Mario’s Report of FCB # 171 on Friday 04.09.26

 

Who or what turns up – who stays away?

In keeping with the evening’s theme, quite a few people turned up – musicians, listeners and, of course, food and drink from the kitchen. But as life would have it, some didn’t turn up: registered musicians, and perhaps even some audience members (who might have decided on the spur of the moment to enjoy the lovely weather at an outdoor event?) – the only thing that can be said with absolute certainty is that all the food and drink ordered arrived in full. And whilst we’re on the subject of arrivals:

The battle cry from master of ceremonies John Harrison that kicked off the event – “Laaadiieees and Gentlemen....” – went down well once again. Naturally, this wasn’t the entirety of John’s performance; as usual, he also treated us to some blues and poetry, which was equally well received. With ‘The Green Man’, from a previous featured artist, Martin Donnelly, homage was paid to nature; with the poem ‘Brahn Boots’, a charming tale was told about the not always aligned morals of society and the heavens; and with ‘Loveless Love’ – as the title suggests – a love song with a melancholic undertone was sung.

Immediately after John, Volkskapell (Corinna Glück and Mario Dompke) took to the stage for the second time to present their project ‘old folk songs in new guises’. Starting in 1745 with the tailor’s satirical song ‘Schneiders Höllenfahrt’, they quickly moved on 100 years and performed the ‘Bürgerlied’ accompanied by guitar and forest zither. Also from this period, though not of the pre-March revolutionary variety but rather firmly part of the Biederman movement, the duo concluded their Floorspot set with ‘Kein schöner Land’. It seemed to go down well (as the personal comments during the interval showed) and thus encouraged them to continue working in precisely this direction.

Andreas Kulik – what a transformation – from a somewhat shy first performance several years ago to a self-assured and expressive stage presence. Well, I can only emphasise time and again how much I love it when artists choose their mother tongue as their medium of expression, and so it went down a treat with me this time too that Andreas performed two Polish songs – ‘Eiael’ (Guardian Angel) and ‘Noe czerwcowa’ (June Night). He managed to win over the audience once and for all with the well-known ‘You’ve Got A Friend’.

It was a great pleasure when Jochen Hiester came on stage and confirmed that the reports about the Folk Club are getting through, because, in response to the criticism voiced about his previous performance— that the piano was too loud or his voice too quiet—he had come up with a solution. He arrived with a sound-dampening blanket, which, when placed inside the soundboard, reduced the piano’s volume to a level that gave his voice enough space to unfold. Yes, now his very profound lyrics, which emotionally describe various situations, could be understood against the backdrop of the very well played piano. What remains is that Jochen’s songs are heavy going and often cannot be fully grasped on first listening. Art, after all, has many faces. His ‘Welkes Blatt’ spoke of the difficulty of offering encouragement to people going through depressive phases. ‘Innerer Monolog beim Gespräch mit Andersdenkenden’ was written during the Covid-19 pandemic, a time when – as we all know – opinions often diverged. Learning from this to avoid being fundamentally opposed to something, but rather to put oneself in the other person’s position during a discussion, is a worthwhile theme.

But now it was time for the evening’s featured artist, Juhana Iivonen. Not for the first time at the Folk Club, he faced high expectations for his music – and what can I say: he lived up to them all. With tracks such as ‘Stag’, ‘Free’, ‘Accepted’, ‘Ripple Effect’, ‘Shine On’, ‘Dust and a smile’, ‘Ihmeellinen (Miraculous Sea)’, ‘Tähdet (stars)’, ‘Dream We Lived’ and ‘Basel Tonight’ (which he had renamed ‘Bonn Tonight’), Juhana demonstrated once again just how sensitively and, at the same time, expressively he knows how to interpret songs. How he knows how to underpin his songs with both emotional picking and a delicate yet rhythmic strumming. His voice, which, with its precise intonation in a relatively high register, lends the songs additional expression, can only be described as beautiful. As you can tell, I am once again thrilled by our Finnish friend and hope that we’ll get to see him perform many more times.

