Baldock and Letchworth Blues, Folk and Roots

the club starts at 8.30pm every other Wednesday at The Orange Tree, Baldock

Entry to the club is £8/9/10 unless otherwise shown

Club Programme Autumn 2018

Sep 5Brooks Williams £10/£12/15 www.brookswilliams.com

Brooks Williams hails from Statesboro, Georgia, the town made famous by country-blues legend Blind Willie McTell. Ranked in the Top 100 Acoustic Guitarists, he’s a mean finger-picker and a stunning slide guitarist. Plus, 'he has a beautiful voice' says AmericanaUK, 'that you just melt into'. Not one easy to pigeon-hole, Brooks' music is the love-child of country-blues and soulful Americana.

His massive repertoire spans classic roots and blues, Trouble In Mind, Backwater Blues and Mother Earth, as well as compelling covers from the likes of Dave Alvin, Buddy Miller and Mose Allison. His own songs are thoroughly alive with clearly-drawn ironic characters, like Frank Delandry and Evil Knievel, and rich in blues pathos.

Brooks has worked stages worldwide for over twenty-five years, touring constantly in the US, UK and Europe. Audiences are often heard asking, how can one guitar and one voice sound like a full band? The San Antonio Light says that Williams is a 'fret monster who has to be seen to be believed'.

'Stirring up soulful Americana, full-on blues and tasty rootsy grooves, he really rocks' - fRoots

'No Bones Jones, Green Trader Award, Glastonbury Festival 2010' - No Bones Jones, Green Trader Award, Glastonbury Festival 2010

'Talent, taste and astonishing technique' - Blues Revue

'We called him back for three encores - Blues In Britain

‘Ear-gasmic delight’ - The Graveyard Shift

'He’s a lovely player, a lovely singer, and a great writer. The real thing' - Martin Simpson

Sep 19 Hobbs, Burke & Jenner £8 – all

Three wonderful local musicians on stage together – they take turns to lead a song and back each other up.

Oct 3Fred's House £9/10/12 fredshousemusic.co.uk

A unique experience – lovely vocals and harmonies, complex music, always fantastic. Fred’s House is an award-winning band based in Cambridge, making summery, 70’s West Coast-inspired folk/rock with their own distinctively fresh sound that is very much part of now. This group of musicians has the rare ability to sweep you away with their gorgeous three part harmonies, moving lyrics, infectious melodies and uplifting grooves. Among their many influences are bands such as Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles, The Swell Season and C.S.N.Y.

Fred's House scooped two awards at the NMG Awards 2013; 'Best Folk/Roots Band' and 'Audience Choice Award', as voted for by the public. In 2017, they were awarded the prestigious 'Syd Barrett Pride of Cambridge Award', presented to them by Syd's sister Rosemary, for continuous hard work and achieving at a high level for the past five years.

The band released its much-anticipated debut album Bonnie and Clyde in April 2014 and the follow-up album Faultlines in 2016 to critical acclaim, grabbing four and five-star reviews across the board as well as emphatic press.

Oct 17 20TH Anniversary Concert - FREE

20th anniversary of first-ever Mad Nanny Music concert. We celebrate with lots of local performers who have supported the club over the years.

Nov 7Said the Maiden 8/9/10 www.saidthemaiden.co.uk

Superb English folk at its very best - always a wonderful evening.

Said the Maiden was honoured to join legendary fiddler the late Dave Swarbrick on a successful UK solo tour in the spring of 2014, and released their debut album 'A Curious Tale' in June of the same year. The group went on to release its EP, ‘Of Maids And Mariners’ in 2016 which was met with critical acclaim across the folk community.

Said the Maiden won Bristol Folk Festival's prestigious Isambard Folk Award in 2015 and was also voted best act by the public at the 2015 Great British Folk Festival’s Introducing Stage, consequently returning in 2016 for an appearance on the festival's main stage. In 2017 Said The Maiden won the Folking Awards ‘Rising Star’ prize, and were nominated for an NMG's best Acoustic, Country & Folk act. The trio also made its first international appearances, at the 60th Jazz & Joy Festival in Worms, Germany and at Costa del Folk in Portugal.

Nov 14Gilmore & Roberts £9/10/12 www.GilmoreRoberts.co.uk

Contemporary folk/acoustic duo Gilmore & Roberts combines award-winning songwriting with astounding musicianship and trademark harmonies to create a powerful wall of sound. Nominated three times at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, Katriona Gilmore (fiddle, mandolin) and Jamie Roberts (guitar) met while studying at Leeds College of Music and released their debut album in 2008.

