All Acoustic at the Navy.

Words by Jude Paton. Photos Laurence Gale

Last Tuesday was the second of the acoustic night “set ups” at the Navy Club in  Bellman’s Yard, Newport but instead of the back room it was felt that a move to the bigger room would cater better for the numbers that turned up. Making the room feel smaller and more intimate by using a backdrop to curtain off the stage and therefore bringing the musicians closer into the room proved successful and with 14 names on the board the evening very quickly settled into the comfortable feeling of being in your own front room with a drink, good friends and great music.

Barrie Hollyhead sound checked with two hits from the 50s and 60s by Jimmie Rodgers and Bob Dylan.   “We Found Love “ by Rihanna perfectly suited the voice of 16 year old Remynie who held us spellbound with the emotion she puts into her singing. Equally good was Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” and once again you could hear a pin drop which prompted someone to call out at the end “It’s too quiet....it’s like a library!”

Helen Brown reminded us that Joni Mitchell turned 70 this month and delighted the crowd with two songs by her, “Big Yellow Taxi” and “Chelsea Morning”. Ian Simkiss joined her on vocal harmonies with a lovely rendition of John Prine’s “Speed of the Sound of Loneliness”, another great singer/songwriter.

Barrie was up once more with his full set starting with Don Mclean’s “Empty Chairs” followed by Barbara Dickson’s “If You’re Right” and Randy Newman’s “Feels Like Home”. Mike Batt is probably most famous for creating the pop act The Wombles but he is also a great songwriter and Barrie certainly did justice to a favourite of mine “Railway Hotel”.

15 year old Nathan Davis looked comfortable on the acoustic stool and has obviously been practising some new songs with two from Bright Eyes and a great version of “Arrogance, Ignorance and Greed” by the English folk duo Show of Hands. An excellent set from young Nathan.

10 year old Jay Harris was pleased to have finished his homework for the 9 o’clock slot and still has time to practice new material, tonight playing 68 Guns which was released 30 years ago by Welsh band The Alarm followed by a late 70s hit by the Boomtown Rats “I Don’t Like Mondays”. Well done to Jay and smiles all round from his family sitting in the corner.

Next up was Claire Shaw, who has natural stage presence, a beautiful voice and lovely smile to match. Damien Rice’s “Volcano” preceded a lovely self penned song “Heavy Heart” and, for the second time this evening, a really beautiful version of Randy Newman’s “Feels Like Home” and finally “Ho Hey” by the Lumineers.

Loz was the next name on the board and of course it was our man behind the camera tonight, Laurence Gale, performing a great trio of songs “Let It Be”, “Cat’s in the Cradle” by Harry Chapin who I believe is Laurence’s favourite singer and ending with “The Naked Ride Home” a super Jackson Browne song.

Graham Dabbs took us back once again to the 60s with songs by Brian Hyland and Rick Nelson. “One of these Days “ by American country star Emmylou Harris was the final song from Graham whose lovely finger picking style really made the guitar ring out.

Scotsman Ian Simkiss who runs a fortnightly Sunday Open Mic at the Star Inn at Copmere End was back on stage and continued the trend of the night with some lesser known songs this time by Staffordshire singer/songwriter Paul Walker “Play Me a Love Song”. Ian paid tribute to fellow Scot, the late great Stuart Adamson from Big Country with an excellent version of “Shattered Cross” and finally a marvellous song by American band Little Feat and a classic by them “Dixie Chicken”.

Trevor Rowley had travelled from Church Stretton to delight us with superb blues bottleneck and songs by Blind Lemon Jefferson, Robert Johnson and Blind Willie McTell. A real treat and the second time I have had the pleasure of hearing Trevor in the last fortnight.

Rich Evans borrowed Loz’s  guitar picking three songs from his huge repertoire which included “Carry You Home” by James Blunt and “For the First time “by the Script which he referred to as a “bit of a yodelling song” but he reached the high notes admirably and bore no resemblance to the Sound of Music or Frank Ifield. 11 terrific acts so far and STILL 2 more to go and multi talented Darcy Crawford never fails to please with some alternative country from Toby Keith, Hunter Hayes and Brantley Gilbert. Refreshingly new material and well worth a listen to these American country singers. 

Last but not least Pete Nihill rounded off an evening of splendid live music with a song written by an old friend, sadly no longer with us, Martyn Davis’s best remembered song “I wonder Why?” and an all time favourite of mine by John Martyn “May You Never” ideally suited to Pete’s gravelly voice and unique style on 12 string.

Great talent and live music all here in Newport every Tuesday night at the Royal Naval Association, in Bellmans Yard Newport Shropshire.

See you on Tuesday.