month.

August will see BILLY JOHNSON & ANDY CARTWRIGHT, having there own showcase and in future months we’ll have THE WEIRDSTRING BAND, RORY CONNOR and a return set from the splendid RIGHTEOUS BEES.

THE PODCAST

WIZARDMARRAS DRYSTONE WIRELESS SHOW 2010, TYAN

THE 2010 BUMPER SUMMER SPECIAL

Track Listing, click the names to get to the relevant websites.

Big Beowulf Drum – Wizardmarra

THE PEATBOG FAERIES – FOLKPOLICE

ARCOMNIA – NINE MILES MORE

TASTEBUDS – HOLD THE CANDLE CLOSER (WHILE I SHAVE THE CHICKENS LIPS)

JACA – BLING

WIZARDMARRA - PANDEMONIUM MASQUERADE

THIS FRONTIER NEEDS HEROES – PARDON ME

O’HOOLEY & TIDOW – BEAUTIFUL DANGER

JONNY KEARNEY & LUCYFARRELL = HARES ON THE MOUNTAIN

SEAN TAYLOR – NIGHTMARES

TASTEBUDS – WHEN I THINK OF YOU

THE INDIAN POSTAL SERVICE – STARS ABODE

ORCHESTRE DC DANSETTE – JUIFE

WIZARDMARRA – SOONG

The Big Beowulf drum is something made for the recording I’m making of that tale, perhaps I’ll get it finished one day.

The Peatbogs track comes from their brand new live CD which captures all the energy and excitement of the festival sessions. Folk Police is just about my favourite ever tune by them and I can’t wait to see them on The Drystone.

Arcomnia are another band who be good to see up there and they will get everybody dancing and a twirling in a tantric stylee.

Tastebuds are actually on the mainstage but I like them an awful lot and they do need to be heard as their sound is a lovely mix of retro sixties and bang up to date. Of the two tracks, both of which I love (and it was a hard choice to pick exactly what of a quality CD chock full of goodness) I have to give special mention to “When I Think Of You” and the exquisite guitar playing of Richard Fingers (yes that what it says on cover) who picks a tune as well as Peter Green did back in the day.

Jaca has come a long way in four years, at which time she was a reporter with the local paper standing in front of the Drystone and desperately wanting to be onstage. Since then she has completed a music degree and performed at the prestigious South By South West Festival in Nashville.

My track Pandemonium Masquerade is can be found elsewhere on the net but I just fancied putting it out here.

Pure and blissfully good new Americana from This Frontier Needs Heroes. Who will be the first act from over the big pond to play on the Drystone. This brother and sister duo make such a good sound together (which, bottom line is all that’s required) telling storysongs that take you on a rich journey through a landscape of Hopper (both Edward and Dennis), Kerouac and Henri David Thoreau.

O’Hooley and Tidow are on their way to becoming “well respected and credible folk performers” in the same way that The Unthanks (who Belinda used to play with) are now lauded. Which I reckon to be a very good thing, there music carries along with it a continuity of tradition but declares very nicely you don’t need a Fair Isle sweater, one finger in your ear and the other up your arse to be part of the new and living tradition.

Jonny & Lucy their music is just growing and growing on me, I loved it to begin with but it just gets better with every listen. Hares On The Mountain is just so beautiful. a perfect example of how good something can sound when pared down to it’s simplest form. Gently sung by the pair it almost makes me weep it is so lovely. The last sentence of the previous paragraph applies here too.

Now and again an act comes along that just blows you away completely and that’s what happened with Sean Taylor. His CD Calcutta Grove came through the door and has been played more or less daily since then. Superlatives become obsolete when talking about Sean, you just need to listen to the music. From his fine compositions which are beautiful, exciting and emotional to covers of things like Gil Scott Herons “Freedom” which is tour de force by itself.

Hailing from the better part of South Cumbria (that which used to be Westmorland) The Indian Postal Service deliver (see what I did there) and what a rich sound it is, screaming guitars have never sounded better.

Finally Orchestre DC Dansette from the Lancaster area and featuring on trumpet, flugelhorn and accordion Pete Moser who was at Solfest a couple of years back as “The Fastest One Man Band In The World!” which he was and still is and sounding rather excellent surrounded by lots of other musicians.

Lastly another one of mine which I could;t think of a title for so I called it Song and put another “o” in it. One for listening with headphones while stoned.

and that’s the podcast sorted.

BACK ONLINE WITH THE WIRELESS SHOW

07/05/2010 05:20 PM

WIZARDMARRAS DRYSTONE WIRELESS SHOW 2010 NUMBER 1

http://drystone.podomatic.com/

Well, after a year of my podcast being offline it is such a good feeling to put one out there at last particularly so as its jam packed full of Drystone acts for this year's forthcoming festival, with one exception and more about that in due course.

I'm not actually going to say much about the tracks in this podcast as I'll be talking more about some of them in later blog when they are officially announced as Drystone acts and some of the featured artists have already been mentioned in previous blogs.

What I have done is cleared out all of the old podcasts from a couple of years ago to make room for new music this year and to make sure that I can keep these new episodes online for a while so lots of people get to hear them.

All the earlier podcasts are available from me if you'd really like a copy so just send an email and I'll sort you out and I'll probably do something like a "best of" to go on the player page of my website.

However here's a track listing of the current one.

ARCOMNIA – ANDRO

THE INDIAN POSTAL SERVICE – ALL OF A SUDDEN

ORCHESTRE DC DANSETTE – DC DANSEZ

AWALE – SVENFRO

PIKEY BEATZ – SPOONFISH

THE WIERDSTRING BAND – FELLWALKING CUM-BRI-AY

ORKESTRA DEL SOL – BIG TOP

ALEJANDRO TOLEDO AND THE MAGIC TOMBALINOS – BRAVO

RED TIDES – ALIGNED

ROOMFULL OF OWLS – PATTERNS

Can you spot the elephant in the room here? It is of course Orkestra Del Sol who'll be on Mainstage not the Drystone but I'll not hold that against them and they do fit with the overall sound of this one.

Next official Drystone announcement soon which will have all the usual links to all the acts in it with vids as well.

AUNTIES CALLING AND MGM

26/03/2010 01:39 AM

Well. I'll not say a word about the kerfuffle my last post caused. But least said soonest mended.

But my main purpose on writing this is actually two fold, and neither related in any way to a musical gathering I am honoured to serve,

Firstly. I have been invited by BBC Radio Cumbria to take part in Little Cumbria.

A five day online diary, so this blog and that broadcast will become somewhat merged over the next few days as I write the radio script.

Secondly to pass on word of this guy

MYSTERY GUITAR MAN

http://www.youtube.com/user/MysteryGuitarMan#p/c/3/OPpUTyG3gec

I'll just say that this guy may possibly be the first true internet artistic genius. His use of the you tube format is using the full potential of the medium, taking it beyond cell phone fart gags, comical accidents and the sheer putrid kak that is the Reality TV generation.

He takes it far above all that and beautifully too.

