Reflections on FCB # 138 in September 2023

 

September's folk club #138 was in some respects not unusual. It was a joyous monthly gathering of like-minded people. A group of enthusiastic and passionate performers with a sincere astutely listening audience, and of course, without any artificial amplification. Under such auspices, sometimes magic happens. Not the bang, crash, wallop, thunder and lightning loud cacophony variety, but rather the tranquil, serene, melodic variety, bringing and bonding people together, which is such a beautiful thing to see and hear and experience and enjoy.

We are all most grateful, of course to the performers, but also to our wonderful audience who come to listen, and not to talk, and it is this great harmonious combination which makes the purely acoustic folk club evenings so very special.It is something that one could take for granted, but of course one should not. It is indeed, something very special and magical and to be treasured. 

It was a first in the folk club for the trio named „El Gato con Botas „ which could be translated as „Puss In Boots!“ They led us on a musical journey around the world, in less than eighty minutes, with their vocalist Mika Wagner singing steadfastly in all the romantic languages, as if they were all her native tongue. There is a saying that one meets someone twice in life, and this was certainly to case with their adroit guitarist, Arno Fleckenstein, who first played at FCB # 17 & 20, in Graurheindorf, way back in both July & October 2010. So, in the folk club one can often meet one another many more times than a mere twice, and it is always a pleasure to do so.

The experience this particular evening reminded me rather of unexpectedly stumbling upon a Fado trio in Portugal, often in completely unpretentious surroundings in a small room somewhere and being blown away by a wonderful female vocalist accompanied by two excellent supporting musicians, and the whole performance being so very much more than its individual parts. Such are the wonderful surprises which can befall one in the folk club on the first Friday of the month. There were other notable performances on this evening from „Fomiander“ under the leadership from our own Mario Dompke, some authentic blues harp from Christoph Thiebes and the duelling Ukeleles of Anke & Jörg Bohnsack as the theme of the evening was „old trees“ we even had a brief dissertation from Andreas Theves

 from the Bonn Baum Wächter group (The Tree Guardians). This is a not-for-profit organisation which dedicates itself with the plight of local trees and I and Bonn folk club fiddler extraordinaire Eva Henneken have often provided musical support for them over the last few years, invariably outdoors, and relatively safe from COVID-19.

So altogether, certainly not a „normal“ folk club, if there ever indeed was such a thing. Although it is essentially a live acoustic music venue and not a „poetry slam“, there were in fact no less than five poems recited over the course of the evening, and all on theme of old trees, Wolfgang Schriefer an ex „Rock & Rollator“ is the folk club's in house poet and he

 had penned and recited three poems on the night:

Das Flüstern der Bäume

Im Friedwald stehen wir, kleine Schildchen tragen wir an silbernen Nägeln in unserer Rinde. Namen darauf mit Geburtsdaten. Nur wir wissen, wie viele Urnen bereits beigesetzt wurden und sich im Boden aufgelöst haben, wieder zu Erde wurden.

Viel haben wir gehört, Grabreden, Schluchzen vernommen, verzweifelte Rufe, Geflüster. Nachts, wenn der Wald dunkel und still steht und dann ein leiser Windhauch hindurch weht, hört man unser leises Flüstern, dieses leise klingen wie Glöckchen, als ob wir uns unterhielten.

Es sind die vielen kleinen Schildchen, die sich im Wind bewegen und gegen unsere Rinde baumeln. Unser Echo des vergangenen Tages.

Wolfgang Schriefer im Winter 22/23

Der Baumtraum

Heut träumte ich in dunklem Raum
Ich sage euch man glaubt es kaum
von einem wunderschönen Baum.
Er gehörte uns allen und tat uns gefallen,
erst zahrt und ganz klein,
das Stämmlein so fein,
wär leicht ihn zu brechen,
wir würden ihn rächen
schnell wuchs er gen Himmel,
umringt von kindergewimmel.
Wurde prächtig und stark
In unserem Grüngürtelpark.
Er war wunderschön und ich war jetzt zehn
Er trug uns auf Ästen, ganz dicken und festen wir fühlten uns sicher, beim Klettern Gekicher.
Dann, ich war jetzt groß, auch nicht allzu schlank
Saß oft gern vor ihm auf hölzerner Bank.
Er spendete herrlichen Schatten
an heißen Tagen die wir hatten
Dann zog ich weit fort, an einen anderen Ort vergaß meinen Baum
der heut zurückkam im Traum.
und jetzt, ich bin alt, zurück nah dem Wald jogge dort meine Runden,
habe ihn wiedergefunden.
ein Blitz hat ihn niedergestreckt
Dort liegt er jetzt verreckt ganz im Dreck
Als Wohnraum für ganz viel Kleingetier
dient er nun der Natur, das gefällt mir.

Wolfgang Schriefer, im Winter 22/23

Der Theaterbaum

Mein Gott, welch grässliches Konzert. Meine dunkelgrünen Nadeln sträuben sich, die rauen Spitzen schärfen sich, die dunkelbraune raue Rinde kribbelt, meine Früchte werden sauer.

Ich, die stattliche Zeder stehe an diesem Platz seit 300 Jahren, ich liebe es, alleine vor dem 120 Jahre alten kleinen Theater i   Bad Godesberg zu stehen, es beschützend zu beschirmen; und wenn dann im Sommer die Konzerte beginnen, Open Air, wird der Vorplatz zu einer kleinen Arena unter meinem riesig mächtigen Dach.

Vor jedem Konzert werde ich lobend erwähnt, seit 300 Jahren hier zu stehen, groß und riesig, Schatten zu spenden mit den vielen dichten Nadeln der starken gewölbeartigen Äste. Große nennt man mich dann und ich bin glücklich, wenn die Leute verzückt lauschend in meine Krone blicken.

Aber heute gefällt mir die Musik überhaupt nicht, ich bin stinkesauer!

Eine innere Stimme meldet sich:

Hm… du bist doch nicht eitel, oder? Liegt es vielleicht daran, heute nicht erwähnt worden zu sein? Ärgerst du dich denn nicht immer dann, wenn, was selten vorkommt, der Anmoderator dich nicht gelobt hat? Wenn du, riesig wie du bist, einfach übersehen wurdest?

Denn dies ist doch dein Platz!!!

Wolfgang Schriefer im Winter 22/23

Here are two poems by the English „peasant„ poet John Clare (1793 - 1864) about trees which I recited on the evening:

The Wind and Trees

By John Clare

1

I love the song of tree and wind
How beautiful they sing
The licken on the beach tree rind
E'en beats the flowers of spring.

2

From the southwest sugh sugh it comes
Then whizes round in pleasant hums
It sings the spirit of the storm
The trees with dancing waxes warm.

3

They dance and bow, and dance again
The very trunks, each branch and grain
Shake and dance and wave and bow
In every form no matter how.

