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Jiva's Blog

bring your family... bring your friends... spread the word...

A quick reminder about a couple of jiva gigs in the region over the next week or so.

Saturday 28 November from 7:30 pm - Netherton NE65 7EZ
=============================
Jack Wilkinson runs a great folk club in the Memorial Hall of this little village in Northumberland. In addition to topping the bill as guest artists that night we've also chosen to have our 'official' debut CD album launch there too! And, naturally, there'll be floor spots from club residents and visitors alike as well as the… Continue

Posted on November 21, 2009 at 2:04pm —

jiva CD 'Best Friends' Now Available

We're pleased to announce that our CD 'Best Friends' is now available! You can see the track list, listen to extracts, link to lyrics and background info, and even buy it from our website at www.jiva.co.uk/cd.htm - and naturally we'll carry a few with us when we're out performing.

The 'official' launch will be our guest night at Netherton Folk Club on Saturday November 28th at Netherton Memorial Hall. Normal folk club admission charges… Continue

Posted on November 6, 2009 at 11:12pm —

New jiva tracks uploaded

Cover of jiva CD 'Best Friends'

We've uploaded three songs - one old favourite ('All Day Every Day') and two tracks ('Best Friends' and 'When') from our debut CD 'Best Friends' which will soon be released (hopefully early November 2009).

You can reserve an advance copy or find out more from our websit… Continue

Posted on October 19, 2009 at 10:30pm — 1 Comment

jiva Blogs Updated - We're Back!

Raring to go... zzz... zzz... zzz.

Posted on August 29, 2009 at 1:47am —

jiva Blogs Updated - USA Trip Part 5

We've added a few new blogs at www.jivauk.blogspot.com - and they are also at the bottom of our profile page here on the Folk Show community ning... they cover the time we spent with Steve & Kristi Nebel in Tacoma (Washington state), the hospitality they extended to us, the places and people we visited and the fun we had.

A super ending to a truly wonderful trip... never to be forgotten.

Thanks, Steve & Kristi

Much love from… Continue

Posted on August 27, 2009 at 7:19am —

jiva's Videos

jiva - "One More Song" at Seaton Delaval Arts Centre

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jiva - Wedding 12 August 2009

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jiva - Different Dreams - Sleekburn Big Folk Gathering 2009

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jiva's Discussions

jiva's Events

jiva at Netherton Folk Club and CD launch

November 28, 2009 from 7:30pm to 11pm – Netherton Memorial Hall
jiva at Croxdale Folk Club

December 1, 2009 from 8:30pm to 11pm – Daleside Inn

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on Monday

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bring your family... bring your friends... spread the word...

on Saturday

jiva added 2 events

jiva at Netherton Folk Club and CD launch on November 28, 2009 from 7:30pm to 11pm
jiva at Croxdale Folk Club on December 1, 2009 from 8:30pm to 11pm

November 15

jiva might attend ACOUSTICA's event

ACOUSTICA at The Bridge Folk Club, Newcastle at The Bridge Hotel

November 23, 2009 from 8pm to 11pm

We are guest performers for the evening at one of the region's most prestigious and historic folk clubs. Home to 'The High Level Ranters', and host to many legendary folk and roots artistes, we are really looking forward to this event.

November 15

Nancy K Dillon and jiva are now friends

November 13

jiva added 3 photos

November 12

jiva added a blog post

jiva CD 'Best Friends' Now Available

November 6

More About jiva

a gentle blend of acoustic guitars
and vocal harmony

Website: www.jiva.co.uk MySpace: www.myspace.com/jivauk

In addition to our scheduled appearances directly below, we regularly pop in to residents nights and singarounds to do the occasional floor spot. You can see what else we've been up to by reading our blogs underneath our Comment Wall below or at www.jivauk.blogspot.com.

