Dear Derek,
We had the honor and privilege to perform recently at Melling Tithebarn Saturday, May 3, thanks to Dave Bresnen, who organized a series of 5 concerts for us in England. Now that I’ve been home a few days, I have a chance to collect my thoughts on our tour.
First of all, I speak for myself and all the others by saying that we enjoyed England more than any other country (we went to Germany, Switzerland, and even France for a day). I will elaborate.
The generosity of spirit, as well as time and efforts spent on getting us there, was just hard to imagine. From the time we arrived in London, sleep-deprived, hungry, and bone-weary, we encountered truly touching kindness. We had no sooner found our rental car place, when the driver of the shuttle service took special interest in us, going to a lot of trouble to make sure we had the proper directions. As if that weren’t enough, he later presented us with a road atlas, which he trusted us to return in a week; something not so common in the US! Sharon Cort at Melling Tythebarn
Later that day we found our way to Bury St.Edmunds, where Nigel Chadwick and his wife Elaine were awaiting us with a BBC TV crew. Three hours, several sandwiches and a few ales later, we were done. It wasn’t before long we were taking our bows at the huge concert hall that he and Brian Burns had arranged for us.
The English countryside is astoundingly beautiful, and quite a surprise to me. I thought they embellished all that in the movies! We made our way to Wadhurst next and very much enjoyed our stay in that quite beautiful, picturesque town. We enjoyed the hospitality of our hosts, Gerry & Sarah Williams and Sheila & Peter Brain, who were kind enough to put me up for the night. Bill, Ernie and Jefferson slept at Bill’s friend’s castle - yes, castle! Our night was capped by a surprise appearance by Bill Clifton, who we invited up to sing a few songs.
May 3 we went to Liverpool and finally met Dave. I had so enjoyed his kindly manner and great sense of humor during the many phone calls we had in the previous months planning our tour and arranging for work permits. His wife Gaynor was just great. She went to quite a lot of bother preparing a huge banquet for us, and we all marveled at her ingenuity. In typical English fashion, she barely batted an eyelash, insisting it was no trouble at all! Dave’s kids were a treat.
Anyway, my favorite audience was in Liverpool - partly because they were the most like home to me (real down-to-earth, that is), partly because they were very bluegrass-educated, partly because the guys were the cutest (don’t mention this last comment to my husband), and partly because I got to know some of the folks personally. One lady, Joyce, paid me a very high compliment with my “Many Mansions” song. I hated to leave Liverpool and I can’t wait to get back some day very soon.
On our way to The Beatles Museum (yes, I’m one of those people!) our van broke down. Suffice to say we were rescued by Dave and Chris Wilson , who regaled us with songs. So we were about an hour or so late to our gig at Lymm - on a barge . We all had a fantastic time there - Bryn & Stuart Williams did a great job, and we enjoyed seeing some familiar faces on the boat from the Melling Tithebarn the night before. At the Admiral Benbow afterwards we imbibed and had ourselves a wonderful time, but were saddened to have to say good-bye to Dave, Chris, and our Scottish friend.
Our final English gig was in Kenilworth, Warwickshire, and it was our most enthusiastic crowd ever. Ron Stevens and Ken Harris were terrific, and again I got a chance to get to know several fans in the audience - they truly will be remembered by me. One sweet lady in particular, who was ill, touched my heart. She told me she had trouble keeping herself composed - which, you must understand, is the highest compliment a singer can be paid!
I don’t know how to wrap this up without sounding mushy. It was such a rewarding experience, it is hard to put into words. The appreciation shown for our music was the most touching thing for me. The English culture, way of life, food, music, and people are a treasure. Please, please have us back... and soon!
All the best,
Sharon Cort (& New River Ranch), Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
Fotos: Copyright © D.Brandon May be used if permission requested
Updated 23rd Jan 1999
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