4

In every storm they dance on high
The semblance of a stormy sky
Then sob and roar and bend and swee
The semblance of a stormy sea.

5

I love the song of wood and wind
The sobs before its roar behind
I love the stir of flood and tree
'Tis all of natures melody.

6

I love the roaring of the wind
The calm that follows cheers the mind
'Tis like the good mans end of peace
When joys begin and troubles cease

The Shepherd's Tree

by John Clare

Huge elm, with rifted trunk all notched and scarred,
Like to a warrior's destiny! I love
To stretch me often on thy shadowed sward,
And hear the laugh of summer leaves above;
Or on thy buttressed roots to sit, and lean
In careless attitude, and there reflect
On times and deeds and darings that have been—
Old castaways, now swallowed in neglect,—
While thou art towering in thy strength of heart,
Stirring the soul to vain imaginings
In which life's sordid being hath no part.
The wind of that eternal ditty sings,
Humming of future things, that burn the mind
To leave some fragment of itself behind.

So certainly it was NOT a normal folk club evening in September, but sometimes „magic“ just seems to happen, even when one is least expecting it. The themes on a folk club evening are certainly not in any way mandatory, and are an option for any performer who wishes to adhere to it, and use it as a peg to hang their respective hats upon, but most people seem to do so, even if the connection to the theme is often extremely tenuous, to say the very least.

So a little quirk of the Bonn Folk Club is that we do normally have themes, but as Mario is so fond of saying, „after the last folk club, comes the next folk club“, so the theme for October is „beer, wine and other delights“ so put your thinking caps on!

Photos courtesy of Sabine Büttner

John Hurd's report from 3SongsBonn on Bonn Folk Club Meet # 138 on 06.09.23

https://3songsbonn.com/2023/09/20/folk-club-bonn-138-treemendous/

John Hurd was with us again to record in word and pictures yet another amazing evening of live unplugged music. The report is so good we can really easily overlook his massacre of the evening's theme of "old trees" by titling his report "TREE'MENDOUS"!

"AAAaaaaaaaaghhhhh!!!!!"  John, die you really have to "bark" that title quite soooo loud???"

""Sometimes, one simply cannot "see the wood, for all the trees!""

Naturally at Folk Club Bonn we have always favoured "roots" music above most other forms and genres of music!

As usual there is a whole page of wonderful photos of the evening here for your closer perusal:

http://johnno.jalbum.net/Folk%20Club%20Bonn%20Sept%202023/

Thanks again so much John Hurd!

You are certainly, one of a kind, and I personally look forward to your own next performance at this wonderful temple of live, acoustic music on the first Friday of the month!

Thanks for being John Hurd and carrying the proverbial torch of the folk club here for well over a decade!

Photos courtesy of John Hurd 3SongsBonn

It is perhaps little known, but after the UK decided in a crazy "non-binding" referendum in 2016 to leave the EU, I protested by not having my hair cut. 

OK, so it has grown a little since then and I normally wear it in a "pony tail", so that the "Brexiteers" do not find themselves quite so continually intimidated.

It is an unwritten "rule" at the folk club that we do not generally do "politics", but we do do "history", big time. I feel that "history" will eventually give me the benefit of the doubt on this one.

"What belongs together, will grow together", is a famous quote from Willy Brandt in a different context, the reunification of Germany and the falling of the wall in 1989, as a long convinced "European", I passionately feel that the UK is, and should be, an integral part of Europe.

There are, naturally differences. I have lived the vast majority of my life in and on mainland Europe.  People going abed on a Saturday night in the British Isles NEVER have the fear of awakening on a Sunday morning and finding a foreign tank upon their lawns. For people living in and on mainland Europe, this has always been a remote, but not impossible, possibility to discover on a rare Sunday morning. I think this is, perhaps an oversimplified, but an essential difference about the way that people from the British Isles view "Europe", compared to the many people who live on the mainland of Europe.

Thank you one again for the photo John Hurd, it's a cracker!

 If one cannot "let one's hair down," at the very least, then on a first Friday in the month? 

Then, when can one?

Gruß,

"Ramblin'" John Harrison

Please do feel free to comment here down below:

Mario's report from Bonn Folk Club Meet # 138 from September 01.09.23

 

Windoof, Linux, Zoom, SDHC - a fraternity of horrors

What was actually going on at the start of the harvest month of September? Illness? Still on holiday? It doesn't matter - in any case, a few artists cancelled their performances, but this was made up for in artistic style by the willingness of the remaining acts to play more and longer. Yes, and then the sound recordings - as you all know, we have been recording the Folk Club for years. Firstly, to document the development for the organisers, and secondly, to provide the performing artists with their performance afterwards (hearing yourself often fills you with pride, but is sometimes also a good source of starting points for improvement). Another reason for the recordings is to help the columnists remember their report (i.e. Detlef or me). Accustomed to being able to listen to the Folk Club again, I don't take notes during the event - Detlef, and I thank him for that, does. Well, what does this explanation have to do with the headline or with this report? Very simple - or very complicated. The recording device is a Zoom R24 with a proprietary operating system (a Linux derivative). The recording medium is a 32 GB SDHC card and the monitoring/editing device (the so-called DAW) is a software that used to run on my Linux computer. Now I have a new computer that is equipped with Windows - I thought to myself, ok, use Windows again after many years. But as soon as the SDHC card was inserted into the computer, a familiar message appeared: "The card has an error - repair or continue without intervention" (the message has a slightly different name, but says exactly that). Since I know that repair is identical to format and everything is gone afterwards, I did not choose this option. I was able to load all the recordings into the software without any problems and listened to some excerpts of the concert. Afterwards, I shut down the computer and wanted to start editing and writing reports the next day - however, the next day the card was no longer readable - neither on the Windows computer, nor on the Linux computer, nor in the Zoom recorder. As a person with prejudices and the need to always find someone to blame instead of myself, from now on the operating software Windows is called "Windoof", again for me.
So, but now the whole mess has positively led to my finding an entertaining introduction to reporting - from now on, as always:

"Laaaddiees and Gentlemeeeeeen......", John Harrison, the Master of Folk Club invites you to the music round. He opened this with a song from his own pen, which he intoned with his frequent fellow musician Christoph Thiebes on the harmonica in a familiar manner. "Flan (Kieran Patrick Flannery)" a sad song, describing the early death of a friend of John. In keeping with the theme of the evening ("Old Trees"), the next song played by the two was "Green Man" by Martin Donnelly. In Celtic cultural circles, the Green Man is actually not a "man" at all, but the embodiment of the renewal of nature and energy - and thus naturally responsible for old and new trees. Surely you can imagine that there is not only one song about Green Men - and so John and Christoph immediately brought another one to the willing ears of the inclined audience. "The Green Man" by Malcolm Guite also showed how perfectly both musicians are in tune with each other and what virtuosity each of them brings to the stage.
To honour the theme of the evening, John recited two poems by his favourite poet John Clare, "The Shepherd's Tree" and "The Wind And Trees". John Clare, we learned from John, was the first poet in England who was not of noble or other wealthy birth, but the son of a simple farm labourer. 

Next, "El Gato con Botas" or as the Rhinelander would say "Der gestiefelte Kater" (Puss in Boots) mounted the stage. Not the name itself, but the language of the name already referred to the type of music. South American, Spanish, Portuguese or French - all, as it turned out, with a jazzy touch, they very virtuously told stories from all over the world. Stories that told of love (the spirit of the beginning of life, so to speak) as well as of death - everyday stories :-). With the musicians Patrick Büchel - double bass, Mika Wagner - vocals and percussion and Arno Fleckenstein - guitar, an absolute experience of the evening manifested itself. Unfortunately, the "Puss in Boots" didn't say that much about the content of their songs, but the performance compensated the audience all the more. Starting with the Colombian song by Marta Gomes "La Ronda", they led into a soulful world of musical expression. Continuing with the Edith Piaf song "Dans ma rue", the journey made a stopover in France. The journey then continued into the world of the Jungle Book. This made it easy to pick up the motto of the evening, because the song is set in a tree. In German the title is "Vertraue mir!", in English "Trust In Me", you know, the evil snake Kaa wants to catch and eat Mogli. But Mika sang it in the Portuguese version, "Confie em mim". The song is beautiful no matter where it is sung, and in El Gato con Botas' arrangement it is the opening of a new world of emotions. The group said goodbye to the first half with something snappy - "Dos Gardeňas", which may be familiar to one or the other from Ibrahim Ferrer (Buena Vista Social Club), the world tour stops in Cuba for the time being.

Wolfgang Schriefer, a familiar face from the ranks of the Folk Club, did not bring a guitar onto the stage this time, but a sheet of paper. He did not sing, but let the audience sink into a fairy tale and legend world of stories he had written himself. He opened his short series with the poem "Baum Traum" (Tree Dream). "Today I dreamed in a dark room, I tell you you won't believe it, of a beautiful tree," it began and told the life of a tree, its growth, its experiences with children and adults up to its death by a lightning strike. But even then it served nature for new life as a shelter for beetles and other small creatures. Although Wolfgang's two stories did not come until the second half of the evening after this poem, I will take the liberty of mentioning them here. The story of the theatre tree, the cedar in front of the Little Theatre in Bad Godesberg. Praised for its age and beauty before every performance, it became vain in 300 years. And once it was not mentioned, it did not like the music in the theatre - until it occurred to him that this was perhaps not due to the music at all, but rather to his injured vanity. Wolfgang ended his poetry with a short story (one minute), which I thought was very beautiful and touching, about the trees in a cemetery forest, whose name tags give comfort to one person and stimulation to another to listen within.

But let's jump back to the first half of Folk Club. Of course, it is always difficult to write about oneself, but since I belong to the group Fomiander and it was their turn, I have no other choice. I'll make it short: we were outstanding, what more is there to say? Joking aside. Of course, there is hardly a performance by any group where one thing or another doesn't go wrong - fortunately, the audience often doesn't even notice, and that's why we shouldn't talk about it. But now to us. Fomiander was almost completely on stage again for a long time - and this time with a new face. Karin Thomas, a flutist who is a great asset to Fomiander, made her Fomiander stage debut. We started with a song from my pen and went into the medieval genre of our name (Fomiander that is folk, medieval and other beautiful songs). "Peasants' Sorrow" is about the peasants' duty to serve their liege lord as soldiers in case of war. Now some may get the idea and correct me by pointing out that such services only appeared in the 16th/17th century. In contrast, I can only exclaim: what is offered today as medieval music does not really have anything to do with the Middle Ages and, moreover, the boundaries of the world are very fluid. In Spanish-Italian circles, for example, the end of the Middle Ages is dated to the middle of the 19th century.

In Spanish-Italian regions, for example, the end of the Middle Ages is placed in the middle of the 14th to the beginning of the 15th century, but in Germany, life in the 16th century is often still historically described as medieval. In any case, this song describes the suffering of being torn from the peasantry to do military service for the prince. In the meantime, not only the harvest is left behind at home, but often the wife and children also die/disappear. The song was interpreted on the Irish bouzouki with both rhythmic accompaniment and built-in melody playing. The transitions of the verses, masterfully sung by Sonja Daniels, were shaped and decorated by Karin Thomas' flute. It continued with an experiment - here, unfortunately, the Spanish guitar of the absent guitarist was missing. "One More Cup Of Coffee" by Bob Dylan is actually a Spanish-influenced piece. Fomiander turned it into an interplay between lyrical ballad and groovy rock 'n' roll. The flute provided melodic interludes in Jethro Tull style.

Another piece from my pen is the song "Tailwind". A painting drawn with wind, which describes that there are moments of reflection, devotion and sometimes regret - however, these should never obscure the fact that the importance in life always lies in the present and the future. The past cannot be changed.
Before the break, the theme of the evening came into full play once again. A short but very informative lecture by Andreas Theves of the Bonn tree guardians (Baum Wächter) made many people sit up and take notice. After all, a single tree with its almost 600,000 leaves manages to provide fresh air. It is easy to guess who has to worry when such a tree is felled. For further reflection after this lecture, a break came just in time.

Freshly attuned to music, the audience soon settled back into their seats to listen to John Harrison and Christoph Thiebes' introduction to the second half. With a great arrangement of the Rolling Stones classic "Honkey Tonk Women", the two carried the audience away. A super harmonica solo by Christoph showed everyone his virtuosity. The title of the piece is different from the original, "Country Honk" and is an adaptation with slightly modified lyrics. It continued no less virtuoso with "Keep Your Hands Off Her" by the blues singer Lead Belly. I don't want to repeat myself, but again the interplay with the solo elements between John and Christoph was terrific. The carpet spot (a.k.a. floor spot) ended with Robert Johnson's "I Got Rambling On My Mind" - again with furious solos.

I have already written about Wolfgang Schriefer's stories above, so now it's time for another report: Fomiander also gave a second performance (to compensate for the absence of other musicians). With a thought-provoking song "The answer only the wind knows", the topics of nature, politics, child rearing and general coexistence were taken up. The melody fingerpicking on the guitar was supported this time with counter melodies on the flute. For the following song, the flute had a break, with Karin using this to support the rhythm of the song "Wenn ich dann gestorben bin" with small percussion. Even though this is a song that I sing myself with guitar accompaniment, its harmonies cannot do without Sonja's second voice. In terms of content, the song points to the "nonsense" of paralysing grief. Life is finite, everyone knows that, and mourning should be a reminder of the good times and not a paralysis of continuing life. But wise words enough, for now it continued with the wisdom that it is not worth thinking about death at a young age "Zähle doch nicht schon in jungen Jahren" ("Don't count at a young age"), subtitled "Das Versicherungslied" ("The Insurance Song"), is a snappy chanson that tells of life's attempt to achieve absolute security - and then comes one little thing that is just not secured and the whole house of cards collapses. . ("wobbly as the cords of the expander is the safety on which you dance"). Now it became political once again at the end. Sonja and I created the song "Der Winterwald" (The Winter Forest), which tells of the seduction of ideologies and ultimately comes to the conclusion: Only thinking for yourself and acting in your own sense makes sense. Never follow other ideologies. This was the end of the Fomiander performance, but not of the evening.

Because now came a special highlight for me personally. Anke and Jörg Bohnsack - the musician couple that combines the fun of music with physical agility until venerable age. The two, who for me are a symbol of "it will be good if I put my personal joy into the music", are as North German as ever and interpreted the song of "Lütt Matten de Haas" who wanted to learn to dance out of pure joy of life, but unfortunately looked for the wrong teacher, because Reinke de Voss taught him only a little, but he em dot. A wonderful story by the local poet Klaus Groth, but also a parable not to be too gullible. Yes, and then came the secret national anthem of Hamburg. "Tüddelband", a song which was big and popular in times of National Socialism - to the annoyance of the same, because the Wolff brothers, who created this song and also ran a theater, were Jews - only everything they did was so quintessentially German that nothing was done to them for a long time - one more reason to hold this song in honor in all times. With their last song, my two favorite musicians became a little less Northern German. With the swing piece "Side By Side" they said goodbye.

Now once again for the brilliant finale of the evening El Gato con Botas. Yes, this group also spontaneously agreed to play another floor spot due to the absence of other musicians - and this, to say it in advance, turned into a multi-part encore evening. But one after the other. They started their second part with "Alfonsina y el mar". A piece from Argentina that was performed in Portuguese. As in the first part, guitar, voice and bass alternated with solo interludes and rhythmically accompanied the band colleagues in the remaining time. It remains to say that Mika's mini percussions were also used again. A small table with modest percussion instruments in wood and brass. With the next piece, the three stayed in Argentina. "Volver" a song by the famous tango singer Carlos Gardel with lyrics by Alfredo Le Pera, which takes up typical tango mood and sings of homesickness. How far is it from Argentina to Turkey? In any case, both are countries with great cultures but unfortunately also terrible political pasts and present times. The song "Kardeşin Duymaz" by the Turkish singer-songwriter Zülfü Livaneli tells us that a brother does not always listen in times of need, but a stranger can show recognition. Now that we have arrived back in Europe, we went once more to France. The group said goodbye with the song "Je Veux" by Zaz. Of course as a joint song with the audience, who sang along with the Papalapapapala. Did I say the group was saying goodbye? Of course they didn't, because the encores "Sympathique (je ne veux pas travailler)" and "Meu mundo é hoje" were still on the agenda. The applause would have been enough to call for more pieces.

But every evening comes to an end - and so does the Folk Club. And? Was it too late for Jock Stewart? - of course not, because no Folk Club comes to an end without paying homage to the patron.

And remember: After the last Folk Club comes the next Folk Club!

 Johnny Campbell from Yorkshire is coming as "Featured Artist"in October. 

It will undoubtedly be another wonderful folk club  evening, and we occasionally also sometimes have a surprise up our sleeves!

With this in mind

"Out of the Bedroom"

Your

Mario

Marios Bericht vom Folk Club Nr 138 am 1. September 2023

Windoof, Linux, Zoom, SDHC – eine Bruderschaft des Grauens

Was war eigentlich los zum Beginn des Erntemonats September? Krankheit? Noch Urlaubszeit? Egal – auf alle Fälle haben ein paar KünstlerInnen Ihren Auftritt abgesagt, was aber in artistischer Manier durch die Bereitschaft der verbleibenden Acts aufgefangen werden konnte, indem diese mehr und länger spielten. Ja und dann die Tonaufnahmen – wie ihr alle wisst, nehmen wir den Folk Club seit Jahren auf. Zum einen, um die Entwicklung für die Organisatoren zu dokumentieren, zum weiteren, um den auftretenden KünstlerInnen ihren Auftritt im Nachhinein zur Verfügung zu stellen (sich selbst zu hören erfüllt oft mit Stolz, ist manchmal aber auch eine gute Quelle für Ansatzpunkte zur Verbesserung). Einen weiteren Grund finden die Aufnahmen in der Erinnerungsstütze der Kolumnisten für ihren Bericht (also für Detlef oder mich). Daran gewöhnt den Folk Club noch einmal nachhören zu können, mache ich mir keine Notizen während der Veranstaltung – Detlef, und das sei ihm gedankt, schon. Na ja, was hat diese Erläuterung nun mit der Überschrift bzw. mit diesem Bericht zu tun? Ganz einfach – oder auch sehr kompliziert. Das Aufnahmegerät ist ein Zoom R24 mit einem proprietären Betriebssystem (ein Linux-Derivat). Das Aufnahmemedium ist eine 32 GB SDHC Karte und das Abhör- bzw. Schneidegerät (die sogenannte DAW) ist eine Software, die bisher auf meinem Linux Rechner lief. Nun habe ich einen neuen Rechner, der mit Windows ausgestattet ist – dachte ich mir doch glatt, ok, nutzt du halt nach Jahren mal wieder Windows. Aaaaber – kaum, dass die SDHC-Karte in den Rechner geschoben wurde, kam eine mir von früher bekannte Meldung: „Die Karte hat einen Fehler – reparieren oder ohne Eingriff weiter“ (Meldung heißt etwas anders, aber sagt genau das aus). Da ich weiß, dass reparieren identisch mit formatieren ist und danach alles weg ist, habe ich diese Option nicht gewählt. Ich konnte alle Aufnahmen problemlos in die Software laden und habe mir einige Ausschnitte des Konzerts angehört. Danach habe ich den Rechner runtergefahren und wollte am nächsten Tag mit der Arbeit des Schneidens und Berichtschreibens anfangen – jedoch, am nächsten Tag war die Karte nicht mehr lesbar – weder auf dem Windows-Rechner noch auf dem Linux-Rechner, noch im Zoom-Rekorder. Als Mensch mit Vorurteilen und der Notwendigkeit, immer einen Schuldigen außerhalb meiner Person zu finden, heißt die Betriebssoftware Windows ab sofort bei mir wieder Windoof.