Scheduled Performances

28 November 19:30
Netherton Folk Club, Netherton Memorial Hall:
Main act
And official launch of our CD 'Best Friends'

30 November 13:45
The Gables, Bedlington:
Private performance

01 December 20:30
Croxdale Folk Club, Daleside Arms:
Main act

03 December 13:45
Beachville, Newbiggin:
Private performance

07 December 19:00
Bishop FM Radio 105.9:
Studio guests on Folk Show

26 February
Anthony John Clarke
Songbook Launch Concert
Fisher More Hall, Woolton Road, Liverpool:
Special Guests

18 March 16:30
MIND Active celebration
Private performance

17 April
St George's Church Hall, Morpeth
Christian Aid Concert

14/15/16 May various
Clennell Hall Folk Festival, Alwinton
Marquee and bar spots

jiva's Photos

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Comment Wall (46 comments)

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At 6:06pm on October 14, 2009, CRAIG & WILLOUGHBY said…: Hi V & J, nice to hear from you.
See you when we're in the North-East?
Cheers,
C & B.

At 12:31am on October 9, 2009, Jim Wigfield said…: You busy people. Must be completely blogged out. Now if I had a bit more time ...
Good to read of your travels - here and abroad. What stamina! Keep it up .. oh and thanks for the upload of songs on My Space.

At 6:22pm on September 11, 2009, ACOUSTICA said…: All clicked out... we bet, how many photos did you have to edit? About 4,000? Would love to see your NASA pics sometime, too.

At 6:01pm on September 11, 2009, ACOUSTICA said…: Er maybe the photos need updating..we mean the guitar eye candy... :)

At 6:46am on August 24, 2009, Tim Leaning said…: Pleasure to find you on here.

At 11:40am on August 8, 2009, Tina McKevitt said…: Hi there! Hope you're enjoying the sunshine. Tina x

At 2:03pm on May 18, 2009, Andrew McMillan said…: Hi
Well helinsburgh is about thirty five to fortyfive minute drive from me. Ther are a good numbere of pubs that have open mic nights in the Paisly, Barrhead and Neilston area. If you do make it up north of the border it would nice to say hello. It might be worth your while to see if the Paisley Arts Centre would give you a spot.They have a Paisley Unplugged thing happening most weekends.
However I wish you well with your busy scedule
If you can look up The Skunnered in reverbnation where you can have a listen as to what we are about. AwRaBest Andrew

At 9:28pm on May 8, 2009, Deborah Sears said…: Hello Jimmy & Val.Have a good week-end.:) All the best.

~Deborah~ xxx

At 10:30pm on May 4, 2009, Andrew McMillan said…: Hi Jiva

I have just watched your video

You seem like a lovely couple and I hope your life is as much in harmony as your voices.

If you are ever invited to Scotland (well Glasgow really) I would love to come and see/hear you.
Yes I am happy to count youinto myfriends list.

At 9:51pm on May 3, 2009, Deborah Sears said…: Hello thank you for the friend invite.All the best.

~Deborah~

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jiva Blogs at Blogspot

20-Nov-09 MIND Active

Our fourth visit to this residential care home in Newbiggin. There was a good crowd waiting for us in the lounge and as we got our guitars out and set up we chatted with some of the residents like long lost friends.

A lovely relaxed afternoon and it was great to see them tapping their feet in time to our music. As usual we played two 30-minute spots with a short break for a gargle and tuning of the guitars. We sang:

Love At The Five & Dime (Nanci Griffith)
Two Old Friends (Chris Simpson)
All Day, Every Day (jiva)
Back Home To You (Allan Taylor)
When (jiva)

Then

Dream On (jiva)
Best Friends (jiva)
Different Dreams (jiva)
Some Way Home (jiva)
One More Song (jiva)

There were lots of thumbs up and thankyous from the residents as we left.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
MINDActive website

17-Nov-09 Marian Bradfield at Cramlington Folk Club

Time again for Marian Bradfield - we had received a call earlier in the day from club organiser Keith asking for our help! Could we put Marian up for the night? Well, of course, we were delighed to help out. Marian and her American agent Mike arrived at our house around 5pm and after some chat and quick dinner it was off to Cramlington in one car.

