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Menu Hors d’oeuvre: Andrea Ferguson Main Course: Richard Bircumshaw, Steve Jackson, The Shantymen with Steve Lealand & Toby Harris Mike Steele, Karl Svarc, Bob “Easy” Reid Dessert: Pot-pourri
Andrea gets the evening off to an engaging start with a tale about a wedding that goes hopelessly wrong which she relates through her fine version of the Dixie Chicks’ Tortured, Tangled Hearts”. Andrea continues the theme by describing the aftermath of this imaginary tale through the words of her own “Long Gone”. To round off a lovely, varied spot, Andrea treats us to a long-standing entry on her set list, “Angie Baby”, which was, of course, a hit for Helen Reddy. Richard sets off with his own “Miss You” before following with a superb cover of Davy Graham’s “Angie”. Richard then invites John to accompany him on his auto harp for Dick Burnett’s “Man Of Constant Sorrow”. For those of us of a certain age, memories of a misspent hippy youth come flooding back as Steve, on his Gene Parson’s autographed guitar and accompanied by mouth harp maestro Easy, glides into a lovely, laid-back rendition of Roger McGuinn’s “Ballad Of Easy Rider”. Steve likes to experiment with different arrangements of certain songs. Inevitably not every one works but here is one that certainly does as Steve treats us to a superb bottleneck version of his own “What Was Wrong (You Made It Right)”. To finish off a yet another quality spot, Steve and Easy sound off with Gram Parson’s and Bob Buchanon’s country classic, “Hickory Wind”. Next up are the Shantymen accompanied by Steve L. and Toby on percussion. John’s brought along a banjo-mandolin tonight – just where does he keep all those instruments? – as the boys treat us to a jolly Irish tune, “The Mitchellstown Creamery”, and a couple of Scottish tunes. John and Steve then take us to the break with a rousing shanty, “Can’t You Dance The Polka?” Andrea gets us back on track for the second half with a new composition that’s never had a full outing before, “You Forgot To Say Goodbye”, a song so skilfully crafted and so beautifully delivered, it sounds as if it was made in heaven. Andrea then tries out another new song tentatively entitled “For You”. It sounds full of promise but although it is still really work in progress, you can be sure Andrea will have applied the finishing touches before too long. Mike’s guitar has recently paid a visit to the doctor but for one awful moment it seems there is still a problem. Happily though, all is well and Mike’s soon under way John Fogerty’s bouncy “Proud Mary”. Mike follows with the country ballad, “He’ll Have To Go”. Interestingly enough, Andrea fulfilled a request at her last gig here by performing this Jim Reeves song. Which begs the question – is a future duet on the cards? Now, what an interesting combination that would be! Mike sounds off on a lively note by dedicating Chuck Berry’s “Carol” to his beloved wife. As always, it’s a privilege and a pleasure to welcome Karl down here. He begins with a brand new composition, “Sweet Surprise”, which sounds destined to feature in his band’s set. Karl follows up with another superlative original, the beautiful, poetic “The Dance”. Easy opens with a number he usually performs with the Blues Connection, Sonny Terry’s “Ride And Roll”. With Steve Allen accompanying on his magic spoons and Andrea having a bash on Steve L.’s laptop, Easy looks to be having a whale of a time as the audience sing along with the chorus. Easy then slows things down with Peter Green’s “Need Your Love So Bad” before Andrea and Steve join him again for his own “Blues Man”. To bring the curtain down on another evening of superb entertainment, Karl invites all his friends to join him for a medley of songs including “Got My Mojo Working” and “Rock Me Baby”.
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