Left handed guitarists are something of a rarity, however when they do appear they have a tendency to be outstanding. Think Paul McCartney, Tony Iommi and, of course, Jimi Hendrix. Step forward Dave Gibb, who was warmly welcomed to the Nitten Folk Club Stage on Thursday. Hailing from the village of Wanlockhead in Dumfries and Galloway Dave modestly describes himself as a left-handed, balding, middle-aged songwriting folky from Scotland’s highest village. He is also one of the most talented and entertaining performers on the circuit.
He kicked things off with a familiar song (it’s in the rules), ‘Green Grow the Rashes-o’, played at a relatively brisk pace, with the audience, with a little cajoling from Dave, singing along to the refrains (also, in the rules). His set included several of his own excellent compositions: The Jerking Dance, The Ballad of Dora Noyce (an infamous Edinburgh ‘Madam’) , What Will We Do Now and and unforgettable tale of a frustrated Tattooist with a questionable understanding of Urdu and Chinese language. I won’t go into detail here but if your curious you can check it out on his latest CD ‘The Ying and Yang of Dave Gibb’.
He’s equally at home performing his own interpretations of Folk standards like Cyril Tawney’s iconic ‘Sally Free and Easy’ , Pop standards like ‘When You Walk in the Room, or relatively obscure forties songs like ‘One Meat Ball’; all delivered with a playful twinkle in his eye and extraordinarily nimble finger work on a well worn Martin guitar. Often the guitar is simply the accompaniment to the song but in Dave’s hands it becomes as much an integral part of the song as the melody and lyrics. For the musicians in the audience there was much to admire indeed.
The usual floor spots were provided by Ronnie Miller, Jen Kendall, resident Bard Keith Halley in the first half and by Jim Weatherston, Neil Dawson and Paul Ashcroft in the second. Well done all – as Chairperson Jane has often noted “It’s incredible how much talent we can count among our members”.
The ever popular raffle was handled by Gillian and Jim – among other things lots of lovely chocolate and drinkypoos were won by the lucky ticket holders. The prizes were all donated by club members and friends and the money raised goes toward ensuring the future of the club. Many thanks also to Tom, May, Marion and Janis for handling the box office and selling shedloads of raffle tickets. All in all another fabulous night at Nitten Folk Club.
Next month we welcome again the wonderful John Graham and Jim Jack. John and Jim Jim have been singing in folk clubs around Scotland since the 1960s (with Jim taking a sojourn for a while into the rock genre as well). John plays several stringed things (guitar, fiddle, mandolin, bouzouki, bass) and Jim plays guitar. Both sing. Tonight they’re joined by Cy Jack on bass & keys. A splendid evening is guaranteed so make a note in your diary and make sure you’re there.
The Committee.