Dylan Fowler, Ian Melrose, Soig Siberil 22/3/2017

A really timely gig this one after a recent trip to Brittany and the madness that is Brexit. An acoustic guitar gig featuring three Celtic guitarists one from Wales, one from Scotland and one from Brittany. Each was worthy of seeing in their own right but together it was pretty mesmeric at times with fingers whizzing over fretboards and notes picked with perfect timing. Instinctively I liked the Breton's style and music best as each tune was led by one or the other with the others typically proving harmony and support. I particularly liked the appropriately titled 'Le Mascaret' (The Tidal Bore) which featured a lot of hammering on with the right hand. At the end they did a cover of 'Albatross' which reasonably I see is called 'Albatross/Seagull' on their CD. Beautifully executed this was decades of practice and experience condensed into an hour and a half of delightful guitar.

Edwina Hayes 11/3/2017

I discovered fairly late in the day that Edwina Hayes was playing locally at a Chepstow folk club. Having seen her a couple of times before I was delighted to catch her so close by. She seems to gig regularly without ever receiving the attention she deserves both for her voice and for the songs she writes. There was a support of local folky Johnny Marsden who had lots of supporters in the hall and who did a short set of five songs. Edwina went through a mixture of her own songs and lots of covers - including three Richard Thompson songs which is a big plus as far as I am concerned. For the record they were 'from Galway to Graceland', 'Down where the Drunkards Roll' and 'Waltzing's for Losers', a great trio of songs to pick. Of her own songs she did 'Leave a Light on for You, 'Season of Love', 'I won't Say Your Name' and a couple I hadn't heard, one written for her aunt and one written in the style of Kate Rusby which immediately followed a Kate Rusby cover. Edwina was very chatty and the evening had a nice ambience which was somewhat spoiled by the two muppets who ran the folk club. They loved being on stage and overran the interval by 20 minutes thereby curtailing the performance just before Edwina got to my request of something from 'Desire'. She had kindly agreed to do 'Sarah' but as it was one of the last requests it got cut off. The encore with Johnny Marsden was the delightful 'Speed of the Sound of Loneliness' followed by 'Mr Tambourine Man'. A good way to finish

Laura Marling 9/3/17

This is the third time I've seen Laura Marling despite never having listened to her recorded music. The first two times she was supporting Neil Young and whilst I was 'meh' the first time in 2009 I really enjoyed the 2016 set so I came to see her headline. The support was Ethan Johns, an outgoing singer-songwriter who played as part of a trio featuring Laura Marling's bassist and an excellent fiddle player Jo something. Ethan was an ex- Emmylou musician and a a prominent record producer. His songs were OK, the fiddle player added some real interest to the songs. Laura played with bassist, guitarist, drummer and two backing vocalists. I didn't really know any of the stuff but I gathered she played the new album a lot in the first half of the set. The chord progressions were interesting and unusual, the singing confident and subtle and her guitar playing very strong and good. I was immediately on board as the opening song had strong hints of Kate Bush in it but in general the songs were original and interesting. The latter part of the show included older stuff judging from the audience reaction. I liked her and I liked her songs - time to take the plunge and buy some CDs.

Albert Lee - 7/3/2017

Albert Lee is well into his 70s but looks and plays a lot younger. His trademark style, fast and precise pickin' is absolutely still there and he hides behind no second guitarists nor messes with changing guitars or tuning between tracks. He just stands up names the songwriter for his next song and then lets loose. The band for this show was a relatively new band in that it has been going a couple of years featuring J T Thomas on keyboards and Will McGregor on bass with a young stand-in drummer for the UK tour. J T Thomas had a great style - sometimes veering towards Chris Stainton and other times more Billy Preston. He complimented Albert's guitar superbly. Albert came on precisely at 7:30pm and was finished by 9:30 after a little over 90 minutes of solid fast-paced music. His singing was also strong and good and the gig really bounced along. He started with an old classic 'I'm Ready' and a couple of bars in threw in a little perfectly timed slide that for me set the tone for the set. The next track was a piece of Americana - 'Two Step Too' and then he upped the tempo with a Carl Perkins song 'Restless' and then the first of two Gram Parsons covers - 'Wheels'. A little later in the set he also covered 'Luxury Liner' and that was simply magnificent -mesmeric flowing guitar on a classic song cover. Other highlights for me were a Jimmy Webb song ' Highwayman' which Albert played on keyboards as he did for a few songs and 'Tear Stained Letter' (Richard Thompson). This last song was perfect for Albert's style, fast-paced and rhythmic which style, of course, Richard Thompson also does from time to time. He finished the main set of course with 'Country Boy' - always a joy to hear live. The encore was a slower paced, keyboard cover of a Glen Cambell song 'A Better Place. and then to finish we had 'Tear It Up' back to rock and roll to finish. This was the first time I had seen Albert Lee fronting his own band and the first time for several decades I had heard him live. I am still marvelling at how good it was - an uplifting experience.