So off we went to Rustic Stomp on the weekend at the height of the English summer - mid-July and it was blowing an absolute hoolie and many significant festivals had decided to bale their entire weekend but not the Rustic Stomp. Nooo, these hardy folk didn't fold just because of a bit of gale force wind and a few hurricane/typhoon type situations. Anyway, it was Sunday and we were due on one of the stages at two o'clock-ish. It was an Elvis theme all day, obviously, so we donned our brand new Elvis wigs and headed for Dorset. We found the site by following the dodgily hand-painted signs and drove into what looked like a post-apocalyptic scene from one of those straight-to-TV films on the Sci-Fi channel. Stuff strewn everywhere, random bits of tarpaulin looking like they were covering mass-graves but actually it was once a stage. At least the makeshift urinals were still standing, albeit a little precarious. These people were three days into a massive bender and even though it was the sabbath they were not about to rest.
However, due to the catastrophic weather the schedules had all gone in the bin (along with a couple of the stages!) and the organisers were having to improvise on the hoof. It was all rather awkward because as we turned up in our full Elvis ensemble (the only ones who had made the bleedin effort, thnyuveymch) we were told that actually there was no room for Ribble in the new schedule. But it was such a surreal atmosphere that even if Ribble were the diva-ish types we wouldn't have spat the dummy. We just pulled a couple of wet, wind-blown chairs out of a hedge, sat down next to the chip van, and chilled to the chirpy chunes of the Swamp Stomp String Band.
As luck would have it, the organisers took pity on us and fate shined upon us. A space was cleared for us at 4pm on the big spooky Dark Holler stage. The legendary soundman from the Ragwormers festival in 2021 recognised us under the wigs and set us up with the most amazing sound, and we got to work. Initially to an empty tent but within 10 minutes it started filling up and after half an hour the tent was rammed, everyone was getting a sweat on and doing the most ridiculous moves and suddenly from out of a despairing afternoon we ended up having the best time ever.
And we're booked for opening the festival next year!
2023-07-08 - Sturminster Newton - Wedding
2023-07-07 - Salisbury Arts Centre - Beer XL
2023-07-06
- New Forest Folk Festival
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Proper job
So we were recommended to the organisers of the New Forest Folk Festival by the lovely Helen who saw us busking in Salisbury as things were coming out of lockdown. For some reason they agreed to give us a slot, and so we were due to appear at 3pm on Thursday, the Fringe day.
We weren't sure what to expect, but we spent a few minutes in the artist tent and the rather delightful artist garden, and observed the calibre of the other acts appearing before us on the huge beautiful stage, and we realised that this was a proper job.
Peeking out from behind the stage we could see hundreds and hundreds of people scattered across the field on their camping chairs listening intently to every gorgeous note the other acts were playing. We weren't sure how our unsophisticated racket would be received.
Everything sounded and felt fabulous to us on that stage, but what would all these folkies think? After crashing through a few tunes, we finally dared to look up, and people were getting out of their seats and... not leaving... no... they were getting up to have a little jig!! Loads of them! Maybe they were drunk? Maybe, but drunk on booze or drunk on Ribble?!?
2023-06-10 18:30 - Green Man, Wimborne Folk Festival
2023-06-10 15:00 - Strang Manor, Cranborne - Charity Open Day
2023-06-09 - George & Dragon, Salisbury
2023-05-22 - Amesbury - Wiltshire Music performance
2023-05-21 - Strang Manor, Cranbourne
2023-05-20
- 20:00 - Huntsman Tavern, Salisbury
- 15:00 - People in the Park, Salisbury
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People everywhere
This was our third effort for the good people at Transition City who put on the People in the Park event in the glorious Elizabeth Gardens. For some reason they keep inviting us back each year even though across our first two performances we played to a total of 13 and a half people (the half was a hearing dog for the deaf). But this time we got a prime 3pm slot, the sun was shining, and everything was set for a beautiful afternoon.
The event is about trying to raise the profile of good causes, community initiatives and of course environmental sustainability across the city and beyond, all good and noble things that we truly believe in and strongly support, but because we spend all our spare time on utterly pointless musical ambitions we rarely get chance to contribute to such things. Which is why it's lovely to be able to help by doing our nonsense. Hopefully it drew a few people in, made them smile and then caused them to go jigging around the stalls and find something that they could contribute to.
All power to the People in the Park people!!
