Folked up
An evening at the Islington Folk Club
I’d just sat down and was about to get out my book when the soft wheezing of squeeze boxes drifting down the stairs reminded me I’d come to The Horseshoe for a purpose. Walking upstairs, the lilting melodies sounded like English folk music and the odd snatches of “wassail” from the singer confirmed it. This was definitely the Islington Folk Club.
After paying the entry fee and writing down my details on an indexing card, I’m a fully paid up member and entering a world of beards, real ale and, in early January, of wassailing. On the stage sit about 10 men playing a variety of instruments, including three or four squeeze boxes, a guitarist, a fiddler, a round Irish bodhrán drum, and a man with a huge black saxophone thing – a bass clarinet as well as a singer. After a couple of songs the musicians join the audience and single players take to the stage.
We’re treated to some unaccompanied vocal performances, a couple of blues tunes by the guitarist from the band, some solo squeeze box numbers and two songs by someone introduced as Tom Paley. After introducing himself with an American accent, Mr Paley plays blue-grass fiddle and sings a song accompanied by the auto-harp about sweethearts, man-hunts and prison. Later the club MC explains that although Tom now lives in London, he was a member of the New Lost City Ramblers who are praised by Bob Dylan in his Chronicles.
Sitting in the middle of Farringdon media land, the club is held above The Horseshoe pub, just round the corner from Clerkenwell Green. It’s been in existence since the early 70s and presents artists from the “fiercely traditional to the frankly eccentric”.
Tonight, we’re being treated to Pete Coe – a gaunt, Yorkshire multi-instrumentalist who sits at the traditional end of the spectrum. He starts off with a ‘wassailing’ song – traditional English songs to bless and bring in the New Year – accompanied by his squeeze box and the audience on the chorus. He continues with songs for drunken revels, wronged workers, love across class and even a shanty, all accompanied by his banjo, bass mandolin and lute. Mr Coe introduces most songs with stories of their origin – often telling us who he learnt the songs from as much as why he wrote them. Some are traditional and some more contemporary, but they’re all situated in ordinary working life.
By the time we roll out on to the damp streets at closing time, I’m a convert. I don’t think I’ve been to a gig before where the audience also the perform then chat with the artists, and I liked the music too. There were quite a lot of beards, but you wouldn’t expect anything less.
Tags: Clerkenwell, Islington Folk Club, London, New Lost City Ramblers, Pete Coe, The Horseshoe pub, Tom Paley