By Dave Crowley in his Favourite Pose

This North-West Free-Beer Bluegrass Extravaganza, Bryns third for 1996, was put on with the co-operation of Gary Taylor, who was the Landlord at last year's ‘Millstone Bash’. It was only booked as a 1-day event but we rang Gary and fixed up camping. Lyn and I arrived with the caravan Friday evening to find that Gary had mown his 5-a-side football pitch, which made a superb level field to camp on, right next to the pub. “Thank goodness I shan’t need a parachute to get out of the caravan!” said Lyn, remembering her experiences on the steeply sloping fields at Edale. We set up next to Rob and Gordon, newcomers to Bluegrass, who, having heard how good these ‘do’s’ can be, had travelled down from Leeds. We had a great nights sleep - good stuff that Caffrey’s -and woke to a bright sunny morning. By lunch time quite a few had arrived to camp, including Derek and Jean Brandon, Eric Pollit and Irene, with Major (their dog).

The ‘official’ events started with Stuart Williams' banjo workshop at 1.30 p.m. It was nice to see several newcomers participating as well as a host of familiar faces. Stuart was accompanied by Bryn on guitar and Russ on mandolin. During the workshop they also demonstrated several arranged numbers. Meanwhile picking sessions were taking place in various rooms and in the gardens. Amongst those jamming were The Rainy City Bluegrass Band, The Secret River Band (Rainford), Jack Griffiths (Wigan), Eamon Walsh (L’pool), Derek & Jean Brandon, Pete Massey & Kevin Beattie (Chester), Martyn Peters (Stourbridge) and Dave Purslow & Steve Kaye (Stockport), to name but those that I recognised, but there was a host of others toting instruments.  

The highlight of the afternoon was ‘Bryn's Banjo Flinging Contest’. The object was to throw a Gibson Mastertone (provided by Bryn) 15 feet to land in a toilet (well, a bog seat on a bucket) without touching the sides. This was much more difficult than it sounds - it was really hard to get it in at all, touching the sides or not! The final score was... many grown-ups: 0, eight year old boy: 2. Of course, Bryn had built the Mastertone from a piece of brush handle nailed to a thick plywood disc, but it was still great fun - it was free to enter and there were prizes too!

The Landlord’s wife and her able assistants sustained even the biggest appetites with a marvellous selection of barbecued food which was on sale throughout the day. We retired, well fed, for a snooze but were soon woken by a sound check - "That bass is a bit loud!" was heard coming from a nearby caravan window. It was only The Southgators setting up for the evening concert!

The early evening started off with an excellent Appalachian Dance exhibition in the garden by Mind the Step, who were accompanied by The Bluebillies with Tom Degney on banjo and Roisin Browne on fiddle. This was followed by a terrific performance by The Southgators featuring Lorainne (bass), Barry (accordion/percussion), Russ (mandolin), Stuart (banjo) and Steve (guitar/harmonica). And that was when they weren’t swapping instruments! This talented, versatile group had everyone’s feet-a-tapping and hands-a-clapping with a programme that covered the spectrum, including bluegrass, cajun, rock-and-roll and Patsy Cline numbers. Dancing on the grass by an energetic group of young men and their partners generated several encores and no one wanted the evening to end. The Degneys provided a show of their own on the side with their foot tapping! And I'll swear I saw Derek Brandon’s foot move during a Cajun number. Someone said it was a trapped nerve and he was trying to get the feeling back... or was it the amazing effect of the Caffrey’s again? His excuse was that it was trying to get away.... [I just can’t stand Cajun - Ed.]

In contrast to the warm day the evening became quite cold and everyone moved back into the pub which, to put it mildly, was heaving inside. The picking continued in the lounge with standing room only, though the Rainy City & Co. found relative peace in the conservatory. It was good to see so many people who were new to bluegrass enjoying the music, which continued well into the night with no one wanting to go home. Several people camped the night - the only sociable thing to do in the circumstances.

This was yet another amazing event organised by Bryn Williams. The right venue, the weather, the picking. I can only say if you didn't go you missed one of the best one-day events of the year, and don't forget it was FREE - the shows and the camping and the beer. Well, Bryn handed out vouchers for an awful lot of fee pints for the Bluegrass jammers and singers - beat that, if you can! Make sure you go to the next Free Bluegrass Day - Bryn always manages to provide a good family outing where enjoyment and good picking’ are the order of the day. Well done Bryn, I'm sure we'll be hearing of more of these events at the White Lion and elsewhere!!!

Dave & Lyn Crowley, Irby

Updated 23rd Jan 1999