As you’ve no doubt noticed from the multitude of song titles, I’ve already covered the second half of Juhana’s performance. But now I’ll jump back a bit and start the second half of the Folk Club from the beginning.

Rick Fines has become a regular guest at the Folk Club, and he never fails to impress.This time he performed two pieces on the guitar, one of which he’d written himself. ‘Country Christmas Blues’ sought to bring the tradition from Germany to Canada so that mulled wine could be found on every corner during the festive season – I wonder if it’ll catch on?

Rick kicked things off, however, with the blues track ‘Ain’t Got No Honey Baby Now’, a song he heard from friends at the tender age of 17. Rick had a special surprise up his sleeve when he performed the piece ‘Below the Surface’ on the Waldzither. A very tender song, which tells the story of being stranded in a foreign country, unable to travel home for a friend’s funeral. Performed on the Waldzither, it revealed a new dimension to the instrument – very beautiful and leaving us eager for more.

Timo came with Juhana from Leverkusen and, as other registered musicians hadn’t turned up, he spontaneously agreed to play something as well. I love this sort of spontaneity, and it proved once again that such performances are not mere fillers, but high-quality artistic acts. With ‘Milongueo del Ayer’ and ‘Pica Pica’, Timo transported us into the world of South American folk classics. As Leverkusen isn’t that far away, I hope that Timo will grace us with his presence more often.

Well, time had flown by once again and the Folk Club drew to a close with a group sing-along of ‘Jock Stewart’ – but as you know, after the Folk Club is before the Folk Club. And the next one will take place on 2 October 2026, featuring Chris Ronald from Vancouver.

So: Out of the bedroom……..

Yours, Mario

 

 

Wer oder was kommt an – wer bleibt weg? 

Entsprechend des Mottos des Abends kamen so einige an - Musiker, Zuhörer und natürlich Speiß und Trank aus der Küche. Aber wie das Leben so spielt kamen auch einige nicht an: angemeldete Musiker, evtl. auch Zuhörer (die sich vielleicht spontan entschieden haben das schöne Wetter bei einer outdoor Veranstaltung zu genießen?) - nur mit absoluter Sicherheit kann gesagt werden, dass bestellte Speisen und Getränke vollständig ankamen. Und wo wir gerade beim Ankommen sind:

Auch der den Beginn der Veranstaltung einleitende Schlachtruf des Zeremonienmeisters John Harrison „Laaadiieees and Gentlemen....“ kam mal wieder gut an. Selbstverständlich blieb dies nicht die komplette Darbietung von John, sondern wie gewohnt bot er uns auch noch Blues und Poetry an, wobei auch dieses Angebot ankam. Mit dem „Green Man“ wurde der Natur gehuldigt, mit dem Gedicht der „Brahn Boots“, eine nette Geschichte über die nicht immer übereinstimmende Moral der Gesellschaft und des Himmels, erzählt und mit „Loveless Love“, wie ob des Titels zu vermuten, ein Liebeslied mit traurigem Einschlag gesungen.

Direkt nach John durfte dann Volkskapell (Corinna Glück und Mario Dompke) zum zweiten Mal ihr Projekt „alte Volkslieder in neuen Gewändern“ vorstellen. Angefangen in 1745 mit dem Schneider Spottlied „Schneiders Höllenfahrt“ hangelten sie sich schnell 100 Jahre weiter und interpretierten das „Bürgerlied“ zur Gitarre und Waldzither. Ebenfalls aus dieser Zeit, jedoch nicht Vormärz revolutionär, sondern ganz der Biederman Bewegung zuzurechnen schloss das Duo den Floorspot mit „Kein schöner Land“ ab. Es schien anzukommen (was die persönlichen Ansprachen in der Pause zeigten) und gab somit Mut in eben dieser Richtung weiterzuarbeiten.