Even better. He's really really funny too.
These videos are probably better displayed if you view the blog through my website.
http://www.wizardmarra.com/news/

This is probably the best place to start discovering the labyrynth of wonder that is MYSTERY GUITAR MAN.

While this is just a thing of genius.

I BELIEVE IN FAERIES!

18/03/2010 03:48 AM

DRYSTONE ACTS PART TWO

I BELIEVE IN FAERIES!

I can finally announce what I've been keeping secret for all this time and it with great pleasure and excitement that I can confirm that this year on the Drystone will be the fantastic...

PEATBOG FAERIES

http://www.peatbogfaeries.com/

I don't really have to say an awful lot about these guys as they have been regulars on the UK festival scene for years. They of course pretty much founded the Acid Croft genre of music and set countless imitators on their musical careers. With a live album out now and another studio album currently being recorded for release this summer we can expect a storming set on The Drystone.

I can't wait.

I've always wanted to put more world music on The Drystone and this year I'm going some way to redress the balance with one or two tasty treats that'll bring a multi cultural flavour to the Drystone Arena.

ALEJANDRO TOLEDO & THE MAGIC TOMBOLINOS

http://www.magictombolinos.co.uk

The thing is with World music these days and the fact that the UK is blessed with being possibly one of the biggest melting pots of international culture is that you don't necessarily have to look overseas for World music acts take these guys from London (by way of Argentina, France, Greece, Portugal, Slovakia, and Italy) and of their music

Here's what Alejandro says.

"Our ever-evolving musical idiom reflects the way we think and live. Our music, among other things, is a conjunction of various influences (Classical, Rock, Gypsy, African, Middle-Eastern, Latin, and Hip-Hop rhythms) which we bring from places we have lived, visited, or simply the music we like, and have filtered through our own distinct voice."

AWALE

http://www.myspace.com/awale

Again a rich brew of music fermented in the heady scene that thrives in "The Smoke" which is arguably the most multi cultural city on the planet. Awale brings us Afro Gypsy Beats with a line up who amongst them have played with with Hugh Masekela, Jamie Cullum, Dub Colossus, Dr John and Madness.

BTB feat Awalé from Satsang TV on Vimeo.

Nice!

CELLOMAN

http://www.celloman.co.uk/

I saw Celloman a few years back at Knockengorroch and I've been wanting to put him on The Drystone ever since I started doing it and now at long last here he is.

How do I describe what he does apart from injecting some damn good funk into the Cello? Well I won't I'll let The Observer and Songlines do it.

The Observer Review 3 December 2000 by Neil Spencer

"Classically trained, Cellist Ivan Hussey has spent 10 years as a typically nomadic sideman, graduating from the Reggae Philharmonic Orchestra to saw strings for the likes of Gabrielle, M People, Smoke City and Sonique. His solo project is a delightfully maverick creation, moving between pastoral, ambient moods to smoky middle-eastern pieces like 'Chebba' (he spent a couple of years in Tel Aviv) and even the odd chunk of roots reggae. There are accomplished voices and accompanists on hand, but the star is Hussey's Cello, proof that the instrument can be surprising, sensuous and funky - all at the same time.

Songlines review June 2009 by Jon Mitchell

"After two EPs and three albums, this collective of electric violinist Samy Bishai, percussionist Oli Savill, drummer Cosimo Keita, bass guitarist Oroh Angiama and director Ivan Hussey on cello continue to combine Middle Eastern and African rythms and melodies with articulate string arrangements in a startling and often highly intense fashion. It's largely a gritty and urban sound, full of clusters of amplified instruments, but has a welcome sweetness provided by guest vocalists Sam Bonner, Frances Rufelle, Eliza Doolittle and the poet Poppy Seed. Despite a few uninspired moments, the highlights are many. 'Sharptown' with it's delightful Afro-pop guitar motif and arresting string arrangement, is typical of their own unique and beautiful sound. When the music picks up, it can hint at a more vivacious and raucous side too, as on the brooding, apocalyptic 'Years To Come'. Across the album's somewhat over-saturated production we hear a sort of tumbling autumnal Afro-Arabic electro-pop which broods and moves quite unlike any other. An extremely bold album with a lot to digest, it should perhaps be celebrated for its unrestrained, uncompromising and unrelenting vision. "

Of course Solfest wouldn't be Solfest and The Drystone wouldn't be The Drystone without

THE WIERDSTRING BAND

http://www.wierdstring.co.uk/

Let's face it we sometimes don't shout enough about how good our own musicians are. Wal, Paddy and James have since Solfest began been one of the reasons Solfest and The Drystone Arena (The festival within a festival) are so good.

Can you imagine Solfest without the session tent alongside Weirdigans, no. It's bloody inconceivable.

Don't forget too that last years Ceilidh saw The Weirdstrings get nominated in the first stage of the Critics Choice award. The award that celebrates those magical moments which make a festival that little bit special.

Well that's it for now.

BUT THERE'S STILL MORE TO COME!

GO ON GET A LA'AL BIT DRYSTYAN THIS YEAR

CHANGE AND THE FIRST DRYSTONE STAGE ACTS ANNOUNCED

16/02/2010 08:57 PM

The French have a word for it in fact, damn the expense “Au diable les dépenses” they have six, “Plus ça change, Plus c'est pareil” translated (and we’ll noy be outdone by the French for the price of a word or two) it means “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”

Take Radio 2, we’ve just got rid of Parkinson on Sundays when “avant de le savoir” before you know it, Wogan’s got the show. It makes me long for the days when we had DLT so I don’t know what that says about me, something quite sad I think. But was snooker on the radio such a bad thing.

“You potted a red and nominated blue so here is your blue ball question, What is the chemical name for Stilton?“

I have to say I’d much rather it was Johnnie Walker, though I have been enjoying Uber Luvvie Michael Ball of late.

All this is a preamble for drawing your attention to my new refurbished website which although it’s still undergoing construction has changed somewhat becoming a little bit slicker and looking a bit fancier. Partly because it’s good to just clean things up and out with the old in with the new “Avec l'ancienne à la nouvelle.” And partly because it just wasn’t doing all I wanted it to, so as time goes by it should be a brilliant all singing and dancing site that is also a portal to the world of all things Wizardmarra. Such as this blog, my podcast, of course the Drystone Stage and everything else.
Though it’ll still be a bit the same.

So will the Drystone Stage at Solfest 2010 or SOLFEST MMX as we are saying on the Solfest Mothership.

The Drystone will once more have an unrivalled plethora “incomparable pléthore” of music performed by rising stars and troubadours of the established scene. But they will in the main be newcomers to Solfest although one or two of The Drystyans ever expanding family of artists will be back...
...and on that note let’s have a look at the first release of acts for

DRYSTYAN MMX

First off a returnee to play the gig that I gave them directly after the storming set they played last year.