Usual format for a guest night - two floor spots with 4 songs each before Marian's first set and then after the obligatory raffle in the break on again with 2 songs apiece and then final set from the guest.

Marian was on good form tonight with Mike doing her sound for her so a well earned rest for resident soundman Dave Page. All too soon the night came to an end and after shouts for 'More' Marian duly obliged and we all went home happy after a great night.

A few glasses of wine when we got home, more chat and then off to bed after a very long and good day.

Marian is often referred to as "Ireland's best kept secret"... very appropriate, very apt. She's not yet a household name, but she ought to be - her writing and singing are great... professional, entertaining, heartfelt and warm with that certain Irish twinkle to top it all off. And she's a lovely person too. We look forward to catching up with her again.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Cramlington Folk Club website
Marian Bradfield website

10-Nov-09 Croxdale Folk Club

Antoher singers night at Croxdale Folk Club. Thanks again to Terry Ferdinand for being the audience. Performers were us, Gary Wingfield, John and another John and his wife and Michael Woods.

Gary set things rolling with everyone getting two songs. For our first two we played, at the request of the first John, 'Love At The Five & Dime' (Nanci Griffiths) followed by the title track of our new CD 'Best Friends'. Next time round we did 'Jimmy's Song' (Allan Taylor) and our own 'All Day, Every Day'. We finished the night with 'Back Home To You' (Allan Taylor) and 'One More Song' (jiva).

In between songs there was plenty of time for chit chat and raffle (no we didn't win) and it was a relaxed evening.

We'll be back at Croxdale on the 1st December when we are the main act - hope to see you there.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Croxdale Folk Club MySpace

09-Nov-09 Hugh and Katy Moffatt in Castleford

We picked up a thread from Maggie Gee on Facebook (thank you Maggie) that Hugh and Katy Moffatt (brother and sister) singer songwriters from the USA were to be in Castleford and we just had to make the trip down there. It was a 2 hour and a bit drive but worth every mile.

We had first come across Hugh Moffatt when we were at a songwriting workshop in Germany in 2006 with Allan Taylor. One of the attendees (Arno from Germany) sang the song 'Jack and Lucy' especially for us - he was reminded of it by our story... and we just loved it! And yes, they did do the song on Monday night and it was wonderful.

It was a superb night all round. Katy did a set with Hugh coming on for the last two songs, then Hugh did his set with Katy coming on for the last two songs and then they did a set together as well. So it was 11:30pm by the time we left for the long drive home but we were happy.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace

08-Nov-09 Marian Bradfield at Guisborough Folk Club

Back again after only a week but this time to see their guest, Irish singer songwriter, Marian Bradfield. We had first seen her at Cramlington Folk Club last year and vowed we would be sure to try and and see her every time she was nearby - she was great. We bumped into her outside and she was surprised and delighted to see us there and we had a good 'chin wag'.

The night began with some floor spots, we were on after the MC and did 'Two Old Friends' (Chris Simpson) and our own 'Best Friends' (the title track from our new CD). After a few more floor spots it was time for the guest's first set. No PA, just her and her guitar... lovely... and she even recounted the audience the story of our wedding at Taylor Guitars and dedicated a song just to us!

Then there was the break and the obligatory raffle, a few more floor spots and then Marian's second spot.

Too soon the evening was over, it was a grand night and very much worth the trip. And the good news is she's on at Cramlington on the 17th so we'll get to see her again soon.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Guisborough Folk Club website

06-Nov-09 jiva CD 'Best Friends' Now Available

Happy listening!

Links

jiva website
jiva MySpace

01-Nov-09 Guisborough Folk Club

It's been well over a year since we last made the 120 miles round trip to Guisborough Folk Club, but as soon as we walked in we were treated like long lost friends...

It was a good night with some enthusiastic performances and audience participation. We got two 2-song spots in which we played 'Back Home To You' (Allan Taylor) and 'Different Dreams' (jiva) in the first half followed by 'Some Way Home' (jiva) and 'One More Song' (jiva) for the second spot.

We mustn't leave it so long before we go back again - in fact, we'll be back next week to see Marian Bradfield... and possibly do a floor spot if time permits.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Guisborough Folk Club website

31-Oct-09 Comrades Club, Whitley Bay

Another in the series of Saturday nights of music organised by John Jeffrey.

As always we got there early and had plenty of time to find space for the guitars and even have a bit of a sound check - Gerry Beldon provided PA for the night.

There was a canny turnout with two acts unable to attend being replaced by others who had dropped in 'on the off chance'. It was an eclectic mix ranging through unaccompanied, ukelele, banjo, accordion, harmonica, Northumbrian pipes, whistle and guitars with styles of music covering a diverse range of genres.

People generally kept to their schedules (well done John!) and so by the time we were up as the closing act there was time for four songs allowing us to get the audience smiling and singing to everything we did - verses as well as choruses! We played 'Back Home To You' (Allan Taylor), 'Different Dreams' (jiva), 'Some Way Home' (jiva) and 'One More Song' (jiva).

There were smiles all around and John thanked everyone for a grand night, giving Gerry one more song for bringing his PA.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace

28-Oct-09 Bridge Hotel, Newcastle

MySpace friend and singer songwriter Chris Milner had arranged an evening Folk Concert - a kind of 'meet and greet' of MySpace friends.

Anthony John Clarke and John Leigh had volunteered to be our 'roadies' for the night... we travelled to the gig in their car and they helped load and unload our gear. We had taken our Bose L1 with us for our sound.

On the bill was Phil Graham who started the night. He was followed by Chris Milner, then after the break us, and to finish the night Nigel Beck from Lincolnshire (a singer who plays a mean 6 and 12-string guitar style).

We had to be packed and out of the room by 11:00 pm and it was a bit of a squeeze for time - so, despite calls for an encore we limited ourselves to exactly the allotted 20 minutes... we played: 'Back Home To You' (Allan Taylor), and then our own songs; 'Different Dreams', 'When', 'Some Way Home' and 'One More Song'.

Thanks to Chris for organising the gig - it was good to meet with Nigel for the first time and to re-acquaint ourselves with other MySpace friends too.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace

27-Oct-09 Anthony John Clarke at Cramlington Folk Club

Anthony John Clarke is always popular at Cramlington and there was a good crowd in including friends of ours, John Twist and Yvie Wilkinson and her daughter Haylie and also Terry and Catherine Ferdinand. We're always telling people if you ever get the chance to see Anthony John Clarke then don't miss the opportunity and this was a first for some of them.

Anthony John and his friend John Leigh were staying with us for two nights and we all turned up at the Club in good time for a sound check with John Richardson who was on the sound desk tonight.

In support was us and Geoff Pickard and it was Geoff who kicked off the night with four songs. We followed with four of our own: 'Different Dreams', 'When', 'Some Way Home' and 'One More Song' and it was great to hear the 'Cramlington Choir' gustily joining in on the choruses.

Then it was time for Anthony John's first set and he never disappoints. He was on great form and enjoyed by everyone. At the break there was the obligatory raffle with the prize of a bottle of wine or an Anthony John Clarke CD.

For our two songs in the second half we sang 'Two Old Friends' (Chris Simpson) and our own 'Best Friends'.

Then it was time again for Anthony John and it was a superb second half to the night... no-one wanted it to end. An Anthony John Clarke gig is a special phenomenon... we always come away feeling much refreshed and revitalised.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Cramlington Folk Club website
Anthony John Clarke website

24-Oct-09 Show Of Hands at The Gala Theatre, Durham

What a busy weekend! We had our friends Bob and Jean from Manchester staying with us so there's been a lot of talking, eating and drinking.

