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Kevin
Parker
Kevin's
interest in folk music was awakened by hearing Phil Beer playing 'Sir
Patrick Spens' in Exeter in about 1971. As a student
at the end of
the 70's he accompanied a
wonderful singer called Carla Lipinski in the Cambridge folk
scene.
Highlights were being 'on the same bill' as Bert Jansch and Nic Jones.
After
a 20 year hiatus (work, family etc.) he returned to folk music in 2000,
thanks to Scott Murray's ALP
class and then joining the
Folk'n'Friends
session. Kevin's song repertoire varies from Devon to
America,
includes much Richard Thompson, and now has more of Scots creeping in
(he leads a group rendition of Burns'
'Silver Tassie'). He also likes to play the odd tune (mostly in
DADGAD), on his shiny Amistar dobro .
[Unfortunately, Kevin's dobro is so
heavy that it sometimes pulls him over at an angle. As you can see in
the picture, he has recently taken to employing stray street children
to hold the end up for him. Ed.] |
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David
Foggo
David
has been singing and playing in sessions
for about eight years. He likes a wide variety of contemporary and
traditional
folk songs and some songs that don't fit within the folk idiom.
Favourite song
writers include Jimmy McCarthy, Dougie MacLean, Bill Staines, Tom
Paxton,
Robert Burns and many more. David accompanies himself on guitar and
occasionally on the 5
string banjo. He won a prize for songwriting with a
song called "Tie".
Unfulfilled
ambitions include; flying from
Edinburgh to Dundee - "I've done the road to Dundee by car and bicycle,
gone there by train and by sea so flying would complete the process",
going
to a Bill Staines' gig - "probably in the USA because, as far as I
know,
he's never been in Europe" and early retirement - "dream on David!
".
[He tends to look
cheerier
than he does in his picture. (Just a little.) Ed.]
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Donald
Peden
A relative
newcomer to the folk scene, Donald plays guitar and sings a
mixture of Scottish folk songs. To say he is an Eric Bogle
fan is an
under-statement! As well as some Corries songs, he is also
known for
the occasional humorous song or traditional ballad. Donald
has also
penned a few of his own. |
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Stella
Hervey
What’s
all this nonsense then? It’s a biog for Stella, a regular at Folk and/or Friends.
Why? Well, we’ve
been told that
if we don't write our own then Bob will write them for us.
Stella can't risk that. So
who is Stella then? Is she any good? Stella is a choirgirl
turned folk and country singer. (She
doesn’t do much folk music if truth be told…) Good.
I don’t like all that hand in the ear stuff. Neither does she. Does
she actually play any instruments? She
played oboe at school, but decided it
wouldn’t translate well into a session environment.
And although she “can’t be bothered” to learn
to play the guitar, she is very lucky as David, Cathy and Derek (and
John
occasionally !) accompany her; or sometimes she will sing unaccompanied. (But not very often.) It
sounds like they totally pander to her. Yeah it’s great isn’t it? So
who does she like the best? No comment. Aww,
go on. You
must be joking. Ok
then. But then you have to tell me her
favourite song or something Nope, no can do, changes daily. Although
on 3/3/05, it was Athlete with
Wires. She likes the miserable stuff
best, for wallowing purposes. Influences? Indigo
Girls! All other
influences see Derek Birrell’s biog. Do
say. I loved
your harmony vocals on that song; they were much better than the lead. Don’t
say. Can I smoke? or Do you know
the
Flower of Scotland ? Top links www.ajroach.net www.visitshetland.com www.inclusivechurch.net www.comboplatebooking.com And google Jack Harris when his
site is up and running,
he’s ace. |
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Derek
Birrell
Derek is the eye
candy of Folk'n'Friends,
but also specialises in high maintenance girlfriends, so look, don’t
touch. As well as being a bit of a
hotty, Derek is a great guitarist (especially if you are sitting near
enough to
hear his lead solos), and has a varied portfolio, including some modern
Scottish Classics, twists to the traditional tunes, and Stevie, Stevie,
Stevie
Earle. Derek loves Steve Earle even more
than his high maintenance girlfriends and has been know to last entire
evenings
playing only SE songs when his turn comes round. He
likes Steve’s mates Guy Clark and Townes
Van Zandt too, and has been known to learn songs for Stella to sing
including
young people’s music Natasha Bedingfield... A good all-rounder
with a wicked sense of humour. See me after class !
[It should be pointed out {a} that
this, not surprisingly, was written by Stella, and {b} that Derek has
agreed to its inclusion, which is a mite more surprising. Ed.]
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John
Morrison
After
gaining confidence at ALP classes (recommended
- thanks Scott!), John sang and played 'solo' for the first time in the
Tass
(having been made to feel very welcome by Janice and Co!) and continues
to
partake in a couple of sessions most weeks. John likes to
perform
mostly traditional Scottish, but also does some contemporary Scots
stuff, which
otherwise might go unheard (shame!).
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Alan
Russell
Alan started playing the guitar in 2002, and in 2003 joined Edinburgh's
ALP Scots Music Group for a variety of music classes which awakened his
interest in traditional music. His eclectic repertoire of songs ranges
from tender ballads through bubblegum pop tunes to raunchy sea
shanties. Influences range from Bob Dylan to U2. Alan's proudest moment
was being asked by a bemused Korean tourist if he was a professional
musician.
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Sibbi
Laing
One of the Silver Darlings !
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Cathy
Storey
The only one on this list to have a recording under her belt - her CD
"October Town".
Cathy says "I love music. If I woke
up one morning and heard on the radio that all the guitars in the world
had been banned, I probably wouldn't bother getting out of
bed." A question that preoccupies her is "What if someone
who had never heard music was locked in a tower in a dark forest and
there was a guitar in the room .. what would they come up with .. would
it be blues ?"
Apart from
daydreaming away her time like this, Cathy likes having a shot at
writing cute and sad little love songs and her favourite influences are
country music, blues, and rock'n'roll. She would love to hear Dolly
Parton cover "Sign of the Times" (that old Prince song) and wouldn't
mind travelling back to 1977 to see Led Zeppelin rock the ass off
Edinburgh Castle.
She's working on a
CD and hopes to have it done "by the end of this year with the help of
Stella {Hervey - see this site} on harmony vocals - yes Stella -
there's no getting out of it now . . . ."
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Mary
Lennox
Mary first went to a folk club when she was seventeen, and hasn't
stopped singing since ! A solo singer by choice, she admits she
is much
influenced "by American women". No description of Mary can be complete
without mention of Homer the dog.
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Norman
Maclean
Originally from
Australia, his father was sent there by the authorities for some
reason, he has enjoyed folk music since the 60s - Scottish, Dylan,
Guthrie, also likes country and western and
bluegrass. Recently formed a nostalgic skiffle
group and plays in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and other gigs
including old folks homes etc. Plays guitar and sings. |
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Charlie
A well-kent face around many of the sessions and folk clubs, Charlie
sings unaccompanied a wide variety of, amongst others, bothy ballads
and couthy old Scots songs. Loanhead Music Festival.
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Justin
Typical of Justin is (on 8.3.05) "I saw this poem on a postcard and
liked the words, so I've put it to a tune. It's only eight lines so
I'll have to sing it twice." He then musically mesmerises for three or
four minutes.
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