REMARKABLE AS THESE SHOWCASES ARE, the fact that this event was only some 10 days since organiser Derek Brandon had lost partial sight following a stroke, meant the evening had even more significance.

The early pickers were soon joined by Highly Strung (John Les and Gill Williams) who, in relinquishing “star show-off case’ status, paradoxically complemented a very relaxed “unstrung” atmosphere. For the unacquainted, John Les plays guitar, mandolin and banjo, while Gill sings and plays guitar and banjo. Sounds simple enough, yet it is their range of music which provides the entertainment.

Those that want to debate “Bluegrass”, let them carry on, so long as we don’t exclude other musical family relatives. For if we did, then we would not have had such a pleasurable evening of Old Time Appalachian ballads and even Bluegrass!

Such numbers as Don’t Sing Love Songs , Fall on my Knees and Alone With My Thoughts may not be familiar to Bluegrass audiences, but it is good to let music reflect. Gill’s voice and John’s instrumental and vocal harmonies do just that. There is no obvious pressure here but a controlled way of oozing out the emotion. We should not.

Updated 23rd Jan 1999