But apart from that we made our way over to Durham and spent the day sightseeing and shopping before arriving at the Durham Gala to see Show of Hands (supported by local singer Flossie Malavialle). Bob is currently doing a 16 week course on radio production and he had arranged to do an interview with Phil Beer before the show to ask him about his experience on the Tall Ships Race! Radio Teesdale want to broadcast the interview. That all went very smoothly and Bob was safely in his seat by 19:20 waiting for the show to start at 19:30.

Flossie did a good opening set and then it was on with the show with Phil Beer, Steve Knightly and Miranda Sykes. The did quite a few of the expected songs but also some of their new album 'Arrogance, Ignorance and Greed' . Also with us were our friends Mike and Hazel and we all enjoyed the show.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Show Of Hands website

20-Oct-09 Cramlington Folk Club

It was a singers night at Cramlington and there was a good crowd there - organiser/MC Keith Taylor got things underway at 8:10 pm announcing that the list for performers was now closed as there were already more than enough in the room to easily fill the night.

As always at this club there was a variety of styles (mostly contemporary) and the standard was good - by the time we were on (sixth in the first half) we'd had old time Americana, bluegrass, blues, singer/songwriter, humour, chorus songs, sad songs, jokes... we started with 'Jimmy's Song' (Allan Taylor) and then did 'Yorkshire Romance' (CJ Rowe).

The night carried on with even more variety, some people stepped down to give latecomers a chance to play and the night finished with the customary 'big band everybody playing together' melee.

We'll be back there doing support for Anthony John Clarke next week.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Cramlington Folk Club website

15-Oct-09 Riverside House, Morpeth

Our first visit to this modern residential care home in Morpeth. Val was temping that day for a local firm so had taken her 'jiva' clothes to change into and met Jimmy in the car park at the designated time.

We arrived laden with our guitars and guitar stands to find a a good crowd of women (and only one man!) waiting for us. Like last week at a different care home it was exceptionally warm and we had to wipe brows and remove our gilets early on... thankfully Val had remembered the bottle of water this time!

As usual we played two 30-minute spots with a short break for a gargle and tuning of the guitars.

We sang:

Love At The Five & Dime (Nanci Griffith)
Two Old Friends (Chris Simpson)
Dream On (jiva)
Yorkshire Romance (C J Rowe)
Different Dreams (jiva)

Then:

Back Home To You (Allan Taylor)
When (jiva)
Passin Thru (Randy Scruggs & Johnny Cash)
Some Way Home (jiva)
One More Song (jiva)

We had a great time - one of the residents 'danced' in her chair the whole time and loved us! And we got them singing along heartily to 'One More Song' too. Great stuff!
Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace

13-Oct-09 Prelude at Cramlington Folk Club

It's been a few years since we've seen Prelude, so we took the opportunity to get down to our local folk club for a night of good entertainment.

First support act was Doug Wood who played banjo and sang traditional old American songs. Second support act was Jimmy & Carol who played guitar and double bass while singing bluegrass songs. Both acts were very well received by an enthusiastic Cramlington audience, and created a good atmosphere in readiness for the main act.

Our memories of Prelude had always been of a trio. Following a few line-up changes Irene and Brian Hume had been performing with Chris Ringer for some time - but tonight we were surprised and pleased to find that Ian Vardy had re-joined them, and so we saw Prelude as a four piece band including re-workings of some of Ian's songs in their set-list. From the word go they had the audience on their side as the Cramlington choir raised their voices to add to the well-honed vocals of this obviously professional and experienced act.

