5th August 2004

The British Summer - the occasional glimpse of sunshine, thunder and lightning, rain, warm muggy evenings, holidays, some folk clubs closed for August, reduced numbers at others. Ashington is one of the few local clubs that didn't close over the holiday period, but we had everything else mentioned above.

Quieter than we've grown accustomed to, we had a good evening's entertainment - some regulars were elsewhere but we had some new faces too. Comments relating to the effect of the No Smoking policy ranged from 'So where are all these people who said they'd come back?' to 'It's much more pleasant in the room without the smoke'. Time will tell, and the next few months will certainly be interesting.

	1 & 18 For a change jiva started the night with 2 of their own compositions - 'Dream On' and 'One More Song'. They also finished the night with 'No Telling' and 'The Windmills Of Blyth'. Special thanks to Dave Donohoe for looking after the PA while jiva performed.

2, 3, 4 & 11 Ann Sessoms and Alan Bailey played a lovely 3-tune Northumbrian pipes duet. Then Alan played solo ('Rothbury Hills') followed by Ann with 'Mrs Jameson's Favourite' and 2 slip jigs. Ann also delighted us in the 2nd half with 'Owen' and 'Kirk Brae'.

5 Next up was Peter Murphy who hadn't been to the club for many years. He did a great job of 'Joseph Baker' and the classic 'Bogie's Bonnie Belle'.	6 & 15 Back again was our favourite classical guitarist, Alex. 'La Grima' and 'La Paloma' were just beautiful as was his second half 'Romanza'.
7 Fresh from her success at Rothbury, resident poet Ann Lunam-Cowan finished the first half with her prize winning 'Ah'm At An Awkward Age, Me' - great stuff! And, as always, during the break she sorted the raffle for us, an unsung hero indeed.	8 & 14 Bluesman John Campbell started the second half in style with 'No Regrets' and ''Mobile And Texas Line'. We called him back later for another, and he entertained us with 'Come On In My Kitchen'.
9 It's been a few months since we've seen Jack, but he's lost none of his charm, humour or ability. He sang 'They're Hanging Me Tonight' and then , complete with yodelling, 'I Want To Learn To Be A Cowboy'.	10 It's a shame that we don't have a piano as we've seen Hylton tickle the ivories at the Bluestone Folk Club. But, he borrowed a guitar and had us singing along with 'Cushy Butterfield'.
12 &17 Jim had us laughing with 'Dilemma' (a song about retiring and expiring) and then gave us 'Cumulus' (about clouds). He returned with a favourite chorus song 'Wild Mountain Thyme'.	13 & 16 Gentle songs and lovely guitar arrangements as always from Dave Donohoe. His first set included 'Where The Wind Blows' and his own unique take on Ralph McTell's 'Clare To Here'.  He returned with 'Life's Ever Changing Ways'.
11 acts, 18 slots, 26 songs poems and tune sets. Pretty good going for the quiet summer season. Be sure to come along and experience the mix at Ashington Folk Club... Singers, Musicians & Poets Nights on the first Thursday of every month.
Thanks to audience and performers for another smashing night.

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