Heaton Stannington Football Club, aka ‘The Stan’, Newton Road, Newcastle upon Tyne  NE7 7HP is the venue for a new folk club started by John Harris and, as from last night, hosted by me. The room is a social club, rectangular with wooden beams and a low stage area at the far end. There is also a saloon bar off to one side of the entrance. There’s a PA system and good acoustics, though at times the audience were a bit noisy (though, to be honest, performers need to confront this and find ways of dealing with it themselves). Unplugged clubs have far less problem with audience chatter as they aren’t drowned out by speakers – generally I prefer unplugged as, strangely enough, you have more control of the sound and better contact with the audience.

Last night there were about half-a-dozen acts, including a local duo called Brenda and Andy, a singer-songwriter from Durham named John Brindle, Berking Mad (Gerry and Mike from the Berkeley Tavern), myself and country music quartet called the Moonshine Stragglers.

Before the evening kicked off I was wondering why John had asked me to do the gig – on the evidence of my performing one song (a piss-take of Richard Thompson) on my previous visit, I assumed. However, once I got going the nerves vanished and I felt very much at home, not only on stage but also in the host role chatting to performers and punters. Though John (Harris) expressed disappointment at not having a full house I was actually quite satisfied knowing how hard it is to get audiences along to folk clubs, especially non-performers (most clubs are almost exclusively players). My only disappointment was the relative lack of fellow singers – hopefully things will improve as, in the end, people will only turn up if the entertainment is of reasonable standard (though a good bar helps).

However, generally speaking, I was happy with the night’s events – I hope everyone else was too.

and a