PIKEY BEATZ
www.myspace.com/pikeybeatz

That Sunday afternoon slot seems to be breeding quality, DIDDLEY SQUAT the year before became the sensation of the year, and did you know that last year DIDDLEY SQUATS set along with THE WIERDSTRING BANDS SOLFEST CEILIDH were both individually nominated for THE CRITICS CHOICE AWARD in the UK FESTIVAL AWARDS.

Virtual Festivals Critics' Choice Award
In association with Pimm’s

This award is designed to celebrate those special acts who added something a little extra to their festival show. It could be comedy, nostalgia, crowd interaction or just that 'secret ingredient' - basically something that sets them apart from other performers as a real crowd pleaser.
And the winner is

La Casa Azul - Indie Tracks

“Who?...”
There’s a time when I really wished I’d had a working PC. I don’t think it was pushed as much as it should have been.

Anyway back on track to the incomparable PIKEY BEATZ and their set last year. They had of course brought a large contingency of their loyal fans to the festival, which is an important thing to note “These guys sell tickets!” bums on seats or as it actually was, feet on wet ground rapidly becoming muddy as the drizzle inexorably turned to rain but what happy punters danced before such a stage of stars.
For such a young act they presented such command of a stage as I have rarely seen in some older and more seasoned acts the combined latent star quality in both Wilfy and MC Boo Blistah is something to see. But you could also just enjoy seeing the HUGE GRIN on Niggles face. Though most folk were dancing and having the time of their lives.
So they’ll be back for a later slot.

Wilfy- Vocals, Electric Guitar
Niggle- Rhythm Guitar
Dan Dan- Bass
MC Boo Blistah (Kyle) - Uke, Backing Vocals + growling
Hannah The Spanna- Accordion, Saxophone
Midge- Percussion
Mad Skillz Tam- Drums

JONNY KEARNEY AND LUCY FARRELL
http://jonnyandlucy.com/

JONNY KEARNEY AND LUCY FARRELL toured as support for THE UNTHANKS last year which led RACHEL UNTHANK to say of them...
“Their song writing is heartbreaking and touching, humorous and unexpected, and never ceases to enthral. Jonny and Lucy are perfect foils for each other. The fragility of one and warmth of the other is a moving combination.”
They’ll be having a major CD launch (I’ve got a copy of the preview CD and its blissful music.) around the time of Solfest so we may have our name dropped in the media a time or two.

THIS FRONTIER NEEDS HEROES
http://web.mac.com/jessicalauretti/jessicalauretti.com/This_Frontier_Needs_Heroes_HOME.html

This is what they say about them back home in the States.

"SPINEARTH was there and caught up with Brad and Jess Lauretti of This Frontier Needs Heroes , to get a sense of the brother-and-sister band who have received much acclaim for their folk-styled, Americana sound. A bit cynical of the times, but fairly hopeful in the consciousness and sensibilities of a new generation—the band's name says it all."
SPIN EARTH

"This is an excellent brother-sister duo (I think) from Brooklyn. They keep it simple for the most part, with light harmonies and instrumentation – Brad’s vocals compare very favorable to a mixture of mostly Fleet Foxes with a hint of Damien Jurado thrown in for flavour. Now even though most arrangements are simple, they do manage to work in very appropriate little flourishes of sound – in the end you get ten songs that can really dig down deep. RR 2/29/09"
WTUL NEW ORLEANS

"With harmonies so tight they sound like they come from a single larynx, the act crafts a shuffling, aching Americana that taps deep into the whole back-porch vibe that folk music ought to exude—but not without a tinge of The Band and Will Oldham to help modernize it.”
DECIDER.COM

SEAN TAYLOR
http://www.seantaylorsongs.com/

I’m listening to Sean right now. His brilliant CD “Calcutta Grove” singing the blues and as they say “Telling it like it is.” Or as the The Indonesians say, "Mengatakan itu seperti itu." But that sounds like the title of an album of Buddhist Chants and distracts from Seans work.

To put him down as simply a bluesman takes too much away from this extremely gifted musician a multi instrumentalist and songwriter who has been compared to JOHN MARTYN, TOM WAITS, and indeed BOB DYLAN. Yes you can see how his work is influenced by them but he’s no cheap imitator. Like the good Doctor Frank N Furter says...
...I am trembling with anticipation.”
I have turn volume up right now as SEANS version of RITCHIE HAVENS “Freedom” has just come on...
,,,GOD IT’S GOOD!!!

O’HOOLEY AND TIDOW
http://www.myspace.com/belindaohooleymusic

BELINDA O'HOOLEY is best known as the former songwriter and pianist with RACHEAL UNTHANK AND THE WINTERSET on leaving the band it led the TELEGRAPH to say “... (it’s) like Brian Eno leaving Roxy Music...” Then teaming up with Yorkshire songwriter HEIDI TIDOW brings us a duo whose stage manner has been likened to a meeting of JO BRAND & LAUREL AND HARDY. Their songs are their own wry mixtures of their unconventional take on life, it sounds beautiful as well. Result!

DAN WALSH
www.danwalshbanjo.co.uk

Dan was with us a couple of years back playing with CHRISTI ANDROPOLIS and performing sterling work as part of the band. It’s mark of a musician’s quality and commitment when you note how many bands they are in. It regards how much in demand as a artist and speaks testament to their skill being wanted to enhance the sound of a band. Commitment shown by the number of bands the musician actually works with regularly. As well as CHRISTI ANDROPOLIS, DAN also plays with MOTHERS RUIN, HUNDRED MAN ORCHESTRA. LAND OR SEA, KATHRYN DAVIDSON and WILL POUND. If you need any further comment from me Dan takes the Banjo into another place and makes all the Banjo jokes obsolete, he actually makes it a bit cool.
The final worD on DAN WALSH comes from HAYSEED DIXIES DON WAYNE RENO who pronounced that DAN was “the best banjo player I’ve seen in Britain.”

MARK GWYNNE JONES & THE PSYCHICBREAD
http://www.psychicbread.org/

He we have returning from a few years back MARK GWYNNE-JONES and PSYCHICBREAD. One of my great regrets of that year (I think offhand that it was 2006) with as I’ve mentioned earlier in these writings that with comparing acts on Mainstage I missed a lot of the stuff that I booked because I loved what they did. That’s why I book them, because they make music that I would be well pleased to hear elsewhere if I’d bought a ticket. I’ve got eclectic tastes so I can make a big enough mix. I know I won’t hit the bull’s-eye with everyone on occasion but that’s the way apple tastes in the Popes coffee when the bears eat cookies in the wood! Or “det er slik eple smaker i Popes kaffe når bjørnene spise informasjonskapsler i skogen! “ As they say in Norway.

What I started out to say was my regret at missing Marks set, I write a bit of poetry, (I used write a lot, being fortunate enough to get about forty published and earning me the astounding wealth of five of your English pounds.) Mark really knows how to do it and uses the spoken voice in a way that’s a kind of non singing that emphasises the music in the words themselves so the words are the singers of the song.