Then in the evening we went to the Huntsman Tavern for a small boozy do with a surprising number of people who had come to that specific pub just to see us. That feels a bit weird, but by heck bring it on. Maybe Ribble is turning into something. It is growing from a small stream into a bit of a river. Watch out, if we keep going in the right direction it's going to turn into a bit of torrent. Things could get moist round here.
2023-05-18 20:00 - Brewery Tap, Blandford St Marys
So we got a brand new king which was a glorious excuse to get Ribble out into the faces of everyone around Salisbury.
We had the pleasure and the privilege of opening The Big Gig on the Market Square at 3pm on Sunday, and HRH had kindly arranged for the weather to be pants on his big day and lovely and sunny on our big day, so the square was packed with happy smiley people (ok it was fairly quiet when we started but the crowd grew considerably in the 30 short minutes we were on, hopefully we were doing something right), and it was jam-packed by the evening when the Deloreans took to the stage, but we couldn't experience that majesty for ourselves as we had hot-footed over to the Pembroke Arms to regale the good folk there with our unique blend of good-time tunes, wistful melodies and inane banter.
Another special day in the Ribble memory bank.
2023-05-05 - Coronation Celebration, Dinton - Wiltshire Music
Remember, a fiddle-guitar duo is for life, not just St Patrick's Day. But whatever Ribble smashed the arse out of St Pat's this year. Not one, not two, but TREE gigs in one evening in TREE different venues in TREE different towns!! Are we mad?!? Yes, a bit maybe, ho-ho, fishcakes and the like.
So it started in a retirement home in Amesbury, all very sedate you might think but no, it was a brilliant atmosphere and everyone was tapping their feet and clapping along and yeehaa-ing in all the right places (there are no wrong places for a good yeehaa, are there?).
Then we jumped into the Ribble van and zoomed down to Shenanigans in Southampton for a 6pm start. The atmosphere was something else, people were queueing outside, the place was absolutely rammed and everyone was on it! Guinness was running down the walls and dripping off the ceiling and we played and laughed and did our best but even if we'd played like a bag of spanners I think everyone would still have gone bonkers for it.
Suddenly we were back in the car and back to Salisbury to the legendary Winnie Gate where we finished off our mad evening with a 90 minute set of high octane tunes and a random version of Summer of 69. Not very Irish but a reminder for people to think of your favourite fiddle duo in all the seasons, not just on 17th March!
At showtime we emerged from the back of the stage to see our instruments in the spotlight, and beyond the stage, shrouded in dark, a decent sized audience in tiered seating... who applauded loudly as we approached our places... It was nerve-shredding and exhilarating in equal measure. Despite the fact we were in an environment that maybe should have made us feel out of our depth, we played as well as we'd ever done, crashing through our tunes with a gusto and abandon that might have made us look like we knew what we were doing. Perhaps not being able to see the audience made everything so much easier. And to hear them whoop and holler and react exactly as you'd hope was obviously a massive confidence boost.
Suddenly our 40 minutes had whizzed by and we were exiting the same way we came in, with an even more enthusiastic round of applause ringing out!
In the bar at the interval there were multitudes of positive comments, including one lady who said she'd been "Ribbled", and the verb was born.
So that was the ridiculous, after which came the sublime. Mr Andy Cutting, three times winner of the BBC Folk Musician of the Year, took to the stage in his understated way and coaxed the most beautiful sounds from his button accordions for the next hour and a bit.
What an evening. What a privilege.
2023-02-04 - Corn Exchange, Devizes Wiltshire Climate Alliance bash with Seize The Day
2023-01-22 - Tap House, Wimborne
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A gentle Sunday afternoon...
Dunno about you but if I was off to the pub at 4pm on an icy-cold Sunday afternoon I'd be hoping for maybe a roaring log fire but not expecting to see anyone else in there, maybe one sleepy old boy nursing half a mild with his dog asleep at his feet.
Not so at the Tap House in Wimborne! No roaring fire but that's a good thing because the place is plenty warm enough already with all the sweaty boozy bodies in there. The ale is fantastic and the staff are legendary in their friendliness, and for whatever reason they have live music on every Sunday afternoon. Seems odd but by heck does it work.
We plugged in, we started playing, glass flew everywhere, we carried on playing, beer flowed, good times were had and suddenly it was two hours later, they'd stopped shouting for "one more" and finished saying nice things about us and we were home in time for roast dinner with plenty of gravy.
We love that pub (and they seemed to love us too!).
