Live Review: Andy Watkins’ Day Of Folk, Celebrating 50 Years As A Promoter, Nettleham Village Hall, Lincoln – 17th May 2025

The role of a promoter is to market and promote live events which all sounds simple enough. So simple that at times we can all be a little guilty of taking their tireless work and endeavours to bring live music to our local venues for granted. And yet without them, our world would be a much emptier and duller place, for not only do they bring some of the finest musicians and singer-songwriters from these isles and abroad almost to our doorstep, but just as importantly, they offer the first opportunity for new acts to get a foot on the ladder, many who will eventually go on to be headline acts in their own right. Yes, the role of our local promoters is one we should celebrate, especially when they have been promoting live music for 50 years.

Andy Watkins started promoting gigs in the Lincoln area back in September 1975. However, in truth, his career as a promoter began as early as the Spring of 1973, when, whilst still a student at Leicester Polytechnic, he answered an advertisement in the Student newsletter for someone to take over the folk club. The resulting concert at the main Fletcher Hall featured The Brownsville Band with support from The Whispering Dwarves, and later gigs would include acts such as Mike Chapman, Frogmorton and Spyrogyra. At the same time, Dave Turner was the first booking for a season of club nights at the Princess Charlotte pub in Nottingham.

On returning to Lincoln during the Autumn of ’75, Andy opened the Turks Head Folk Club with singer-guitar player Nigel Denver topping the bill, and he has been promoting live music across numerous venues for the last fifty years, ably assisted by his lovely wife Marianne. Throughout those years Andy has been responsible for bringing to Lincoln some of the biggest names from the world of folk, blues, and Cajun music, covering traditional to modern, instrumentalists to singer-songwriters including such luminaries as Martin Carthy and Norma Waterson, Bert Jansch and Tony TS McPhee, who Andy informed me, turned up for the gig in a Reliant Robin. Ah, the spoils of a life on the road! In 2019, Andy finally found a permanent home for the folk club at the Nettleham Village Hall, 3 miles north of the city, prompted by a conversation with local resident Brian Burkitt, which has proved a perfect fit. Regularly pulling in a full house, there could be no finer venue to celebrate his contribution to the local music scene.

Kicking off proceedings was Yorkshire-based trio Roisin Ban, whose name translates to White Rose in Gallic, which immediately draws notice to their strong Irish heritage. Considered one of the best traditional Irish Celtic, Folk, and ceilidh bands in the UK. Chris Dyson on fiddle, Paddy Heffron on Button accordion, and Gordon Tyrrall on guitar, flute, and vocals delivered an eclectic mix of traditional music, including ‘Eleanor Plunkett’ and ‘Mrs Maxwell’, two tunes from 16th-century blind harpist Turlough O’Carolan, along with more modern numbers including a delightful rendition of The Beatles ‘In My Life’. Elsewhere, they drew from the canon of Robbie Burns while a cover of one of the Copper Family’s finest tunes, ‘Thousands Or More’, was another highlight. There was also enough time during their hour-long set to include some traditional Irish dancing, courtesy of Dyson before they closed their set with ‘I Bid You Goodnight’, which, despite being a little surreal with the time being 3.30 pm and the sun still high in the sky, proved an excellent closing number that received the usual raucous appreciation from the local congregation.

Next up was twice ‘BBC Musician of the Year’ winner, multi-instrumentalist and composer Tim Edey. Originally from Broadstairs, Kent, but now residing in Perthshire, Scotland, Edey, who had made the journey down that morning, has toured the world and recorded with most of the major names in Celtic and Contemporary roots music including The Chieftains, and is rated by many to be one of the world’s finest ever melodeon and guitar players. During his hour-long set, he delivered a stunning mix of world music with jaw-dropping instrumental virtuosity and excellent vocal accompaniment. Opening with a breathtaking performance of gypsy jazz, taking Django Reinhardt’s ‘Lady Be Good’ to another level as he switched from guitar to melodeon and back again displaying a musical dexterity that was simply outrageous. This level was maintained throughout as Edey effortlessly traversed musical styles, including folk with ‘The Winds And Tides Permitting’ and a rendition of Andy Cutting’s ‘The History Man’. A brief foray into a more Americana landscape came in the shape of a wonderful cover of John Prine’s ‘Speed Of The Sound Of Loneliness’ that included a brief incursion into Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Never Going Back’, displaying more mind-blowing fretwork that at the end of his set, had regular compare Sue Dewsbury eulogising that Edey was the greatest guitar player she had ever witnessed, and she had been lucky enough to see Jimi Hendrix. Having just witnessed it for themselves, no one in the hall felt any need to challenge that statement.

