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December 2008...Heavy snowfalls (okay--heavy to us wimpy Westcoasters!) and icy temperatures made rehearsals and performances a challenge from the middle of the month. Whereas we normally breeze through winter with a few centimeters of snow and a handful of nights with minus freezing temperatures, this year the thermometer stubbornly stayed below zero, and the snow fell thick and didn't melt away within 24 hours. The morning after the first snowfall, I started off with a fender-bender in which another car simply slid in front of me, causing me to ram into its side. Luckily, I was going very slowly, no one was hurt, and the damage to my van was minimal.
Photo by Steve Britten	After one late evening gig, I found myself driving the 40 k home in what the radio described as blizzard conditions. I prayed that my good old van would make it through and that no one would crash into me. As my windshield wipers began to make shorter and shorter arcs due to the ice forming on the edges of the window and the heating sytem proved inadequate to the challenge of keeping the inside surface warm enough to melt the ice and snow, my field of vision shrank to the dimensions of a tank peephole. Perhaps it was just as well that I didn't have any peripheral vision, so that I didn't see all the cars abandoned at the sides of the roads and numerous accidents along the way. After two hours of white-knuckle driving and maniacally singing along to the radio to keep myself from screaming, I finally pulled into my garage. What we do for music!
On December 9 (before the snow hit), we appeared on the CJSF radio program Melodies in Mind performing seasonal folkie tunes, including the Gloucester Wassail. To hear a recording from that evening, click on the button below.

November, 2008... After six months of serious rehearsals and a number of performances, and following some wistful comments about having time to just enjoy music for a change, we agreed to "take November off" to experiment with some new tunes and relax. Sadly, this was not to be, as no sooner had we sworn not to accept any gigs in November, than we were booked for several Christmas parties in December and we had to spend our "time off" immersing ourselves in seasonal music. Naturally, one client specified no religious songs and another insisted the performance should be only religious songs! Somehow, we found a balance that worked for everyone, covering a wide variety of material from the pre-15th century Coventry Carol to--yes--Rudolph (Steve says there are some wicked chords in Rudolph, so he was happy!) Steve also took on a solo gig playing music for an autumn wedding (see very snazzy photo at right).

Photo by Mark Hutchinson

August, 2008...We had a glorious sunny day for our second appearance at the BC Renaissance Festival, held in Fort Langley this year. Bigger, better, and even more entertaining, the second festival included workshops on quarterstaff fighting for the average person in the street, falconry, and a more successful jousting display than last year (the horses were far more cooperative!). We look forward to watching this fun family event continue to grow in the coming years.
One of the new songs we added to our repertoire for the festival is a delightful traditional song with a slightly bawdy twist to it. Click on the link below to listen to a demo recording of The Fair Maid of Islington.

Photo by Mark Hutchinson	July, 2008...Summertime means farmers markets and there seems to be more and more of these popping up around the Lower Mainland. Ambleside, Lonsdale Quay, Burnaby, Steveston...we've been playing our share. Somehow, the weather never seems to cooperate when we are sheduled to play; at Ambleside in mid-June, the temperatures were so low and the wind so chilly that Steve's frozen fingers could barely play guitar and we were pathetically grateful to our friends who kindly plied us with hot drinks to keep us going. At Burnaby in July, the rain drizzled on and off throughout the day and we had to lay down a plastic sheet to keep the instruments dry. Such are the joys of outdoor performing.
The up side is the personal interaction with the people passing by, who often stop to chat about their favourite tune, and the wonderful merchants who are out there sharing whatever the weather decides to dump on us that day. We salute those who are striving to make a living with small, local farms and businesses. I recently attended a reading by Barbara Kingsolver from her latest book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, in which she pointed out that small farmers are very dependant on their summer/fall season sales, as often the bulk of their yearly funds comes in during that time. In the winter, they may not be able to grow anything or have much income, so we really need to support them at these seasonal markets.

	May/June, 2008...We started off the summer season with two charity performances, first at the Canadian Cancer Society's Relay for Life Vancouver, then at the Walk for ALS in Surrey. The Relay for Life was held in the Beatty Street Drill Hall of the BC Regiment, a huge interior space quite different from the small, intimate venues we're used to. Fortunately, we had a couple of great technicians to make sure our sound filled that space in a good way. After all, it's important that everyone should be able to hear all of my mistakes loud and clear!
	In both cases, we were there to inspire and motivate the walkers, but found ourselves moved and inspired by the stories of the people whose lives have been touched by these diseases. We were honoured to be able to perform for such courageous individuals, and to have a tiny part in raising funds and awareness for both groups.

