Hannah James & Sam Sweeney with support from Josienne Clarke & Ben Walker

Folk On Monday @ Green Note, Camden, 17/09/2012

I was definitely back in my comfort zone on Monday. And what a comfy comfort zone it turned out to be! For any Londoners who haven’t been, The Green Note is a lovely little vegetarian restaurant that hosts gigs in the evenings – well worth a visit (especially on a Monday!).  Up until now, I haven’t really mentioned support acts at gigs I’ve been to, but it would be verging on criminal if I didn’t talk about Josienne & Ben’s opening set.  On record, Josienne has one of those voices that tugs at your heartstrings. In live performance, it’s simply heart-stopping. They opened with “Silver Dagger” – for some reason the song I associate with Josienne & Ben the most (alongside her self-penned song “Done”).  The majority of their material for this set was trad folk song – including a ‘flirtation’ with “Flash Company” (and a very successful one at that!) and a beautiful rendition of “Who Knows Where The Time Goes?”. Stunning, absolutely stunning.

As if that wasn’t enough top-quality music for one night, along came Hannah James and Sam Sweeney. We were treated to about an hour and a half of anecdotes (how many of us can claim to have a 93 year old relative who knows what a Nintendo Wii is, let alone owns one!), intriguing trivia (apparently Alan Titchmarsh has written erotica…make of that what you will!), clog dancing and, of course, phenomenal music.  “We released an album in April and we’re going to play you all of it…well, except one track” announced Sam as they took to the stage.  They kept to their promise – with a few extras added in too (namely half of their earlier album!).  And there began a whistle-stop tour of tunes and songs interspersed with chatter from Sam. And by whistle-stop, I mean whistle-stop. With Hannah on accordion, clogging and vocals (and ‘diddling’ (singing instrumental tunes) on “On Yonder Hill There Sits A Hare”) and Sam on violin, viola and Hardanger fiddle (a Norwegian traditional instrument), the duo had the audience captivated from the very first note. Which is hardly surprising…I feel like I should go into more detail, but I’ve been sitting here for quite a while to no avail. It was just far too good a gig. My personal highlights? “Ploughboy’s Dream” featuring some pretty impressive viola-strumming and, by the tiniest of margins, Sam’s solo set.

You’ll just have to go and see them live for yourselves.  And I’ll just have to add viola and hardanger fiddle to the list of ‘instruments I want’ (along with accordion, flute, cello, concertina……)

Set lists

Josienne Clarke & Ben Walker

Silver Dagger
Green Grow The Laurels
Flash Company
My Donal
Red Red Rose
Brigg Fair
Who Knows Where The Time Goes?

Hannah James & Sam Sweeney

Battered Hake Polka/Jack’s Maggot
Gaol Song
Sportsman’s Hornpipe  (Clog)
How Do You Do/Gallons Of Cognac
William Taylor
On Yonder Hill There Sits A Hare
Hole In The Wall

–INTERVAL–

Parson Upon Dorothy/Dolly
The Farmer’s Cursed Wife
The Ploughboy’s Dream
Bagpipes/Mount Hills  (Sam Sweeney solo)
The Lay Of The Land (Clog)
Dick’s Maggot/Dog Leaps Stairs
The Young And Single Sailor
The Bonny Miller/Strike A Bell

Encore: The Falmouth Packet