Folk Club #172 if you’re counting. Quick calculations will put #100 sometime in 2029 so make a note not to take any holiday that year antil the exact date is known. It seems like a long time, but believe me, Folk Club #100 only seems like yesterday. Right now it’s still October 2026 though, and the fact that special guest Canadian Chris Ronald‘s previous releases have achieved top 10 placings on international folk music charts is an indication of how those meek and mild beginnings of Folk Club have grown into a loud and proud organization (loud in the sense of it’s international reach rather than it’s music I hasten to add!)

Actually Chris Ronald turns out to be an interesting choice as guest since not only does he hail from Canada where so many of the Clubs visitors have come from (Saskia Delaronde, The Great Plains, Bill Perry, Rick Fines) and of course much-missed co-organizer Steve Perry. It also transpires that our ‘Canadian’ guest actually originates up the road from MC John Harrison in Derbyshire. Had John known in advance we could have had a genuine rendition of ‘Ilkleymoor BaTat’

Early on though we were starting to worry that our Master of Ceremonies was going to miss mastering this evening’s ceremony altogether. He did have a very good reason for the delay though – using public transport. A theme that Wolfgang Schriefer presented to great applause with a humerous self-penned song later in the evening.

John quickly got down to advertising his guided walks around Bonn with the song ‘Night Watchman’and the interestingly titled ‘Ring Around Rosie Rag’ which actually isn’t, as its title might suggest, about The Plague but about a friend (of writer Arlo Guthrie) being arrested for drug-taking. John’s set was rounded off with the evocative ballad ‘Black is the colour of my true love’s hair’ lending more to Christy Moore’s version than Nina Simone’s and I have to say one of the best performances I’ve heard from John – a surpise choice and a delight to hear.

Kai Hoffstetter had cunningly sculpted his three songs to fit tonight’s theme of ‘Longing’ (Sehnsucht). He also cunningly snared the tune of a Bob Dylan classic for the first – ‘Hey, Alter Puppenspieler’ which he says reflects a longing for childhood days. ‘Hexedanz’ is a longing for love ignoring death. Kai’s last song of his set was literally titled ‘Sehnsucht’. It has extra sadness attached as its original singer, Alexandra, is a lesser known member of the ‘famous’ 27 club alongside the likes of Amy Winehouse, Hendrix and Joplin she died at that very age after a card accident whilst driving the very car Janice always wanted – a Mercedes Benz…

Drei & Anders were familiar faces. Uwe and Maximillian Gillert joined by Frank Radeiski. So that made three… ‘Anders’ was seemingly Oliver Trübestein who was unable to make it tonight.. Admittedly a shortened band name of ‘Drei’ would be odd 🙂 I take my hat off to Max Gillert in advance because, even before they played he’d carried his stand-up double bass up a flight of stairs. Frank Radeiski’s ‘Meine Träume’ hopes for a World where everyone treats everyone else with respect. Together we are stronger. Longing for a better World. ‘Sehnsucht’ was also evocatively sung by Frank and with some particularly finely played guitar picking via the flying fingers of Uwe. Finally from the trio – what do we all long for all Winter? Summer Holidays in the Sun. Hence ‘Sommer in Italien’ Beaches, fresh fish and sunshine. I can almost feel the sand between my toes and see the cheese melting on my pizza.

I’m always pleased to see Katherin Kangro and Michel on the musicians list at Folk Club. Their mere presence has a calming effect even before they sing. I love to their choice of material – the sorts of songs that British Folk of the 60’s/70’s revelled in. Medieval tales of young lovers torn apart as the men go off to war and the women mourn for them – often before they’ve even left the village, never to return. ‘Johnny I hardly knew ya’ bears a striking resemblance to ‘When Johnny Comes Marching Home’ and shares the latters eerily jolly tune playing out a tragic event. A tale of a man, this time actually returning, broken, from War. Next up was ‘The Broom of the Cowdenkowes’ which I was most disappointed to learn is not about an implement for sweeping roads. A ‘broom’ is also a Scottish plant and it’s a song about a man missing a woman or a woman missing a man depending on the singer. In this case the latter as Katherin was singing – and very beautifully too. Never mind aspirin. If you’ve had a hard day just close your eyes and listen. Balsam for the soul. Oh and I shouldn’t forget that Michel got a vocal all to himself on ‘Retirement Song’ by The Longest Johns. Where do they come up with these band names I ask myself? At any rate he accredited himself very well indeed and had everyone clapping and singing along to the chorus.

Tonight’s special guest Chris Ronald is a Canadian from Derby in England. A curious combination indeed. Chris started out in England but has called Vancouver home since 2002. He caught the songwriting bug as a teenager, when he set a poem he’d written in high school to music but his real musical carrer took a bit longer after that though. He didn’t start playing in earnest until he’d moved to Canada and was in his thirties, selling homemade CDs at small gigs around town while also working as a teacher and raising three kids (who said men can’t multi-task?)

His breakout came with 2014’s disc Timeline, which earned him a “Songwriter of the Year” nomination at the Canadian Folk Music Awards. Borealis Records snapped him up soon after, and he’s since put out ‘Fragments‘ (2017) and ‘Light & Dark’ (2021). Both of which made the top 10 on the international folk radio charts.

The music of Chris Ronald has been described as ‘Americana’, but soon after stepping in front of the Folk Club audience for his first set he keenly points out that Donald Trump’s current treatment of Canada means he considers his style to now be recognized as ‘Canadiana’!

