1:36pm Friday 19th February 2010
Folk fans can see some of the country’s top performers without travelling very far over the next nine days.
Appearing on local stages are Phil Beer and Steve Knightley, the two major players in Show of Hands and Scottish songsters Lau, all winners at the 2010 BBC Folk Awards.
Their chosen venues say a great deal about the diversity of opportunity open to folk lovers locally, ranging as they do from a purpose-built top-flight performance centre to a former chapel and former disused pub outbuilding.
Legendary musician and towering personality Phil Beer – ‘he’s the short plump one’ – is at The Village Pump club in Mortimer Street, Trowbridge tonight, with support from Tom Palmer.
The virtuoso instrumentalist plays guitar, fiddle and mandolin with consummate skill, and his wicked sense of humour and ability to engage with an audience results in a relaxed and entertaining performance style.
Show of Hands won Best Duo and Best Original Song for Arrogance, Ignorance and Greed at the awards earlier this month. Tickets to see Phil tonight from 8pm are £10 on the door.
Tomorrow night the other half of the duo plays a solo acoustic set in Frome.
Knightley was first attracted to acoustic music after listening to early Baez and Dylan records. He began performing while still at school, and carried on writing songs while at university. For some years he was involved in the mainstream music scene in London, before moving to Dorset, teaching and giving guitar lessons.
He has worked with Phil since 1987, and the pair later formed Show of Hands, who have gone on to build an awesome reputation – they are among the musical patrons of the Trowbridge Village Pump Festival. Appearing with Steve is Jenna, who co-wrote the haunting Seven Days, one of the highlights of Show of Hands’ Country Life CD and recorded Western Approaches with Steve and Seth Lakeman. Tickets for the gig at Rook Lane Chapel, Frome, at 7.30pm are £15 adv from 01373 455420, www.cheeseandgrain.co.uk or www.seetickets.com or £17 on the door.
To put the icing on the cake, Lau, who won Best Group at the BBC awards for the third year running, are at the Wiltshire Music Centre in Bradford on Avon on Sunday, February 28, at 7.30pm.
Kris Drever (guitar and vocals), Martin Green (piano accordion) and Aidan O’Rourke (fiddle) combine adventure and fun with technical brilliance and style to bring a unique take on Scottish folk music.
With highly energetic original tunes including the amazing Lau Jigs, interspersed with traditional music and the occasional ballad, their ferocious live performances are like an exhilarating rollercoaster ride.
A typical Lau number sees moody accordion glide into a robust fiddle section, driven on by guitar, before diving headfirst towards a furious jazz improvisation.
Tickets are £16, concs £15, savers £14, under 18s £8, from the box office at Ashley Road on 01225 860100 or www.wiltshiremusic.org.uk.
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