Andreas Kulik – was für eine Entwicklung – vom etwas schüchternen ersten Auftritt vor mehreren Jahren zu einer selbstsicheren und ausdrucksstarken Bühnenpräsenz. Nun ich kann es nur immer wieder betonen, dass ich es total toll finde, wenn Künstler als präsentierende Sprache ihre Muttersprache wählen, und so kam es auch diesmal bei mir super an, dass Andreas zwei polnische Lieder vortrug - „Eiael“ (Schutzengel) und „Noe czerwcowa“ (Juni Nacht). Das Publikum für sich endgültig einzunehmen gelang ihm mit dem allseits bekannten „You,ve Got A Friend“.

Eine große Freude war es, als Jochen Hiester auf die Bühne kam und dokumentierte, dass die Berichte über den Folk Club ankommen, denn, die zu seinem vergangenen Auftritt geäußerte Kritik, dass das Klavier zu laut bzw. die Stimme zu leise sei, hat er sich eine Lösung ausgedacht. Er kam mit einer tondämpfenden Decke an, die in den Resonanzkörper eingebracht, das Klavier auf eine Lautstärke drosselte, die seiner Stimme genügend Raum zu Entfaltung ließ. Ja, nun konnten seine sehr tiefsinnigen und verschiedene Situationen emotional beschreibenden Texte zu dem sehr gut gespielten Klavier verstanden werden. Was bleibt ist, Jochens Lieder sind schwere Kost und oft nicht beim ersten Hören zu verinnerlichen. Kunst kommt halt mit vielen Gesichtern. Sein „Welkes Blatt“ erzählte von der Schwierigkeit, Menschen, die in depressiven Phasen sind, Mut zuzusprechen. Der „Innerer Monolog beim Gespräch mit Andersdenkenden“ entstand in der Corona Zeit in der – wie wir alle wissen – Meinungen oft auseinandergingen. Hieraus die Lehre zu ziehen, nicht grundsätzlich gegen etwas zu sein, sondern sich in die Diskussionslage des Anderen zu versetzen ist ein gutes Thema.

Nun aber kam der Featured Artist des Abends Juhana Iivonen. Nicht zum ersten Mal im Folk Club sah er sich vielen positiven Erwartungen ob seiner Musik gegenüber – und was soll ich sagen: er erfüllte alle. Mit Titeln wie „Stag“, „Free“, „Accepted“, „Ripple Effect“, „Shine On“, „Dust and a smile“, „Ihmeellinen (Miraculous Sea)“, „Tähdet (stars)“, „Dream We Lived“ und „Basel Tonight“ (welches er in Bonn Tonight umgetauft hatte) zeigte Juhana ein wiederholtes Mal wie einfühlsam und gleichzeitig ausdrucksstark er Lieder zu interpretieren versteht. Wie er sowohl mit gefühlvollem Picking wie auch mit einem zarten, jedoch rhythmischen Strumming seine Lieder zu unterstreichen versteht. Seine Stimme, die intonationssicher in einer relativ hohen Lage den Liedern zusätzlichen Ausdruck verleiht, kann nur als schön bezeichnet werden. Ihr merkt, ich bin wieder einmal begeistert von unserem finnischen Freund und hoffe, dass wir ihn noch häufig erleben dürfen.

Wie ihr sicher an der Vielzahl der Liedtitel gemerkt habt, habe ich bereist die zweite Hälfte von Juhana Auftritt mitverarbeitet. Aber nun springe ich noch einmal zurück und beginne die zweite Hälfte des Folk Clubs von vorn.

Rick Fines ist inzwischen ein oft gesehener Gast im Folk Club, und immer wieder begeistert er. Diesmal trug er zwei Stücke auf der Gitarre vor, wobei eins davon von ihm selbst geschrieben war. Der „Contry Christmas Blues“ versuchte die Empfehlung aus Deutschland nach Kanada zu bringen in der entsprechenden Jahreszeit an jeder Ecke Glühwein zu bekommen – ob das ankommt? Begonnen hat Rick aber mit dem Blues „Ain’t Got No Honey Baby Now“, einem Stück, welches er von Freunden im zarten Alter von 17 Jahren gehört hat. Ein besondere Überraschung hatte Rick im Gepäck als er das Stück „Below the surface“ auf der Waldzither präsentierte. Ein sehr zartes Lied, welches davon erzählt, dass man in einem fremden Land gestrandet, nicht nach Hause zu der Beerdigung eines Freundes fahren kann. Auf der Waldzither interpretiert zeigte es ein neues Wirkgebiet der Waldzither auf – sehr schön und voll Erwartung auf mehr.

Timo ist mit Juhana aus Leverkusen gekommen und ob des Nichtankommens anderer angemeldeter Musiker hat er sich spontan bereit erklärt auch etwas zu spielen. Ich liebe solche Spontaneitäten und es bewies sich auch diesmal, dass solche Auftritte keine Lückenfüller, sondern hochwertige künstlerische Akte sind. Mit „Milongueo del Ayer“ und „Pica Pica“ entführte uns Timo in die südamerikanische folkloristische Klassik. Da Leverkusen ja nicht soweit entfernt ist, hoffe ich, dass Timo uns noch häufiger beehren wird.

Tja, nun war die Zeit wieder schnell vergangen und der Folk Club näherte sich mit dem gemeinsam gesungenen „Jock Stewart“ seinem Ende zu – aber ihr wisst ja, nach dem Folk Club ist vor dem Folk Club. Und der findet am 2. Oktober 2026 mit dem Featured Artist Chris Ronald aus Vancouver statt.

Also: Out of the bedroom ……

Euer Mario

 

First Impressions of FCB # 171 on Friday 04.09.26 with photos from Elena Giovio

 A wonderful folky first Friday evening after the summer break, reminding us just how fortunate we all are. Juhana Iivonen was our featured artist for the third time and delighted us with a well balanced evening featuring his own inimitable take on self-penned music being more than a match for whatever circumstance life could throw at Juhana.

We are normally most fortunate at Bonn Folk Club in having such excellent photographers on the FCB committee. However, on this particular evening there was a veritable dearth of said talent for the first folk evening after the summer break. Sabine Büttner had vorwarned us of her absence and ace photographer John Hurd was testing his new plastic poncho during the downpour to celebrate the celebration of the "Bad" in Bad Godesberg, recognising it as a century old spa town, (perhaps I should not have sung "The Green Man" and tempted fate on the said evening?) and even Detlef Stachetzki was attending an essential choir practise. 

Unexpectedly, and luckily, for us all, dear Elena Giovio, who does so much undercover work for everyone's benefit at Folk Club Bonn cheerfully stepped up to the plate on the evening and took the following photographs. Even after 171 events the folk club never ceases to amaze in its ability to flourish, when one is least exoecting it.  Thanks so much Elena for everything that you do!

John Harrison, breaking into a sweat wrestling with the conundrum of W.C. Hand's "Loveless Love"

                            Mario & Corinna followed with some wonderful German folk songs:

                          and Mario really did bring along a different instrument for each song, 

                                                      and I thought he was merely joking:

                                   Andreas Kulik regaled us with his dulcet tones sing in Polish 

                                                and some fime narmonica accompanyment:

Jochen Hiester was performing two of his self-penned songs on the piano, and being a feeling and thinking performer, he took some minor criticism of his last performance where the piano was a little too overpowering for his vocals, and solved the problem with ease and the help of a velvet blanket                           muffling the sound of the keys in the piano. Bravo Jochen! Job well done! 

                                          A super mixture of Bertold Brecht and Music Hall

Juhana Iivonen was next up before the break and never ceases to amaze me just how much feeling he can induce into his songs with so little aparant phyical effort,  almost as if his songs are performing                                                              him, rather than the other way around:

                       Juhana is always good for a surprise and invited me to play harp on this one:

            After the break Canadian Rick Fines gave us some old fashioned Blues from 

   Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, admirably performed on a guitar which was not too unfamiliar:

  

Since the Waldzither evening at the folk club Rick was beguiled by this traditional German instrumet and following Mario's advice he purchased one such online. He noticed that his was identical to 

             Mario's instrument and promptly borrowed Mario's instrument as if to casually emphasize, 

                                          that there is seemingly no end to this man's talents! 

