The Last Nail Live at HFC I played my own song “The Last Nail” live at Havering folk club last week on the 12 string guitar. Here’s the video:

The Last Nail is also the name of the next Andy Roberts album The Last Nail Lyrics

Above the stone walled harbour, or down the winding hill That’s where they built the boatyard, and the structure stands there still. Not much boat building happens now, just repairs and fitting out but when the wind rattles the boatmasts, you can hear the old boatbulders shout: Will you pass the last nail over and I’ll knock it into place, Then with four more coats of varnish, she’ll be ready for the race. Our grandfathers put up the boatyard, to build the fishing fleet, more than fifty boats in the harbour, and shops all down the main street then the steam age brought in the drifters, boat builders became engineers Now the wind blows straight through the boatyard, there’ll be no more boat building here Will you pass the last nail over and I’ll knock it into place, Then with four more coats of varnish, she’ll be ready for the race. With a keen eye for staying in business, they switched over to build leisure craft And the weekend yachtsmen snapped them up, no expense spared fore or aft Then wooden hulls went out of fashion, the order book emptied last year So the bankers foreclosed on the boatyard, and there’ll be no more boatbuilding here Will you pass the last nail over and I’ll knock it into place, Then with four more coats of varnish, she’ll be ready for the race. Now the Vikings invented the clinker for both strength and shallow seas and the herring boats followed the coastline, until the canning ships found the key There’s a regatta here every August, and the whole village turns out again But the Sea Queen’s no real competition, and it’s guaranteed to rain Will you pass the last nail over and I’ll knock it into place, Then with four more coats of varnish, she’ll be ready for the race. Above the stone walled harbour, or down the winding hill that’s where they built the boatyard, and the skeleton stands there still. No more boat building happens now, not even fitting out but when the wind rattles the boatmasts, you can still hear the old boys shout: Will you pass the last nail over, we’ll knock it into place, Then with four more coats of varnish, she’ll be ready for the race. Wrecked Again The second song is Michael Chapman‘s “Wrecked Again”

Havering Folk Club continues to meet weekly during the summer months at the Golden Lion pub in Romford even if there are less people able to attend due to being away on holidays or at festivals. With fewer performers turning up on a Wednesday, in that case, it means a bit more time for each and so I ended up singing four songs last week. The first was to align with the previous night’s podcast episode 6 which was loosely themed around the fingerpicking blues style and I’ve been having the tune of Hesitation Blues going through my head ever since so that’s what I played. Secondly, I’d been corresponding about The Wreckers Prayer so that got another airing. Linda wasn’t there to shoot any video so I’ll include some alternatives takes from the Andy Roberts Music youtube account in due course. After the break or rather just before the break, I got called up again and decided on the spur of the moment to do two Beatles songs. I Feel Fine and Norwegian Wood

Let's see now where are we.... The last entry here was for HFC on 21st July and since then I've done two podcasts, episode 4 the Loudon Wainwright Special and episode 5 on Folk Music, missed a week at Havering when I was still in central London due to a trackside fire at Romford, and last week made a first appearance at Romford Folk Club on the Tuesday, right after the podcast, which is not to be confused with Havering folk club which is also in Romford.Both folk club events were member's special nights which I didn't want to miss. Romford Folk ClubClive and Linda aka Ploughman's Lunch guested at Romford Folk Club which is held every Tuesday downstairs at the Sun pub, not all that far from the Golden Lion really. THE SUNAddress: 47 London RoadRomford EssexRM7 9QASince Clive and Linda sing mostly traditional agricultural folk songs I played one of my own that's kind of in that style, The Rowan TreeSo it was the first time I'd ever been to that venue, due to Tuesday's not being a good night fr us usually, but it was interesting that we managed to get there after the podcast show finished at home around 7.30 and arrive in Romford and find the place still in plenty of time before the evening kicked off. Havering Folk ClubWednesday 3rd of August was a special members night for Phil Duffield which gave him a chance to show a wider repertoire than we normally hear from him. There was a new song Phil has written as a proposed new national anthem for Wales, which is a fine ambition to have, and the song certainly has a lot of potential become something like that with the right sort of take up. I played a song of my own which Phil has asked me to make sure I do a bit more often so this was the perfect opportunity, the song is called "The Dream is Over" and here's the video taken with Linda's new camera:

Havering Folk Club July 21st 2010I went along to Havering Folk Club last Wednesday after a week away on holiday and tried to do a vesrion of one of the new songs I haven't finished yet. I know It didn't work out very well, partly because I don't have the lyrics memorised yet and I tried reading from a crib sheet on the music stand, which has never worked out for me in past and probably never will. I can sing and play at the same time, sometimes I can sing, play and read at the same time, but not it seems in front of an audience, standing up and without reading glasses. So I've uploaded the podcast versions of the unfinished songs to youTube instead. The one called "Untitled 1" in the episode 3 shownotes is provisionally called "Trevellas" now, and unfinished 2 is called "Summerhouse" but I also have a plan for combining the two songs into one single work that would be longer and more complex. We'll have to see.Sitting On The BankTo recompose my composure, finding myself with a capo on fret 4 I decided on the spur of the moment to sing "Sitting on the Bank" which is a simple song I wrote when I was about 15 or 16 and thinking about leaving home soon. While uploading I noticed that the melody is developing slightly even now, I'm not sure it's correct to call it a revival though, as it's never really been out of the repertoire.The Mighty QuinnAfter the break and with the list of floor singers completed there was a little time left and Pep kindly asked me to do another, so after 3 pints I decided to do a singalong that everybody knows though it turned out not everybody at Havering Folk Club knows that the Mighty Quinn was a Bob Dylan song. The Manfred Mann cover version was better known in the UK in 1960s and afterwards.

Back to Havering Folk Club I went along to Havering Folk Club last Wednesday after a week away on holiday and tried to do a vesrion of one of the new songs I haven’t finished yet. I know It didn’t work out very well, partly because I don’t have the lyrics memorised yet and I tried reading from a crib sheet on the music stand, which has never worked out for me in past and probably never will. I can sing and play at the same time, sometimes I can sing, play and read at the same time, but not it seems in front of an audience, standing up and without reading glasses. So I’ve uploaded the podcast versions of the unfinished songs to youTube instead. The one called “Untitled 1″ in the episode 3 shownotes is provisionally called “Trevellas” now, and unfinished 2 is called “Summerhouse” but I also have a plan for combining the two songs into one single work that would be longer and more complex. We’ll have to see.

Sitting On The Bank To recompose my composure, finding myself with a capo on fret 4 I decided on the spur of the moment to sing “Sitting on the Bank” which is a simple song I wrote when I was about 15 or 16 and thinking about leaving home soon. While uploading I noticed that the melody is developing slightly even now, I’m not sure it’s correct to call it a revival though, as it’s never really been out of the repertoire.

The Mighty Quinn After the break and with the list of floor singers completed there was a little time left and Pep kindly asked me to do another, so after 3 pints I decided to do a singalong that everybody knows though it turned out not everybody at Havering Folk Club knows that the Mighty Quinn was a Bob Dylan song. The Manfred Mann cover version was better known in the UK in 1960s and afterwards.

It was Dave and Linda Worley's members' night at Havering Folk Club last night, Wednesday 7th July and despite the football on TV, a good crowd turned out. I took along my six string guitar and played a couple of songs to start off the second half, after the break. Linda's camera battery failed again so I don't have any fresh video capture of that particular performance but I can post alternative versions from my ever growing collection on youTube in order to maintain the record of which songs were performed when. Yellow BoatIf I had a Yellow Boat I'd sail it to St Martin'sMoor it off the white sand bayBobbing in the turquoise seaWonderwallWonderwall is a very famous song from Mancheser band Oasis, in the 1990s

Well I’m surprised how quickly 4 weeks have passed, I even made a mistake during the recording and referred to it as prototype 3 but this is in fact the 4th and final podcast prototype in the series. Next week’s edition will be the official opening night of the Andy Roberts Podcast – episode 1. I ought to make an event out of that on the facebook page really, and invite people. Anyway, here’s the podcast player for listening online to my Andy Roberts podcast prototype number 4:

. . Subscribe in iTunes to the podcast feed using the url

http://andyroberts.me/?feed=podcast You can also download the MP3 audio file which is around 25Mb in size and just under 29minutes in duration from this link Andy Roberts Podcast Prototype 4.mp3 If you must, the full video file of the broadcast is available over at Ustream.tv where the live podcasting event takes place on Tuesdays at 7.00pm UK time Podcast Prototype No 4 Video Podcast Prototype 4 Show Notes Show notes and information for prototype 4 broadcast and recorded on June 29th 2010. There were 3 songs performed during this show, two using the plain 12string acoustic guitar and the others on the Chinese Lute or Ruan. The Dream Is Over Title: “The Dream is Over” Music and Lyrics by Andy Roberts, first released on The Andy Roberts Tapes Here’s the same song performed last week at Havering Folk Club

Mike Silver – Lady You’re On Fire Title: Not really sure about this Music and Lyrics by Mike Silver, badly remembered and interpreted by Andy Roberts Yangtse Gorges Title: “Yangtse Gorges” Chinese Lute Music by Andy Roberts Big Eyed Beans From Venus – Captain Beefheart Title: “Big Eyed Beans From Venus” Music and Lyrics by Don Van Vliet (Captain Beefheart), loosely interpreted by Andy Roberts on the Chinese Lute Chinese Lute Picture Chinese Lute or Ruan

last week I took my 12 string guitar along to Havering Folk Club and at the last minute decided to play a version of Roy Harper's The Same Old Rock, just because I felt like it. Tis my favourite song after all. Not my best rendition ever, but I enjoyed myself anyway.