It’s only fair that Dick gets first mention this week. Not only does he start each Wednesday evening, he also seems to end up being mentioned last when I write the blog. We don’t hear him sing the excellent Banks of the Sweet Primroses often, so it was good to hear it tonight. His other songs were Let Union Be and Bring Us a Barrel (that he used to be accused of singing every week).

As usual, Martin & Kerraleigh (AKA The August List) brought along a set of songs that are unfamiliar to the rest of us. This week’s selection included With Arms Outstretched by Rylo Kiley, Try My Best to Love You by Jenny Lewis and (I think) How Will You Love Me by Nina Nastasia. However, my favourite was their very impressive original song, The Ticking of the Clock. You can hear this on their MySpace page.

Terry’s first song was Little Tourists, a parody of Little Boxes, apparently written on a rainy Bank Holiday in a café in Weston-Super-Mare in 1964 and commenting on the tourists trying to enjoy themselves on the beach (i.e. mud), regardless of the weather. On that beach, there might have been a Bristolian boy whose 50-something self you’d recognise. He also sang Tom Paxton’s Jesus Christ SRO, dating from the debut of Jesus Christ Superstar.

The rest of the songs were:

• Ian: Little Chance (over the wall is out) and I Courted a Wee Girl
• Stuart and Delia: The Royal Oak, written by Julia Thomas of Salcombe, on concertinas
• Delia: When The Snows of Winter Fall
• Stuart: Stanley the Rat, a Cyril Tawney song
• Rosie and me: the polkas Captain Bing / Peg Ryan / Maids of Ardagh (melodeon / mandolin), My Funny Valentine (in its annual outing, this being the closest Wednesday to Valentines Day)
• Me: Pernod Waltz (mandolin)
• Rosie: Chips and Fish
• Martin: David Francey’s Flowers of Saskatchewan, about the Canadians involved in the D Day landings and Paul Simon’s Song for the Asking
• Richard and Andy (AKA The Expanding Wastrels): Lizzie Lindsay, Telstar on low whistle & guitar (yes – this was the 60s hit for The Tornadoes and written by Joe Meek), Teenage Cremation (usually sung by Dick) and another song I didn’t catch (any clues?)
• Simon & David: Man of Constant Sorrow, the timely Fair Maids of February (Robin Dransfield’s lovely song about snowdrops), Rod Stewart’s Mandolin Wind and Blur’s Tender
• John: Jake Thackray’s Sister Josephine

Apart from our Wednesday evening at The Dog & Badger, dates for next week’s diary are:

• The Expanding Wastrels at The Belle View on Tuesday 16th
• The Whiskey River Boys at The Plough in Marlow on Friday 19th. These guys describe themselves as Cajun, zydeco, folks, roots and blues, which sounds good to me. They managed to get this gig as a stop-over between their base on the Welsh border and a festival gig in Kent. Listen here.