Sometimes the folk club seems to write its very own folklore, and on this evening Juhana had invited an old friend of his, they had actually grown up together many years ago on the same street in Helsinki only 100 metres apart and Juhana had somehow lost contact with Timo, and this was no surprise as Timo spent most of his life in South America. Recently, however,  Juhana played a gig in an Irish pub in Leverkusen and Timo attended and they reacquainted their childhood friendship. Juhana told Timo that he was playing at the Bonn Folk Club soon and suggested that Timo should come down from Krefeld, where he now lives, and bring his nylon strung guitar with him. 

                               This Timo duly did and performed two wonderful instrumental

                                             South American guitar pieces for us:

This certainly made eeryone's evening and Elena's in particular, as she eminates from South America                            and was visibly emotionally touched by Timo's performance on the guitar. 

                  This fact alone probably inspired her wonderful photography on the evening!

              For the rest of the evening Juhana continued to show us what tranquility and bliss,                                                                   not only looked like, blended together, but also sounded like:

Juhana played several new songs from his upcoming CD of which he is rightfully well proud and 

                    which has been four years in the making and is due out next month, so please do 

                        yourselves a favour and partake in this, it will have been well worth the wait: 

     (Please remember there are less than four months of shopping time now left prior to Christmas!:-)

Thanks to Juhana for such a fine evening and thanks to all the participants who make the first Friday acoustic unplugged folk club the wonderful unique cultural entity it most certainly is. A special thanks to Elena for orchestrating so many such fine evenings and this month even showcasing her hitherto                                              unknown impressive photographic skills!

The evening, despite having many unforseen wonderful surprises actually finished remarkably                             punctually, despite Detlef's absence, and there was even time to sing Jock Stewart 

                                     and look forward to the weekend and the new week:

 

FCB # 171 on Friday 04.09.26 with Juhana Iivonen

 

Dear Folk Club friends,

Summer is drawing to a close, and the Folk Club is getting back into full swing after the August break. This coming Friday, 4 September 2026, sees the 171st edition of the Folk Club.

Our friend from Finland, Juhana Iivonen, will be our featured artist. Juhana has performed at the Folk Club several times before, sharing his poetic and moving songs in both English and Finnish. The theme of the evening is ‘Arrival and Moving In’.

As always, the programme will be rounded off by local artists.

Come along and be surprised – enjoy the evening!

Here is a summary of the key details:

Date: 4 September 2026

Start: 19.00 hrs prompt until approximately 22:00 hrs The venue opens at 5.00 pm, offering the chance to enjoy a leisurely meal and a drink before the concert. Those who arrive early can also secure a seat in the front row.

Venue:Dotty’s Sports Bar und Restaurant (Public clubhouse of the Bonn Tennis and Hockey Club – BTHV), Christian-Miesen-Straße, 53129 Bonn (Dottendorf)

And as always, admission is free

Upcoming events:

- 2 October 2026 Featured Artist: Chris Ronald from Canada; theme of the evening: ‘Longing’

And one more thing: anyone who can’t get enough of folk and blues will have the chance to hear John Harrison and Shay McVeigh on Saturday 4 September from 6 pm at Café Bistro Melody, Werftstraße 5 -7, 53117 Bonn-Graurheindorf,(free entry, donations welcome).

Important Information on travelling by public transport:  Due to the current disruption to Bonn’s local transport network (roadworks and trams out of service), it is not currently possible to say with certainty whether the Ollenhauerstraße stop will be served by trams again this coming Friday. The Stadtwerke information page is unclear. However, there is always a regular service which, in the event of tram cancellations, is operated by buses (official term: ‘replacement bus service’).

Attached you will find posters for the evening at the Folk Club and the gig at ‘Melody’ in both German and English.