THE CACTUS ROOM
www.myspace.com/thecactusroom

DEBBS who plays with PSYCHICBREAD also plays with THE CACTUS ROOM the brainchild of TEDS CHAPMAN, the discoverer of “diddley reggae”. He’s been about Solfest for the past two festivals playing his saxophone. Now you get the full band, believe me it’s good.

ANTHONY BATTERSBY

Two Solfests ago he attended his first festival; he went home and wrote a song about it. The following year he stood on the Drystone Stage and sang it to great acclaim and showed that there was latent talent blossoming before your eyes. He’s back for his third Solfest and a well deserved second appearance on the Drystone.

SID WRIGHT
http://www.myspace.com/solowork

Occasionally a CD will come through the door, hand produced on PC with scrawled names and titles in marker pen.

I often dread these, but no more of that.

Some are the very best things you can get through the post; SID WRIGHTS was one of these, another young singer songwriter starting out who doesn’t quite yet see what they have within them. It’s damn good though mark my words.

WILL TAYLOR & THE DISH OF CHEESE
http://www.myspace.com/mrwilltaylor

I’ll apologise right now for this farrago of an entertainment. WILL TAYLOR a man who writes songs featuring the worst obscenities that live on Solfest FM broadcasting to half the county said that word on open microphone, twice!
They are though some of the funniest things you will ever hear though and it is a great delight to get onstage with him alongside THE ONE AND ONLY MIGHTY TREE, PHIL DANCE and ELTON RITCHIE to hold forth was joyous madness and yes adult content.

The end of Solfest is the end of a party and we are the singing drunks, though I have to say there was a sea of happy faces standing before us every one of them drunker than us.
As the Welsh say, "Mewn byd meddw, y dyn yn squiffy King"

“In a drunken world, the squiffy man is King.”

MORE ACTS TO COME SOON

ANOTHER NEW YEAR

30/01/2010 05:29 PM

My GOD! It's 2010 already and it's been about six months since I've been comprehensively online apart from the odd day in the library and at two quid for an hour they were few and far between.

So what's new Al? Well the biggest and most important thing is of course that I am now married to the most wonderful lady in the world my darling Karen and I can thoroughly recommend married life. The wedding day itself was perfect and I have to put on record here a great big word of thanks to my best man BIG JOHN THOMPSON he did me proud got me to the registry office on time and embarrassed me big style in his speech. Thanks also to all our brilliant friends and families who came along laden with good food for the shared wedding breakfast, to TRYCKSTER who played the best music ever to come out of Cumbria and it's something they sadly don't do much of anymore, to ANGELA who led us all in a circle dance that was for me the best fun of the night and finally to SUNNY who performed the ceremony that handfasted Karen and I in front of all our great extended family of those we love.

When I find where Karen has put the CD I'll get some pictures up here.

I must think mention the other band that played as it will lead to the next thing I want to say. They were THE BIG DISH OF CHEESE (formally known as WIZARDMARRAS BIG DISH OF CHEESE which give you a clue to one of the members) our prior and first gig was closing the proceedings on the Drystone Stage at last year's Solfest and was the biggest laugh, surprisingly we got an awful lot of nice things said about us and we will be doing the same again this year.

We are Will Taylor, Phil (The One and Only Mighty Tree) Haslehurst, Phil Dance, Elton Ritchie, and myself

The wedding gig was slightly more drunken than that (I recall vaguely drinking something like Lambrini straight out of a jug) and surprisingly the song that went down the best was Wills evil piece of work "SLUTBITCH" a hideous piece of writing that has nothing to recommend it all, but Will is a true and rare poet who manages to say the most obscene and disgusting things in song and lift them from the sewer raising them to the level of inspired comedy genius. I cannot lay such claims to the potty mouthed rap I lay over the top of the instrumental breaks while not (even though I say it myself) playing some thick and funky harmonica. While performing this it was an absolute blast seeing lots of people dancing in front of us.

The band was formed through us getting together at my regular Open Mic session at The Spinners Arms in Carlisle, which brings me on to what I want to say next for that aforementioned session is changing.

WIZARDMARRAS SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE SPINNERS regenerates on Saturday February 6^th 2010 and will no longer be the Open Mic but rather the new embryonic folk club that I've had a hankering to run for some time and our first performer will be the delightful Elaine Davidson http://www.elainedavidson.net/

(Not be confused with the lady who is the world's most pierced woman. That little faux pas caused some severe consternation with a lot of Real Ale drinking beardy types at one festival I can't possibly mention)

Supporting Elaine will be the much loved local singer BILLY JOHNSON.

Then from March it gets even better on the first Saturday (6^th) we'll have another visiting featured artist and support and then from the second Saturday (13^th) and every second Saturday we'll have the revamped Open Mic in the form of THE DRYSTONE SESSIONS and will follow the pattern as before but we'll be keeping weather eye on the talent who might end up getting a paid gig at one of the other Saturdays or indeed on the Drystone Stage itself at Solfest. When all is done and dusted the mics get switched off and we get together for a full on session (which will probably feature a few tunes by "THE CHEESE"

See you there.

BIG LOVE

DEEP THOUGHTS

15/09/2009 02:47 AM

As I’ve been lazing around a bit in the peaceful backwater that is post Solfest (along with trying to get all the wedding preparations done with Karen…The day is ten days tomorrow) I’ve been watching some of the stuff I’ve recording on my BT box that I couldn’t watch as I was too busy with other things.

One thing was the documentary on the late Harry Patch who was until his recent death the last surviving participant in World War One, now there are none left. A most moving programme, again saying to me how important it is to keep the stories of your own lives alive, tell your children what it was like for you as a child. It may not be long ago but times are changing fast. Thirty five years ago moving two huge knobs to control flat white lines up and down on the side of a TV screen to stop a white dot from flying off screen was considered shit hot technological entertainment, how the hell can the WII generation understand how good that was at the time. Forty five years ago clipper lighters were a huge excitement to me and my sad crowd of mates and only rich kids had colour tallies, fifty fives and was born into world still rationed and Sputnik and Telstar were still unlaunched.

The other show I watched today pointed this out and perhaps something important too, it was from the Beebs “Blues Britannia” series entitled “Can Blue Men Sing The Whites?” (Borrowing a title from THE BONZO DO DOO DAH BAND) and it told of the rise and influence of the great British Blues Revolution and spawning the likes of FLEETWOOD MAC, JOHN MAYALLS BLUESBREAKERS, CREAM, THE ROLLING STONES, MANFRED MANN and THE YARDBIRDS.

In those days people like the young Mick Fleetwood and Chris Dreja of THE YARDBIRDS could only get the authentic black blues music that excited them in specialist shops. Rock and Roll having been and gone leaving only a watered down copy in it’s wake, but in a few shops off main streets and frequented by somewhat dodgy looking post war proto geeks in Mackintosh’s recordings by MUDDY WATERS, HOWLIN WOLF and LEADBELLY could be found.

You heard on the grapevine that “Someone in Ealing has a Champion Jack Dupree LP” so you’d get on the bus and go to an address you’d been, knock on a strange door and timidly ask “Can I see you record please.”

Time and effort were spent seeking out this Wonderstuff that spoke to you.

Today the music ever written is available at the click of a few tiny buttons and can then be played on your mobile phone for pence. Is it a true improvement? If something is so cheap and requires no effort, do we value it less? Does its message have less importance because we choose not to listen long enough to let it speak before we are chasing the next synthesized dragon?

That of course brings me back to Solfest, the community where we can sit as villagers used too. To talk and care about each other as we did all our homes were part of small and tight villages, and where in all likelihood as at Solfest there was live music every night. It is only about one hundred years ago when the only way you could hear music was live. In the century just gone we got recordings, before then you had to make some effort to go and listen.

Solfest rocks doesn’t it.

WHY I'M DOING WHAT I'M DOING

24/07/2009 01:42 AM

The Festival Journal of Mr A R Whittaker, "Mr Wizardmarra" Part Two "Tingles"

DISCLAIMER:

The Festival Journal of Mr A R Whittaker, "Mr Wizardmarra" Is not The Festival Journal of Solway Festivals Limited and the opinions and statements below are those entirely of Mr Wizardmarra. Who is as sharp as a pincushion and as mad as cheese.

FROM A VERY UNTIDY DESK

So if you've hit on this page following the link from the Solfest message board here's the crack.

In some ways I've become jaded with Mainstage. Even though believe me standing up there in front of you wonderful people is the biggest buzz in the world (and sometimes the scariest) it is run in such a way…

…and here I pause to commend to you the brilliant and lovely Sam Jelfs who is the finest stage manager that Solfest could wish for, not forgetting Gerard works harder than he should for a volunteer, year long putting together a terrific line up year on year and depending on who is available within the budget he's given. Sometimes it's a harder job than it should be. Finally Anna, who came to us a student studying Festival and Event management and who has now become an indispensible part of Gerards team and the Solfest family and this year has just graduated with first. I spoke to her at the weekend at Stainsby festival and she puts a lot of her success down to Solfest and in particular to Gerard and Simon too for being interviewed for her dissertation.

It is run professionally and efficiently because that's how the big guys like it, and that's how it has to be. But it becomes impersonal; the high rolling bands haven't the time or the inclination to get to know on a personal basis every MC at every gig they play. That's what MySpace is for.

But I need the craic, and every year I book bands and acts for The Drystone and only get to see a third of them.

I book the acts that make the music I hear, who are bright young things who will one day grace stages far bigger than The Drystone or even Mainstage and in locations far more exotic than the wind blasted fields of West Cumbria. I book them and care about them. And every bloody year I miss some of the most fantastic sets the festival gives us all.

I don't get to speak to the people I've built up a relationship with through emails and contracts. I'd like to meet them and talk to them.

There's the other really exiting thing too, the thing that I enjoyed more than anything last year. Using the radio mic to compere from the audience and to actually talk to people, have them introduce a band or shout for more. I can't wait to do that again, to bring you into the show. This year all being well sees a little refinement too, you'll have wait and see what that is.

For bands, well we of course have the brilliant Adrian Edmondson and The Bad Shepherds. I've seen them play twice now at Workington and Dent Festival and both times they rocked. I think some people still think it's a joke, that Adrian is doing another "Bad News" but he's not it's serious stuff this and I think in some ways it's the best thing to happen to Folk Music since Fairport Convention got plugged in. Punk tunes on folk instruments in a folk style, it could oh so easily go down a very smelly pan. But if you surround yourself with some absolutely Stellar Folk Musicians like Fairports Maartin Allcock, the truly amazing Andy Dinan who can play a fucking fiddle let me tell you, and of course Workingtons own Troy Donockley who plays the Ukulele and Pipes like no other man. He also told a very funny story about a local character named "Tucker" and Border Crack and Deekabout doing story about a "loch Ness monster" type sighting in Maryport harbor which I can't possibly repeat here as it's worse than the swearie word above.

Songs like "Down In The Tube Station At Midnight" become tragic tales like Kate Rusby ballads of sorrow and loss, you can hear the poetry and dare I say it the literature of the song. Their version of "Teenage Kicks" a song described by John Peel as the best Pop record ever becomes the best Folk Song ever. Just listen to what Andy and Troy do on the instrumental break, spot what's in there. It's a piece of genius.

Someone who didn't quite see what I saw said.

"Yes, they are good. But they're just a covers band."

But isn't that what folk bands have been doing for years. Other people stuff, keeping it alive, keeping it relevant in a changing world.

More on the other bands to come soon.

Now I need to go bed, it's 2:22 am. I turned fifty five yesterday. I had a bloody stressful year and I'm a knackered old fart.

Love

Wiz

The Festival Journal of Mr A R Whittaker, "Mr Wizardmarra" Part One. "Harumph!

05/06/2009 05:26 PM

DISCLAIMER:
The Festival Journal of Mr A R Whittaker, "Mr Wizardmarra" Is not The Festival Journal of Solway Festivals Limited and the opinions and statements below are those entirely of Mr Wizardmarra. Who is as sharp as a pincushion and as mad as cheese.

FROM THE VICE CHAIRMANS CUSHION

As I write this the Solfest countdown on www.wizardmarra.com says 83days 08 hours 01 minute 13 seconds and counting

down.

So it's time I sat down using my Vice Chairmans Arse (Worzel Gummidge had a selection of heads which enabled him to multi task. I have a Box of Arses.) and say a bit about how we are doing with putting Solfest together.

Perhaps to try and address some of the concerns that some may have and to chew the fat about what we think is actually going to be a bloody fantastic weekend in weather that personally I think will be exceptionally nice.

The festival is intentionally smaller this year as we aim to achieve the feeling of the festival that we have become. Friendly in the way it was back in the day. When the music business was actually about music and creativity, not the corporate and corpulent monster (in the very worst Clive Barker, Stephen King Ramseycampbellhutson James Herbert Sense.) it is now.

Really the compliments about Solfest that I have had comparing us not only to Glastonbury, but more wonderfully early Glastonburies. That we are a festival like they were in the seventies, so Old Skool that it's actually a term that's perhaps a little too fashionable for us, and it's spelled SCHOOL anyway.

But those are the nicest things to hear, and thank you.

The problem arises as nothing comes free. Everything must be paid for in one form or another. So we as a festival selling one thousand tickets less correspondingly has less income. As we don't want to be a festival that just bleeds it's customers every year we try and set fair prices for our tickets. We (though this is entirely my personal thought and not that of the Solfest Committee) screwed up last year with the parking fee of 10 quid per car, so we scrapped it. Last year we could have just upped the tickets to ninety quid for everyone and said no more. This year we've gone up a fiver, and around 750 tickets are available to the 12 to 16 year old at sixty quid whereas last year this age group would have paid full price. Blah blah blah blah.
But we try and be fair. If you don't buy tickets we can't do it. No festival without you guys, it's your money that does it.

FULL ON REALITY: #1. That this is what pays for everything.

From the Toilets to the Land and the Security, the generators the fencing the session tent dogs in space cleaning out the proclaimers shit on the roadway stewards dinners and the guy that works the lights.

ALL THE BANDS

And the paper that wipes their arses.

This year we are down on our budget around eighty to one hundred thousand pounds, so it's pretty important we sell the tickets this year. But the downshot of this is that we have to cut our cloth accordingly.

FULL ON REALITY: #2. Most things cost more this year than they did last year.

So all the practical nuts and bolts ( in their various forms holding the fence, drystone stage, site art, and bedlam boudoir together and offering too many other solutions when “...and how? do you say, is it fastened?” is the question asked.) the clean up crew and the mainstage structure itself
all the wires
plugs
amplifiers

ALL THE BANDS

and their roadies and Dave
who's the bloke that sweeps up Big Trees leaves.

But first off is the hard and fast cost of the physical side of the festival. This always is more costly than previous years. So the cuts have to be made to the show, to the sparkle to the open air circus we give you.

FULL ON REALITY: #3. We have less money to spend on bands that cost more now anyway.

This for Gerard, Alec, Tom and myself is the hardest reality. The heaviest weight falling on the mainstage. No one comes to a festival purely on the line up, but if it's not right it's as bloody wrong as it ever could be and you should be ashamed of your mantle of bandmaster.

So we try using our best judgment and (particularly so on mainstage) depending on who is on offer this year and very importantly how much they will cost. One mainstage act can cost more than the Drystone Stages budget. One band last year cost more than has ever been spent on the bar stage since it began.

But we try our best, to try and put on the best show we can with the money we have.

For Solfest it means we cannot afford everybody that everybody wants to come and please everybody at once and all the time.

Sometimes people will think it's crap.

So we'll try our best in the full light of truth that sometimes
some people
won't like
some
of what we do
but if we did what they wanted if we could afford it anyway then...

...somebody else
wouldn't like
it
and
we'd be bastards for even thinking of it.

But we try our best, if you are disappointed in some parts of the festival. Well, we've tried. we can't do any more.

I think that this is going to be an amazing year, come along if you'd like to. If you don't fancy it this year we can't make you come. Lots of people are though and they are up for a damn fine party.

If you're not keen on the mainstage line up, come down to the Drystone where I'm taking up full residence this year, or check out the bar stage, dance, visit Wal in the session tent. Really do the festival, I'm told it's the kind of place where you can talk to your neighbour. There's a lot to be said for just sitting with your family and friends (the family you actually choose) in your camp talking like you never do at home.
Talking to each other.
Completely lost in the craic that you miss the bands you want to see anyway.
Good Craic though, well worth it.

More to follow soon, now I must away and make Karen her tea.

THE EIGHTY YEAR OLD MAN

09/02/2009 05:15 PM

To find out what this is about see the fancy dress thread on the Solfest message board.

WIZARDMARRAS DRYSTONE WIRELESS SHOW REVIEW OF 2008

03/02/2009 06:10 PM

Yeah I know I should have had this one up a week or two (or three or four) ago. But sometimes life gets in the way of doing what you'd like to do. Anyway it here it is at last

WIZARDMARRAS DRYSTONE WIRELESS SHOW REVIEW OF 2008

Some of the tracks have been on the podcast already but as the casts in question have been taken off line it's good opportunity to play some of my favourites from last year, some of the tracks are new ones but from artists that I really like and in the case of one it's neither been on the cast nor have they appeared at Solfest or my open mic at The Spinners Arms but more of that later first lets get down to business with...

BUSHPLANT
www.bushplant.com/
www.myspace.com/bushplant
GO MAKE SOMEBODY HAPPY HERE

I love this track pulse poundingly good full on celtic boogie with hints of Peatbog Faerie like fiddling from Mary Custy. As I said when I first put this up Bushplant have made this available as free download on the understanding that if you get it you will donate something to a children s charity. Not a bad deal in my book and they will be appearing on the Drystone stage this year.

BILL LLOYD
www.myspace.com/banjobilly
CAREY

Back from podcast number 1 here's my good friend Banjo Bill Lloyd with his wonderful version of Joni Mitchells "Carey” there is something about Bills singing here that just makes me feel so good every time I hear it. Bill who runs the session yurt at Solfest (and about a million other festivals too) is one of those people that seems to bring out the best in others. No one who wishes to play is ever turned away and are encouraged to join in and not hold back. Top man.

MR & MRS
www.myspace.com/mrandmrsmusic
CUT ALL STRINGS

Since I first met Ric and Chez on Preston platform (doing a soft shoe shuffle dance, thanks Jethro) the have performed a cracking set on The Drystone and I'm still in admiration for the sheer quality of songwriting. So much so I emailed Steve Lamacq and said he should check them out. He did and has subsequently played them on two of his shows. Remember you heard them first here.

FLUTATIOUS
www.myspace.com/flutatiousUK
SPACE

Pure good trippy music thats beyond definition, is it folk, is it psychedelic, is it neo classical or something else altogether. Whatever, it's very good. Just let it wash over you and enjoy.

THE MELODICA MELODY AND ME
www.myspace.com/mmmelodic
PLUNGE

There's a strangely haunting quality to MMM's music, and another band the the aforementioned Mr Lamacq likes too. Though he got wind of them before I did. Complication on the journey up to Cumbria meant they arrived late and had to play a truncated set at Solfest but that being said if you flip to the previous blog to this you can see them performing unplugged in the bus that was behind the stage.

DUMB INSTRUMENT
www.dumbinstrument.com/
www.myspace.com/dumbinstrument
EXTERMINATING ANGEL

If this track from Scotlands Dumb Instrument doesn't make you feel a bit spooked, you have something wrong with you. It's an unsettling comment on the time we live in but exceptionally well done.

THE DUPLETS
www.theduplets.com/
www.myspace.com/theduplets
LILLIAN'S

Another band who will be on The Drystone this year and a fresh track from them as I thought to play the Green Set again after it was on the last podcast wasn't a good idea. Gillian Fleetwood and Freya Thompson simply make great music. And here's a jolly good and lighthearted video of the “Queen of All Argyle” another track as is Lillian's from their album “Tree Of Life”

THE CACTUS ROOM
www.myspace.com/thecactusroom
CRAZY RHYTHYM

Another studio recording from Ted Chapman aka “The Cactus Room” He has created a rhythm which he calls “Diddley Reggae” Diddly reggae was born when Ted fastened a bit of a Bo Diddley riff onto half a bar of a reggae 'Skank' - The groove felt good but it had a chopped half a beat off the bar, making it 7/8 time. So when thinking about it, the only other popular tune in sevens is Pink Floyd's 'Money' and you cant dance to that. Invent your own footwork that fits and you can name that dance. Can you do the Diddly reggae? Its 1-2-3-4- - 1-2-3- - 1-2-3-4 - -1-2 ..... Go on have a go.

ROB HERON
www.myspace.com/robheronmusic
LOVE DRUG

A great favourite of me, The Drystone Stage and my open mics at the Spinners Arms. Rob is now studying music over in Newcastle so we don't see him quite as much but I'll take any opportunity I can to play his stuff, so here's a new one from his album “Korsa Floden” which is I believe a river in Norway.

MARY LOUISE MARTIN
www.myspace.com/louisemarymartin
GREENSWEETS

It's just damn good music.

TEN BEARS
www.myspace.com/tenbearsmusic
BRACES

Ten Bears current single is the theme tune for Channel Fours T4 Orange Unsigned band show. They've not been on the podcast before, nor have they been on the Drystone. But when this track arrived via email I simply had to put it up on the podcast. I passed it on to Gerard who runs our mainstage saying that I thought they were worth a slot. So you never know.

Finally a story from me...

THE NIGHT VISITOR.
Being the first part of a larger work that may end up as a print piece rather than a full recording.

And that's it for 2008. Next cast up will feature some of the acts lined up for appearing on the Drystone Stage this this year and believe me I have some TRULY FANTASTIC musicians already booked and more to come.

A word to the wise also, tickets for Solfest 2009 go on sale next Monday, February 9th full details will be on the Solfest website tomorrow Feb 4th .

See you soon

Wiz.

THE TILTON SESSIONS

30/01/2009 09:19 AM

This is what went on in the bus referred to by Gaz Coombes as "The Space Bus" at the back of the Drystone Stage. For you, a collection of DRYSTONE SETS.

Jodi Watson & Ali Rigg
TONGUE TIDE

Paul Harrison

The Casual Terrorist

Laura James

Fiona Clayton

Three

from

The Wierdstring Band

The Melodica, Melody and Me

FROM THE DESK OF THE VICE CHAIRMAN

17/12/2008 04:47 AM

Right here it is Ladies and Gentlemen, the information you have been waiting for (well some of it anyway) oh before I get onto that if you are looking for podcast information it's on the blog entry prior to this.

SOLFEST 2009 TICKET PRICES

Adult tickets: 85 pounds

Child tickets (6 – 11yrs) 25 “

Young peoples tickets (12 – 16) 60 “

So there you have it, and believe me these prices are the product of THREE committee meetings that were long and hard. It was not an easy thing this year, but we have listened to what you have said about our pricing last year and that is why we now have the new ticket bracket for young people of 60 pounds, yes we have put up the adult and child tickets as well but this has been off set by the reduction for in young peoples tickets.

But look NO CAR PARKING CHARGE we realize that this was a very unpopular decision last year so we've ditched it. We are now one of the increasingly few festivals not to charge for cars and even with the five pound increase on adult tickets our prices are very competitive to just about every other comparable festival. We did try to see if we could keep it at eighty quid but with all our “overheads” costing us more this year we just couldn't and still make the festival viable this year

In a year when it's going to be hard on everybody with the “Credit Crunch” we are trying to make Solfest as accessible as we can. We have also reduced the numbers that we shall be putting on sale to try and get back to the more intimate Solfest that so many of you have said you missed. This year only 6.500 adult tickets and 750 of both the child and young peoples tickets will be on sale.

This won't be easy for us, we will have to tighten our belts while still trying to put on the quality event that has won us so much praise and loyalty from you our supporters.

Here's something else that should cheer you up, NO TIXMOB. We will again be selling all tickets through a locally based outlet. The arrangement has not yet been finalized so I can't say who it is just yet nor when the tickets will be on sale, though we may be selling them earlier in the year than we have in previous years. Once we have got Christmas and New Year over with and we get stuck into business then I will let you know, it will of course be on the Solfest website too.

http://www.solwayfestival.co.uk/

I can promise you too that we should have a superb display of site art for Solfest 2009, the much loved and iconic emblem of Solfest “The Steel Wizard” will be back as we have bought this from Abbott though sad to say I fear the “Wicker Women” have now seen better days and it is doubtful that they will be back. We have already booked some of the bands (and no I'm not telling you yet but I know that one will please an awful lot of you as you have asked for them).

Other more mundane things to consider, last Solfest you don't need me to tell you that the traffic problems for you getting on site were a nightmare. Although it has to be said that when you get a mass of people turning up in cars for an event (whatever it may be) it is inevitable that you will have a traffic queue, we will however be working really hard to minimize this and get you onsite as quickly and efficiently as we can so you can get your tents up and getting down to the serious business of enjoying the festival. We will also try and ensure that all of the camping fields are well lit and have adequate toilet facilities. This was a virtually impossible task this year as we had to hire three extra fields on the Friday and we just couldn't get the infrastructure in place to fulfill these needs.

In closing for now. I hope that all of the above meets with your approval and as the New Year rolls out you'll find that we will have some fantastic acts lined up (I'm really excited about The Drystone, though I have set myself a hard act to follow on from the last one, where I felt I had the strongest line up I've ever had.)

Don't forget you can mail me with your feedback on

wizardmarratalk@googlemail.com

HAVE A WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS AND A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR

Alan

WIZARDMARRAS DRYSTONE WIRELESS SHOW 7. There's a fella with a BIG NOSE on it.

16/12/2008 08:34 AM

WIZARDMARRA'S DRYSTONE WIRELESS SHOW No:7

There's fella with a BIG NOSE on it!

Well my friends far too long has gone by since I last posted one of these, so I have decided that straight after this podcast I'm going to sort another straight away in the manner of a CHRISTMAS CLIP SHOW. That is put the best tracks from all my previous casts in one BIG BUMPER CHRISTMAS NUMBER with some cleverly crafted new linking material.

But enough of that for we've just got a NEW one up and lets get right down to telling all about the fantastic array of musical talent within it.

One more thing first. If your'e here looking for SOLFEST NEWS of which I intend this blog to be my personal channel of information to you, check out the entry just before this one or wait until next week for my delayed information on 2009 TICKETS PRICES and more.

OK! Let me make it clear first that most of the acts featured on this podcast are from the piles of submissions already winging there way to me. I've haven't picked up post bag yet from the Solfest PO Box yet, but I know that is going to be a FULL SACK. No thse acts on the podcast have not nesacerily got themselves a slot on the Drystone Stage, but I'm not saying that haven't either, only time will tell (although some are!!!) There are also one or two who have been on the Drystone or Solfest before. Right that's the disclaimer over with and the first band up is...

THE WISHING WELL
www.myspace.com/thewishingwellband

LIFE ON THE BORDER

Jai Larkin sent me this via the demo upload page of my website which is cheaper than sending it through the post from Australia where this band hails from and what a fantastic track it is with Jai blasting out like Mark Chadwick but only for a few seconds as it's son clear that these are no Levellers rip off. They their own sound and a confidence that only comes with experience Jai himself having performed with Bob Geldof, Liam O'Moonlai, Tim Finn and Andy White. For a band that have only been together for two years these chalked up an impressive 180 gigs and travelled 10 Australian festivals this year. Visit their MySpace for more stuff, it's worth it.

