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.
It's always a pleasure to welcome back MARTYN, one of our most loved and respected songwriters and a supreme purveyor, creator and collector of Australiana - folk songs of the outback that he first discovered during his time working on a sheep station in the '60s. He first went over in his late teens and during subsequent trips he collected and learned the 'Old Songs' directly from drovers, cane cutters and bush workers, interpreting them in his own unique style. He also embraces songs from these Isles, delivering them in his rich voice with warmth and wonderful humorous anecdotes. His latest CD 'Starlit' is a beautiful selection of his favourite songs both old and new from the likes of Eric Bogle, Liz Weston, Graeme Miles and Trad.
http://www.martynwyndhamread.com£9 members/£10 non-members
Something is appearing on the horizon. The sails are billowing, the ship is rocking and the Jolly Roger is flying, for The Boys Are Back in Town! Last seen here in July 2012 at the 'Songs of the Sea' night, they've served their time down under and are back to rub themselves into the wounds. Nicely of course, and only for taste. This time it's not for charity, it's for treasure so sling your hook and come along for a raucous night of saucy sea songs and shouty shanties. LEE COLLINSON-JAMES you know and love, a virtuoso guitarist and singer of note - until the press gang came and gave him a banjo! Now, with JEM CLARK (bass), BRIAN DORAN (mandolin, vocs), RICHARD NASH (drums, vocs) and JEREMY HART (guitar, vocs) it's 'sea songs for the 21st century', keel-hauled, sprinkled with lime juice and hung from the yardarm to cure. We might even need a mosh pit for this one!
http://thesalts.co.uk£10 members/£11 non-members
BRIAN and CATHRYN are old friends of the Ram. Country/Folk based, they effortless cross genres and produce songs of warmth, depth and variety. Brian is simply an ace guitarist, be it sensitive, intricate acoustic or, with bands like The Strawbs, soaring electric lead. He was originally a 'house guitarist' on the Beatles' Apple Label and has accompanied dozens of artists including Mary Hopkin, Nanci Griffith and Monty Python. In Cathryn he has found his musical soul mate. She has a wonderfully-authentic Nashville voice that can lend itself to any mood and is right up there with the Shania Twains of this world. Expect as usual some top twanging, heavenly hollerin' and fine yarns in between! Their latest album 'Calling All Angels' is another gem.
http://www.craigandwilloughby.com£9 members/£10 non-members
KEVIN is a Ram regular, a brilliant guitarist and master of many styles from Folk to Funk, Jazz to Jive, Soul to Celtic and more. Always in demand, he's worked with a legion of top acts including Mary Black, Percy Sledge, Whippersnapper, the Marvelettes, Uiscedwr, Dando Shaft and the Albion band to name but a few. ROSIE hails from Cincinatti and is an ace fiddler rooted in the Irish tradition. She started playing at 8 years old, learning from the masters and winning national competitions for both fiddle and voice. Now 18, her style combines lyricism & dexterity with a captivatingly beautiful voice. This unlikely partnership came about because Kevin knows her dad through his work promoting British Folk acts over there. He's known Rosie since she was a tot, and despite being separated by a generation and the Atlantic they share a passion for traditional music from both cultures. With two delightfully inspired albums of instrumentals and songs to date this will be a cracker!
http://www.kevindempsey.co.uk£9 members/£10 non-members