The Bath Acoustic Music Club
Bath Acoustic Club- 5th March 2008
Reviewed by Rosie Upton

This popular club meets on the first Wednesday of each month in the upstairs Gallery at St James Wine Vaults. A room that combines just the right ambiance of dimly lit comfort and minimalist art house chic, which the organiser singer/songwriter Mary English described as 'subdued and sexy'. Far more important than the decor is the clean acoustics that make everyone sound crystal clear and give each performer the confidence they might usually enjoy singing alone in the bath. The club has recently celebrated its 10th anniversary and during that time has had almost as many homes-the exact chronology of which even Mary has forgotten. I went along last month to check it out for myself and was greatly entertained. The evening opened with Mary herself giving a confident performance on both guitar and a Celtic harp. She bought the harp for a song, so she said, off the internet two years ago and with no former experience now plays like the proverbial angel after some expert tuition from internationally acclaimed Bath virtuoso Jenny Crook.
It was a good start and the remainder of the evening did not disappoint with styles from Celtic to Cowboy and a great mix of instruments ranging from guitars in all shapes and sizes, a ukulele, an auto-harp and even a full set of Highland bagpipes which like haggis may not be to everyone's taste.
Ages of performers and audience appeared to range from students to pensioners but there was a great sense of camaraderie and all that mattered was a shared love of music. Any music it seems in an evening included traditional Welsh tunes and Tchaikovsky.
The Willbees from Bristol with twin guitars and voices in harmony gave a hearfelt rendition of 'Crying in the Rain', Norman from Frome played some neat blues guitar and singer, songwriter and guitarist Chico from Warminster gave the kind of performance of self penned material that never fails to excite.
Now, as if that wasn't exceptional enough, the evening was interrupted by a visually spectacular display of rapper sword dancing in the bar. Despite the cramped conditions Northgate Rapper with trusty Northumbrian piper Henry Ford failed to decapitate any of the customers in what I can best describe as extreme dancing with young men expertly turning somersaults in a tangle of steelwork. It was as strange as it was unexpected but that's Bath for you. Henry told me that as well as playing for Northgate Rapper he is in the curiously named band Highland Desi Touch that fuses quintessential English tranditional music with Punjabi bhangra. They are looking for someone who plays a bass brass instrument such as tuba or trombone to join them and anyone interested should contact him on 01225-466659.
Back upstairs the music continued with the audience listening intently and though on-one made any mistakes the impression was that it wouldn't have mattered. Young student Laura gave her first public performance as a guitarist. She looked nervous at first but quickly gained the confidence to play with considerable skill. There was even a storyteller to add to the variety and some really bad jokes.
So if you enjoy good music and something a little unconventional, are just starting on a musical career or are a seasoned professional this might be the place where anything could happen and most probaly will!