Category Archives: Recent Guests

Previous guests: 15 October 25

Culverake

**Lizzie Hardingham. Matt Quinn, and Seb Stone**

Culverake are the trio of Lizzie Hardingham, Seb Stone and Matt Quinn. They sing unaccompanied, with a high proportion of traditional songs. We had been impressed by their set at the Gate to Southwell Festival earlier in the year, and were pleased to invite them to the club.
They gave us a splendid set, starting at high intensity with a May Song in which power from Matt and Seb was lifted by Lizzie’s bell-like top line.
Most of the songs they did for us are on their just-released album Unto the Sky. There were several unusual variations on well-known songs, like a Scots version of John Barleycorn, and Three Old Jolly Sportsmen, which started off as the well-known highwayman ballad Two Butchers, but then swerved off in an unexpected direction.

**Note ‘In The Roud’ flyers in the foreground**

Three-part harmony is Culverake’s feature style, dense, complex, and beautifully sung. All three are worth listening to as solo singers, though. This was apparent in one- or two-line solo parts in the arrangements and in the melody leads, which were shared among all three. Examples were Seb’s beautifully clear and gentle lead in You Lads and Lasses, a version of Seeds of Love, Matt in Down by the Seaside, an incomplete broken token song (doubly broken, I guess), and, in particular, Lizzie on Rolling Down to Old Maui. She sang it with a lovely varied and dancing rhythm and bluesy touches, which really lifted what is sometimes a rather stolid belt-it-out song. Great.
I loved the harmonies (I have always loved vocal harmony, right back to Peter, Paul and Mary and Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares), but I would also have enjoyed hearing a bit more solo singing from each of them.
Another of Culverake’s strengths is clear diction. It’s important to hear the words.
Matt gave us plenty of detail about source singers and variants of the songs. Not surprising, given the great depth of information in his podcast In the Roud, which is a series of really valuable in-depth analyses by experts of songs in the Roud Index – well worth following up on YouTube or other podcast sites. He’d put out flyers on our tables: I hope some of them were taken away and followed up. Our ballad group has found the series very useful.

**Lizzie and Seb relax while Matt gives the lowdown on the next song**

The intensity they started with was maintained to the last, even in gentle songs like Sweet Thames Flow Softly. They ending with bouncing through Mike and Lal Waterson’s Rubber Band as an encore.

As usual on guest nights, we had a few floor singers to start off each half. It’s good that we have a collection of excellent and reliable singers, like ‘The Old Flames’ (Mike and Jane), Sarah Farrell, and Phil Hind, who can give those who come for the guest nights a positive impression of the club in general.

Our next guests will be Sarah Matthews and Doug Eunson on the 12^th November. They’ll be great, too.

Hugh Miller

Recent guests: Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne 16 July

Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne

Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne’s powerful and intense singing, brilliant musicianship, wide choice of material, and rapport with the audience left us captivated, a bit amazed, and maybe a little stunned (he is satisfyingly loud) last Wednesday evening.
He was playing anglo concertina and a hybrid converted melodeon-accordion based on a pre-war Hohner Lucia, which gave melodeon-style punch and drive on the right hand but a full range of bass chords, which he used very effectively, on the left. Effectively an instrumental hot rod.
Almost all his material was traditional, ranging from classic early twentieth-century songs collected by people like Lucy Broadwood and Ralph Vaughan Williams, through to striking material from his latest CD, Play Up The Music, a collection of English-origin songs as sung in the Caribbean and by African-American artists in the USA. This included Pretty Little Sailor, a version of Soldier, Soldier, Won’t You Marry Me? which many of us learned at school, and a mesmerisingly powerful version of Little Musgrove.

The depth and range of his instrumental playing was wonderful. On the melodeon, he started the evening with a lively and powerful version of two country dance tunes and then moved on to a representation of some Welsh fiddle tunes from a player who ‘knew a lot of notes, and was determined to play every single one of them’ (and Cohen showed us just what that meant). On the concertina he gave us ‘a sailor’s hornpipe, as it would have been arranged by J.S.Bach’ – completely convincing, very funny, and a virtuoso performance – followed by his own very moving Fantasia on a West Indian Burial based on the songs traditionally sung at funerals to help to guide the souls of the dead back to their home in Africa.
It wasn’t just an evening of varied songs, powerful singing and wonderful playing. He was very much with us as an audience. Many of his songs had choruses or refrains, which suited the club’s good reputation for chorus singing, and for almost every piece he gave us informative, interesting, amusing and sometimes touching introductions and explanations. Both sets were closed off with just the right kind of rousing finales: a less-than-serious music hall song from Vesta Tilley in the first half, and a remarkable concertina piece, ending with whirling the instrument round his head to use the Doppler Effect to imitate the sound of bells, at the end of the evening. Good stuff.

Go and see him again if you can, either solo or in the group Granny’s Attic, with George Sansome and Lewis Wood (who are playing at Gunthorpe Village Hall in November).

Hugh Miller for the committee

Recent Guests: Clarke Camilleri 11 June

The welcome return of Clarke Camilleri to the Carrington Triangle proved to be a delightful evening.

Clarke actually joined the club in 2016 and became a regular performer here, where, with a background in the blues, he was introduced to British traditional music. Since then he has travelled widely, both as a solo artist and with other musicians, including Angeline Morrison’s band. He features on her award-winning album, The Sorrow Songs: Folk Songs of Black British Experience.
Clarke has returned as an experienced and charismatic performer, very much at ease with the audience, who responded warmly to his excellent musicianship, stories and humour, even enjoying the times he interrupted himself with bursts of laughter during a couple of his songs! We were delighted to welcome him back.
He brought with him two guitars, a banjo and a harmonium. He began the evening with Anji on guitar, followed by Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream, an anti-war song by Ed McCurdy. Worried Man’s Blues came next, a traditional song recorded in 1930 by the Carter Family, based on the post-Civil War era when plantation owners, still on the lookout for cheap labour, were keen to get black men arrested for the slightest offence to work in chain-gangs.
Clarke performed several British folk songs, a couple by Cyril Tawney, and MacColl’s ‘Shoals of Herring’. He also included a Beatles, and a Dylan song. Before he sang Bert Jansch’s arrangement of Blackwaterside, he told us that he first heard it played here by a regular performer Phil Harrison, who was also in attendance that night.

At one point in the evening, he brought onto the stage Jinda Biant, a blues/folk musician and a ‘best mate’ who accompanied him in a song called Nice to meet you Syrilla, a very lively and fun experience, seemingly, for both of them, and also for us!
I haven’t yet mentioned Clarke’s original songs. Several that he sang are on his 2020 album, The Rollin’ Hills of Home. The title song is about his walks in the Peak District with his mother and brother. The Spirit is an inspiring song about not allowing the establishment to crush us. The spirit will always rise again! Keep the World Singing Round reminds us that no matter what awful things are happening in the world, singing can help bring people together in solidarity.
In conclusion, I found Clarke’s performance entertaining, joyful, and full of messages in relation to justice and fairness, and a desire to make the world a better, kinder place for us all.

Maureen McGuinness, on behalf of Carrington Triangle folk club

Our next guest is Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne on 16 July

Recent guests: Wayward Jane

May 28: It was a full house for a wonderful evening with Wayward Jane. The band played a mixture of American Old Timey tunes and songs, flavoured with their own unique Scottish and Irish influences. They also played their own tunes and songs such as The Flood written by Michael Starkey, who played fluid clawhammer banjo all night. Sam Gillespie, a consummate guitarist, who also played wooden flute and bouzouki, was the main vocalist and his high plangent tenor was an important feature of the night. He wrote several of the songs such as the beautiful Everything Changes, backed by perfect four part harmonies from the rest of the band.
Tara Cunningham on fiddle, trained in the Scottish tradition but also fluent in the Old Timey style, spent all night duetting with Michael Starkey on the banjo to great effect. Dan Abrahams on stand up bass and guitar added a mellow punch to the evening.

The band worked together intuitively and clearly enjoyed themselves greatly. This came across to the audience making the evening hugely entertaining. There were too many highlights to mention them all but the last anthemic song Liberty got the whole club singing and the encore Make Me a Pallet on Your Floor was a rousing example of the band’s unique approach. Mike Wareham

One of our floor singers that night was Phil Harrison. Phil has been very busy with other things lately, and hasn’t been able to come to the club for some time, and we were all very pleased to welcome him back, and to hear that he should be able to come more frequently again.

Recent Guests: Hase Waits 14 May

Hase Waits are sisters Hannah Bainton and Heather Thomas & Heather’s husband James. As our May guests Hannah and Heather both played flute and a range of whistles, backed by James on rhythm guitar.
The two sisters have been playing together since they were about six, and that experience showed itself in wonderful coordination and collaboration on the tunes they played. They played in various combinations: flute duets, high and low whistles, or – my favourite – two low whistles with lovely harmonies. The precision and interweaving of parts in the faster tunes was great.

There were a few songs, both traditional and modern. I would have liked more, but since we don’t have a PA, it was a bit difficult for Hannah’s voice, however good, to cut through the accompaniment.
James did a couple of pieces on hurdy-gurdy, with Heather on flute and Hannah doing lovely lively percussion on cajon, which worked really well. The second one was by audience request, because we enjoyed the one in the first half so much.
A good night, full of lively music. Hase Waits will be at The Gate To Southwell Festival. 3-6 July, probably with an expanded lineup. They will be worth seeing.
p.s. some of us really liked the Green Man fabric design of Heather’s dress.

Hase Waits were backed up by some of our floor singers, as usual. Here’s our longest-standing member, Phil Hind, leading the room in chorus.

Recent guests, April: Brian Peters

Brian Peters

While acoustic music of all genres is always appreciated at the Carrington Triangle, the evening of April 9th was especially dedicated to a celebration of the traditional folk idiom, powerfully presented by our guest performer, Brian Peters.
     Brian has been described as one of the English folk scene’s great all-rounders, a compelling singer and multi-instrumentalist, and he certainly lived up to his reputation that evening. With his vibrant, clear voice, anglo-concertina, guitar and melodeon, he put the traditional material across in a skilful, relatable manner, and, seeming very much at ease, appeared to enjoy himself as much as his audience did, introducing his songs and tunes with humorous anecdotes and well researched knowledge of their origins.
    His repertoire included Child ballads, songs collected by Cecil Sharp, and one or two relatively recent songs, for example Chris Foster’s ‘Trespassers will be Celebrated’ about the mass trespass in the Peak District in 1932 in support of opening up the land again to ramblers, which, he told us, was a subject close to his heart as a walker himself.
    Brian sang several humorous songs including a music hall song ‘Chips and Fish’, and ‘ The Molecatcher’. Many of the songs are of course well known to folk club audiences, but he seems to have discovered self-styled ‘obscure versions’ which included his final song, The Wild Rover’ from Hampshire. Other songs included ‘Turpin Hero’, ‘Adieu my Lovely Nancy’, and ‘The Manchester Rambler’.
     I believe, judging by the favourable comments from members of the audience, that Brian’s charismatic performance was much appreciated.

Maureen McGuinness, on behalf of the Carrington Triangle folk club

Hicks and Goulbourne: 12 March

Lynn Goulbourn and Steve Hicks were our hugely entertaining guests on 12th March 2025. It was something of a nostalgic return for Lynn, who had been a club regular in the 1980s. Her Gren Blatherwick moped anecdote was much appreciated.
Numerous Hicks-made instruments were in evidence. Steve treated us to a splash of Turlough O’Carolan on a guitar that Lynn assured us “he’s just knocked up”, and she introduced us to Nashville tuning (E A D G up an octave + standard B E) on a Hicks mini-guitar. Possibly the ukulele upon which Steve (supposedly beginners-level) shredded later in the evening was also a Hicks product. One suspects he even hand-crafted the coconuts which clip-clopped us through ‘Black Hills of Dakota’.
The room was packed and in good voice. The chance to join in on the call-and-response gospel blues of ‘Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning’ was very eagerly seized.
US-derived material made up a sizeable portion of the evening’s delicious fare, from Lead Belly’s ‘Bring Me Little Water, Sylvie’ to John Prine’s ‘The Speed of the Sound of Loneliness’ via the trad children’s songs ‘Polly Wolly Doodle’ and ‘Shortnin’ Bread’ (the latter morphing into Scott Joplin’s ‘The Entertainer’) and a roaring version of ‘Saint James Infirmary’ with more hi-de-hoes than Cab Calloway (though slightly fewer dance steps). Steve’s extraordinary guitar-playing was mesmerizing as he paid tribute fingerstyle to Duck Baker and effortlessly merged the oldtime bluegrass of ‘Ragtime Annie’ with ‘Angeline the Baker’.
Lynn sang ‘Fear a’ Bhàta’ in impressively capable Scottish Gaelic, and turned the Geordie up to 11 for ‘The Lambton Worm’ [rhymes with storm]. Steve delivered some wonderful Canadian poetry in Bruce Cockburn’s mixed spoken-word-n-song ‘Three Al Purdys’, and played a beautiful guitar-adaption of the South African composer Abdullah Ibrahim’s piano piece ‘The Wedding’.
For variety and dexterity the duo are hard to beat. If we learnt one thing this evening, it’s that talent can outplay arthritis. If we learnt a second thing, it’s that Jesus was a Geordie.

Our next guest is Brian Peters, on 9 April.

Holly Clarke: 12 February

It’s rare for a guest to be booked solely on their YouTube videos but we did just this for Holly Clarke and it was amply justified.

She began with the traditional ‘The Maid of Kilmore’, then ‘John Barleycorn’ as sung by Bert Lloyd, but then sang ‘The Unseen Guide’ which she had set to music from a poem written in her native Coniston to explain how the first Mountain Rescue Team began. In singing a Danish ballad (in English) followed by ‘The Lakes of Coolfin’ she showed her scope of influences. She closed her first set with ‘Wild, Feral & Free’ which she had composed using the shapeshifting Reynardine story as a hook for her experience of becoming confident in her own skin. Despite an autism diagnosis, she graduated in 2018 from the Traditional Music Degree course at Newcastle University.

In her next set Holly followed her composition ‘The Spectral Stag’ with Chris Wood & Hugh Lupton’s song ‘Bleary Winter’. She sang 3 more traditional songs ‘John Randall’, ‘Bonny Woodhall’ and ‘Young Collins’ with confident explanations of their origins, and one that she learned from Nick Dow ‘Burd Margaret’ that he believed was written by an Irish traveller. It was a joyous evening with varied contributions from nine floor singers and well worth the tenner!

October guest: Dan McKinnon

Dan McKinnon performed two strong sets on Wednesday 16 October in his laid-back Canadian manner, with superb guitar-playing and engaging storytelling. His songwriting gave a taste of the history of Halifax and the maritime provinces, and he made a good choice of other singers’ compositions (though he only sang one Stan Rogers’ song ☹ – on his pre-Covid visit he’d given us more of Stan) and we responded well with our choruses.
Thanks again to the nine other singers and musicians who added to a lovely atmosphere.

Dan McKinnon at Carrington Triangle Folk Club

We Mavericks: guest night 11 September

We had a lightly attended meeting for We Mavericks on 11 September, which seemed a shame, since those who were there said how much they enjoyed the evening, and that they would like to see the duo again.
Both are first rate musicians who work very well together. Lindsay’s fiddle playing is superb and Victoria is an excellent singer with a great range and variety in her voice. The subjects of the songs were varied and interesting, helped greatly by the introductions. Their warm and enthusiastic approach to the music came across really well to the audience – and they seemed to enjoy the club and the floor singers (always good to see) which made for a really good atmosphere on the night.