Month: September 2014

Due to a change in travel arrangements Tommy’s Funeral Service will now be held in The Volunteer Rooms on Wednesday 15th October at 10.30am thereafter to Knadgerhill Cemetery.

Tommy’s Funeral Service will be held in the Volunteer Rooms on Wednesday 8th October at 10.30am thereafter to Knadgerhill Cemetery.

It is with great sadness that I report the death of one of Irvine Folk Club’s most faithful members Tommy Jeffers. Tommy and Christine were in France with the Ramblers Group visiting the our French Twin Town of Voisins. On a sight-seeing tour of Paris Tommy suffered a massive heart attack and unfortunately he died.
Christine is being cared for by her French friends until arrangements can be made to bring Tommy home. I will post details of the funeral arrangements when I have them.

Ben Sands is the guest at Irvine Folk Club on Wednesday 1st October and that will make good reading to his many fans and admirers. He has been a regular and very welcome visitor to the Irvine Club over the years and it’s always good to hear him again.
From Newry in County Down where he still lives, Ben was born into a family where music, singing, storytelling and wit were a cornerstone that made life a bit more bearable and sometimes memorable against the hard grind of daily life on a small farm. As a youngster, Ben tried his hand on any instrument that came his way. He now concentrates on guitar, banjo, mandolin, whistles and fiddle although on occasion he has been known to wrestle a tune from the uillean pipes!
Ben is a singer, songwriter, musician, storyteller and arranger and has charmed his way round Europe and beyond since the 1970’s and throughout that time has continued to play with The Sands Family for special concerts. He sings and writes songs about life and love and the ways of the world and his humour is never very far away.
He has five solo albums to his name, the most recent being ‘Live in Berlin’ released last year. As well as that, as part of The Sands Family, time has been found to make 17 albums !
For an evening studded with good songs and gentle humour get along to Irvine Folk Club on Wednesday 1st October at Vineburgh Community Centre in Quarry Road for 8pm to hear Ben Sands.
Finally, weekly sessions at The Ship Inn in Irvine continue on Tuesdays. They start at 8pm and singers and musicians are welcome.

The debut appearance at Irvine Folk Club of Sunjay Brayne comes up on Wednesday 17th September and not only is Sunjay a new face, he has yet to reach his 21st birthday. New and young and talented forbye!
By all accounts, Midlands-based Sunjay is a rising star on the Folk and Acoustic circuit. Such are the guitar skills of Sunjay that some reviewers say he is reminiscent of Ralph McTell and John Martyn. Match that with an authoritative voice that belies his years and the reasons for the glowing reviews become apparent.
Sunjay picked up the guitar aged four and hasn’t put it down since. As a youngster he was introduced by his Dad to the sounds of Don McLean and Buddy Holly and now Sunjay’s guitar picking skills are said to be among the very best. The material played by Sunjay is heavily influenced by the Blues but also draws from Folk, Country and Rock.
Nominated for the BCC Radio 2 Young Folk Award in 2012, Sunjay has three albums to his name, the most recent having been released this month. To promote the album, Sunjay is on a 40 date UK tour, which happily takes in the Irvine Club.
For one so young, Sunjay has a confidence, maturity and ease on stage and is held in high regard by folk world luminaries such as Steeleye Span. Hear Sunjay Brayne at Irvine Folk Club on Wednesday 17th September in Vineburgh Community Centre in Quarry Road. The Club starts at 8pm and it’s BYOB. Club info flyers giving details of who is appearing at the Irvine Club are now widely available and by visiting www.irvinefolkclub.org.uk