If required, further information is available from

Your Folk Club team

Elena, John and Detlef

 

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

Liebe Folk-Club-Freunde,

der Sommer neigt sich dem Ende zu, und der Folk Club kommt nach der August-Pause wieder in Gang. Am kommenden Freitag, den 04. September 2026 steht die 171. Ausgabe des Folk Clubs bevor.

Als Featured Artist hat sich unser Freund aus Finnland Juhana Iivonen angesagt. Juhana ist schon mehrmals im Folk Club mit seinen poetischen und ergreifenden Liedern in englischer und auch in finnischer Sprache aufgetreten. Das Thema des Abends lautet „Ankommen und Zuzug“.

Abgerundet wird das Programm wie immer durch regionale Künstler.

Lasst euch überraschen und genießt den Abend!

Hier zusammengefasst die wichtigsten Daten:

Datum: 04. September 2026

Beginn: 19.00 Uhr bis voraussichtlich 22.00 Uhr. Der Saal ist ab 17.00 Uhr geöffnet und bietet die Möglichkeit, vor dem Konzert gemütlich zu speisen und zu trinken. Wer früh kommt, kann zudem in der ersten Reihe sitzen.

Ort: Dotty’s Sports Bar und Restaurant (Öffentliches Vereinshaus des Bonner Tennis- und Hockey-Vereins – BTHV), Christian-Miesen-Straße, 53129 Bonn (Dottendorf)

Ferner das „Allerwichtigste“: wie immer Eintritt frei 

Vorausschau:

-    02.10.2026 Featured Artist: chris Ronald/ aus Kanada; Thema des Abends: „Sehnsucht“ 

Und noch etwas: Wer von Folk und Blues nicht genug bekommen kann, der hat Gelegenheit John Harrison und Shay McVeigh am Samstag, den 04. September ab 18 Uhr im Café Bistro Melody, Werftstraße 5 -7, 53117 Bonn-Graurheindorf, zu hören (Eintritt frei, Hutkollekte). 

Information zur Anreise mit öffentlichen Verkehrsmitteln:

Aufgrund des aktuellen Durcheinanders im Bonner Nahverkehr (Baustellen und nicht einsatzbereite Stadtbahnen) ist aktuell eine eindeutige Aussage darüber, ob die Haltestelle Ollenhauerstraße am kommenden Freitag wieder mit Stadtbahnen angefahren wird, nicht möglich. Die Infoseite der Stadtwerke ist nicht eindeutig. Es gibt aber in jedem Fall einen Liniendienst, der bei Ausfall der Bahnen mit Bussen (Amtsdeutsch: Bahnersatzverkehr) bedient wird. 

Anliegend erhaltet Ihr Plakate für den Abend im Folk Club und den Auftritt im „Melody“ in deutscher und englischer Sprache.

Sabines Bilder vom Folk Club Nr. 170 im Juli 2026

John Harrison

Elena assistiert John mit dem Programm des Abends

Dave Davis

Milan Thelen

Petra Sigmund

Trio Nova Bonn (Stefan Westphal, Wolfgang Schmidt und Enrico Klein)

Hey Polly

Delta Danny

Gert Müller

Jochen Hiester

Ina Hiester

Tresperados 

Alle singen Jock Stewart zum Abschluss des Abends

Für Thomas Monnerjahn gibt es Torten zum Geburtstag

Mario’s report on Folk Club # No. 170 in July 2026

 "Setting off and returning" – what is the Bonn Folk Club and who is it for?

Returning to a familiar place once a month to meet friends you’ve grown fond of – setting off once a month to explore ever-new musical horizons – however you look at it, it remains a matter of perspective.

Not a matter of perspective, but a recurring ritual, is the boisterous welcome from master of ceremonies John Harrison, when he begins with the words “Laaaadiiieeees and Gentlemeeen, Mesdames et Messieurs…”, first provoking loud laughter and then a tense silence in the hall. Due to the packed programme, John kept his musical contributions to a minimum this time and, in keeping with the warm weather that called for refreshments, paid tribute to his favourite beer, ‘Marstons Pedigree’, with the song of the same name. 

