Detlef's Report from Folk Club Bonn Nr. # 165 am 6. Februar 2026

 

Folk Club im Februar 2026 – Party-Time

The Folk Club is having a bit of a hard time with Rhineland cheerfulness. Carnival and the Folk Club seem to exist in two very different worlds. The motto of the February session, ‘Party Time,’ seemed a little out of place at times. Nevertheless, the evening was once again a success – cheerfulness is possible even without communal swaying in time to the music!

As usual, John Harrison opened the evening, this time with a country treat: ‘Pamela Brown’ is the title of a song about a futile attempt. In retrospect, the failure of the advances turns out to be a blessing for the rejected suitor, whose life at Pamela's side would certainly have been less colourful. The song about the ‘Derby Ram’, the legendary giant ram from John's hometown of Derby in central England, is always a favourite. Over the decades, countless verses have been added to the song, and the ram has become increasingly gigantic. You could probably fill an entire evening with the verses. John kept it to a manageable number. The song ‘Black Bottom’ has little to do with ‘partying’. It is about the areas near the banks of the Mississippi. Due to frequent flooding, they are not particularly popular with residents. As a result, less affluent people often live there – predominantly those with dark skin.

Mario Dompke took up the cause and addressed it with the cute song ‘Gib mir Bier’ (Give Me Beer). But even this funny song couldn't do without a tiny, mischievous, raised index finger: ‘Drinking is important’. Food and drink, and finally the much-loved beer, were also celebrated in the song about the ‘Thuringian bratwurst’. Yes, and the topic of drinking alcoholic substances (including beer) was also used in the funny ‘Drunkenness Song’. Okay, we get it, the man needs something to drink, and he got it in combination with applause directly from the audience.

Kai Hofstetter – our Lower Franconian dialect bard from the Main delta – did not perform at the January Folk Club, so we now got to hear the songs on the theme of ‘temptation’ that were planned for that evening. Kai explained it for those who were interested. Kai defines the Main delta not as the estuary area, as with the Mississippi, but as the area near Würzburg with its large river bends. Kai spanned a blues arc between Goethe's poetry and Robert Johnson's Cross Road Blues. He wrapped Goethe's ‘Über allen Gipfeln ist Ruh’ in a basic blues melody and was accompanied by John Harrison on the harmonica – wonderful! This segued seamlessly into the song ‘Mitm Deifl verabredt’ (Arranged with the Devil), which references the theme of ‘selling your soul to the devil to become the greatest’, also wonderfully accompanied by John. However, Kai's crossroads is located in his Lower Franconian homeland (between Laudenbach and Duttenbrunn, to be precise) and not, as in Robert Johnson's case, on the Mississippi (supposedly in Clarksdale). But in the end, the ‘Deifl’ doesn't come, the soul doesn't have to rush off to hell, but the blues musician remains completely unknown on earth and is still standing around “saubleed”. ‘In Harrbach an der Schleuse’ deals with running away from home. The runaway hides on a barge and is soon discovered. But unlike his predecessors, he is allowed to stay and sails freely into the world. The song ‘Der Steff, der Sascha und ich’ (Steff, Sascha and I) is very moving, dealing with the trauma of soldiers who lose comrades in combat – great lyrics and lots of applause for Kai.

This time, Hans Ihnen was accompanied by Antje on the violin. The two started with the wonderful country hit ‘Tennessee Waltz’. It's actually about a party, but while still on the dance floor, the sweetheart falls in love with someone else – fatal, but typical for country songs, which often deal with unfulfilled and even more frequently betrayed love. ‘Straight To Hell’ by Darius Rucker is also a song from the country corner. The “hero” is chased out of the house by the girl's mother and wished to hell. The shipyard song ‘Rattling Bog’ comes from Ireland. In each verse, an element is added to the lyrics, similar to ‘Old McDonald Had A Farm’. This song is about a tree in the moor with a branch that has a twig with a nest with a bird laying an egg, etc. The audience was allowed to sing along to the chorus and had a lot of fun.

After a long absence, Jutta Mensing performed once again and reminded us of her folk group ‘Moin’, with which she enjoyed success in the 1970s, with a little song. Many people know ‘Wenn die Bettelleute tanzen’ (When the beggars dance) and were able to sing along to the chorus straight away. Thank you, Jutta, for performing old German folk songs for us.

