It was bound chronologically speaking to be the best Folk Club Bonn Meeting so far in 2025, but that the January meet could also go down in the record books as having the all-time largest attendance was not something I had anticipated when I arrived at Dotty’s in Dottendorf at 6 pm. However, as the minutes to ‘Ladies and Gentlemen,…’ ticked down, things began looking unusually hectic. First of all, people just kept coming in. Then, they started coming in with chairs from the bar. Finally, they started actually raiding the dressing room for chairs…
It’s Christmas. That time of year when a Bonn Folk Music fans thoughts turn to – Simon Kempston.
This Friday (1 December) the gifted singer/songwriter and finger-style guitarist extraordinaire will be making his 12th consecutive visit to Folk Club Bonn. When John Harrison jokingly told Simon many years ago that we would love to have him back – but he has to bring a new CD with him every time, little did we know that the joke would be on us!
This year is no exception. Would he manage to pass the strict contractual obligations set out by the Folk Club’s MC John Harrison? The new CD is titled ‘Moonrise over Mostar’. Simon describes the deal thus: “As agreed with Sir John of Harrisonshire back in November 2011 at the Graurheindorf crossroads I shall of course, have copies with me in Bonn on Friday!”.
“This will be my first ever collection of original pieces for the classical guitar. Recorded at home during a time when musicians could not perform, these are compositions from the heart I feel impossibly close to, and in many ways my saviour during the most difficult days I have known as a musician. Hopefully, this is reflected in the final performances and that you enjoy listening to them as much as I have enjoyed creating them”.
We really are blessed to have Simon trek down to Bonn from his native Edinburgh to play for us. Described as ‘One of Scotland’s very best singer/songwriters’ by leading Scottish publication ‘The Herald’, Simon has performed across the world in 35 countries and counting but always holds the first Friday of December free for a date at what he describes as “The best Folk Club outside of Scotland”. It will be an evening to remember so don’t miss out – and bring some cash for that new CD too. There are not so many shopping days left until Christmas!
01 December 2023Folk Club Bonn
7 pm to c.10 pm – Admission Free – but buying CD’s is permitted 😉
Address: Dotty’s Sports Bar (Bonner Tennis- und Hockey-Verein – BTHV), Christian-Miesen-Str. 1, 53129 Bonn-Dottendorf
It might look smoothly asphalted to the eye, but the road to Dotty’sSports Bar for Folk Club Bonn‘s September meet was a rough one indeed. A long one too, as John Harrison will tell you. Involving numerous meetings with the owner and correspondence between Folk Club and the powers that be in Bonn. In the end, though it was a worthwhile journey. The Hockey pitch at Dotty’s proving to be an excellent open-air venue, and the weather being much kinder than anyone had a right to expect in the early days of Autumn. Perhaps God is a folk music fan? Or perhaps he just realised that good music was good for the souls of his creations in this Pandemic riddled World we are all enduring.
The theme at Dotty’s Sports Bar for Folk Club Bonn meet number 106 was colours. But are Black (Back to Black) and White (Nights in White Satin) actually colours? Another question – what was that red plastic barrel on John’s finger for? Pull up a chair (or risk sitting on the floor), grab a beer when the waitress comes round with her tray, and settle down for another evening of music in all shapes, sizes, and colours…
Special Guest at this month’s Bonn Folk Club Johannes (Hannes) Epremian from the band Le Clou looks very serious in my opening picture, and so he should – he’s playing The Blues Cajun Style. John Harrison (with Eva on violin) though, as always had the first bite at this evening’s theme of Stormy Weather, and gobbled up the obvious choice with relish – Arlen and Hoehler’s classic of that very name that first saw the light of day with Ethel Waters in the early 1930s. It’s been covered since by everyone – from Bing Crosby to Bob Dylan – and is probably as familiar to the people of this planet as oxygen. A song that you would almost expect new-born babies to recognize.
No, it’s nothing to do with Star Trek. In Bonn ‘Next Generation’ is a new concert series aimed at giving young local musicians with their own songs a chance to shine at a top venue. This time around it was the opportunity for David Nevory, Melchi, and Peanut Butter Spirit Lover (PBSL for short!) to show what they could do in front of a large and enthusiastic audience at The Harmonie.
Long before there was Skinny Lister and the Dropkick Murphy’s. Even before there was the Pogues, there was a ‘Folk Punk’ movement. Okay, it wasn’t so ‘in yer face’ as the later incarnations, but The Oysterband were up there singing crafted lyrics from a fire in their collective bellies. Now into their 43rd year, the fire is more a smoulder than a furnace, but after a half hour listening to the band on Thursday at Bonn Harmonie it was clear that the songs still matter – to both band and fans.
The theme this evening: Banjo. Cartoons come to mind of being sent to hell and Satan pointing to a cave filled with duelling banjo players. Also to mind was a surprising pleasant evening a few years ago at an international banjo festival in Bonn. I decided to focus on the latter and headed for Folk Club number 61 at Haus Müllestumpe.
