18 September 2016

Music

My quizzing friend Mike is the leader of a folk trio called Dogwood Rose. The other members are Judy and Kiri. They had a gig last night in the function room of my local pub so Shirley and I went along to see them. In the past few years I have watched them perform several times.

Their repertoire has emerged  from an area of folk music that Mike likes to call "Americana". For example, they do a version of Neil Young's "Like a Hurricane" and that's probably my favourite number from their playlist. However, I couldn't find a good video version of it on the internet so instead I have chosen to share their version of "Emmylou" by a Swedish band called First Aid Kit. Last year Dogwood Rose were performing it at a cafe in Nether Edge - one of Sheffield's leafy suburbs.
Mike is an accomplished guitarist, arranger and singer and I admire him for his continuing passion for the music he loves. It takes guts and resilience to stick with it through the years. Believing in the music when there's so much unpleasantness in human society. In the band's last number last night, not one but two of his guitar strings broke but he soldiered on cheerfully, supported by Kiri and Judy's beautiful vocal harmonies and Kiri's awesome fiddle playing.

Everyone who was in attendance enjoyed the two part concert tremendously and afterwards it was nice to chat with Mike over a pint as he "wound down" before going home. Bravo Dogwood Rose! Bravo!

12 comments:

  1. It's easy to understand everyone enjoyed the concert. They're wonderful. I'd love to have heard some of the fiddle, too. I love fiddle. Good, basic, pure music.

    (But then, being the curious person I am...I went into YouTube and found them doing "Like a Hurricane" along with the fiddle).

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    1. Unfortunately I do not have the internet prowess that you possess Lee so I could not find "Like a Hurricane" by Dogwood Rose... or maybe I judged the recording to be slightly inadequate.

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  2. Wonderful to hear and see a group still performing true folk music. Acoustic! No electrical cords or wires. Awesome.

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    1. They do have a sound system but it wasn't needed in the setting of that intimate cafe.

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  3. First Aid Kit are Swedish??! You learn something new every day. On listening to them I thought they were as American as Dolly Parton.

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  4. There's nothing like local performers who never give up!

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    1. is it true that you are the drummer for an old timers' rock band called Reds Under The Beds?

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  5. Anonymous5:26 pm

    Folk music perfomances in local pubs, another reason why I love your country!

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    1. Yes. You can still find this Kaki - even though many local pubs have been shutting down in recent years.

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  6. I used to love folk groups in pubs when I was young and Liverpool and the surrounding area was full of them: I was a member of The Spiners folk club for a while. The last time I heard a pub group was in Callander a few years ago. There is definitely something very intimate and enjoyable about what I call 'pub music' and I'd certainly go and see Dogwood Rose.

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    1. My late brother Paul went to Liverpool Polytechnic in the sixties and visited The Spinners' Triton folk club a few times. Was The Spiners folk club for people with back injuries?

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