Not quite acoustic at The Nags Head

21:44

As some of us were playing an amplified gig on the following Friday, we took advantage of the Nags Head's PA system and set up a couple of microphones on the stage and gave everyone the chance to use them. Most people did so.

The highlights of the evening for me came from Martin and Vicky, both of who are obviously very comfortable with this format. As well as Muse's Starlight, Martin gave another outing to his latest excellent song Losing The Gift. Bob asked ironically whether Martin might sing with a little more passion. Vicky's lovely voice comes into its own when amplified, and her guitar playing has come along in leaps and bounds. She sang Rose In April, Our Town and a Kate Rusby song, all of which were excellent.

The late Isaac Guillory was a big influence on the evening. Stuart started with Surrendel, and followed with Steamboat. He finished with Whiter Shade of Pale - I don't know whether Stuart's version hails from the version Isaac recorded. Bob's song from Isaac's repertoire was Bob Franke's beautiful Thanksgiving Eve. In Dick's absence, Bob had started the evening with Limehouse Lass and later sang Black is the Colour and Gershwin's Summertime.

It was nice of Terry to make the trip to Wycombe and to bring his banjo and mandolin. He sang Nearer to Nettles, Haul Away Girls and, appropriately, The Rosehill Fair (AKA We Dance All Night to the Fiddle and the Banjo).

John seemed to enjoy using the microphone and coached everyone on the intricate backing vocals for Ghost Riders in the Sky and, towards the end of the evening, encourage more participation on Old Time Religion.

After Karen and Roger had warmed up with Dimming of the Day, four of the "4th July 5" previewed more of their set with Everybody's Crying Mercy, The Old Devil Called Love, In the Jailhouse Now, Louise and Take Me Home Country Roads.

We're keen to have comments on whether we should use the PA in future visits to The Nags Head. If we do, perhaps we should change from our usual 'one song each' format to having 'mini-sets' in the way that most open mic events do. Please let us know what you think.

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