So, aber nun hat das ganze Schlamassel doch noch positiv dazu geführt, dass ich eine kurzweilige Einleitung in die Berichterstattung gefunden habe – ab jetzt, wie immer:

„Laaaddiees and Gentlemeeeeeen……“, John Harrison, der Master of Folk Club bittet zum Musikreigen. Diesen eröffnetet er selbst mit einem Lied aus eigener Feder, welches er mit seinem häufigen Mitmusiker Christoph Thiebes an der Mundharmonika in bekannter Manier intonierte. „Flan (Kieran Patrick Flannery)“ ein trauriges Lied, beschreibt es doch den frühen Tod eines Freundes von John. Dem Thema des Abends („Alte Bäume“) angemessen spielten die Beiden als nächstes Lied den „Green Man“ von Martin Donnelly. Der Green Man ist in keltischen Kulturkreisen eigentlich gar kein „Man“, sondern die Verkörperung der Erneuerung von Natur und Energie – und somit natürlich verantwortlich für alte und neue Bäume. Sicherlich könnt ihr euch denken, dass es nicht nur ein Lied über Green Men gibt – und so brachten John und Christoph auch gleich ein weiteres dem geneigten Publikum zu Ohren. „The Green Man“ von Malcolm Guite zeigte ebenfalls wie perfekt eingespielt beide Musiker sind und welche Virtuosität jeder für sich auf die Bühne bringt.

Damit das Motto des Abends auch ordentlich gewürdigt wurde, trug John zwei Gedichte seines Lieblingsdichters John Clare vor "The Shepherd's Tree " und "The Wind And Trees". John Clare lernten wir von John, war der erste Dichter Englands, der nicht von Adel oder sonstiger begüterter Herkunft war, sondern der Sohn eines einfachen Landarbeiters.

Als nächstes bestieg „El Gato con Botas“ oder wie der Rheinländer sagen würde „Der gestiefelte Kater“ die Bühne. Nicht der Name an sich, aber die Sprache des Namens verwies bereits auf die Art der Musik. Südamerikanisch, spanisch, portugiesisch oder französisch – alles, wie sich zeigte, jazzig angemacht, erzählten sie sehr virtuos Geschichten aus aller Welt. Geschichten, die ebenso von der Liebe (sozusagen dem Spirit des Beginns von Leben) wie auch vom Tod erzählten – Alltagsgeschichten eben:-). Mit den MusikerInnen Patrick Büchel – Kontrabass, Mika Wagner – Gesang und Perkussion und Arno Fleckenstein – Gitarre hat sich ein absolutes Erlebnis des Abends manifestiert. Leider haben die gestiefelten Kater nicht so sehr viel zu den Inhalten ihrer Lieder erzählt, aber die Darbietung entschädigte das Publikum umso mehr. Beginnend mit dem kolumbianischen Lied von Marta Gomes „La Ronda“ führten sie in eine gefühlvolle Welt des musikalischen Ausdrucks. Weiter ging es dann mit dem Edith-Piaf-Lied „Dans ma rue“, und somit machte die Reise einen Zwischenstopp in Frankreich. Weiter ging es dann in die Welt des Dschungelbuchs. Damit war es leicht, das Motto des Abends aufzunehmen, denn das Lied spielt auf einem Baum. Auf Deutsch lautet der Titel „Vertraue mir!“, ihr wisst schon, die böse Schlange Kaa will Mogli fangen und verspeisen. Mika sang es aber in der portugiesischen Version. Das Lied ist unabhängig vom Ort des Geschehens schön und in der Bearbeitung von El Gato con Botas die Eröffnung einer neuen Gefühlswelt. Mit etwas Flottem verabschiedete sich die Gruppe aus der ersten Hälfte – „Dos Gardeňas“, welches dem einen oder der anderen von Ibrahim Ferrer (Buena Vista Social Club) bekannt sein mag, macht die Weltreise vorerst in Kuba Halt.

Wolfgang Schriefer, ein bekanntes Gesicht aus den Reihen des Folk Clubs, brachte diesmal keine Gitarre, sondern ein Blatt Papier auf die Bühne. Er sang nicht, sondern ließ das Publikum in eine Märchen- und Sagenwelt selbst geschriebener Geschichten versinken. Mit dem Gedicht „Baum Traum“ eröffnete er seine Kurzreihe. „Heut’ träumte ich in dunklem Raum, Ich sage euch man glaubt es kaum, von einem wunderschönen Baum.“, so fing es an und erzählte das Leben eines Baumes, über sein Wachstum, sein Erlebnisse mit Kindern und Erwachsenen bis hin zu seinem Tod durch einen Blitzschlag. Aber selbst dann noch diente er der Natur für neues Leben als Unterschlupf für Käfer und anderes Kleingetier. Zwar kamen nach diesem Gedicht die zwei Geschichten von Wolfgang erst in der zweiten Abendhälfte, aber ich gestatte mir diese doch bereits hier zu erwähnen. Die Geschichte vom Theaterbaum, der Zeder vor dem Kleinen Theater in Bad Godesberg. Vor jeder Vorstellung lobend ob seines Alters und Schönheit erwähnt, wurde dieser in 300 Jahren eitel. Und als einmal keine Erwähnung stattfand, mochte er die Musik im Theater nicht – bis im einfiel, dass dies vielleicht gar nicht an der Musik, sondern eher an seiner verletzten Eitelkeit lag. Mit einer, in meinen Augen sehr schönen und anrührigen Kurzgeschichte (eine Minute) beendet Wolfgang seine Lyrik und berichtete über die Bäume in einem Friedwald, deren Namensschildchen dem einen Trost und der anderen Anregung zum in sich hineinhören geben.

Aber springen wir zurück in die erste Hälfte des Folk Clubs. Über sich selbst zu schreiben, fällt natürlich immer schwer, aber, da ich zur Gruppe Fomiander gehöre und diese nun an der Reihe war, bleibt mir gar nichts anderes übrig. Ich mache es kurz: Wir waren überragend, was gibt es da noch zu sagen? Scherz beiseite. Natürlich gibt es kaum einen Auftritt von kaum einer Gruppe, bei dem nicht das eine oder andere schief geht – glücklicherweise merkt es das Publikum oft gar nicht, und deshalb sollte auch nicht darüber gesprochen werden. Nun aber zu uns. Fomiander stand seit langer Zeit mal wieder fast vollständig auf der Bühne – und diesmal mit einem neuen Gesicht. Karin Thomas, eine Querflötistin, die eine große Bereicherung für Fomiander darstellt, gab ihr Fomiander-Bühnen-Debüt. Mit einem Lied aus meiner Feder begannen wir und begaben uns in das Genre Mittelalter unseres Namens (Fomiander das ist Folk, Mittelalter und andere schöne Lieder). „Bauernleid“ erzählt   über die Pflicht der Bauern ihrem Lehnsherren im Kriegsfall soldatischen Dienst zu leisten. Nun kann so mancher auf die Idee kommen und mich korrigieren, in dem darauf hingewiesen wird, dass solche Dienste erst im 16/ 17ten Jahrhundert aufkamen. Dem gegenüber kann ich nur ausrufen: was heute als Mittelaltermusik angeboten wird, hat nicht wirklich etwas mit dem Mittelalter zu tun und außerdem sind Grenzen von Weltären sehr fließend. So wird zwar in spanisch-italienischen Gefilden das Ende des Mittelalters auf Mitte des 14. bis Anfang des 15. Jahrhunderts gelegt, aber in Deutschland wird häufig noch das Leben auch des 16. Jahrhunderts geschichtlich als mittelalterlich bezeichnet. Jedenfalls beschreibt dies Lied eben das Leid aus dem Bauerntum herausgerissen zu werden, um dem Fürsten Kriegsdienst zu leisten. Derweil bleibt zu Hause nicht nur die Ernte liegen, sondern oft sterben/ verschwinden auch Frau und Kinder. Interpretiert wurde das Lied auf der irischen Bouzouki mit sowohl rhythmischer Begleitung wie auch eingebautem Melodiespiel. Die Übergänge der von Sonja Daniels meisterlich gesungenen Strophen wurden durch eben die Querflöte von Karin Thomas gestaltet und verziert. Mit einem Experiment ging es weiter – hier fehlte leider die spanische Gitarre des abwesenden Gitarristen. „One More Cup Of Coffee“ von Bob Dylan ist eigentlich ein spanisch angehauchtes Stück. Fomiander machte daraus ein Wechselspiel zwischen lyrischer Ballade und fetzigem Rock ’n‘ Roll. Die Querflöte sorgte im Jethro-Tull-Stil für Melodieeinlagen.

