Barleycorn Music Club Annual Festival, Saturday March 21 2009 at Maynardville
Posted on March 10th, 2009 by Richard Catto 2,571 views
The Barleycorn Music Club will be holding its annual music festival on Saturday 21st March 2009.
The original date was February 28 2009 but was moved due to a double booking at the venue.
Date: Saturday March 21 2009 14h30 – 22h00
Venue: Maynardville Amphitheatre
Alternate venue in case of rain: Rygersdal Sports Club Main Hall, Erin Road, Rondebosch
Lineup:
- Albireo
- Backyard Broken Blues Bros Band
- Bill Knight
- Boulevard Blues
- Dave Ferguson
- Feedback
- Julia Conradie
- Julia Jakobsen Band
- Louise Day Band
- Ripcord
- Wayne Pauli
Food and drink available or bring a picnic.
Cost:
Adults R60
Barleycorn Club Members R50
Couples R100
Children R10 (under 12 free)
Contact:
Martin on cell 082 493 1564
Tickets available through Computicket.
Origins of the Barleycorn Club
It all started in 1975, when a bunch of musicians found it agreeable to meet regularly to jam together, learn from one another and consume beer. Over these past 34 years, the Barleycorn has met almost every week to make what is now a Cape Town tradition and valuable musical resource
In the early years the music was mostly “traditional folk”, with a smattering of Blues, Bluegrass, Country music and Olde English and Irish material containing toxic levels of screeching fiddles. Yes, Bob Dylan covers and political protest songs did appear fairly often, but the Club rapidly developed a reputation as a place where home-grown original material by local composers and performers found a receptive audience, and it is these who have gradually formed the focus of the Club.
By 1977, the Barleycorn had become formalised, with a Constitution, paid membership, a member-elected committee and the commitment that whatever funds were accumulated would be held in trust for the furtherance and promotion of local musical talent. And what better way to achieve this than by staging a Festival. The Club would carry all expenses and all income would be split amongst those performing!
I’m reminded by the program that our first Festival was held on 12th April 1980, at the Maynardville Open-Air Theatre, packed to capacity to hear 20 acts perform over 9 hours. The undoubted star of that, our first venture, was the then unknown David Kramer, whose songs, red veldskoen and pork-pie hat captivated absolutely everyone, including members of the press who gave his career a massive kick-start!
And thus has the Barleycorn Festival become an annual event (well, almost; we missed a year in the mid 1990′s and two in the early 2000′s) and despite testing several alternatives, Maynardville is easily our preferred venue. Large enough for a decent-sized audience to feel comfortable (900+ being the record number of tickets sold!) yet small enough for both audience and musicians to recreate the rapport and ambience of the Club on regular Monday nights.
Long is the list of eminent musicians who’ve graced the Barleycorn Festival stage, including Flat Stanley, Freshly Ground, Disu Plaatjies and Amapondo, Steve Newman, Tony Cox … but this is not the forum for a history of SA performing talent, this is to let you know that all these years later, the magic will be repeated on Saturday 21st March 2009! And at our best-ever venue, nogal!
Thus far, confirmed acts include Ripcord, Bill Knight and Julia Conradie, Albireo, Boulevard Blues, Wayne Pauli, the Julia Jakobsen Band, Dave Ferguson, the Backyard Broken Back Blues Bros Band, the Louise Day Band, the Broken Back Blues Band and Feedback … ten of what the Barleycorn committee consider to be the cream of the best acts to appear at the Club in this past year!
It will be a hoot and a blast! It’s home-grown and truly lekker! Bring a picnic basket and a blanket (although food and bevies will be available) and join us for another episode in the ongoing saga of what is excellent in local music.
Tickets at Computicket R60 per adult, R50 per Barleycorn paid-up member; R100 per couple, R10 for kids 12 to 18, kids under 12 free; limited numbers so book early to avoid disappointment
Tags: Barleycorn Music Club, Events, Music
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