Passionate singer guitarist and a regular performer at the club. Among his influences are Bob Dylan, Tom Waits and Dave Ellis.  Definitely no chorus songs!  You'll just have to make do with joining in on the verses.

Paul will be performing the first half by himself and as a duo in the second half with his son on electric guitar.

Some interesting notes from Paul.

Dylan 66-76, the freedom that no arrangement is set in stone, and the freedom of phrasing.
Cohen, the only finger picking pattern I was ever taught was his ¾.
Waits, only started singing four years ago, and one of Tom’s many voices was the starting point.
Van Morrison, the perfect voice.
Ritchie Havens, open tuning, and so many rhythms.
Jamie Lord, Open G.
Jose Feliciano, rhythmic picking style
John Martin, rhythmic picking style, pull-offs and hammer-ons.
Dave Ellis, has everything.
Marc Bolan, took me from wanting to play to starting to play.
Marc Bolan, for making me realize I wanted to be acoustic rather than electric.
Bert Weedon, for encouragement to find your own style and solutions.

And what you won’t hear in my singing or playing :-

Van Morrison, the perfect voice.
Peter Green, taste, economy, emotion – the whole package.
Danny Kirwan, perfect vibrato.
Gary Moore, for showing it’s only fingers on frets.
Tony McPhee, for showing it’s NOT only fingers on frets.
Eric Bell, for showing all those sounds are possible without effects.
Roy Buchanan, a guitar can cry, wail and sob as well as scream
Robbie Robertson, freedom in timing

And finally :-
Laurence Steele, utter contempt for my playing causing me to stop for 15 years.
Steve the Fiddle, who started me playing again when he stopped going to Sheppey Folk & Blues Club. If I didn’t start playing it might have closed!

The Year of Ox begins on 2nd April 2009
Chinese New Years Day is on 26th January 2009

Year of the Ox, which is also known as Yi Chou.

Chinese New Year is the longest and most important celebration in the Chinese calendar.  The Chinese year 4706 begins on January 26, 2009.  This year of the Ox is the second year in a 12 year cycle of the Chinese zodiac.

For a possible explanation into why this year of 4706 is the same as last year 4706, goto the above link.

If you were born in any of these years your Chinese Zodiac sign is the Ox
1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009, 2021, 2033

The Chinese calendar has been in continuous use for centuries.  It predates the International Calendar (based on the Gregorian Calendar) in use at the present, which goes back only some 430 years. Basically, a calendar is a system we use to measures the passage of time, from short durations of minutes and hours, to intervals of time measured in days, months, years and centuries.  These are fundamentally based on the astronomical observations of the movement of the Sun, Moon and stars.
Days are measured by the duration of time of one self rotation of the earth.  Months are measured by the duration of time of rotation of the moon around the earth.  Years are measured by the duration of time it takes for the earth to rotate around the Sun.

A vintage year for heart throbs, with George Clooney, Richard Gere and Paul Newman all Ox.   Smile wielding funny men Charlie Chaplin, Jack Nicholson and Bill Cosby are also all Ox.   Starring role for females in the year of the Ox is played by Meg Ryan, with support from Meryl Streep and Sigourney Weaver.  And, not an actresses, but a perennial media favourite, Princess Diana, the people’s princess, is also an Ox

Petit French leader with designs on the world Napoleon Bonaparte, and, across the English channel, but no less fierce, Margaret Thatcher are both Oxen.  The year of the Ox is worryingly popular with maniacal dictators and homicidal madmen, with Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein both taking their bow on the world stage in the year of the Ox.

On a lighter note Vincent Van Gogh, Johann Sebastian Bach and Picasso.   Not quite eqaul to the above but a crowd puller Bruce Springsteen all born in the year of the Ox.

Last but not least a perennial media favourite, Princess Diana, the people’s princess, is also an Ox.

Chinese New Year and the year of the Ox More...

Another opportunity to say Happy New Year

Dan's first time at the club.  He makes music that is described as sitting effortlessly in folk, folk-rock and modern popular song all at once.  He has played support for a number of artists including Anna Ryder, Midge Ure, and Martin Carthy.

"An outstanding. emerging talent - harbouring the depths of Dylan and performed with a contemporary edge"

- Hilary Robinson Producer, BBC Radio 2 -

Dan Webster More...