Wieder ein Stück aus meiner Feder ist das Lied „Rückenwind“. Ein mit Wind gezeichnetes Gemälde, welches beschreibt, dass es Momente des Zurückdenkens, der Andacht und manchmal des Bedauerns gibt – allerdings sollten diese nie darüber hinwegtäuschen, dass die Wichtigkeit im Leben immer in der Gegenwart und Zukunft liegt. Zurückliegendes lässt sich nicht verändern.

Vor der Pause kam noch einmal das Thema des Abends voll zur Geltung. Ein kleiner, aber sehr informativer Vortrag von Andreas Theves von den Bonner Baumwächtern ließ viele aufhorchen. Schafft es doch ein einziger Baum mit seinen nahezu 600 000 Blättern für frische Luft zu sorgen. Es lässt sich leicht erraten, wer sich zu sorgen hat, wenn solch ein Baum gefällt wird. Zum weiteren Nachdenken nach diesem Vortrag kam dann eine Pause gerade richtig.

 

Frisch auf Musik eingestellt, ließ sich das Publikum bald wieder auf seine Plätze nieder, um der Einleitung durch John Harrison und Christoph Thiebes in die zweiten Hälfte zu lauschen. Mit einer tollen Bearbeitung des Rolling-Stones-Klassikers „Honkey Tonk Women“ rissen die Beiden das Publikum mit. Ein super Mundharmonikasolo von Christoph zeigt allen seine Virtuosität. Der Titel des Stücks lautet anders als das Original „Country Honk“ und ist eine Bearbeitung mit leicht abgewandeltem Text. Weiter ging es nicht weniger virtuos mit „Keep Your Hands Off Her“ von dem Bluessänger Lead Belly. Ich möchte mich nicht wiederholen, aber auch hier war wieder das Zusammenspiel mit den Soloelementen zwischen John und Christoph grandios. Den Abschluss des Teppichflecks (alias Floor Spot) gestalteten die Zwei mit Robert Johnsons „I Got Rambling On My Mind“ – auch hier wieder mit furiosen Soloeinlagen.

Über die Geschichten von Wolfgang Schriefer habe ich bereits weiter oben geschrieben, so dass nun wieder ein Eigenbericht ansteht: Auch Fomiander gaben eine zweite Einlage (um den Ausfall anderer MusikerInnen zu kompensieren). Mit einem zum Nachdenken anregendem Lied „Die Antwort weiß nur der Wind“, wurden die Themen Natur, Politik, Kindererziehung und das allgemeine Zusammenleben aufgegriffen. Das Melodie-Fingerpicking auf der Gitarre wurde diesmal mit gegenläufigen Melodien auf der Querflöte unterstützt. Beim folgenden Lied hatte die Querflöte eine Pause, wobei Karin diese nutzte, um mit kleinem Schlagwerk die Rhythmik des Liedes „Wenn ich dann gestorben bin“ zu unterstützen. Auch, wenn dies ein Lied ist, welches ich selbst zur Gitarrenbegleitung singe, kommt es in seiner Harmonik nicht ohne die zweite Stimme von Sonja aus. Inhaltlich weist das Lied auf die „Unsinnigkeit“ von lähmender Trauer hin. Das Leben ist endlich, jedem ist das bekannt, und Trauer sollte Erinnerung an die guten Zeiten sein und keine Lähmung des Weiterlebens. Aber kluge Worte genug, denn nun ging es weiter mit der Weisheit, dass es sich nicht lohnt schon in jungen Jahren an den Tod zu denken „Zähle doch nicht schon in jungen Jahren“ mit dem Untertitel „Das Versicherungslied“ bezeichnet, ist ein schmissiger Chanson, der über den Versuch des Lebens absolute Sicherheit zu erlangen erzählt – und dann kommt eine Kleinigkeit, die eben nicht abgesichert ist und das ganze Kartenhaus fällt in sich zusammen („wacklig wie die Schnüre des Expanders ist die Sicherheit auf der du tanzt“). Nun wurde es zum Abschluss noch einmal politisch. Als Gemeinschaftswerk von Sonja und mir entstand da Lied „Der Winterwald“, welches von der Verführung von Ideologien erzählt und letztendlich zu dem Schluss kommt: Nur selbst nachdenken und im eigenen Sinne handeln macht Sinn. Niemals anderen Ideologien nachlaufen. Damit endete zwar der Fomiander Auftritt, aber nicht der Abend.

Denn nun kam ein für mich persönlich besonderer Höhepunkt. Anke und Jörg Bohnsack – das Musikerpaar, das bis ins ehrwürdige Alter den Spaß an der Musik mit körperlicher Agilität verbindet. Die beiden, die für mich ein Sinnbild von „es wird gut, wenn ich meine persönliche Freude in die Musik lege“ sind, sind norddeutsch wie eh und je und interpretierten das Lied vom „Lütt Matten de Haas“ der aus reiner Lebensfreude das Tanzen erlernen wollte, sich aber leider den falschen Lehrer suchte, denn Reinke de Voss lehrte ihn nur wenig, dafür beet he em dot. Eine herrliche Geschichte des Heimatdichters Klaus Groth, aber auch ein Gleichnis, nicht zu leichtgläubig zu sein. Ja und dann kam die heimliche Nationalhymne von Hamburg. „Tüddelband“, ein Lied, welches in Zeiten des Nationalsozialismus groß und beliebt war – zum Ärgernis selbiger, denn die Gebrüder Wolff, die dieses Lied entstehen ließen und auch ein Theater leiteten, waren Juden – nur alles, was sie taten, war so urdeutsch, dass ihnen lange nichts angetan wurde – ein Grund mehr dieses Lied in allen Zeiten in Ehren zu halten. Mit ihrem letzten Lied wurden meine zwei Lieblingsmusiker etwas weniger norddeutsch. Mit dem Swingstück „Side By Side“ verabschiedeten sie sich.