All in all a grand night - well done to MC and organiser Keith Taylor.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Cramlington Folk Club website

Prelude website

08-Oct-09 MIND Active

Our second visit to this modern residential care home. It was quite crowded in the lounge (more so than many folk clubs we've seen), and there was an air of quiet expectancy as we set up to play. Boy, it was warm! And we'd somehow managed to forget our usual bottles of water, but staff were on hand to keep us supplied with liquid refreshment.

As usual we played two 30-minute spots with a short break for a gargle and tuning of the guitars. We sang:

Some Way Home (jiva)
When (jiva)
Dream On (jiva)
Yorkshire Romance (C J Rowe)
Sonny (Ron Hynes)

Then

Love At The Five & Dime (Nanci Griffith)
Two Old Friends (Chris Simpson)
Back Home To You (Allan Taylor)
Different Dreams (jiva)
One More Song (jiva)

Afterwards a few of the residents had their photos taken with us - a few smiling faces for their scrapbook!

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
MINDActive website

04-Oct-2009 Amble, wedding celebration

We were really pleased to be asked to play at the wedding celebration of John and Janice who had seen us at the Comrades Club in Whitley Bay. They originally requested the day of the wedding but we were already double booked that day (Ingleton and Morecambe), and they were thrilled that we could do the following day instead when they were having an informal get together at home with friends and family.

What a great day we had - even before we arrived, the emails and phone calls made us feel really welcome. As soon as we got there we were treated like old friends or part of the family... super! There was food and drink a-plenty and we were invited to help ourselves to whatever we wished (we kept to non-alcoholic beverages!).

Playing acoustically in the bay window area of the lounge we decided to do short sets with time in between for food and chat etc. We started with 'Back Home To You' (Allan Taylor), 'Different Dreams' (jiva) and John and Janice's favourite 'Some Way Home' (jiva). Next set was 'Love At The Five & Dime' (Nanci Griffith), 'Two Old Friends' (Chris Simpson), 'Dream On' (jiva), 'Yorkshire Romance' (T J Rowe), and 'When' (jiva). For our last spot we did 'Louise' (Paul Siebel), 'Some Way Home (jiva) again and finished with 'One More Song' (jiva) to leave everyone singing.

Absolutely great! We loved it... and John told us that it would be remembered for years as a really special day... he emailed us to say that everyone thought it was great and were still talking about it... wow!

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace

03-Oct-2009 The Smugglers Den

It was good to be back again at the Smugglers, this time with friends from Blackpool, Penny Black (Pete Skinner and John Bond).

As there's not a great deal of room at the Smugglers, rather than set up our own Bose L1 (Model 2) system, we decided to save space by taking a line out from our Bose ToneMatch mixers to Penny Black's Bose Classic (Model 1). Unfortunately we had a few problems with the sound quality for our guitars and vocals but nevertheless it was an enjoyable evening. There was music all night with us kicking off first, alternating half hour slots with Penny Black finishing off the evening at around 20 minutes past midnight!

By the time we packed the gear into the car (again!) it was late but we drove home and hit the sack around 04:00 am. We had to be up early for an afternoon gig the next day!

For our sets we played:

Set 1

Back Again (Allan Taylor)
Small Town (jiva)
Tommy (Kelly Joe Phelps)
Passin Thru (Johnny Cash and Randy Scruggs)
When (jiva)

Set 2

Love At The Five And Dime (Nanci Griffith)
Two Old Friends (Chris Simpson)
Best Friends (jiva)
Dream On (jiva)
Sonny (Ron Hynes)

Set 3

Back Home To You (Allan Taylor)
An Acquaintance Of Mine (Anthony John Clarke)
Different Dreams (jiva)
Some Way Home (jiva)
One More Song (jiva)

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
The Smugglers Den

03-Oct-09 Ingleton Folk Weekend

We'd had good weather all week in Ingleton but when we woke it was raining, and after breakfast it got even worse - so we got a little wet loading the car with all our gear - Bose L1 system, 4 guitars, suitcase etc! We arrived at the venue, the Ex-Servicemen's, in good time and found Chris Milner (performer and MC for the afternoon concert) was already there setting up his PA system ready for sound check. We had decided to use our own system and Chris was providing the sound for himself, Michelle Holding and Peter and Barbara Snape, the other acts who were to make up the afternoon concert.