Another band that used the demo upload are

THE AMATEURS

myspace.com/theamateursuk

HOMESICK

To quote what the bands Andrew Fletcher says in the brief biog he sent me with the track

“Hailing from the Midlands The Amateurs owe their humble beginnings to performing as a backing band for Robert Plant's (Led Zeppelin) ‘Tsunami Relief’ project, playing a string of shows and raising thousands for charity. As winners of the Kerrang! Radio best unsigned song competition 2007 & Festibull 2008, they have been led onto some excellent live shows; including support slots with cage the elephant, guillemots, & Jack Savoretti, a host of shows around the UK, and a standout performance at 2008's Guilfest. Performing live sets on local and national radio stations has secured them regular airplay. With the advent of their new EP (set for release in January), and the latest addition to Jagermusic, The Amateurs supply the listeners with 3 new catchy Indie pop classics to be enjoyed by all.. “

I wish I could remember who they remind me off. I should really stop comparing these different bands to others, but in this case it stops me from really getting into what is a beautifully crafted track. Again though visit their MySpace there is also a free download of their live version of “Homesick” to be had at

http://www.tourdates.co.uk/The-Amateurs

EMMA McGORDON AND SUE WICKWAR

http://www.litfest.org/flax005/mcgordon/mcgordon.html

OPAL BLUE
THE SCARY THING

Emma is a poet of exception from West Cumbria (not Barrow as I say on the podcast) who performed accompanied by Sue Wickwar in The ALHAMBRA marquee at this years Solfest and she sent me the tracks for the podcast before Solfest and it is to my shame that I haven't used them before. OPAL BLUE is as joyous expression of life and love that you could wish for and later on it the cast THE SCARY THING is uncompromising, unsettling and thought provoking and all the more wonderful because of it.

ROB HERON
myspace.com/robheronmusic

INTROSPECTION

I can't anything about Rob that I've not already said on previous blog entries. Young, good looked and talented. It makes you sick sometimes.

KIRK McELHINNEY & BECKY TAYLOR

http://www.myspace.com/kirkmcelhinney
http://www.myspace.com/piperbeckytaylor

YESTERDAY

Another member of the emerging music scene in Cumbria the present time Kirk McElhinney has so many irons in the fire it's hard to keep up as a solo artist and collaborator. Here is teams up with Becky Taylor who came to my notice when a CD of hers and this solo track where given to me by a good friend who'd promised to pass them on. The fact that she'd forgottent to do so for two years not withstanding I still got them and I just LOVE this track, Becky is doing things with a set of Uillean Pipes that are HOT! Sit back and enjoy it.

While you are whizzing about the internet checking these links out be sure to go to one of Kirks other projects.

http://www.myspace.com/straydogshowlin

I had booked Straydogs to perform on the Drystone this year but unforeseen circumstances prevented the guys from coming, so I have just slid the gig along year. So there you have it, the name of the first act announced to perform at Solfest 2009 are STRAYDOGS. That's as long as they still available of course.

THE DUPLETS

http://www.theduplets.com/
http://www.myspace.com/theduplets

THE GREEN SET

The Duplets are Fraya Thomsen and Gillian Fleetwood and have been playing together for sometime now. They are taking Scottish traditional music into some very new and exiting pastures indeed. As their album “Tree Of Strings” from which this track is taken shows. “The Green Set” is made up of the tunes “Chloe's Passion, The Up Downie and The Triangle.” and to be honest I could have played anything from the album as they all sound equally good. I strongly advise you to visit their website and hear more from them. Check out to the extra video here too which is a lot of fun on top of sounding great. You'll all be doing the dance!

ALEJANDRO TOLEDO & THE MAGIC TOMBOLINOS

http://www.magictombolinos.co.uk/musicians.html

http://www.myspace.com/alejandrosax

FANFARIAN IMPRO

Like The Duplets this was a CD that came through the post and was a delight to hear. It's always exciting to get the submissions through the door and I want each one to be special. Sometimes it's not everything it should be, sometimes it's a real disappointment and sometimes the band just doesn't do it for me the music is great but not really my cup of tea. Not so with this one, it's loads of fun and blasts you out of a bleak mood in an instant (it did me) getting you dancing around the kitchen.

PROJECT NOTION

http://www.myspace.com/projectnotion

CONSTELLATE IN CUBISM

A bit different this one. Hailing from Melton Mowbray this slice of jazz/funk urban ...
...sod the definitions this is good stuff featuring the lead vocals of Tori Maries just sit back and enjoy

PEANUT ALBINOS

http://www.myspace.com/peanutalbinos

CARTIHEYNA

Another one that came through the door and has rarely left the CD player (it's either been this one or The Duplets) and another one where I could have put anytrack on the podcast. “Falling From The saddle Of A High Horse” is great album and possibly has the best title of any I've received over the years.

To quote Paul Carrea in Nightshift issue 152
'Imagine a band that look like a bunch of old-fashioned tinkers, who play skiffle banjo, mandolin and brushed drums with a masterful depth of dark gothic and celtic soul, but are mercifully devoid of any carousing Irish accents... Peanut Albinos, in soft, battered, slept-in suits and hats, have an English take on longing, regret and coming to terms with consequences, all while making you think you are in a late night lock-in with Tom Waits on the Kilburn High Road.'

I could also quote what was said on www.unpeeled.net
'No peanuts, no albinos. Lying bastards. Dead good though.'
All things considered a bloody good band.

AGENTS OF JANE
http://www.myspace.com/agentsofjane
BIG HAT
MONANS DANCE
SHETLAND BRAE
AGENTS OF JANE played for us at the Solfest Stewards party. The bash with free beer and nibbles that we throw for all those who give us their help over Solfest weekend and beyond and these guys aquited themselves well. The first two tracks are on for a bit of nonsense but are featured along with “Shetland Brae” on the album “Karaoke Boy” Good stuff indeed.

EMMA McGORDON AND SUE WICKWAR
THE SCARY THING
See above

It gets a bit monotonous trying to think of superlatives and something original and constructive about all these bands. But I'm not going to put something out on the podcast that I don't like (nor indeed on The Drystone) so what do I say about

THE CACTUS ROOM

myspace.com/thecactusroom

SEVEN TO HEAVEN

Basically this is my mate Ted Chapman. Ted is someone who has provide entertainment at various late night sessions at festivals I've been to this year, notably Stainsby and is a regular at the open mic sessions that I run at Wheaton Aston festival. You may have caught him lurking in the ALHAMBRA marquee at Solfest this year. The Cactus Room is his other hat where he takes the rythym he discovered for a walk. It's called Diddley Reggae being a fusion of the famous Bo Diddley rythym and of course reggae. He's asked me to encourage anybody to use it, go on give it a go. They can't touch you for it.

Finally as usual, one of mine called Big Groove. I'm a hell of a one for snappy titles as you can see, I'm not saying the tracks brilliant. But it's mine.

See you soon. It's Sunday afternoon and I'm off to retire in front of a roaring fire and enjoy some movies with a nice glass of Guinness.

Alan

SOLFEST FM

13/12/2008 07:17 AM