For the record Shrewsbury Folk Festival is a four day event which adds a Friday evening and Monday afternoon slot to a full slate of sets across the weekend. The beauty of such an event in an accessible town centre setting is the opportunity to be a day visitor and experience it as an array of high class gigs. On the surface it appears that the majority of attendees embrace it as a wider music and dance festival with the booked artists merely part of an offering that extends into activism. From an operation of two major timetabled stages that enable the viewing of just six sets per full weekend day, it is hardly a dashing around event, but you are compensated by each performance packed full of substance and a decent length.
For 2021, the organisers opted to go down the open aired stage route as opposed to the vast marquees that have been the feature of previous years. While this decision was heavily based on offsetting the possible extended imposition of Covid restrictions, it was blessed with dry and sunny weather. Always a bonus for Shropshire on an August Bank Holiday weekend.
As the prime purpose of attending was witnessing some first class high calibre folk music, the key decision on the Sunday was which sets to choose. A process necessitated by the dual scheduling and a fair distance between the avian themed stages named Cuckoo and Skylark. On the basis of personal preference, curiosity and past experience, a line up of Will Pound's A Day Will Come, Benji Kirkpatrick and Pendevig filled the afternoon with Band of Burns,The Young 'Uns and Seth Lakeman taking to the stage as the sun set.
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| Will Pound's A Day Will Come |
From the group of six, the Skylark stage hosted only the first act, but it was the most intriguing and innovative one of the day. Back in 2020 an album project from multi-instrumentalist Will Pound landed in folk music circles and shone a bright torch on European embracement in an increasing world of division and contempt. A DAY WILL COME was a record drawing on folk tunes from each one the remaining member EU states. and delivered in a lavish virtuoso style. While taking the record out on the road has been delayed for obvious reasons, that time has now come and a performance at Shrewsbury is a precursor to some nationwide dates in 2022.
To present the album across this afforded hour and a quarter lunchtime slot, Will assembled his chosen band of John Parker (bass), Jenn Butterworth (guitar), Patsy Reid (fiddle), Jude Rees (woodwind) and, from a spoken word perspective, contributions from Anglo-Polish poet Bohdan Piasecki. Will settled in on his trademark harmonica and accordion as well as coordinating proceedings that constituted an extensive EU tour from Portugal to Finland and Bulgaria to Ireland with many informative stops in between. Having been party to the album upon release, the live presentation fulfilled the promise with added bi-lingual poetic contributions enhancing the whole experience. Overall an outstanding start to the day and a sign of things to come.
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| Benji Kirkpatrick & the Excess |
The next stop was a trek to the Cuckoo Stage (also acting as the main arena) and another opportunity to catch the latest offering from ex-Bellowhead member and Faustus participant Benji Kirkpatrick. Now leading a trio proclaiming his own name and band members know as the Excess, he was returning to the Shropshire folk festival circuit after appearing at nearby Beardy Folk in June. For the hour duration mid afternoon slot, he once again confirmed a stature with a performance brimming with power, panache and a capable nod of taking the genre forward in a folk rock direction. This set appeared a little louder than Beardy and met with full approval here. Like his earlier summer set, the trio was increased to a quartet on a couple of occasions with Rowan Godal joining on additional vocals to complement the bass, drums and Kirkpatrick's trademark bouzouki. A set that enhanced the credentials of someone cemented in modern folk tradition but striving to flourish in a new format.
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| Pendevig |
The final act of the afternoon segment saw a lavish musical and theatrical presentation of Welsh folk music heritage by the double digit ensemble going by the name of Pendevig. The core of this collaboration is the band Calan with a lot of other facets bolted on. A count of around fifteen or sixteen on stage was approximated including Welsh language poetry dialogue, dance, physical movement and instrumentation spanning strings, percussion, brass and the quintessential harp. A mixture of prose, tunes and songs filled the hour long set which was energetic, rousing and an inspiration especially for those of a patriotic persuasion. Non-English language musical song can have a mystique about it and we at least had an introduction to understand what aspect of Welsh traditional folklore was being given the full Pendevig treatment. Clad in white added to the visual extravaganza, and by the reaction of a dancing throng in front of the stage, this performance had to be near the top of the most popular and enjoyable scale of Shrewsbury 2021.
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| Band of Burns |
There was the option of seeing Calan on the Skylark stage straight after the two hour tea break, but a decision was made to stay at the Cuckoo and this time see a Celtic celebration from north of the border. Band of Burns is a self-explanatory title to the extent of a group of a dozen musicians congregating together to celebrate the work of Robert Burns through traditional music and song. This was very much a shared operation vocally with a wide musical offering ranging from eloquently delivered ballads to frantic fiddle tunes. While being a fairly new project, the lockdown had halted them in their tracks rather more than most. Once they get up to speed, and from the evidence of Shrewsbury 2021 they are on the mark, this project is set to go places. The members may have many other projects on the go, including Adam Beattie who was seen live with his own band a month of go, but there is likely to be a special feeling each time the Band of Burns get together to spread the word of the Ayrshire bard in an accomplished, sophisticated and throughly entertaining way.
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| The Young 'Uns |
The Young 'Uns were first seen live at Cambridge Folk festival in 2014, although they date back a good deal further. A lot has happened since to this mainly vocal trio famed for putting Teeside on the map, but one with so much more to their armoury. They have become firm festival favourites up and down the land, and further afield. Humour, sensational harmonies and a sense of justice drive the act of David Eagle (now an established stand up comedian), Michael Hughes and Sean Cooney. A raft of popular songs seemingly sang verbatim by their loyal fans at the front of the stage filled a cooling Shrewsbury air as the a cappella format briefly switched to a smidgeon of piano, accordion and guitar. Perhaps two of the most poignant songs from a similar angle were based on the experience of murdered Northern Ireland journalist activist Lyra McKee (titled simply 'Lyra McKee') and the incredible story of Matthew Ogston ('Be the Man'). Songs from the trio's latest project THE BALLAD OF JOHNNY LONGSTAFF were featured alongside old favourites like 'John Ball', 'Between the Wars' and 'Tom Paine's Bones'. It doesn't matter at what point you tune into The Young 'Uns, the effect is the same - laughter, thought provoking and thoroughly inspiring.
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| Seth Lakeman |
Effectively headlining the Sunday of Shrewsbury Folk Festival 2021 with due respect to Lindesfarne on the Skylark stage was the genre leading Seth Lakeman. An artist that defines folk music over the last decade and a half. If you have seen him and his various band line ups over the years, the formula rarely changes as well as the make up of ballads, multi-instrumentation and a fiddle frenzied finale. Yet there is aways something alluring and absorbing when Devon's finest takes to the stage. Loved by his faithful fans and causal drop ins alike, this evening's line up featured Benji Kirkpatrick joining a five-piece band alongside the longstanding bass stalwart Ben Nicholls and the recent addition of Alex Hart on harmonium and additional vocals. As usual the material raced through the extensive Seth Lakeman catalogue, and it wouldn't be quite right if there wasn't a new release on the horizon. By the time the fiddle frenzied finale exploded towards the end of this hour and a half long set, it was as if Seth Lakeman had not been sidelined by the events of the last eighteen months. It could quite easily have been 2008 when a Seth Lakeman concert was first attended in Wolverhampton - uplifting, entertaining and dutifully curated by a highly accomplished musician, songwriter and all round entertainer.
Of course there would have been many other highlights from Friday, Saturday and Monday, but if a snapshot was wanted and available then Sunday met with full approval. The most important thing was that Shrewsbury Folk Festival had returned and its many patrons had flocked back to continue in the pretence that 2020 was merely a blip in the ongoing progression of a national institution in the world of folk music.
