Guest : Anthony John Clarke

6 February 2004

Despite a difficult road journey from Liverpool to our folk club, these singing wordsmiths quickly set up their professional equipment and settled in to the task of entertaining us. Above, John is accompanied by Elisabeth on the keyboard and she supplied lovely backing vocals. This lady probably has a great voice in her own right and it would have been nice to have heard a solo from her.

John is originally from Ireland, but has almost lost his accent, and Elisabeth is a Liverpudlian. This difference provided opportunities for gentle Irish leg-pulls throughout the evening.

An extra review by Joe Phillips

I hadn’t got the faintest idea what to expect. He turned up with a keyboard player and backing singer, plus a bass player, whose names I am ashamed to say I didn’t get. He used amplification, which I know isn’t widely approved of by other members. However I differ from them, as long as it is carefully modulated to the size of the room, and Anthony’s was. I had been informed that he sang pretty well all his own material, which put me off a bit, because sometimes that can be incredibly boring – but not this time. He has a self-deprecating low-key style of delivery and he made me laugh which is mo mean feat; he originates from Northern Ireland but has no sign of the Ian Paisely harsh tone. His songs were funny, sad and romantic (not all at once you understand) with great melodies. In fact he only sang three songs by other writers, but I would have preferred more of his own material. He even managed to downplay the fact that he is a very good guitarist, it probably takes a very bad guitarist like me to recognise how good he is, because he is so unflamboyant You might think from this review that I am fan - you’d be right, I am now, and believe me that’s a very rare event.