For our 30th birthday on 21st October 2013 we updated our 'Compleat History of the Ram Club' booklet (PDF format, 10Mb). Click to view or download - it's a 'must read', with a list of all the guests we have ever had plus some stories and pictures!
Below is a list of the past guests from September 2006.
And so we pull the curtain down on another fantastic year. Thanks very much for all your support - we need you!
We kick off 2014 with a return visit from this amazing duo of piano accordionist SAM PIRT and percussionist GARY HAMMOND. Sam plays in the band 422, who in 1999 won the BBC Radio 2 'Young Folk' award and have since gone on to great success. He has developed a huge interest in music from all around the world which has a major influence on his sound. GARY has a collection of over 400 types of instruments (hence the Pickfords van outside) and last time he invited us all up at the end to 'investigate' and have a go. What a nice chap! He is a much-in-demand session musician, playing many genres of music and touring with a whole host of top acts from The Beautiful South to Nina Simone. All this comes together in the breath of fresh air that is The Hut People, an exciting sound born of the myriad forms of 'World Music' that goes down well wherever it is served. As Gary says, "Sam opened up my aural world to planet Folk, where I feel very much at home".
http://www.thehutpeople.co.uk£9 members/£10 non-members
EMILY is a singing testament to the fact that struggling with bipolar disorder can be turned on its head to create supremely beautiful music that is both therapeutic and inspirational to all. Best-known for her thought-provoking lyrics and expressive vocal style, Emily's songs are played regularly on Radio 2, winning her fans across the globe. Classically trained on cello, piano and flute, she taught herself guitar and started writing songs in her teens while stuck at home with chronic illness. A few years later, she headed for the Australian bush to live in a shack to make music (and goat's cheese) with her partner Christian Dunham, who will be accompanying her tonight. She released the critically acclaimed albums 'Stranger Place' and 'Keep Walking', then returned to the UK to tour extensively with top singer-songwriters including Don McLean, Eric Bibb, Paul Brady & Roddy Frame. Her third album, 'Believer', again won rave reviews and extensive radio airplay. In 2010, her extraordinary book 'Start Over Again', an account of her experiences dealing with bipolar disorder, was launched on Radio 2 and generated a huge response from listeners. In 2013 came a new CD 'Bird Inside A Cage', full of strong songs that uplift, stir, comfort, reach out, touch & inspire. Songs you want to hug!
http://www.emilymaguire.com£9 members/£10 non-members
SUE GRAVES, HECTOR GILCHRIST and STEVE POOLE are 'part of the furniture' hereabouts. Since coming together in 2005 they have wandered and plundered the highways and byways of Folk and beyond, playing clubs, festivals, community events and parties for the sheer joy of it. They sing a variety of contemporary songs, some originals, one or two traditional songs, the odd tear-jerker, and even a Rat Pack classic or a bit of dusted down Rock 'n' Roll if the mood takes us! Beautiful songs that are melodic, inspiring, accessible and mostly of a positive bent, under-pinned with soaring harmony vocals, tasty acoustic guitars, harmonica and ukulele. A musical Tapas then, but with one aim - to leave you feeling happier afterwards than before!
http://www.soireemusic.co.uk£7 members/£8 non-members
Jim Moray is part of the New Wave of young Folk performers - always innovating, moving forward, reinventing and throwing aside boundaries. He arrived on the scene with a bang ten years ago with the album 'Sweet England', which received rave reviews, a BBC Folk Award and a sheaf of industry awards for its dramatic reinterpretations of traditional songs in a contemporary setting. With all his albums he has sought to demonstrate folk's relevance to contemporary life and its total indivisibility from the impulses which shape the very best rock and pop. He deploys beat-boxes, melodeons, acoustic & electric guitars, thumb pianos, mandolins, rappers and even the odd laptop to define his sound, and he sings with the kind of English soul which has no home century. Skulk is his fifth album of soulful English music and continues his mission to locate folk music in its rightful landscape - the modern world. Produced by Jim with a supporting cast of like-minded musicians, the songs are again mainly traditional in provenance (with a couple of contemporary covers) but absolutely modern in form and delivery. In Jim's vision, the oral tradition is electrified, not only technically but emotionally! He sees pop, rock and folk all as parts of the same musical world and he's on a mission to convince you too! Unmissable.
http://www.jimmoray.co.uk£9 members/£10 non-members