Let us regale you with our story of our trip to Morley Folk Club.
We set off. We got there. We played. We came home. Nice.
HA! You should be so lucky at such a short blog!
So - old folk tales tell of a music prodigy that came from Morley, that would one day return to put the inhabitants of the town off folk music forever. This prodigy was not Beth, but she went back and put them off folk music forever anyway. She’s a bit like that.
We arrived to a warm welcome in a lovely room with a small stage. While Dean, Katy and Ian unpacked all the instruments and set up the stage Beth wandered around, aimlessly shooting the breeze with anyone that would listen, in a desperate attempt to avoid any sort of work. This worked really well and she was happy and the rest of the band were tired already. She’s a bit like that.
The night starts promptly at 8. For anyone that knew the club when it was run by Keith - the clockwork of it all has certainly been ably up-kept by the wonderful Alan Street.
The night was started with wonderful floor spots by singers and poets alike. We lowered the tone by playing, really, we’re a bit like that.
The whole audience were lovely, singing along to the bits they knew and tapping feet to the bits they didn’t - probably keeping better time than Dean, which we appreciated. Look, we are professionals. To prove this point - half way through the second verse of I Once Loved a Lass - we heard Ian whisper ‘Oh, is this in D?!’. Without us even noticing, he managed to tune his whole banjo down to D, ready to come in at the start of the third verse. Expertly done - he’s a bit like that. You may notice that the whole band has now been mentioned apart from Katy, this is because she is the actual professional of the outfit, spot on, on time, in key, and in the right turning - the glue that holds this broken Lladro figurine together, quietly judging, wondering when she can jump ship and join a band that perhaps, maybe, remembers their own words. She’s a bit like that.
On a serious note - the cost of living is getting to everyone. It was lovely to see a full club, and everyone putting aside those worries to come and join us for a night. The cat was let out of the bag on Tuesday however, and the next gig at Morley Folk will be the last in that venue. The venue itself is closing it doors mid-week and only opening over the weekend as they have seen bills go up seven fold and their business rates re-assessed and increased on top. Morley Folk endeavour to find somewhere else, so the music can go on. This is our plea to please take a chance on a local live music venue. It was £2 to get in on Tuesday - the room was warm and comfortable and it probably would have cost you more to stay at home and heat the house.
Thank you so much for having us, Morley Folk Club, and we will certainly be seeing you again when you reach your next venue.
Love, harmonies, cwtch,
Kootch x