My first few gigs of 2017 have been some low-key but regular and favourite ones and had something of an Olinski theme throughout, namely the Friday night acoustic sessions at the lovely Jurnets Bar which Shane O’Linski curated, and his eclectic OosWolf nights at Cactus … I enjoy both of these very much, the beautiful setting and attentive audience of Jurnets and the glorious unpredictability of Ooswolf which never fails to provide good music, company and an extraordinary “happening” every time. My first gig of the year was here and featured this glorious line-up: Olinski Onsomble, PreDawn, Joey Herzfeld Trio, Will Teather and Joe Quinn playing a couple of songs for a beer, Playhouse, Andrea King, and Eiyuze.

Andrea King

This is actually: “Two more songs?”

PreDawn

Playhouse
Having moved to Norwich last year this was Joey’s second gig here (the first was at Jurnets) and although I’ve known him a while this was my first chance to see him play. It was a lot of fun despite their only having two hours rehearsal time under their belt with this line up.

Joey Herzfeld Trio
It was also my first time seeing Playhouse though as luck would have it I caught them at Jurnets again the following week. I really liked them, lovely vocals and stories.
At Jurnets they shared the bill with Mathew Wright, another new name on me but a recent recruit to Crumbs for Comfort and he can also be found playing with Ebb Tide, the songs have a haunting melancholic beauty about them which suited my mood perfectly after the recent loss of my cat.

Mathew Wright
Fire Doves brought the house down with a lovely set that included a tribute to Leonard Cohen with Dance Me to the End of Love.

Fire Doves
The following week’s session had possibly the best line up I have seen there which was matched by a deservedly large audience, by far the fullest I have known it for an Acoustic-ish Session. Proceedings opened with Adelia, yet another new name on me, playing a confident set with clever and often witty lyrics with a clear delivery and gentle charm between songs.
The ever lovely and delightful Phoebe Troup was also on this bill, always a treat for me to hear her play. Her renditions of her own Come Back, Deer Tick, and Hollow (?) were just wonderful.
Of course the same can be said for the always fantastic Milly Hirst, and Camille Davila with Pat Falgate who all played songs that healed the aching heart. Beautiful. Tom Conway too with a stunning set of guitar instrumentals.

Camille Davila & Pat Falgate

Milly Hirst
The following evening I had the pleasure of seeing the superb Yve Mary B at the Golden Star, joined for a few number by … of course, Shane O’Linski.

Yve and Shane High Fives

e-custard @ £3.95
The previous weekend I made an away day trip to one of my favourite pubs for one of my favourite bands, Hot Raisin at Lowestoft’s Stanford Arms. As well as David at the bar I saw quite a few familiar faces and really enjoyed two sets from Hot Raisin playing as full band with their slightly softer country-ish honky tonk folk sound. It’s a winning formula in my book, lovely people who I cannot wait to see agin. Next gig is at FCBT on Friday.
OosWolf was also my final gig of 2016 with another typically diverse and brilliant line up that featured Milly Hirst, The Vicars of Stiffkey, Chai, Olinski, Blisster, Blank Lines, Joe Quinn, David Jones, and Zacharie Lambert. It encapsulated all that is brilliant about OosWolf 🙂 The set from Blisster was memorable for the full on dancing and the full on playing with blood all over the guitar!
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