Nun noch einmal zum fulminanten Ausklang des Abends El Gato con Botas. Ja auch diese Gruppe hat sich wegen des Ausfalls anderer Musiker spontan bereit erklärt einen weiteren Floorspot zu spielen – und der, um es vorwegzusagen – weitete sich zu einem mehrstückigen Zugabenabend aus. Aber der Reihe nach. Mit „Alfonsina y el mar“ begannen sie ihren zweiten Teil. Einem Stück aus Argentinien, dass auf Portugiesisch vorgetragen wurde. Wie bereits im ersten Teil wechselten sich Gitarre, Stimme und Bass mit Soloeinlagen ab und untermalten in der Restzeit rhythmisch die Bandkollegen. Bliebe noch zu sagen, dass auch wieder die Miniperkussions von Mika zum Einsatz kamen. Ein kleiner Tisch mit bescheidenen Schlagwerken in Holz und Blech. Mit dem nächsten Stück blieben die Drei in Argentinien. „Volver“ ein Lied des berühmten Tangosängers Carlos Gardel mit dem Text von Alfredo Le Pera, das typische Tangostimmung aufnimmt und von Heimweh singt. Wie weit ist es eigentlich von Argentinien in die Türkei? Auf alle Fälle sind beides Länder mit großen Kulturen aber leider auch schlimmen politischen Vergangenheiten und Gegenwarten. So berichtet das Lied „Kardeşin Duymaz“ des türkischen Liedermachers Zülfü Livaneli, dass der Bruder in Notlagen nicht immer hinhört, aber ein Fremder sehr wohl Erkennen zeigen kann. Da wir nun wieder in Europa angekommen sind, ging es noch einmal nach Frankreich. Die Gruppe verabschiedete sich mit dem Song „Je Veux“ von Zaz. Natürlich als gemeinsames Lied mit dem Publikum, welches das Papalapapapala kräftig mitsang. Hatte ich gesagt, die Gruppe verabschiedete sich? Natürlich tat sie das nicht, denn es waren noch die Zugaben „Sympathique (je ne veux pas travailler)“ und „Meu mundo é hoje“ angesagt. Der Applaus hätte ausgereicht, um noch weitere Stücke zu fordern.

Aber jeder Abend geht einmal zu Ende – so auch der Folk Club. Und? War es für Jock Stewart zu spät – natürlich nicht, denn ohne die Huldigung an den Patron geht kein Folk Club zu Ende.

Und denkt daran: Nach dem Folk Club ist vor dem Folk Club. Im Oktober kommt Johnny Campbell aus Yorkshire. In diesem Sinne

Out of the Bedroom

Euer

Mario

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Folk Club Bonn #138 Friday 01.09.2023 SINGERS' NIGHT Theme " Elderly Trees / Alte Bäume"

 FCB # 138 19:00 hrs on Friday 01.08.23

Dear Folk Club friends,

It's starting again!  ((No! Not COVID-19 again  this time!  (hopefully!!!))

After the summer break, the 138th edition of the Folk Club will take place this next Friday, 01 September 2023.

This time there will be a Singers' Night with numerous performances by various artists. The theme of the evening is "Old Trees". Let yourself be surprised and enjoy the evening!

Here once again are the most important dates:

Date: 01 September 2023

Start: 19.00 hrs until probably 22.00 hrs. The hall is open from 17.00 hrs and offers the opportunity to dine and drink comfortably before the concert. Those who come early can also sit in the front row.

Venue: Dotty's Sports Bar and Restaurant (Public Club House of the Bonn Tennis and Hockey Association - BTHV), Christian-Miesen-Straße, 53129 Bonn (Dottendorf)

And yet another important thing, as always, free admission.



Preview for October:

The next Folk Club will take place on 06 October 2023 with the theme "Beer, Wine and Other Delicacies". Featured artist of the evening is Johnny Campbell from Yorkshire in the North of England (https://johnnycampbell.co.uk/).



And another little hint: Thursday, 31 August 2023 from 20:00 to 22:00, John Harrison and Christoph Thiebes will perform at the inn "Kater 26" (at Römerstraße 26 in Bonn) (free admission, hat collection). The theme of his concert is "A little bit of Folk and a whole lotta Blues!". Highly recommended for all those who can't get enough of folk and blues. The pub also serves a well-kept Pilsener Urquell on draught and Czech wines.

Information for all those who want to perform at the Folk Club and secure a date:

(Due to a late cancellation due to illness, there is in fact a floor spot available for this coming Friday evening on 01.09.23 for the first person to apply!)

Please only use the address playrequestfolkclubbonn AT gmail dot com (correctly spelt with @ and . of course) for your registrations.


If you need further information please contact

Your Folk Club Team

John Harrison (0228 3670150)

Detlef Stachetzki (0228 671621)

Mario Dompke (02633 470327)

Detlef's report from Bonn Folk Club Meet # 137 from July 07.07.23

 Folk Club in July 2023 with a visit from Canada

On the last Folk Club evening before the summer break, the audience could look forward to an extensive contribution by our guest from Canada, guitarist Don Bartlett. As always, the programme was framed by contributions from John Harrison and music from local artists. In addition, the Cologne group Hofjebräu came to the Folk Club stage for the second time this year.

But as always, first things first. The traditional warm-up was performed by John Harrison. As a little allusion to Don Bartlett, whose home is the Canadian province of Alberta (twice the geographical size of Germany with about 4.5 million inhabitants), John started with the song "Alberta, Alberta". However, this has nothing to do with Canada but is directed at a woman with the same name. The origin of the melody is not clear. The first recording from 1926 is attributed to the blues guitarist Blind Lemon Jefferson. At that time the song was still called "Corrinne, Corrina". Others give Bo Carter Chapman of The Mississippi Sheiks as the originator. The lyrics in honour of an Alberta were only later combined with the melody and were written by Lead Belly*. But with the old blues tunes, it is not unusual that different authors are assumed to be the originators and some things were mixed up. The cudgel of copyright had not yet been developed. Clearly, by John himself is the song "Trouble And Strife", which deals with the devastating events of the Yugoslav War in 1991.

. Also from John's own pen is the song "Albert McShah", which sings about a somewhat unusual sheikh in whose harem live 50 women who like to sing blues. But the women sing slightly off-key. Here John skilfully used his resonator guitar with bottleneck slide technique - very funny!