Photo by Eric Wong.

November 6, 2007...Along with fellow Vancouver Folk Song Society members Simon Trevelyan, Allison Campbell, and Peggy Stortz, we participated in a program of peace songs from the folk tradition on CJSF's “Melodies in Mind.” All of us crammed into the little CJSF studio to do some great group songs and solo numbers. Now if we could just get host Ryan Fletcher to sing along....
You can find a link to “Melodies in Mind's” MySpace on our Links page.
To hear all of us singing Les Sullivan's moving song, Jutland, click on the button below. Les Sullivan's MySpace is also on our links page.

Photo by Harry Ruck.	October 17, 2007..It was a stormy evening, reminding us of how good it is to be snug and warm in a cozy place with friends and music when it’s dark, cold, and wet outside, and performing a concert at the Vancouver Folk Song Society was the perfect way to fend off the autumn weather. We were thrilled to have Henry Vaughan and Betty McBurney join us on Galway Shawl and Those Were the Days, playing concertina and flute/penny whistle, respectively. One of the things that Steve and I enjoy most is jamming with other musicians to hear how various instruments and voices blend. This collaboration arose from a casual music session at the VFSS weekend retreat where so much exciting folk music happens twice a year.
To learn more about the retreats, visit our Links page and follow the link to the VFSS website. To hear part of that evening’s performance of Galway Shawl, click on the button below.

Photo by Bob Stradling	August 16, 2007..The Steveston Folk Guild hosted us for a one-hour feature concert at their delightful historic venue in the Britannia Heritage Shipyard. What a pleasure to perform a program of all folk material for an appreciative audience. When you're presenting a long story ballad, it's vital that the audience be tuned in from the opening words to the closing notes, or they're not going to understand the story or enjoy the song. In many venues, people just aren't that interested in the music or in this type of music, or they're busy chatting with a companion, or they're walking by, in the case of busking performances, so these powerful songs never get a chance to be properly heard.
Our thanks to the SFG audience for supporting music that takes more than 3 minutes to unwind. Dave McArthur does a sterling job of organizing and promoting these monthly folk evenings that also include a hour of open-stage performances before the feature. You'll find the SFG on our Links page. As we've had some requests to provide songlists from our performances, we're posting the SFG list. Click on the button below to access it.

Photo by Eric Wong.	August 7, 2007..Our first foray into live radio on CJSF's “Melodies in Mind” folk music program was exciting and scary for me (though maybe not quite so much for Steve, as he's an old pro on the airwaves and was übercool about the whole thing). With great dexterity, I at least managed not to put my foot in my mouth during the interview part of the show and aside from a series of highly unnecessary “ums” and “ahs,” didn't do anything idiotic. There's something about hearing yourself talk on radio that makes you want to stick your head under a rock somewhere. Boy, do I have a funny accent and I never knew it!
The other two performers with whom we shared the songcircle that evening—Melissa Endean and Robb Johannes—are both talented young singer/songwriters and the contrast between their very contemporary and topical songs and the traditional music we performed demonstrated beautifully the breadth of what “folk music” encompasses. To hear a clip from that broadcast, click on the button below.

Photo by Mark Hutchinson.

July 28, 2007..Steve and I performed two sets of traditional folk music at the first B.C. Renaissance Festival in Aldergrove. The festival itself was a quite a spectacle, what with lords and ladies, wandering wenches and armoured knights in attendance, as well as costumed actors presenting a lively story line throughout the day. It's a different experience to be interrupted in the middle of performing by a gang of pirates roughly escorting the town sheriff to the stocks! Luckily, we minstrels were treated with kindness by the local villagers and they did not run us out of town as worthless vagrants. I loved the incongruity of ladies in flowing gowns from the 1500s stepping up to the on-site ATM to obtain some gold pieces so that they could buy lunch. For more pictures from this event, see our photo page. If you're interested in more information on the festival, click on their logo below or visit our Links page.

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