After a well-deserved break, Wolfgang Schriefer shared his experiences from his numerous train journeys with us in the poem ‘Vorfreude’ (Anticipation). This was also intended for the evening in January, but it was enjoyable this time as well. Part of the enjoyment comes from discovering, in a poetic way, that you have fellow sufferers.

We thoroughly enjoyed the Irish Folk Choir, whose thirteen singers (including the conductor) really got the audience going. The Irish songs ‘Star Of The County Down’, ‘Eileen Og’ and ‘Farewell To Carlingford’ were particularly impressive when sung in harmony, and the audience demanded an encore. 

The ballad ‘Wild Mountain Thyme’ (most likely from Scotland) gave us even more goose bumps and encouraged the audience to sing along enthusiastically. Many thanks to choir director Dietmar Imhäuser, choir spokesperson Gabriele Steinhauer and the singers for their performance.

John Hay then delighted us once again with a song by Darius Rucker (it was certainly not arranged with Hans Ihnen): ‘Wagon Wheel’ put everyone in a good mood and immediately encouraged them to sing along. Another sing-along song was ‘Champs Elysées’ by the unforgettable Joe Dassin. John stayed with the French language (a nice change from the dominant English) and presented the song ‘Je veux’ by the phenomenal Zaz (Isabelle Geffroy). Because Shay McVeigh, who was next in line, did not show up, John quickly added another song: With ‘This Is The Life’ by Amy McDonald, he had the audience on his side and received thunderous applause.

Now Shay McVeigh had also made it onto the stage and brought three songs and a joke story with him: ‘I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight’ by Richard Thompson perfectly served the theme of the evening: on Friday, after a long working week, it's time to let loose. He wrote the funny little story himself about a drone that gets stuck in a tree while trying to smuggle drugs into a prison. The police rush to the scene and try to kick the drone down with a football. The plan fails, and they miss the drone several times. However, the squirrel that lives in the tree is knocked off its branch several times in the process. The squirrel finally decides to sit on the drone. That's where the danger of being hit is least. The music continued with the wonderfully schmaltzy country song ‘I Dream Of Highways’ by Hoyt Axton. Longing for faraway places combined with the loss of love are absolutely indestructible motifs for schmaltzy songs. ‘Dust’ by the Dead Tongues goes in a similar direction. It is a love song and quite melancholic because the love remains unfulfilled. But it is precisely the melancholic songs that appeal to us most, isn't it? Lots of applause for Shay.

The Folk Club's not-so-new ‘new discovery’ provided a successful conclusion to the evening: Rick Fines delighted us with his inimitable guitar technique and four songs, two of which he wrote himself. The blues song ‘You Got A Leak In This Old Building’ is by Lightning Hopkins. Rick explained that there are several songs with the title ‘Leak In This Old Building’, but only one with the aforementioned title. ‘Riley Wants His Life Back’ is a song by Rick and draws on his own life. With ‘You Got To Walk This Lonesome Valley’ by Mississippi John Hurt, Rick once again delved into the seemingly inexhaustible blues repertoire of the old masters and delighted us with a magnificent interpretation of the song. The audience was allowed to sing along to the chorus, and after some initial shyness, they did quite well. Perhaps the shyness was due to the lyrics, which deal with the final journey of every human being. The Siegfried legend inspired Rick to play an instrumental piece. He also admitted that many of his melodies contain stolen elements. So, dear musicians, take note! Don't play a melody that has just occurred to you in Rick's presence. If it's good, he'll steal it immediately. His performance concluded with the immortal song ‘You Are My Sunshine’ by Paul Rice from 1937. The audience was allowed to sing along, and Rick added the lesser-known verses, making it clear that it is truly a super sad song. OK, another abandoned love affair that dresses its sorrow in wonderful melodies – and also with fantastic guitar accompaniment from Rick and thunderous applause at the end of the evening.

The end? Of course not, because no Folk Club evening ends without the entire hall paying musical homage to Jock Stewart, ‘A Man You Don't Meet Every Day’.

See you again at the Folk Club on 6 March with the fantastic guitar duo Ismael de Barcelona and Thomas Monnerjahn as featured artists.