Click for John Baldry's "Thoughts of Conwy"  | 1997 festival report |

By Bill Degney

Conwy must be regarded as one of the most beautiful sites in Britain. The festival was again a tremendous success and well attended. Notable absentees from the North West were Derek and Jean Brandon (drowning in wine in France) and Tom and Linda Degney (on a Line Dancing Workshop) (on a what? Ed!)

The British Bands, notably Scotland’s Runaway String Band, the Acme Band, the Down County Boys and of course our own North West Baker’s Fabulous Boys, were on fine form. Johnny Plank and the Planktones starred at the Civic Hall on Saturday afternoon together with the Clem O’Brien Band. It was nice to see the Thrifts in action again; it just brought back memories of the early Edale days. A couple of new ‘old faces’ to the festival scene are Pete Stanley and Brian Golbey, who together gave a highly polished performance.

Left: "No Angels":
Danny Gabriel, Tom Kuhn Michael Reno Harrel, Jack Hatfield.

After having problems with the sound and balance, the American Band No Angels (photo, right) eventually made a good impression as the weekend progressed. The American banjo player Jack Hatfield (No Angels) together with our Stuart Williams and Pete Stanley gave a series of interesting and constructive banjo workshops. The Fiddle Workshop was by Chris Harrison, Mandolin by Robin Wallace (Runaway String Band) and guitar by Brian Golbey.

Appalachian Dance displays were much to the fore - North West team Mind The Step performed in Lancaster Square and The Harrison Shaw Cajun Dance team performed in the main Marquee on Friday night. There was a Ceilidh Dance with Wild Wood and Old Time Musicians with caller Bill Lloyd performed Saturday.

All in all another great weekend and thanks again to John Les and Gill Williams and all the other helpers including The Down County Boys for their tireless efforts in providing the P.A to give us that ‘Bluegrass Sound’.

Bill Degney, Salford

Conwy Festival Thoughts

By John Baldry

FOR THE THIRD YEAR RUNNING Monroe’s Revenge were on the bill, which meant the long journey up from Surrey in Dick Embery’s Kitchen Fitter’s van - Dick and Roger Blackbourne sharing the hard slog of 7 hours’ driving, and John McDonagh and me in the back setting the bluegrass world to rights.

Arrived on the Friday evening to find the campsite filling up fast, more so than in previous years - a good sign for the organisers. The park must be one of the best bluegrass campsites in the country, and being so close to the centre of an attractive historical town is a great bonus - also the maritime ambience (= mewing of seagulls). Great that the rain held off - as last year we had been worried about this, and again as last year it was a beautiful weekend, with lots of warming sunshine. Do John and Gill have mysterious Welsh powers over the weather?

What a great job they did with this festival! Lots of work to attract sponsors, including Honda, and great attention to organisational details ensured that everything ran very smoothly. Monroe’s Revenge hadn’t practised for a year (!) and some anxious moments were spent in locating Leo Shaw. Suddenly it was all happening, with Leo’s solid guitar playing making everything gel, though I never did quite get my mind round the chords for San Francisco Bay Blues. The adrenalin flow for musicians who know that they are going to perform on stage creates a different kind of festival experience, I can assure you - a most enjoyable challenge, but the thought of all those people watching and listening - well, it’s a thought! But as in previous years the audiences were very appreciative, and the pre-performance angst was worth it. Particular thanks to the Down County Boys for their excellent p.a. and careful attention in setting it up individually for all the acts in the Civic Hall.

"No Angels":
Top: Jack Hatfield, Danny Gabriel,
Bottom: Michael Reno Harrel (& Mrs Harrell) on the City Walls

A great line-up of British bands, not to mention our American visitors, Michael Reno Harrell and Jack Hatfield of the No Angels band. Personally I am very happy to listen to a wide range of styles, which is what we got. It was also great to have an opportunity to talk to Jack; I had read every column he had written for Banjo Newsletter over the years, and it was a pleasure to meet the man himself, who seemed to be enjoying his visit to UK.

A mystery awaited me when I was woken up in the early hours by a session which started a few feet away. My initial annoyance quickly gave way to the experience of a musical treat, as the central figure in the session seemed to be an American with a great voice and a stinging Monroe-influenced mandolin style.

In the morning I discovered that it had actually been two musicians, but from this side of the Atlantic - Bob Stevenson and Robin Wallace, lead singer and mandolin player respectively with the Runaway String Band from Scotland! Unarguable evidence that Britain is now producing top bluegrass musicians who can compete with the Americans on equal terms.

What else? Well, a festival is not a festival without Chris Wilson, giving free guitar recitals outside Dave “Frets” stall. A delightful player: why isn’t he better known nationally? Chris is an all-round musician - our (extended!) conversations usually take in blues and classical guitar, and just about every station in between. This time his recommended CD was Blue Guitars by Eddie Lang and Lonnie Johnson - I must tell Chris I’ve now got it, and it’s great!!

For those of us who don’t get around too much, owing to day-job restrictions, family responsibilities, etc., festivals are a great opportunity to renew old acquaintanceships and make new friends. Conwy this year was no exception - I was saying to a lot of people, “See you next year!”, and writing down names and addresses to mail tapes and tabs.

Too soon we were folding the tents and loading the van for the long return trek down south. North Wales and Didmarton are favourite festivals for Monroe’s Revenge - not too big, very friendly and (particularly Conwy) in a pleasant and convenient setting. There won’t be a Didmarton next year - so guess where we’ll be going!

John Baldry, Crawley, Sussex.

Updated 23rd Jan 1999