Katriona Gilmore grew up in Knebworth, Hertfordshire, learned violin at school and started playing local folk clubs with her guitarist father at the age of 14. Starting her professional career with folk pop sensations Tiny Tin Lady and singer songwriter Rosie Doonan, she was invited to be part of a new lineup of The Albion Band in 2011 and subsequently joined Albion frontman Blair Dunlop on his solo tours. In 2017 Katriona joined established folk-roots band The Willows. Katriona has featured on many acclaimed albums as a session musician and has appeared onstage with such diverse acts as The Troggs, Kim Richey and Matt Berry.

Jamie Roberts was brought up in Barnsley, South Yorkshire in a musical family – his sister Kathryn Roberts is a well-respected singer on the UK folk scene. Jamie joined young English traditionalists Kerfuffle in 2007, formed The Dovetail Trio with Rosie Hood and Matt Quinn in 2014, and joined the critically acclaimed Emily Askew Band in 2016. Alongside his regular projects, he has performed with Nancy Kerr's Sweet Visitor Band and Blackbeard's Tea Party, amongst others.

Since then, the duo has toured Canada and mainland Europe, played some of the UK's biggest acoustic festivals, toured with folk rock legends Fairport Convention and won countless accolades for its genre-spanning work.

‘Hot property’ - fRoots

‘Gilmore & Roberts take English folk and scuff it up with indie rock drama’ - Q Magazine

‘Enthralling...consistently so’ - Pure M Magazine

‘Head and shoulders above their contemporaries’ - Rockin' Magpie

Nov 21Matt Kelly & Gary Woolley 8/9/10 www.kellyandwoolley.co.uk

Kelly and Woolley are an acoustic duo who hail from Cambridge and Bury St Edmunds. They sing songs and play tunes from a wide variety of styles, but particularly cajun, folk, bluegrass and country. Playing together as a duo for five years, they perform regularly in venues across the region. Matt is a multi-instrumentalist and plays in a number of orchestras as well as Thursday’s Band with Mark Gamon, Lucinda Fudge and Nick Blishen. Matt played in postpunk group Strumpet City in Brighton in the mid-eighties, and with The Lizards, a Cajun and Blues band in South London. He played in Ti-fer Cajun band in the 90s with Phil Underwood and Will Sneyd. He also had a brief stint as alto sax player in Raj and The Magitones.

Gary started playing the guitar and singing songs at the age of 14. His early influences were Nick Drake, John Martyn and Tir Na Nog as well as the singer songwriters from the States and Canada. After playing at school in a duo with life long friend John Rainer, there were stints fronting rhythm and blues bands and a brush with prog rock. Gary returned to his first love after seeing Dick Gaughan play in the late 80s and discovering the playing of Nic Jones, Pete Morton and Roger Wilson. Gary co-ran Salisbury Folk Club in the 90s and since moving to Cambridge to work at The Junction in 1994 he has played regularly at the Mayflower and Cambridge folk clubs, in the later years with good friend Stephen Greenwood playing fiddle, and occasionally Cath Coombs on cello.

Dec 5Bruce Molsky £10/12/14 www.brucemolsky.com

Bruce Molsky is one of the most revered 'multi-hyphenated career' ambassadors for America’s old-time mountain music, with world-class fiddle, banjo and guitar combined with his great singing voice. For decades, hbruce has been a globetrotting performer and educator, a recording artist with an expansive discography including seven solo albums, well over a dozen collaborations and two Grammy-nominations. He’s also the classic 'musician’s musician' – a man who’s received high praise from diverse fans and collaborators such as Linda Ronstadt, Mark Knopfler, Celtic giants Donal Lunny and Andy Irvine, jazzer Bill Frisell and dobro master Jerry Douglas, a true country gentleman by way of the Big Apple, aptly dubbed 'the Rembrandt of Appalachian fiddlers' by virtuoso violinist and sometimes bandmate Darol Anger.

‘Bruce Molsky is one of those great players who 'gets it': has all the links to the past but is happy not to be chained to it’ - Mark Knopfler

‘Molsky is easily one of the nation's most talented fiddlers ... he transports you ... geographically, historically, and most of all emotionally’ - Mother Jones

‘It is no exaggeration to say that Bruce Molsky is one of the greatest American fiddlers of all time. His playing is mesmerizing and transporting, and best experienced live’ - WBUR (Boston NPR)

‘An incredible power of history and tradition in his vocals' - Linda Ronstadt

‘An absolute master' - No Depression

‘One of the world's premier Appalachian-style fiddlers' - Bloomberg News

‘A mystical awareness of how to bring out the new in something that is old' - Mark O'Connor

Dec 19Chistmas party and session

the usual songs, silliness, the Brafront Guisers mummers’ play and festival food. Everyone welcome, all very informal - participate as much or as little as you like.

Floor spots and open night acts may be booked in advance by calling Alan or Sue on 01767 683583