Whilst Edey set about his long journey home, the audience was able to take a break from proceedings and enjoy a little liquid refreshment in the sunshine as sound man Sean South, who had done such an excellent job throughout the afternoon, began preparations for the evening’s line-up, which for a while required a little inspiration on a wiring issue.

The concert resumed a little later than advertised, with local Americana duo The Rye Sisters, consisting of Ishani Siriwardena on vocals and violin and Sue Pomeroy on guitar and vocals, starting things off. They opened with a delightful cover of Gillian Welch and David Rawlings’ classic ‘I Want To Sing’, before introducing three songs from their highly acclaimed sophomore album, “Distant Light” including ‘Stuck In A Jam‘, ‘Dirt On My Guitar’ and ‘It’s Just The Wine Talking’ that highlighted their exquisite harmonies interspersed with some excellent violin playing from Siriwardena. Midway through their set, the duo invited last year’s recipient of the ‘Lincolnshire Songwriter of the Year Award’, Ian Tumilty, to join them on stage to perform a song he had written specifically to honour the occasion. Entitled ’50 Years’ and accompanied by Siriwardena and Pomeroy, Tumilty’s song proved the perfect surprise present for Watkins and was a fitting tribute to commemorate the day.

The Rye Sisters then completed their set, which included two standout tracks from their most recent album, with ‘Capture The Moon’ and ‘Waverley Station’, both proving, if proof were needed, that Pomeroy is a songwriter of the highest calibre, her emotive poetry matched by an ear for a melody lingering in the memory long after the song is finished. The duo brought their contribution to a close with a couple more covers, starting with The Everley Brothers’ ‘Let It Be Me’, delivered with such harmonised precision that would surely have impressed Don and Phil before a version of Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s ‘Look Down’ closed their set to rapturous applause.

Damian Barber and Mike Wilson come from a rich heritage of traditional folk music. Though now residing in West Yorkshire. Barber, a proud Norfolk man, heavily influenced by his roots and such singers as Walter Pardon and Peter Bellamy, is a polished and distinguished singer as well as an accomplished concertina and guitar player. Wilson is the youngest member of the inimitable Wilson Family, the powerful Teesside singing siblings, with a musical heritage that remains emphatically of the northeast’s folk songs, rural and industrial, traditional and modern. Together, they delivered a sumptuous repertoire of songs from around the UK’s shores that drew heavily from the collection of Bellamy, including a delightful rendition of ‘On Board A 98’, which along with both ‘Santa Fe Trail’ and ‘The Dockyard Gate’ proved a beautiful and timely reminder of the much missed, and as some would rightly say, under-valued singer-songwriter. The duo also tipped their hat to two more legends of folk music’s past, covering ‘Bob Copper’s ‘The Old Song’ and Ewan MacColl’s ‘My Old Man’, while their interpretation of Richard Thompson’s ‘Down Where The Drunkard’s Roll’ was one of the highlights of the whole day. With their fabulous harmonies and infectious between-song banter, Barber and Wilson’s hour-long set proved a resounding success with the packed hall.

Headlining the day’s celebrations was County Durham’s finest, Jez Lowe & The Bad Pennies. Nominated numerous times at the BBC Folk Awards, Lowe’s songs have been covered by such long-established acts as Fairport Convention, The Dubliners, and Bob Fox, as well as the newer breed of stars like The Unthanks, The Young ‘Uns, and Megson. Lowe’s songs have never shied away from the harsh realities of life, particularly with the industrial decline in the North-East of England. This evening saw Lowe performing with his regular band The Bad Pennies, which he first put together in the late 1980s and whose current line-up includes long-time member Kate Bramley on violin and vocals, Andy May on keyboards and pipes and David De La Haye on bass.

Their 90-minute set drew from across Lowe’s five-decade career as well as from his forthcoming album, due out early next month, of which ‘Sanctuary Land’ was a delightful taster. Elsewhere, Lowe, looking way younger than his 69 years, was in excellent voice, running through some of his most popular songs during a first half that included ‘Gladrags Again’, ‘Taking On Men’, and ‘The Pitmen Poets’. As usual his storytelling between tracks informed and embellished each song while Bramley, May, and De La Haye, all took their turn in the spotlight, during a second half that included classic Lowe numbers such as ‘Greek Lightning’, ‘Black Diamonds’, and old favourite ‘Back In Durham Gaol’. With the honour of closing out the Day Of Folk Celebration, Lowe & The Bad Pennies were granted a well-deserved encore where they treated the audience to what was clearly a crowd favourite, ‘Old Bones’.

And with that, the ‘Day Of Folk Celebration’ came to an end, but not before everyone had got a chance to raise their glasses in praise of Andy Watkins’ 50-year commitment to the local music scene. In a short speech, Andy indicated that he couldn’t promise another 50 years, but the next 50 weeks were already booked. I think we’ll settle for that for now, Andy. Thank you.