The Hardraw Gathering

The thick layer of ice on campers’ tents and the frequent snow flurries in Wensleydale may have made folk doubt the truth of global warming, but the warmth generated in the Green Dragon Inn as, in true folky fashion,  we “welcomed in the May” with concerts and sessions at the 1^st May Gathering made up for all the chill outside.

The Gathering opened on Friday evening with a smooth and relaxing set by singer songwriter Daisy Windsor & her performing partner Robert Foster in duo Wytchazle, who were warmly received by a growing audience looking forward to a superlative weekend lineup. This was followed by a stunning set from the prestigious Steve Tilston with a clarity of sound that was incredible thanks to the exceptional quality achieved by Sound Engineers Andy & Ricky (SenseAudio) – and the anticipation for and pleasure in the weekend began to build……

A rousing set by Yorkshire folk club stars Aiken’s Drum picked up the pace of the evening further and the audience particularly enjoyed the a capella rendition of Hal an  Toe to celebrate the approaching summer (!). It was left to Bob Fox to round off the first evening’s concert and he did so in grand style with his velvet voice in fine form and with a range of songs and stories to captivate, amuse and provoke thought in the listeners.

A burst water main cut off the water supply at this point but the beer flowed on and a lively session in the main bar was supplemented by an impromptu “turn” in the side bar with Bob Fox on piano & Ian Fairburn on guitar. As the writer crawled back towards the campsite at 3.15am, the music rang on in the bar and it seemed unlikely that Saturday could top that – had we “peaked too soon”?

Saturday made a gentle start with a quiet morning and dropping temperatures so the log fires in the Green Dragon were welcome. Then the sessions began to spring up around the pub and at 3pm, the charismatic Roger Davies drew a big crowd for what morphed from a Masterclass in Songwriting to a Meet the Artist Session. Master and class members so enjoyed it that it stretched to 2 hours and met with a huge round of applause as we had to draw it to a close to allow Roger a break – what a star!

Second nights are famous for being a let down – but not at the Hardraw May Gathering. Fergusson (from New South Wales) opened the proceedings and hit the floor running with a dynamic, bazouki driven set which combined familiar with self penned numbers and the audience loved him. Regulars on the Yorkshire Folk Club Scene Pat Sherry and Stuart Douglas then took the stage and thrilled the audience with their delivery and special style in a top quality set which included trad, contemporary and self-penned works. We could have listened to them all night…

Then came the rising star of the weekend Roger Davies, who was buzzing throughout his fabulous set which pleased the many fans who attended specially to see him and converted dozens more to his growing fan base – no one wanted him to stop, but thankfully he had another slot lined up for Sunday morning (would anyone bother to get out of bed for that???).

To end the evening, we were disappointed that Vin Garbutt was only just touching down at Heathrow but Chris Sherburn & Denny Bartley provided just as much passion in their music and hilarity in between (including a fair few Vin jokes and impressions!) so nobody minded too much – in fact they were the “silver lining in our volcanic ash cloud”! After their terrific set, we drifted into the bar to find Pat & Stuart in a big folky session in one bar, a bluegrass and tune based session in another, and a fabulous “Oompah band” in another!!! The writer again drifted back to the campsite after 3am and could not believe that the second evening had actually managed to top the first…

Day dawned even colder on Day 3 but Roger Davies proved such an incentive, the log fire in the main bar was surrounded by 11am as Roger lead and joined in a brilliant singaround which continued ‘til 2pm as Fergusson took over when Roger had to leave. All thoughts of Kwame D playing at the Bandstand had gone out of the window when we checked the weather forecast so they set up in the bar (& via speakers, drifted out to the beer festival and barbecue) and played their “now for something completely different “ set throughout the afternoon. A soulful/reggae/world music sound might not have seemed appropriate for a folk festival but their party rhythm and sunshine atmosphere thrilled a big crowd who sang and danced along with them (catch some of their set on Youtube). And for those who preferred the traditional side of a folk festival, the Young’uns had arrived early & were contributing to a wonderful session in the side bar.

Could we maintain this impetus through a third and final evening concert??? Yes; and more!!! Despite a delayed start for complex sound checking, the audience were beginning to feel like pals by now and chatted happily as they queued for favourite seats and Tim O’Connor together with his friend David Thom and (our special “session” fiddler Seonaidh Matheson for a couple of numbers) set the night off with a lively and classy set.  Then the “official” set from a capella & Maritime specialists from Hartlepool: The Young’uns. It is not just their brilliant harmony singing that greets the audience but you cannot avoid being drawn into the happy relationship the guys enjoy & feel uplifted by their joie de vivre and the patter which intersperses their every performance.

Then comes another “rising star”, Rosie Doonan, accompanied by her Snapdragons who themselves are top quality performers and musicians in their own right. She always draws in her audience to her captivating music. She may not be classifiable as pure Folk with a capital F but she won over this folky audience totally and again, the performance was enhanced by the amazingly good sound quality which suited the instrumentation such as the cello so very well. After such a popular act, only a “turn” from the Newcastle Fiddler himself; Tom McConville could take us up another gear. It must have been the most award winning and nominated band in the country as he was accompanied by Phil Murray, David Newey & Shona Kipling and every second of their set fulfilled the highest expectations that such a band could induce in an audience. The sound quality   (sorry to go on about it) was astonishingly good and the wonderful music was utter bliss and certainly gave this listener goosebumps – totally brilliant!

By this time, the audience was in danger of suffering an overdose of top class music – nothing surely could beat what we had already heard? Were folk tired? Would they go to bed??? Thankfully not, because the Doonan Family Band provided spectacle, humour and even more excellent music to provide a stupendous finale to the formal part of the Gathering. Frances Doonan added passion (& sparkle) with her dancing, and Mick Doonan gave the sound team a panic attack when he produced on stage a saxaphone that he had not mentioned earlier(!) but Phil Murray (again), Kevin Doonan & Stu Luckley gave us another show stopping performance that left the audience stunned at the quality of the 3 days entertainment which had been provided for them by the Waterfallprovider, D Mark Thompson…

Not that it ended there – sessions continued in full swing (and with the benefit of several award winning musicians and singers) until the cockerel was crowing and a sunnier but even colder day had dawned around 5am.

And it didn’t even end there – by mid Monday morning, the main bar was ringing to the sound of a singers’ session with local singers and the Young’uns in good voice.

It is unlikely that anyone present, whether artist, crew or audience, would describe the 1^st Hardraw May Gathering as anything less than BRILLIANT! We only hope that the Landlord and Waterfallprovider will give us another one next year…

And do check the website for pics… www.hardrawgathering.co.uk

Cheers & Happy Gatherings!   Sue Lynes

Future events at the Green Dragon include a charity singaround weekend on 14 – 16 May 2010 & the regular Summer Gathering on 23^rd – 25^th July 2010.