Reviews 2003 | ||
Woodman Folk Club - Reviews |
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John Wright | ||
Maggie Brown | 12 December 2003 |
"From a high profile spotlight as a member of the Household Cavalry, to
the solitary existence of a hill shepherd, John emerged to take centre-stage as
a professional singer in the early '90s."
All those years that we missed, John why weren’t you singing to us? Did the horses listen to your songs? Did the sheep enjoy your songs? – I bet they never bought any CDs! It was an experience to cherish on Friday night when John and his band played at the Woodman. What a magical night it was! We were treated to songs from his new CD "SongDance". The title track penned by Allan Taylor was particularly well sung, as was Mirabeau Bridge. All the songs except two on the CD are connected with dancing. The other two are just songs that John wanted to sing. "John became interested in folk music whilst still in the army and this increased as he left to make his life as a shepherd, at first in Northumberland on the English Borders and later as he moved over to the Scottish side." Naked to the Eye the Mary Chapin Carpenter song livened up the proceeding and Wings by Brian Bedford - give your love its freedom and it may stay awhile - is such a beautiful song just enhanced by John’s interpretation. "John's introduction to music began as the youngest of four brothers all choristers at their local church in East Didsbury. As the Sixties scene took off in Manchester, so did John's enthusiasm, and he played with several local rock bands before moving to London to join the army." All The Lies was sung with such conviction and meaning that there was complete quiet in the room. The Richard Thompson song Keep Your Distance ended to rousing applause and I was delighted with the rendition of Lock Keeper by Stan Rodgers. Special thanks to Maartin Allcock, Joe Wright and Angus Lyon for providing all the instrumental backing together with accompanying vocals.
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