A beer that not only disappeared into his stomach as he drank it, but also served as a reminder of the pleasure all evening long, emblazoned on his T-shirt against an orange background – performed a cappella and heartily supported by the audience during the chorus.

Dave Davis then took to the stage – this time not with funny sketches, but with a very beautiful and heartfelt love song, ‘My Baby Sue’, which he had written when he was just 17.

 Accompanying himself on the piano, he showed us a side of his extensive talent that was unknown to many.

A new discovery (at least for me) was Milan Thelen. He introduced himself to the Folk Club audience with songs he’d written himself. What really impressed me was that, despite announcing he’d only recently taken up the guitar, Milan truly achieved a perfect balance in volume between the instrument and his voice – and that voice is a real treat. 

With a ‘Love Song’ and the track ‘I Guess’, he captivated his audience, securing not only their full attention but also their understanding in advance should his fingerpicking not be quite perfect yet during his third song, ‘Doubts’. Well, the title alone (‘Doubts’) suggests that one can’t always be self-assured – I can only say: even with minor difficulties with the picking, it was a very successful performance.

Petra Sigmund is already a familiar face at the Folk Club, and as she spreads her stage appearances out well over the years, she always makes me wonder how she has developed musically. This time, I can and must say: absolutely brilliant. With a song written especially for the evening, ‘Aufbruch und Rückkehr’ (Departure and Return), she demonstrated that both her guitar playing and her voice are used with great sensitivity and, through the performance alone, are a delight to listen to. 

When you also pay attention to the lyrics, which speak of life’s reflections, it all comes together to make for a successful evening. I was already familiar with the second song, ‘Niemals zu spät’ (Never Too Late), from a previous performance, and I must say that it moved me. Petra rounded off her set with ‘So oder So’ (One Way or Another) and allowed – no, encouraged – the audience to sing along, which most people did heartily.

The Trio Nova Bonn (Stephan Westphal, Wolfgang Schmidt, Enrico Klein) is a group of Folk-Club-Bonn regulars who have realised that making music together is even more fun than singing or playing to oneself. Vocals, guitar, violin – it doesn’t get much more folk than that. 

The trio’s repertoire includes both secular songs – ‘Rhythmusstörung’ is a love song – and sacred songs – ‘Engel, die uns berühren’, the title of which speaks for itself. Both pieces were written by Enrico Klein. But the trio are also adept at covering well-known songs, turning them into collaborative projects with the audience – such as ‘Blowing In The Wind’ – whilst still giving them their own distinctive character. I’m confident we’ll be hearing more from this trio in the future.

Next up was Hey Polly. Whilst they didn’t perform any original compositions here, their renditions of pop and rock tracks on two guitars were well worth listening to. The audience were once again drawn into the performance; indeed, with these well-known songs, it would probably have been impossible to stop them from singing along. 

“Go Your Own Way” by Fleetwood Mac, “Sweet Dreams” by the Eurythmics and “One More Time” by Britney Spears are all songs you wouldn’t expect to hear in a folk club at first glance – but performed acoustically, they were absolutely fitting, and as John keeps pointing out, everything the people sing is folk music.

Then came the evening’s featured artist – Delta Danny. Small, wearing a flat cap and rather unassuming amongst the audience, she became a towering presence on stage. Blues without frills, emotion in every note. I felt transported to a smoky pub, where someone is sitting in a corner, expressing their feelings without any melodrama. Danny seems to be rather used to it. Danny seems to be more used to playing with amplification – you could tell when some notes were barely audible because they were played in passing – but this did not detract from the overall performance. Each piece came from the artist herself; it didn’t feel rehearsed, but lived. 