Hans Ihnen always has little gems of folk music from earlier years in store. This time he had chosen songs by the unforgotten John Denver, which fitted well with the theme of the evening "Arrival and Farewell": Some listeners were already singing along with "Leaving On A Jet Plane". "Back Home Again" was obviously not quite as well known by the audience, but no less beautiful. The third song was then a reference both to Canada and to Darrel Delaronde, who together with his wife Saskia thrilled the audience at the Folk Club in May 2018 as the duo "Great Plains". Darrel, however, sadly passed away in October 2020. "My Father's Land" is one of his songs from the album "Holy Ground" - Thank you, Hans, for your songs and especially for remembering Darrel and Saskia.

Quite against his usual habit, Mario Dompke this time resorted to songs by other authors. "Ich bin Soldat" is a song that first became known in connection with the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. The song is attributed to the Saxon socialist Max Kegel, but the Zwickau newspaper editor Karl Hirsch is also believed to be the author of the lyrics. Mario also linked the song to the Napoleonic Wars, which took place some 70 years earlier. Be that as it may, the song became known to a larger public in the interpretation of the group Zupfgeigenhansel in 1976. The song "Leicht Gepäck" (Light Luggage) with the refrain line "Mein ganzer Reichtum ist mein Lied" (My whole wealth is my song) was written by Georg Herwegh. Herwegh was a contemporary and kindred spirit of Kegel's who campaigned for liberation from the authoritarian state and took an active part in the revolution of 1848. Mario then reached into the folk song box with the song,

"Lustig, lustig, ihr lieben Brüder" ("Merry, merry, my dear brothers"), in which the audience sang the refrain,

"While our craft is corrupted
The best-drinking brothers have died
There's none more alive than I and you"

were allowed to sing along. The song is about the experiences of a wandering journeyman craftsman who has travelled all over Europe.

After this somewhat lengthy introduction, Don Bartlett, the featured artist of the evening, gave us a taste of his virtuoso guitar skills in his first set before the interval. To anticipate: If you see his name on a programme somewhere: Go for it! It was simply a musical firework display the likes of which you don't often get to hear. Don, who was already a guest at the Folk Club four years ago, has developed enormously since then and is a real musical highlight.

For tonight he had mainly chosen instrumental interpretations of pieces by other authors. "Spiritual Groove" by Antoine Dufour is a furious piece with percussion elements on the guitar body. "Nothing Else Matters" by Metallica only gets the right effect through Don's instrumental version. His version of the song "Here, There And Everywhere" by the Beatles is beautiful enough to make you cry. Other interpretations were "We Don't Talk Anymore" by Charlie Puth and an arrangement by Canadian Lenny Breau of Bob Dylan's "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" with artfully interwoven additions of jazz elements.

The second part of the evening started again with John Harrison, this time accompanied by Christoph Thiebes and Michael Ralph Pfeil with their harmonicas. "Walking Blues" is a piece from the 1930s. It was written by Son House, but it got its popularity in the interpretation of Robert Johnson. "Mr. Solitaire" was penned by John himself, while the blues "Little Red Rooster" was written by Willie Dixon. It became famous in 1961 in the recording with Howling Wolf (and later was an early hit for the Rolling Stones).

John Hay had also chosen songs to match the evening's theme, which were also good to sing along to. Apparently, John Denver is a real treasure trove on the subject of "arrival and farewell", as he had already helped himself to Hans Ihnen in the box in the first part of the evening. The lyrics of "Country Road" fulfilled the motto criterion perfectly. Today Here, Tomorrow There" by Hannes Wader also fit well and was also a German-language contribution, with which the audience sang along vigorously. The song "Oceans" by Hillsong United, a music collective belonging to the Australian "Hillsong community", a denomination belonging to the Christian Pentecostal church movement, has a strong religious reference.

Bringing us back down to earth was "Hofjebräu", who had already performed at the beginning of the year. The group consists of Michael Ralph Pfeil and Axel Meyer. The two devote themselves to German-language rock music with great fervour. As a successful combination of the Ruhr region (Michael) and the Rhineland (Axel), they also have songs in the Rhenish dialect in their repertoire. They started right away with "Helfen kann dir keiner" by BAP and stirred up the audience. They were accompanied by John Harrison and Christoph Thiebes on the harmonica. The Ruhr area section then got their contribution with the song "Willie und Gerd" by Stoppok, where the two of them really rocked out. Then it was back to the Rhenish and contemplative with "Wellenreiter" by BAP, in which Axel was able to show that he is well versed in Rhenish dialect. Marius Müller-Westernhagen's song "Hier in der Kneipe" (Here in the pub), which the two had slightly adapted in terms of lyrics, proved to be well suited for a homage to our pub "Dotty's". Big applause for "Hofjebräu"!

Afterwards, Don Bartlett had the rest of the evening at his disposal. In honour of his friend Steve Perry, who died last year, Don had taken a tune composed by Steve and rearranged it. "Today Is Forever" is the title of the piece, into which Don wove elements of Eric Clapton's "Tears In Heaven" - We are sure Steve will like it!

Apparently also known in Canada is Nena's song "Ninety-Nine Balloons", for which Don has arranged a wonderful instrumental version. Again a combination of elements from different melodies and Don arranged a wonderful instrumental version. Again a combination of elements from different tunes was the following piece. He wove "Freight Train" by Elisabeth Cotten into the "Cannonball Rag" by Merle Travis (guitar virtuoso Tommy Emanuel calls the piece "the anthem of fingerpicking guitarists") and combined this with a ride through several keys - very virtuoso and apart. For a change, Don presented the secret anthem of Scotland, "Caledonia" by Dougie MacLean - a reference to Don's Scottish ancestors. The song has been heard several times at the Folk Club - it is simply heartrending. Then it went on with instrumentals: "Can't Get You Out Of My Head" by Kylie Minogue, "Mad World" by Tears for Fears, and last but not least the edited and slightly alienated Beatles song "Nowhere Man". No, Don's performance was not quite over after that. The enthusiastic audience would not let him go without an encore. He chose the piece "Midna's Lament". Funnily enough, it is a theme song of a video game Don had played as a teenager: "The Legend Of Zelda". 

As usual, our patron saint, Jock Stewart, brought the colourful evening to a close, this time accompanied by our grand stalwart Hans-Günter Peters, the folk club's own nonagenarian on the piano, and another man, from the club's very first hours in the Schutzenhaus in Graurheindorf, that you don't meet every day, proving that regularly playing music very often furthers one's longevity, and long may it be so!

Good on you Günter!

Well, we don't have legends to tell, but we do have "true stories". One of these true stories is that the Folk Club has become a crowd puller again after the interruptions and restrictions caused by the Corona wave.

Another "true story" is that the next edition of the Folk Club is already just around the corner, on Friday 1st September. This time there will be a Singers' Night. Let us surprise you!

One more thing: If you can't get enough of folk and blues music, you should drop by the Kater 26 pub at Römerstraße 26 on 31 August 2023 from 8 pm. John Harrison and Christoph Thiebes will be giving a concert there with the theme "A little bit of Folk and a whole lotta Blues!"