Cahors Folk Club in the Press
" Cahors Folk Club celebrated its 6th anniversary on Friday 25th April at the castle in Labastide-Marnhac, with savoury bread, cake and style. " -
La Dépêche. You can read the whole article here
Pictured blowing out the candles on Diane's beautifully arranged and delicious cakes are (from left to right) Coco Correch, Michel Griffin, Didier Gaillien, Sophie Celdran, Frenchie Dègre & Daniel Prévoteau.
The folk-club moved in May 2012 to the château de Labastide Marnhac, and now takes place on the last Friday of each month. There is a schedule of forthcoming concerts on the Concerts page. My thanks to David Gabella for his enthusiasm, his dedication, and all his hard work on behalf of the club over the four years that he hosted us at the Carré d'Art.
Unbeknownst to me or Mark Newman, there was evidently a
journalist covering the November 2009 session of the Cahors Folk Club, because the following Saturday,
this article appeared in La Dépêche, underneath a photo [left] of us jamming with
Michel 'Coco' Correch (double-bass) and Marcel 'Frenchie' Dègre (harmonica).
I'm the one with the hat !
Every kind of Art is represented at David Gabella's convivial gallery in rue Pélegry. On the evening of 26th November, the space was dedicated to folk music, with keen English guitarists Mark Newman and Michel Griffin, and their singer and musician friends. There was a sellout crowd - an informed audience, some French, some English.
The evening went like clockwork. In fact, since last March, this group of musicians has got together in the delightful tea room gallery once a month. Presented with flair and humor, some with improvised double-bass or harmonica accompaniment, performers follow one another on stage with a series of songs in French or English - some sufficiently well-known that the audience joins in.
Michel Griffin, jazzy poet, by turns clown or romantic, presents his own songs in a charming mid-Atlantic French accent and with his beautiful deep, soft warm voice. Already known on British (BBC) radio, he arrived in France in 2000 'with the new millenium' and has recorded four CDs.
Ambiance surchauffée, soirée inoubliable ! Le 23 avril dernier, dans l'enthousiasme général, avait eu lieu la première session d'un nouveau folk-club à Cahors, dans la Galerie Carré d'Art, 46 rue Pélégry (entre la place de la Libération et le quai de Regourd). La galerie était noire de monde, et le public a apprécié l'humour, la poésie, les styles variés, et la qualité des musiciens intervenants.
Le folk-club a été créé par deux musiciens britanniques vivant dans la vallée du Lot, Michel Griffin et Mark Newman. Désormais, le quatrième mercredi de chaque mois, ils accueilleront chaleureusement chanteurs, guitaristes, et autres instrumentistes et les invitent à partager musique, pizza et vin rouge.
Le folk-club, c'est l'ouverture aux autres. Toutes sortes de musiciens s'y rencontrent avec une immense spontanéité qui donne ce côté si sympathique et si singulier à ces moments musicaux.
Lors de cette première soirée, on aura pu remarquer l'entente cordiale qui régnait avec la participation de Rick Jones (guitare et chant), George Callaghan (guitare, violon et chant), Brian Harpwood (banjo), Michel Lydiet (chant), Babette Mellac (chant a capella) et Mick Gardiner (harmonica). On retiendra également les prestations magistrales et fougueuses de Mark Newman à la guitare, et la poésie des textes de chansons de Michel Griffin.