Month: November 2014

Irvine Folk Club has Brooks Williams as the special guest on Wednesday 26th November and given the man’s busy diary and the thousands of miles he covers, the Club it seems has struck it lucky.
Brooks Williams is an American acoustic guitarist and a singer and a songwriter who is described as a joy to watch and a classy act from start to finish. Born in Statesboro Georgia he walks a line between blues and Americana with a style that combines roots, blues, jazz, classical and folk.
He has been performing for 25 years and has released 19 CDs, the most recent being New Everything – an album he takes great pride in. Included in these 19 albums are some devoted to folk and some entirely instrumental guitar. He is ranked in The Top 100 Acoustic Guitarists – his instrumental version of Amazing Grace has been described as mind-blowing.
Each year Brooks devotes a significant part of his time to leading workshops on guitar and songwriting. Workshops have taken him to Turkey, Belgium, France, the UK, all over the USA and in 2010 he was in Tanzania in East Africa working with Primary School pupils using his resonator guitar. Brooks has released two instructional DVDs on blues guitar and slide guitar both of which have been praised for their accessibility.
Added to all of the above, Brooks is a visiting lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge where he works with aspiring musicians. His diary shows that on Sunday 23rd November he is playing on The Isle of Man, Wednesday 26th at Irvine, Thursday 27th in Dorset and Friday 28th in New York!! Busy or what!
Be at Irvine Folk Club on Wednesday 26th November for 8pm to hear the very talented and much acclaimed Brooks Williams. The Club meets in Vineburgh Community Centre in Quarry Road and it’s BYOB with a great café.

From Leigh in Lancashire, Bram Taylor is the welcome guest at Irvine Folk Club on Wednesday 12th November. He has a growing fan base in this neck of the woods having played at the Club and Marymass Folk Festival a couple of years back.
Bram has a busy diary that covers appearances throughout the UK and also includes the US of A and Europe. He has played a couple of times at the Mariposa Folk Festival in Ontario where he was delighted to be on the same bill as his heroes from the Sixties Gordon Lightfoot and Don Mclean.
Described as a collector and interpreter of songs, a set from Bram might include contemporary material from the likes of Colum Sands or Eric Bogle as well as traditional songs like ‘Bogie’s Bonnie Belle’. When selecting songs, Bram always asks himself ‘Is this a good song’. To date this has proved to be successful, having 10 albums to his name and all recorded on Fellside Records. The session musicians on Bram’s albums are a guide to the respect he enjoys among his peers – Stuart Hardy, Steve Lawrence, Wendy Wetherby, Alastair McCulloch and Tom McConville being just some of the names to be found on the credits.
Bram has a strong and clear voice and plays guitar, duet concertina and baritone ukulele. He has an engaging personality both on and off stage. Hear Bram Taylor at Irvine Folk Club on Wednesday 12th November in Vineburgh Community Centre in Quarry Road. The Club starts at 8pm and it’s BYOB.