The first of his two sets saw Chris playing material mostly from his 2014 release ‘Timeline’. That Canadian nomination for ‘Songwriter of the Year’ proved well deserved. The opener ‘Chaperone’ said it all about this evening with its lyric: “A brand new adventure… what does she have in store?” The answer for all of us present was – a memorable evening of music from a top class singer/songwriter. For Chris also a venue he hopefully enjoyed. After only a couple of songs he was already enthusing we had joined in more than the audience at the previous show did all night. The title-song ‘Timeline’ was up next and continued with the travelling as adventure theme of ‘Chaperone’ as Chris sings: “The path of less resistance may not be the one to tread”.

All adventures start with the first steps of course, and the first steps for many a musician are on the streets. In ‘The Busker’ this means “Being a master of the cover… a living, breathing jukebox”. And for those who begrudge putting something in the hat he argues that a busker “Is not in search of pity. And a dollar for a ditty’s fair exchange to get to see a one-man band”

Probably the evening’s biggest applause went to ‘Grandpa’s Wedding Ring’. A personal story of the ring passed on to Chris that he lost in the sawdust floor of a major Texas music festival. After searching to no avail he realized that “If there’s one place he would like me to lose that ring – it would be in a place like this!”.

And so, on to Part two of the evenings music…

Well, not immediately music. Poet in residence Gert Müller got possibly the biggest laugh ever to date at Folk Club for his poem ‘Streit der Organ’. It involves each part of the body arguing over who is really in charge. The solution he concludes – and many an employee in many an office would agree – “Der Boss kann bloss das Arschlock sein!” Non-german speakers feel free to look it up. German readers feel free to laugh.

Tonight’s single spot from Gerd Schinkel though was far from a laughing matter. Gerd is currently undergoing Reha after suffering a stroke. As he puts it – dealing with simple things like being able to see which fret he is using because of sight problems. That and many other challenges now face him. But what does a songwriter do in such circumstances? He writes about it. Gerd’s song title itself ‘Schlaganphallus’ says a lot for how he is reacting to the challenges. “Die Welt ist tatsächlich ja Bunter. Wann Man gründlich auf sie blickt, und nicht andauernd erschrickt” (“The world is indeed more colorful—when you take a good, close look at it, and don’t let it scare you”). A radical new start was required and ‘Schnipp, Schnapp!’ he started – by getting his familiar long white hair cut short. By Gerd’s standards this was a short song. Hopefully just to fill the pause before he is once again writing and playing out his acute observations on the World.

A lighter theme was certainly needed and deliverd by Wolfgang Schriefer with a wry observation of what it’s like trying to get from A to B in Bonn these days. Or even from A to CD,E…Z. Suffice to say that ‘ÖPNV’ was not a German version of ‘YMCA’. You have to live in Bonn to understand it, but to laugh about it is about all we can do to avoid going crazy. I waited 45 minutes for a tram back after the show that should come every 20 minutes. Didn’t I laugh?!…

Uta Bruggemann seems a very shy lady when you see her anywhere other than with her guitar at Bonn Folk Club. With said guitar though she has great confidence and deservedly so as her choice and performance of songs always proves popular. ‘Somewhere over the rainbow’ had every one humming or singing quietly to themselves (but collectively making a fair bit of backing vocals!) ‘Texas Lightning’s ‘No, no never’ was equally well received, and ‘Desperado’ was another song for everyone to join in quietly to. Wonderful to see her enjoyment at playing as well as the audience’s enjoyment of hearing her.

And we’re back to Chris Ronald‘s, whose second set is largely only available at concerts as it features songs from his next release not due until next year. A release that features Bryan Adam’s drummer he mentions (note: Adams will be coming to Bonn next July – don’t miss!). Opener ‘Good News Story’ is a microcosm of all those news stories we rarely hear but wish for: “The ceasefire is holding”, “Fresh water is getting through”, “Truth is unfolding”... Maybe by the time the song is released it will all have happened? maybe…

It’s difficult to take a title like ‘Northern Lights over Nottingham’ seriously, but they were indeed visible around Europe not so long ago and why shouldn’t Nottingham be presented in a good light? It’s about time the City became known for more than a man in a green leotard shooting arrows at rich people in Sherwood Forest. Similarly ‘Derby Days’ takes a sentimental look at Chris’s UK home. It’s John Harrison’s part of the UK too – I look for a tear in his eye during the song but only find him checking the setlist. Maybe hiding his emotions, these Derbyshire men can be tough cookies. Actually there might be a touch of dejavu in that Chris bust a string and had to borrow John’s Guild for this number. Do you believe in kismet?

‘Own Worst enemy’ is plainly a recent song as it deals with the near daily news of local pubs, clubs and halls closing – not just in the UK Chris, it’s happening here too sadly. Towns losing their hearts as he plaintively puts it. The remaining set returned to Chris’s excellent musical back-catalogue with ‘City Girl’ from 2021’s ‘Light & Dark’ and a surprise outing on ukelele for ‘Retirement Plan’ which proved an uplifting way to end the evening and described the way a good sized part of tonight’s audience would happily also enter into retirement:

Amen to that! In the meantime, Chris – keep writing, keep playing and keep visiting Bonn!

It was a pleasure.

Like many musicians at the time Chris had an album released but was unable to promote it with a tour during Covid. It was a pretty disasterous thing to happen as he mentioned during the Bonn concert. The result was that his 2021 release ‘Light & Dark’ was supported instead by a video featuring every song as a house concert. What was unfortunate for Chris at the time is good fortune for us though as you can enjoy all the music as a live broadcast: