The Englishmen (Gerry Colvin, Nick Quarmby, Gareth Turner and Guy Fletcher)
Meet The Performer Stage at 2009 New Bedford Summerfest
2009-07-05 New Bedford, MA USA
The MTP stage is a small amphitheatre in the New Bedford Visitors Center. The performers were unamplified, except for Nick's bass for which he had a portable amp. I was in the front row with the recorder at my feet. I would rate this a B recording - for some reason it sounds somewhat muffled. I'm thinking of investing in an external mic for future gigs.
I tried to brighten it a little in Audacity with no success so I undid all that and you have the version without EQ.
Gareth and Guy are, of course, members of Little Johnny England (LJE), who are working on a new album to be released in the fall sometime (can't wait). They've just released a compilation called 10 Years On and it's well worth a listen if you've never heard LJE. It's available at http://littlejohnnyengland.co.uk/ ... please support the artists!
Gerry and Nick front a group called ColvinQuarmby (CQ) and have made a name for themselves in England. Their studio sound is more pop than folk but the songs are well-written (Gerry has a genius for hooks) and well-performed. They've recently augmented their line-up with two ex-members of Meet On The Ledge, an excellent English folk-rock group. The addition of Alan Maslan on guitar and Marion (Mabel) Fleetwood might signal a more folk-oriented direction. CQ albums are well worth listineing to and are available at http://www.benandjoebroughton.co.uk/colvinquarmby/colvinquarmby.htm
A couple summers ago, Gerry, Nick Gareth and Guy did a one-off gig and agreed that they should do it again. Gareth has become a regular in New Bedford and invited Gerry and Nick along to perform this year. CQ had a little time off so, he and Nick mad the trip, and they decided to call themselves The Englishmen.
This was Gerry's North American debut, and the band created quite the buzz at the festival, expecially Gerry, whose onstage antics are ... well .... different (he's very excitable). From various youtube clips, I knew what to expect, so I had a little fun spending the first couple songs looking at the faces around me, watching their initial expressions of doubt and puzzlement turn into grins of pleasure when the songs began.
An audio recording doesn't really do Gerry justice, but I think you'll be able to tell that we were having a lot of fun in the audience.
Gerry Colvin - guitar, vocal
Nick Quarmby - bass, guitar
Gareth Turner - melodeons
Guy Fletcher - fiddle
Lineage:
Zoom H4 (44.1-16 using internal mics) -> Audacity for normalization and track splits (some compression) -> TLH flac
01 - Intro and banter - The Englishmen (Gerry Colvin, Nick Quarmby, Gareth Turner and Guy Fletcher)
02 - Town And Country Times - The Englishmen (Gerry Colvin, Nick Quarmby, Gareth Turner and Guy Fletcher)
03 - The Three Dancing Ladies Of Colly McGlenn - The Englishmen (Gerry Colvin, Nick Quarmby, Gareth Turner and Guy Fletcher)
04 - Just An Old Table - The Englishmen (Gerry Colvin, Nick Quarmby, Gareth Turner and Guy Fletcher)
05 - Dylan Thomas Pen - The Englishmen (Gerry Colvin, Nick Quarmby, Gareth Turner and Guy Fletcher)
06 - Announcement - The Englishmen (Gerry Colvin, Nick Quarmby, Gareth Turner and Guy Fletcher)
07 - Dirt - The Englishmen (Gerry Colvin, Nick Quarmby, Gareth Turner and Guy Fletcher)
08 - banter - The Englishmen (Gerry Colvin, Nick Quarmby, Gareth Turner and Guy Fletcher)
09 - Watching Feathers Fall - The Englishmen (Gerry Colvin, Nick Quarmby, Gareth Turner and Guy Fletcher)
10 - South American Dream - The Englishmen (Gerry Colvin, Nick Quarmby, Gareth Turner and Guy Fletcher)
Coming up as I have time: Peter Mulvey, Richard Shindell, Bua and more Englishmen (amplified this time). Unfortunately Maura Kennedy refused permission to record, so I was not able to record any of the excellent Kennedys performances. :-(