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.
With his high-octane songs, rocket-fuelled guitar and dry wit, KIERAN is a great live performer and sings like he's living every song. Whether up-tempo or down-tempo, they are awash with intelligent lyrics, strong melodies and subjects as diverse as the Berlin Wall and homesickness. A Ram Regular with a string of fine albums whose songs are regularly plundered by his peers (and some of us), he has just returned from year in Australia (no, he wasn't 'sent' there), gigging, writing and seeing the sights with his family. Rest assured, he will have written plenty of new songs on his travels, and he has a great new CD out, 'The Deal We Made With God', to coincide with his return.
http://www.kieranhalpin.com/£9 members/£10 non-members
Club favourites and regular returnees, BRIAN is simply an ace guitarist, be it sensitive, intricate acoustic or, with bands like The Strawbs, soaring electric lead. A more modest and unassuming chap you'll never meet who lets his guitar do the talking! Originally a 'house guitarist' on the Beatles' Apple Label, he has accompanied dozens of artists from Nanci Griffith to Monty Python, but in Cathryn he has found his match. And she's a pretty mean picker too, with a wonderfully-authentic Nashville voice that can lend itself to any mood and is right up there with the Shania Twains of this world. Brian's lovely 'Alice's Song' was featured recently on Aled Jones' Sunday show on Radio 2 and their new album "Calling all Angels" is available now. Top twanging, heavenly hollerin' and with some fine yarns in between.
http://www.craigandwilloughby.com/£9 members/£10 non-members
One of the Crown Jewels of contemporary English songwriters and a guitarist to boot, CLIVE fronted rock band ANY TROUBLE in the 80s, then in the 90s formed a ground-breaking partnership with CHRISTINE COLLISTER, toured regularly as part of RICHARD THOMPSON's band then with EDDIE READER and BOO HEWERDINE, and in 2005 with the NANCI GRIFFITH band. He is a songwriter with an acute ear for the minutae of life, and his highly - original, catchy songs have been recorded far and wide. 2007 saw the long-awaited reunion of Any Trouble and their new album 'Life in Reverse'. Now based in Nashville, future plans include more Any Trouble & solo gigs, song writing workshops, session work, a new solo CD, more Gregson & Collister reissues and a production project or two. Oh, yes, and a 'Best Of' CD just out. No sign of him slowing down then!
http://www.clivegregson.com/£9 members/£11 non-members
David is a young Scottish American singer-songwriter - a 'One-man Transatlantic Session' who broke onto the British Folk scene in 2006. His rootsy, original songs blend strong melodies with traditional influences and an unerring ability to articulate in a highly-accessible way the causes he is passionate about. His song-writing has been compared to Woody Guthrie, John Prine & Tom Paxton, telling stories about his and others' lives and marked by a strong commitment to social justice and peace. His crystal-clear vocals evoke John Denver and David Gates, and his live performances have led to various awards including Celtic Connections in 2006. In 2008 David released his debut album 'Broken Sky', named 'Album Of The Week' by BBC Radio Scotland. He also performs traditional and folk material from both sides of the Atlantic, and his show 'Scottish Folk Roots & Offshoots' sold out 24 consecutive nights at the 2007 Edinburgh Fringe. Fresh, exciting and bursting with talent David will be accompanied by multi-instrumentalists Ewan MacPherson and Kim Edgar.
http://www.davidferrard.com/£9 members/£10 non-members
ROBB is one of the UK's finest songwriters. Much-covered, his songs feature in the repertoires of a wide variety of musicians, from folk legend ROY BAILEY to acclaimed cabaret diva BARB JUNGR. Robb writes up-to-date songs, from the powerful & provocative to the witty & clever - songs that make you listen. 'A modern-day Dostoyevsky' said Dirty Linen magazine, while The Daily Telegraph made his CD Gentle Men 'Folk Album Of 1998'. And 'Winter Turns To Spring' is Tony Benn's favourite song! Always a thorn in the fat, overfed underbelly of politics, having done for Thatcherism he still has plenty of targets! Robb is also capable of the most touching songs about love, family, war and peace & translates and performs the songs of Jaques Brel. His latest CD, Love and Death and Politics', is up there with his best.
http://www.robbjohnson.co.uk/£7 members/£8 non-members