By the time the concert started the place was filling up nicely, and the audience were very attentive and appreciative. Each act had been given two slots of 20 minutes each (though some did play a little longer - needless to say jiva kept strictly to the allotted time) and for our first turn we did 'Love At The Five & Dime' (Nanci Griffith), 'Two Old Friends' (Chris Simpson), and then with Jimmy on downtuned 12-string and Val on 6-string we played '4+20' (Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young), finishing with Linda Thompson's 'No Telling'. Then for our second turn, with Val on the 12-string and Jimmy on 6-string throughout , we played 'Back Home To You' (Allan Taylor), 'Different Dreams' (jiva), 'Some Way Home' (jiva) and 'One More Song' (jiva). We could see and hear the audience joining in on the choruses which was great.

It was a smashing afternoon and it was soon time to pack the gear and drive off to Morecambe for our evening gig at The Smugglers Den.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Ingleton Folk Weekend

02-Oct-09 Hale & Hearty Folk Club, Milnthorpe

It was 5 years since we'd last played at the Hale & Hearty and they too had moved venue - but this time to a much bigger room than previously. It was good to meet up again with Frank and Sheila Lewis who run the club and there was a good core of residents tonight with some good songs and craic. We were made to feel very welcome.

The club is run on a singaround basis, round and round till time runs out and we were given two at a time. We had taken only 3 guitars tonight and for our turns we played 'Back Home To You' (Allan Taylor)', 'Different Dreams' (jiva), 'Best Friends' (jiva), 'Dream On' (jiva), 'Some Way Home' (jiva) and 'One More Song' (jiva). It was great to hear them all joining in with the choruses, especially on 'One More Song'.

We'll try not to leave it another 5 years before we visit again.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace

01-Oct-09 Wigan Folk Club

We'd not been to the Wigan club since February 2008 and wondered what had changed since our previous visit - like the Coppull club they've changed venue. They've moved from a massive ballroom sized space to a much smaller room in a small pub. When we arrived with four guitars they decided to move into a slightly larger adjoining room (with pool table in the middle) - it was still cosy and we could put our guitars and stands and cases in the room the club had just vacated! It was indeed very kind of them to do this to accommodate us, and the club still managed to get underway within five minutes of the advertised start time.

Joan runs the club as a very informal singaround in the usual round and round the room as many times as possible until time runs out. As well as guitars, tonight there was a duo both playing ukuleles - some interesting possibilities there!

For our first spot we used two 12-strings (one normal tuning and one with 6th pair dropped to 'D') and performed 'Back Again' (Allan Taylor) and 'Small Town' (jiva). Before it came around to our turn again the pub had laid on soup and sandwiches and goodness knows what else! We politely declined as we thought it would only have been a five minute break while everyone brought back their food and carried on singing... but it was a somewhat lengthier break during which time there was the obligatory raffle (no, we didn't win!). Our second spot was the 12-string and 6-string setup for 'Back Home To You' (Allan Taylor) and 'Different Dreams' (jiva). Then it was two 6-strings for 'Love At The Five & Dime' (Nanci Griffith) and 'Two Old Friends' (Chris Simpson). For our fourth spot it was back to the 6 and 12-string format for 'Some Way Home' (jiva) and 'One More Song' (jiva)... by this time it was well after midnight so Joan called an end to the night and sang 'Wild Mountain Thyme'.

Apart from having to battle against the juke box and some noisy customers in the bar (it's an open plan pub with archways connecting the rooms) it had been a night of some good and interesting music encompassing different styles, genres and abilities. Yet again we drove back to the M6 and headed northwards, arriving at Ingleton at 01:50 am.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace

Wigan Folk Club

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