Special guest this evening was Frankie Archer, who could probably be best described as Electro folk. A native Northumbrian who shared songs from her birthplace accompanied by manipulated samples, synths, drum tracks and fiddle. This evenings thirty five minute set was as much amusing as delightfully engaging and endearing. Songs such as `Guard Your Man Well` a view from the perspective of a miners wife, the testosterone filled `Peacock Follow The Hen` and a new number `Lovely Joan`? had us all mesmerised. This intimate audience were encouraged to partake in a number by holding leads from a device that created soundscapes while holding hands as Frankie sang the song. We also enjoyed a haunting number called `Elsie Manley`.
All good things come to an end and we were left wanting more as this artist left us with `The Bonny Fisherlad` which to me sounded like `Dance To Your Daddy` from the seventies TV series `When The Boat Comes In` but in a techno style. Frankie is back at this venue on 11th October for a full set and on the strength of this evenings show, one not to be missed.
Jim Moray studied at the Birmingham Conservatoire so tonight was a homecoming of sorts. Its been around twenty years since I first saw this experimental folk artist at an open air gig at The Midland Arts Centre in Birmingham not long after the release of his debut album. This evenings show opens with the haunting multi tracked `Lemady` before `Jack O`Hazeldine` is shared, followed by the child ballad `Lord Ellenwater`. The artist said that he would try and sing numbers from his twenty plus career and headed straight into the thoughtful `Lord Douglas`, `Jenny Of The Moor` a captivating listen and a favourite of mine and a new number which I think was `Flora, Lilly Of The Water` with banjo accompaniment.
We enjoy a couple of Staffordshire Morris dancing tunes with `Vandals Of Hammerwich` and `Ring of Bells` where I learnt that a Staffordshire Morris Troupe contains eight participants and that the local area named `Burntwood` derived from the raising by fire of the area of Hammerwich.
The meditative `Lord Franklin` has us spellbound before a newish number `Nightingale`, a work in progress airs and a version of `Spencer The Rover` is offered and will be on a forthcoming album of reworked numbers from across this artists twenty plus year career. Inspiration comes from a variety of sources and while listening to a pod cast `Sounds Of Earth` a number about a 12 inch gold plated copper phonograph disc which contains sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on earth was written. The disc is on the interstellar Voyager probe which transmits data back to earth on its ongoing journey. A last song in honour of where the singer now lives is played with the lament `The Leaving of Liverpool`. The singer-songwriter doesn’t enter into encores but shares a further final number in `Crying`, written and made famous by the Big O, Roy Orbison. This was a captivating and at times emotional eighty odd minutes of stories and songs with references to music scholars Frank Kidson and Cecil Sharp who collected many folk ballads that would otherwise have been lost in time. I read that Jim Moray has suffered abuse for trying to give folk a more mainstream presence but I admire and love the way he pushes the boundaries and interprets these numbers in his own distinct way and style. If you want to catch Jim soon, he will be supporting Richard Thompson on his `Ship To Shore` tour in the next few weeks and has promised that he will return to Birmingham in the New Year. A date that will ensure that the new years starts brightly.
