Tag: music

These are your only days

by Lucy Simister, posted in Blog

Forgive me for being a bit philosophical today but I’ve just released a track on YouTube that means a great deal to me. It’s a folk song called Only Days and it was inspired by our photo album.

Everybody has favourite photos that capture a moment, an image that brings the memories back of happy times, on holiday or at family gatherings, a picture that crystallizes and experience and freezes it in time. This song flips through our personal photos. I know that your experiences though different from ours – and the images snatched at the time will do the same for you and I urge you to get that album out and have look into your history. Relive those heart-warming moments from the past. For us, Only Days allow us to do just that.

I beg you to realise that making memories is what life is all about – or at least it should be.

This song started with early camping trips – we didn’t have a lot of money when the kids were little – and we would take off for a few days sometimes only a few miles down the road and pitch a tent, just to give the kids the experience of camping. Even the nettle stings and the insect bites were a part of the memories of it all!

We’ve had the great good fortune to travel quite widely and so the song mentions some of those memories too – for these experiences I will be eternally grateful. When we were in Thailand the owner of the cabin we stayed in invited us to join him while he planted a tree. I would like to revisit and see how our tree is doing now! It was quite a few years ago now so I bet it’s grown! We felt deeply honoured to have been a part of that experience. It feels like we have left a little bit of ourselves planted there!

Think about your own experiences! Go out and make new ones. Next time you look out of the window and the weather is shocking (as indeed it is while I am typing this!) get your coat on and go for a walk. By yourself or with someone – get out there and see what experiences might be waiting to greet you. You never know when a story will present itself to you – a story that you can relate to friends, that you can exaggerate for laughs.

Make the most of your lives. This quote, usually attributed to Confucius, says it all: “We have two lives, and the second begins when we realize we only have one” 

Go out and do something outrageous, courageous, amazing, fantastic – brave – bold and above all KIND.

Please have a listen to the song and if you like it give us the thumbs up and subscribe to our channel – it helps us a lot and encourages us to write and perform more music which is what we love doing.

And if you don’t know what to do – do something. Life isn’t going to come around asking if you want to come out to play – you have to go looking for it.

Go West!

Featured by Lucy Simister, posted in Blog

SO this weekend was a tad busy – though I am not complaining!

Aboard the Golden Hind in Brixham
Aboard the Golden Hind in Brixham

We choose the life of itinerant folk musicians. It can be exhausting but it is so rewarding! This weekend we played a gig for a private party on board the fabulous Golden Hind in Brixham Devon and I dare say a good time was had by all! It’s true to say that it feels like a home from home for us – playing as we do lots of shanties and songs of

the sea alongside some more land bound folk music! We started the evening play ing through the PA but then took the music to the audience and lead them in dancing and hornpipes – as well as singing a few rowdy sea shanties – and a lovely bunch of people they were too, all too willing to join in and sing with gusto!

Cornwall Folk Festival

Then as soon as we’d struck the last note and sung the last syllable we heaved all the gear off the ship as if we were looting treasure and chucked into the stagecoach – well the car actually, and thundered down the lanes to Cornwall. The lanes being mostly the A38. It was about two hours drive from us, not a big drive in the scheme of things but after throwing ourselves into a gig I’d generallly prefer to retire with a glass of the black stuff in my hand – but no, ’twas not to be! Go West came the cry, Go west! Cornwall beckons!

This was our second year at the Cornwall Folk Festival and I think I would have to say it might be my favourite. It is held in Wadebridge, a pretty town in North Cornwall and it is a very well organised event. The music is incredibly varied. with loads of very talented and versatile musicians – playing not just folk music – blues, apalachian, singer songwriters, skiffle, you name it – every kind of music made an appearance!

Our slot this year was on what they call “Shanty Street” a collection of small venues around the town and we were stationed outside the Molesworth Arms pub and our very capable sound man Mark was kind enough to take the above video during our performance.

Check out our YouTube channel here to listen to more shanties and folk songs!

Songs from the Birdcage

by Lucy Simister, posted in Blog

As you may know from previous posts we play a lot of songs of the sea and shanties and similar nautical and marine related pieces on guitar, fiddle, mandolin and bodhran so it is really welcome to get any feedback from our audiences.

So – as you might imagine – I’m absolutely thrilled to say that we received the following testimonial from the organisers of the Pirates in the Port festival in Newport Gwent.

“An excellent duo with brilliant and varied musicianship. Charismatic, energetic and original they harmonise very well and really got the audience going. Highly recommended. Bois Y Bryn”.

We had a fantastic time over in Newport and if anyone reading our page lives near enough to Newport South Wales and sees an opportunity to listen to Bois y Brin Shanty crew – just go and do it – you won’t be disappointed. They are accomplished and entertaining! Check out their facebook page here!

On other ship and shanty related matters we will be playing at the Birdcage in Brixham for an afternoon of shanties and songs of the seas organised by Andy from the local and highly respected shanty crew Missin’ Tackle – there will be several of us performing but as yet I am waiting for confirmation who will be there – as I know I will post it on Facebook and on the website here.

And the Venue for this illustrious concert will be …

The Birdcage. Hence the title of the post. See what I did there?

SO here’s a link to the Birdcage pub in Brixham – which is a great little venue. I performed there in another shanty crew, the always entertaining The Marldon Wonky Donkeys -back in May and really love the atmosphere there – if your near come and say hello!

Course Laid In, sir!

by Lucy Simister, posted in Blog

What can I say about the Pirates in the Port Festival in Newport, Gwent?

The festival started with a convivial gathering at the Mercure Hotel in Newport with many pirates, shanty singers and similar ne’re-do-wells and they were in fine voice!

For the next two days the streets and bars were full of so many great singers and musicians enjoying the sessions as much as we did! Shanties and songs of the sea were the order of the day.

These Shanty and Pirate festivals attract people far and wide and we bumped into others friends from Devon! (Check out the Teignmouth Mermaid here! A real life singing mermaid…) And all prepared to make sometimes very long journeys just to join in with the fun!

We were down for performing on Saturday at two venues – the Mercure Hotel at 1200 hrs and then McCanns Rock N Ale bar at 1400 hrs. We did our thing there – and then we were offered the opportunity to play at the Corn Exchange – a great venue – and performed a set there at 1900 hrs to a near full house. The audience was made up of lovely fun people up for a party – and we had an absolute blast! They joined in with the choruses and the daft action songs with gusto! Our sincere thanks to them that the evening was so successful.

Where next, Sir?

So now we are looking ahead to our next adventures and there are a few in the offing.

On Sunday July 13th we will be playing a set of songs of the sea at the Exmouth Festival. The Festival runs from the 10th to the 13th July and will showcase songs of the sea in all their manifestations. Its a fun for all the family event – and ecologically sustainable as well! check out their website to read all about it here. Trust me, free and fantastic and definitely not to be missed.

We’ve a few other things on the horizon too and I’ll post more in due course when we have more details. In the meantime keep a bright lookout me hearties and speak soon! Take care

Tony