Gig review: Folk at the Manor @ The Manor, Withens Lane
Sunday 13th & Sunday 20th June 2010
13th June 2010 – Singers night & Phil Chisnall
Folk at the Manor (every Sunday, at The Manor on Withens Lane) held the second of its special singers’ nights. This week the evening was hosted by Vinny Spencer and the first half remained open mike. The second part of the evening was the “special” element and the time was given over to local singer songwriter and very talented guitarist Phil Chisnall.
Phil performed his own songs both old and very new, some covers and his performance was punctuated with anecdotes of his experience of the acoustic music scene in the North West. Phil is a regular at Folk at the Manor on open mic and singer’s nights so his talent is well known but it was lovely to hear him do a longer set.
His latest song written at the behest of a fan was to celebrate how good life is for Phil at the moment. It was sung with some irony given his motor had bitten the dust earlier in the week. Still there were no problems with his playing or his voice and those that missed it missed out.
20th June 2010 – David Newey and Christi Andropolis
This week was guest week at the Manor and the duo that was booked to play form part of a bigger folk band called Rubus. David Newey originally from Portsmouth and Christi Andropolis from New York combined to perform songs and music that needs to be heard. Catchy tunes with a message drawn from diverse subject matter. From spinsters (that you should imagine are Barbara Cartland like) to disillusioned war veterans, it seems T’internet can provide a research tool for songwriters that knows no bounds.
David and Christi now both live in the North East and are part of the folk scene that is growing up around Newcastle University School of Arts and Culture. Very talented performers in their own right between them they play piano, fiddle and guitar; their music brings both English and American traditions alive. Christi was teaching on Monday so they travelled all the way home straight after entertaining us for an hour or so. I hope they will be back in the area soon they are well worth a listen to!
Full details of Folk at the Manor can be found at www.folkatthemanor.co.uk
Review © 2010 Kathy Runswick