I’m doing a couple of gigs with Other Theresa at the Letyonstone Festival this week.

We have a preview of our Edinburgh Fringe show “A Bit of the Other” at The Sheepwalk, 692 High Road Leytonstone this Thursday the 16th.

Doors open at 8:00 and the show includes some special guests familiar to club regulars – Alan Neville and Simon Vogel. Admission is free.

We’re also supporting “4 Poofs and a Piano” the next night at The Heathcote Arms, 344 Grove Green Road, E11 4EA.

For those who don’t know Theresa is a Walthamstow based performance poet kind of like Victoria Wood but with swearing! I do the music.

Would be great to see you there.

The next session is this Tuesday the 14th kicking off at 8:00pm

As always admission is free.

It’s the last one before September so be sure to turn out and make it a good one!

Local councils have complained that they are struggling to halt the increasing popularity of late night clubs offering Table Morris Dancing.

Read more here…

http://www.newsbiscuit.com/2009/07/09/councils-powerless-to-prevent-surge-in-table-morris-dancing-321/

Just got this sad email from George Papavgeris.

“Our friend, mentor, long time resident and president of Herga Folk Club is no more. True to his muse to the end, he had a fatal heart attack while on tour in Poland on Sunday 5th July. Our thoughts now are with Joyce and with Johnny’s family. We will post more relevant information as it becomes available.

The Big Fellow has gone. His voice is still.
But not in our hearts.
‘…Haul away to heaven God be at my side…’”

Very sad news.

Well we finished off this years program with a great Futureproof last Sunday.

Thanks to all our guests, to everybody who’s given us a floorspot and everyone who’s come along this year. It’s a real privilege to be part of such a wonderful little club.

The autumn season is almost sorted and I’ll be updating the website with all the details shortly.

In the meantime here’s a rundown of the guests we have lined up for  first couple of months of the Autumn season…
6th September 2009:  Damien Barber & Mike Wilson
13th September 2009:  Dana & Susan Robinson
20th September 2009:  Robb Johnson
27th September 2009:  Hunter Robertson
4th October 2009:  Bill Caddick
11th October 2009:  Rubens Train
18th October 2009:  Mawkin:Causley
25th October 2009:  Duck Soup
1st November 2009:  Pete Morton
8th November 2009:  The Expatriate Game
15th November 2009: The Askew Sisters
22nd November 2009:  Will Kaufman presents Woody Guthrie – Hard Times and Hard Travellin

We also have an exciting Summer Special coming up – again, details will appear here shortly.

Have a great summer and don’t forget the next session on July 14th.

I’m currently putting the finishing touches to the Autumn program and I still haven’t filled the 29th November, which just happens to be St Andrews day.

Now I don’t usually do Saints or Countries but I guess it would be nice to have someone appropriately Scottish for that evening.

However nobody springs to mind so how about some suggestions?

Bear in mind that all the really well known artists will have had this day booked for years!

Any thoughts?

Here’s the rather strange and beguiling version of Cyril Tawny’s classic “Sammy’s Bar” that Kevin was talking about at the club last night.

Apparently it’s from “Flipping the Whale” (2000), written and directed by Sean Guinan, produced by Joshua Eckhardt and Sean Guinan. With Eddie Shin (Gilmore Girls, Dr. Miracles), Amy Bakos and Sean Guinan. The song was written by Cyril Tawney and recorded by the Golden Ring, a short-lived Chicago folk group from the early 70s.

One of the frustrations of trying to promote music in this borough is the lack of decent venues. This is especially annoying when the councils halls have been quite consciously priced out of the range of amateur promotions like the folk club.

With that in mind this report from the local paper seems quite encouraging…

WALTHAM FOREST: Council in hall hire u-turn

THE COUNCIL will slash hall hire charge fees again in a further admission that increased charges have driven community groups away.

The cabinet will on Wednesday rubber-stamp a new charging policy for Walthamstow and Chingford Assembly halls, which would see the cost of commercial and community hire for arts and entertainment on Friday nights halved.

The measure, which follows a decision to allow groups to apply for price reductions, is the latest attempt to try and attract groups back to the halls.

A cabinet report, signed off by arts cabinet member Geraldine Reardon, said: “The introduction of reduction by application ensures that valued cultural and community activities for peak time use can be offered at an affordable cost.

“However the evidence of council services relocating conferences to alternative venues suggests that, at least within this market, the halls remain overpriced for off-peak use.”

The council provoked fury two years ago when it sharply increased hall charge hire fees.

Weekday fees at Chingford Assembly Hall quadrupled, Walthamstow Assembly Hall’s nearly doubled and weekend day rates were replaced by a more expensive blanket fee of £336.

Yvonne Bailey, who founded youth group Kreative Culture Klub, was forced to hold the group’s annual acclaimed awards Young, Gifted & Black awards ceremony on a Tuesday night because the Friday fee had gone up to £3,000.

She said: “I am pleased the council has now reduced the rates, they were far too expensive for groups like ours and we may look to hire it out more often now.”

A council report on halls pricing found that a consquence of the 2007 inflation-busting price hike was a “reduction in cultural and community use.”

Cllr Matt Davis, Conservative group leader, said: “Both the Conservative group and the scrutiny committee warned that the price increases would lead to a loss in usage, and that is exactly what has happened, particularly in Chingford.

“It is a council policy decision, it is more interested in spending money on oppressing residents rather than on community facilities.”

The policy of allowing groups to apply for a reduction, which the council says brought in an extra £7,011 last year, has also proved controversial.

Applicants need to convince the council that their hire of the hall contributes to “council priorities”, leading to claims from opposition councillors that the issue of hall hire is being politicised.

The word legend is thrown around all to easily these days but if anyone deserves to be called one it’s got to be Pete!

Here’s to the next 90 years!

If you look at the main menu bar above you’ll see we’ve added a new page for our monthly sessions.

It’s got lots of information and a link to our tunebook which now has a nice cover and everything!

The session has proved to be a big success and we’d like to say thank you to everybody who’s helped out.

The next on is on Tuesday 12th.