Rhythmically bolstered by her heel (which had already left clear marks on the bar stool she was using), the blues kept driving the performance forward, so that time flew by and the interval came almost suddenly. With ‘I’m Ready’ and ‘Sweet Home Chicago’, she showcased the raw, unadulterated blues, whilst with ‘Blueberry Hill’, she demonstrated that the blues can also be gentle and tender. With ‘I Just Can’t Lose’, she proved that she can also write her own songs, and with ‘There’s Gonna Be Some Rockin’’, that even AC/DC songs lend themselves to the blues. Let me, as usual, jump ahead and report that Delta Danny naturally returned for the second half and continued to transform Dotty’s into a Mississippi Delta blues cellar. However, things started off a little more gently, as the tracks Danny wrote herself aren’t quite as raw as the covers. With ‘Don’t Go Blues’, ‘Bird In The Wind’ and ‘Dead Baby Blues’, she proved once again that she doesn’t just perform the blues, but can create it herself. As I’ve already said, with Danny you can tell that the songs aren’t just rehearsed, but lived. Danny wanted to bid farewell with her rendition of ‘Knocking On Heaven’s Door’ – supported by the audience, but especially by Petra Sigmund, who managed to infuse the blues with a good dose of gospel. But what does ‘wanted to bid farewell’ really mean? The audience ‘demanded’ more blues, which Danny once again drew from her repertoire of the rock-tinged ‘Cold Hearted Man’ and the folk-inspired ‘Whiskey In The Jar’. All in all, a successful performance by the Darmstadt-based blues singer.

But back to the start of the second half – the battle for the language of Bonn wasn’t lost yet, so Gert Müller really gave it his all and skilfully expressed his wish, ‘Ich möschens widder Bönnsch verzälle’, through a poetic interpretation.

Jochen Hiester had been a surprise guest once before and found the atmosphere so good that he decided to return. 

With his own pieces on the importance of loving oneself – ‘Die Botschaft’ – and ‘Ab und Zu’, inspired by a poem by Khalil Gibran, he impressed with wonderful lyrics – unfortunately, his piano playing was so loud that much of the lyrics were no longer intelligible – here too, probably due to his habit of usually playing at a higher volume.

Jochen’s sister, Ina Hiester, took to the stage with a small, rather quiet guitar, but with a crystal-clear and compelling voice. She has been living on a sailing boat in the United Kingdom for two years and is quite unmoored, which many mistake for ‘not doing anything proper’. As her first experience, she turned the realisation into a song: that at English open-mic clubs, people expect well-known songs rather than original compositions. With her song ‘Away’, she sang about precisely this situation. 

For Ina, the question of ‘doing something respectable’ eventually culminated in the poetic realisation that every kind of life has its pros and cons – a realisation she captured in the song ‘Two Different Lives’. But she then sang of the beauty of her own life by describing how her garden, her ‘castle’, is the whole world – ‘The World Is My Garden’, a wonderful ode to sunrises and sunsets, to the freedom of being able to escape the world for a while.

That leaves the floor spot by the Tresperados. The fact that I don’t understand Spanish and so couldn’t follow the lyrics didn’t matter, because the band’s music is simply beautiful.

 During the first song, ‘El Viento del Sur’, Elena whispered to me that it tells the story of a reconciliation in a dream (a departure and a return?). As with many of the songs Miguel performs, his feelings from the world of emotions resonate through the lyrics. The musicians bid farewell with “Camino de Terra” – but certainly not for long, because there was just time for Jock Stewart:

and after the Folk Club is before the Folk Club – even if it takes a little longer this time.

We’ll see you again on 4 September with Juhana Iivonen.

So: Out of the bedroom – and come along to the Folk Club

Mario

There was even an unconventional but very pleasant postscript to a wonderful musical evening with a birthday celebration for one of Bonn Folk Club's longest participants and exceptional guitarists and also affectionately known as a "Piano Man",as he helped tp physically lift the FCB piano up the steps at BTHV to Dotty's Bar on the first floor, when we moved from Graurheindorf, (and the obsevant ones amongst you will have noticed that there is no lift in the building) .............Mr Thomas Monnerjahn:

      proving that whilst one cannot have one's cake and also eat it, it is rather fun trying!

(A special thanks to Adrians Valenzuela for arranging this 

wonderfully successful surprise for Thomas!)

Photos in this article are by kind permission of FCB committee member Sabine Büttner.