Match fit

It might be urban myth, or it might be a genuine quote from Paderewski the pianist. He claimed, ‘If I miss one day of practice, I notice it. If I miss two days, the critics notice it. If I miss three days, the audience notices it.’ I’m no Paderewski; I’ll never be a...

Swapping songs with Piers Cawley

The very estimable Piers Cawley runs an on-line song swap on Friday evenings. Huge fun, either to watch and listen or as a participant: chat that might amuse, enlighten or just meander, studded with half a dozen songs each. Here are edited highlights of my session...

Bandoggs – Forgotten Favourites #7

An occasional series on buried treasure for the ears The memory haunts me still. 1979, a Friday evening, at The General Elliot in South Hinksey — a folk club that, in the few years I loitered there, foster-parented Jumpleads, Magpie Lane, The Mellstock Band, and...

Moving Hearts – Forgotten favourites #5

I do like a big band. Nothing quite like one for rousing the blood, when the brass section kicks in and the fiddles all march in time. Home Service, Eliza Carthy’s Wayward Band, Salsa Celtica, Bellowhead.  And the Irish one, Moving Hearts. The Hearts came together in...