BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//360exp//Events//ES METHOD:PUBLISH BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Europe/London TZURL:http://tzurl.org/zoneinfo-outlook/Europe/London X-LIC-LOCATION:Europe/London BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:+0000 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:BST DTSTART:19700329T010000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=3;BYDAY=-1SU END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0000 TZNAME:GMT DTSTART:19701025T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=10;BYDAY=-1SU END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE TIMEZONE-ID:Europe/London X-WR-TIMEZONE:Europe/London BEGIN:VEVENT UID:b0318734-3726-4cb5-b9ea-fa67454c39f9@360exp.net SEQUENCE:0 DTSTAMP:20260824T132958 DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261120T191500 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261120T191500 SUMMARY:An Audience Without Jake Or Les - John Watterson celebrates the wo rks of Jake Thackray & Les Barker LOCATION:Appletreewick The Craven Arms DESCRIPTION:+ special guests Plumhall - John Watterson brings his superb s how\, celebrating the hilarious works of Jake Thackray and Les Barker - tw o of our finest and funniest songwriter poets - to the Cruck Barn at last! John Watterson (aka Fake Thackray)\, an adopted Yorkshireman\, was born an d grew up on the Isle of Man\, which is where he first saw and met Jake Th ackray in 1975. He recalls a performance at the local folk club\, which ha d the audience in stitches and also a chat with a very modest and self-dep recating Jake at the interval – ‘a big man and a huge talent\, clearly embarrassed by the standing ovation\, Jake preferred to have a pint at th e bar with the punters and didn’t really see what the fuss was about’. John took a business degree at Loughborough (‘my mum was stationed at Bl etchley Park in WW2 and said Loughborough was quite nice’) and this was followed by a 30 year ‘accidental’ career in the laundry industry (‘ I went to an interview in 1979 just for the travel expenses\, and the bugg ers gave me a job!’).On learning of Jake’s passing in 2002\, John deci ded that the songs were too good not to be kept alive\, so he set about le arning more of them. ‘Before I had decided what to do when I grew up\, i t was time for my mid-life crisis. I told my wife\, Carol that I wanted to give up the day job and sing Jake’s songs and she said – OK then – so I did!’A few years ago John had the huge honour of performing at a me morial evening in Monmouth (which is where Jake and his family had moved t o) attended by Jake’s widow\, Sheila\, and two of their sons (who signed the back of his guitar – now a much treasured possession). ‘The scari est gig of my life – but such a privilege!’Members of the Thackray fam ily are now actively supporting John’s research to write a biography of the great man\, and John has\, on occasions\, been thrilled to be allowed to borrow Jake’s own guitar to play at gigs. ‘‘There is a line in ‘Last Will and Testament’ which cracks me up if I am playing the great man’s guitar - ‘….You can fish your trout with my fly and tackle\, you can play upon my guitar…’ Brings a lump to the throat’’ John a dmits.John's appreciation and love of Jake Thackray's music is obvious to his audience. His performance is a celebration of the man that was Jake Th ackray – his life\, his work and his genius – a genius which the new a ge of music lovers are in danger of missing out on. John is a talented gui tarist and vocalist and has that engaging quality that makes you want to l isten to his performance. When you wrap these ingredients up in the songs of Jake Thackray the result is a highly entertaining\, heartfelt tribute t o one of the finest songwriters of the 20th century.John has toured the sh ow with Fairport Convention on their 6 week nation-wide tour\, and has per formed 20 shows at the Edinburgh Fringe\, earning several 4 star reviews. He has also been delighted to support Ralph McTell\, Richard Digance\, Vin Garbutt and many more of his music heroes.Radio appearances have included Radio 3s ‘The Verb’ with Ian McMillan\, and Radio 4s ‘Great Lives ’ with Matthew Parris and Isy Suttie. Fake Thackray is in increasing dem and for clubs\, festivals\, village halls arts centres and theatres\, as w ell as house concerts and after dinner engagements. ‘It is wonderful tha t Jake still has so many fans across the country\, and the younger generat ion are catching on to a man who should be regarded as one of our greatest national treasures’ says John.Les Barker\, who sadly passed away in Jan uary 2023\, was one of the UK’s finest and funniest wordsmiths\, once de scribed as 'the best Poet Laureate we never had'.John brings together the work of these two incredible and much-missed talents.Plumhall (Michelle Pl um and Nick B Hall) are an acclaimed UK songwriting duo known for their ca ptivating vocal harmonies and exquisite acoustic guitar playing. Their ori ginal songs have earned them widespread acclaim.Their first two albums\, T hundercloud and The Ghost of Noise\, received significant recognition\, in cluding a “Hidden Gem” recommendation from The Guardian/Observer. From the alt-country feel of the debut to the more experimental sound of the f ollow-up\, Plumhall have shown their ability to blend strong songwriting w ith diverse musical influences. Their much-anticipated third album\, One S tar Awake\, was released in June 2024 to critical acclaim and is available on all major platforms\, as well as in CD format at their live shows.2024 was a remarkable year for the pair. They completed a successful 30-date t our as special guests of Fairport Convention on their Winter Tour\, with F airport joining Plumhall on stage each night to perform “One Star Awake\ ,” the title track of Plumhall's latest album\, which also features Fair port's Ric Sanders. They were thrilled to be invited to perform at Costa F estival in Ibiza in May. They then reunited with Fairport at the Cropredy Convention in August\, where they performed as part of an extended Fairpor t lineup including Ralph McTell.Plumhall have had the honour of performing with the legendary Al Stewart multiple times\, including at renowned venu es such as London’s Palladium and Cadogan Hall. They have also played al ongside esteemed musicians like Larry Campbell\, Phil Beer and Steve Knigh tley.In 2018\, filmmaker Richard Heap invited Michelle and Nick to write a n original song for\, arrange live acoustic music for\, and appear in the 2020 feature film The Runaways. The song "Closing Down" has since become a beloved part of their repertoire.During the pandemic lockdowns\, Plumhall built a loyal global following through their livestream performances\, wh ich led to a fan-made video for their song "A Darkness That Won't Leave Th e House"\, later championed by Janice Long on BBC radio.Michelle Plum’s musical background includes a four-year stint with Chumbawamba\, 4 years a s a session musician with The Chris Norman Band\, and a co-founder of the folk band Waking The Witch. Nick Hall has toured with Ian Prowse & Amsterd am\, Magna Carta\, and The Hall Brothers.​\n\nBoletos: https://wegottick ets.com/event/701376 URL;VALUE=URI:https://360exp.net/events/b0318734-3726-4cb5-b9ea-fa67454c39 f9 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR