Driftwood Folk Band - Deal Kent

Driftwood @ Herne Bay Fest

2011-08-20T19:48:00.000+01:00

Driftwood played at the Herne Bay Festival today by the Rose Inn in the centre of town.

Audience got a little out of hand and eventually most of them joined us on stage for the last numbers....(a great improvement, IMHO Ed)

Thank you to all who joined in and to Shorne Bedwell who jammed along on his African drum ... it kept Dave in time for once!

Thanks to the organisers and our marshalls for looking after us

Driftwood afloat!

2011-08-18T22:29:00.000+01:00

Driftwood played on the most enjoyable and surreal gigs every - Afloat this time.

At the Bi-annual Hythe Venetian Fete on Weds 17th August. We were rowed (thank you Folkestone Rowing Club) up and down the Royal Military Canal in front of a few thousand people.

The first half was in the pouring rain and we had to improvise some acapella singing before could pull out the untuned instruments (well its folk!)

The pics are on Facebook and just wait for the roadie's video...

Driftwood @ Broadstairs Folk Week

2011-08-13T18:36:00.000+01:00

Driftwood Folk Band decamped from Deal HQ to a camper van at the Broadstairs Folk Week campsite and not one incident of cabin fever!

I fact it was a totally fav three days packed solid with performing and getting to other people's gigs.

We busked most of Monday and had gigs at the Bradshaw Mill on Tues and a packed finale at the Lord Nelson on the Weds.

Big thank you to Broadstairs Folk Week for inviting us . Hope to see you next year.

Driftwood @ The Green Berry

2011-06-26T10:22:00.001+01:00

Driftwood played the Green Berry on Sat 25th June in honour of Chris Barnes getting his fourth CAMRA award in a row.

Chris is great supporter of real ale and real music in his pub in Canada Rd Walmer.

Well done Chris and thanks to everyone at the Berry

Deal Folk Fest - Big Busk Sat 21st May

2011-05-22T17:25:00.000+01:00

Driftwood Folk Band were again in action at the fundraiser organised by Mac Mckean at Deal Town Hall. The 'Big Busk' raised nearly £138 and had some 11 bands playing for six hours.

It was a great day with some great music. Driftwood thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Big thanks to Mac for the invite ... he is putting on again next week at the Chequers in Ash on the 30th May 8pm

Driftwood Folk Band @ Canterbury Climate Fair

2011-05-22T17:18:00.000+01:00

Driftwood Folk Band had a great time at the Canterbury Climate and Fairtrade Fair on Saturday 14th May.

We did a set in the performers tent and then a quick busk for the roadie at the Deal With It stall.

There was a great flash mob later which Rose participated in see here

Thanks for Ray for inviting us and Canterbury Greenpeace

St Patrick's day (plus one) @ Saltwood

2011-03-19T11:32:00.004Z

Driftwood were tooled up with hats (supplied by Deal's bona fide authentic son of the emerald Isle Mr. Adrian Sullivan - And he has the trousers to prove it) for the St Patrick's (plus one) celebration at the Saltwood Social Club near Folkestone.

The band did two one hour sets and several encores at the end (well they would would n't they !?Ed) which included a lot of audience participation.

The night was raising money for Red Nose day and over £200 was made including our Roadie's donated winning from the 'Heads & Tails'.

A big driftwood thank you to Lee at the club for looking after us so well and all whose who travelled down to see us... All our photos are here

Driftwood Lite @ the Deal Zero Carbon Concert

2010-11-30T21:57:00.006Z

Driftwood Lite (Rose & Sue) played the Deal Zero Carbon Concert on Sunday 28th Nov. Despite the snow there was nearly 300 people there and great atmosphere ...

Driftwood duo played the cafe area with the bicycle powered smoothie maker jamming with us! ... Great sets from the Hoodeners, Old Lone Gin Band, Spyplane, Mac& Clive, Way Out, Ravenshill and Bottles who made it on to the main stage (without Dave!)

Roadie powering the Cocos Lovers

Well done the Roadie, Will & Kieran for organising a great day...

All photos are here > http://www.flickr.com/photos/43967078@N03/sets/72157625369995107/show

Scary Driftwood....

2010-10-31T11:08:00.003Z

And they did not need makeup!

Driftwood played Halloween at the Rare Breeds Centre in Kent on Thursday and Saturday - A couple great evenings as we were playing in the departure lounge for the tractors taking people to get the bejeebers scared out of them in the woods ....

Some 800-1000 people had Driftwood with a very creepy Adrian O acting as the MC (think of a mix of funeral parlour meets Widow Twankie and you get the idea) inflicted on them [In my humble opinion the 'woods' were a relief to most of them Ed.!].

The set included all the greats like 'Bad Moon', a 'Drop of Uggy's Blood' and 'What should we do with the Drunken Vampire'.... enough said.

Well done Adrian for doing all four nights.

The Rare Breeds Centre is fantastic and inspiring place. It gives people with a variety of needs a home and a real anchor in the community and its got some pretty amazing animals too! http://www.rarebreeds.org.uk/

Driftwood Video @ the Astor

2010-09-26T23:07:00.004+01:00

Driftwood played the Astor Cellar sessions during the recent Deal Maritime Folk Festival - This Video is by Martin GoodSmith

Just in case you cannot see the Video here is the link http://youtu.be/wuRguEZywT8

Deal Maritime Folk Fest 2010 - We are Driftwooded out!

2010-09-20T21:57:00.000+01:00

What a great weekend ! So many acts and great music throughout Deal this last weekend. We reckon there was about 100 performers (there were a lot of dancers on saturday) all doing their stuff for free.

Sue is busy building her own 3 string Nuru Bass after a pretty amazing concert at the Astor with Nuru Kane & the BFG.

A massive thank you for all of you who supported us at our eight sessions - especial thanks to Pat & Lin from London, the lovely Lynda, Jan & Peter for the photos, raffle & support... We totally enjoyed all the sessions we caught - what a lot of talent there is in Deal & Kent!

Video of us in the Ship is >>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehd_55O6UgU

Hope to get our flickr pics later in the week

Blean Woods Benefit 11th Sept

2010-09-11T20:56:00.003+01:00

The new Driftwood lineup

Driftwood had a great day playing at the Blean Woods Fest for the Kent Wildlife Trust down at Strode Park in Herne - Bottles, Adrian O and the Whitstable Hoodeners were on the billl. ( as too were some very large vikings, wooden horse and a dancing badger - did I mention the rather strong ale they had there ?) ...

A really enjoyable day we did a hour set and then spent a couple of hours busking to small groups of the public ... we even did 'Manchester Rambler' for the Rambers Stall!

Our Photos will be here

Raise the Roof at Blean 5th Sept

2010-09-06T13:19:00.002+01:00

Driftwood played at the benefit for Blean Village Hall, nr Canterbury -'Raise the Roof' on Saturday 5th Sept. Along with at least 16 other performers the day long event manage to raise an amazing £1200 for the hall.

Shows the awesome power of folk..... Well done to everyone involved, especially Carol...

Our photos can be found on facebook and at our flickr site here

Driftwood Lite at Ash Mini Fest 2010

2010-08-29T10:07:00.000+01:00

Driftwood Lite (Sue abducted by aliens again - aka the 'family') played at the mini folk fest organiser by by Adrian Sullivan at the Chequers Inn in Ash (between Canterbury & Sandwich). We really enjoyed ourselves - great company and great music....

Big thanks to Adrian for organising & inviting us....

You can find all our photos at our flickr site here

Driftwood at Broadstairs Folk Week

2010-08-11T11:45:00.000+01:00

Monday was a busy sunny day for the Driftwood collective at the Broadstairs Folk Week - we did four pitches and played & sung for over four hours.

Day did not start well as Rosie had OD'ed on Italian coffee and could not strum for the first 30mins! Many thanks to all those who stopped to listen, the few folkies who jammed along and the lovely Rita for showing that you can dance to anything... managed to catch our pals the Deal Hoodeners busking and Loose Change at the bandstand and Sue Watson's session on the 'Songs of Kent...'

Hopefully we collected lots of money and will be invited back next year.... all our photos can be found here

Ash Folk & Curry evening 31st July

2010-08-01T12:44:00.000+01:00

Big Driftwood thanks to Adrian O for organising the Folk & Curry evening at the Chequers in Ash..

Driftwood playing as trio as Sue had a note from the family.

Enjoy yourself ....Driftwood Summer Ball

2010-07-26T16:53:00.002+01:00

A big thanks for the all performers who wasted (or got wasted ? Ed.) a lazy driftwood afternoon in Kent.

Special mention in despatches to Dave & Maggie for being nimble hosts and feeding the assembled hordes....

Never has so much cake be eaten by so few....

Pictures can be found here

Driftwood go back to school....

2010-07-16T19:31:00.001+01:00

Driftwood 'Lite' (without Rose who had to stay in for detention at work) played for their most enthusiastic audience at River Primary School in Dover on Friday 16th July.

Some 120 year 1 & 2 joined in to the Smugglers Song, Pirate's song, yellow submarine, whale story and a edited version of the 'drunken sailor' (the Grumpy pirate).

Driftwood Videos from Hythe

2010-07-12T07:24:00.005+01:00

Driftwood videos from the Hythe Festival session are now online in shiny HD....

The Video can be found at our YouTube Site here

Driftwood at the Hythe Festival

2010-07-11T09:18:00.003+01:00

The Driftwood collective were busking in Hythe High street yesterday as part of the Hythe Festival on a very hot day - big thanks to the organisers for inviting us, Mike & Lynda for their support, all our friends & family who came, Emma for the drum jam and the staff at the Kings Head who kept us refreshed....

Photos of the day can be found here

A couple of videos (in HD says the Roadie Ed.) will follow

Tilmanstone Folk Festival June 2010

2010-06-27T22:54:00.002+01:00

Great day at the Plough & Harrow in Tilmanstone - massive Driftwood thanks to Adrian O for organising yet another fanastic event........

Driftwood snaps can be found here

Pics from Wickhambreaux fest...

2010-06-01T04:06:00.003+01:00

Pics from Sunday 30th May Loose Change & friends session at the Rose Inn in Wickhambreaux - includes Loose Change, Ramblin Boys, Bottles, Heather & Jim from Rochester, Quidnunc, Jim, Don and Driftwood collective.... apologies if we missed anybody! Photos are here

Rumble in the Jumble II:

2010-05-24T11:57:00.001+01:00

Driftwood and Mac Mckean did a monster three hour set at the St Leonards' Spring Celebration in Deal

All the pics can be view here

Busy weekend coming up - Friday off to support Mike Broomfield in the Ship in Folkestone, Sunday we are with Loose Change in Wickhambreaux Beer Fest and Monday evening at the Chequers in Ash supporting Mac & Clive at a Curry evening

Canterbury Climate Fair - Photos

2010-05-17T15:36:00.000+01:00

Another great weekend with over 25 sessions for a great cause

Our Photos can be found here

Driftwood playing AIG in Deal....

2010-05-09T11:18:00.000+01:00

Driftwood playing 'Show of Hands's Arrogance, Ignorance and Greed - one for bankers & politicians everywhere.....

Busking in Deal on 8th May 2010....

Just in case you cannot see the embedded video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EjSlXhiyqs

Driftwood playing at Canterbury Climate Fair 2pm on 15th May

2010-05-08T15:10:00.002+01:00

Canterbury Climate fair is next weekend - 15th & 16th May in Central Canterbury (The Parade and St George’s St ) between 10am - 4pm. Organised by Canterbury Greenpeace.

There will be eco-traders, NGOs, ethical exhibitors and green entertainers. Stalls include CPRE, Greenpeace, Dover Bees, Fairtrade, Oxfam, Eternal Energy, Slow bread, Greener alternative, FOE, Canterbury Plants, People & Planet, Sustrans/Spokes, Wildwood, Friendly Soaps, Driftwood, Conker Conservation, WEDG, UKC, Moven Smooth and New Internationalist Deal With It will be having a stall there on Sunday 16th - so call in and say hello....

Driftwood are playing at 2pm on Saturday (its Rose's birthday) - there is a excellent line up for the two days:

Saturday: SpyPlane, Adrian O, Deal Hoodeners, Stuart Pendrill, Loose Change, Les Cruttenden, Driftwood, John Barden & Brian Rogers, Mac & Clive and RedEye + more to be confirmed

Sunday: Fred Holden, John Gisbey, Mike Wood, Dave Ferra, Spygenius, Stuart Pendrill, Loose Change, Bill and Chris, Jim Bryden, Bottles, Standard 5, The Bluegrass Boys and Gavin Randall (but not necessarily in that order!)
http://www.canterburyclimatefair.org

Driftwood Busking in Deal 8th May

2010-05-08T14:55:00.003+01:00

Driftwood busking in Deal High St on Saturday 8th May - Joined by friends from Deal Folk Club -Lynda, Eddie, Cath and Adrian.

We got moved on by the management of the one armed bandit place fronted by a 'coffee shop'. Thank you for bigging-up our street cred!

Big thank you to all those who donated to St Leonards repair funds.

Driftwood are playing on the 22nd May at 2pm at the 'Spring Celebration's at St Leonards Hall in Upper Deal

Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/driftwood_deal/sets/72157624017021016/show/with/4588539241/

Chequers Photos

2010-04-24T01:04:00.000+01:00

A big Driftwood thank you to Mac & Bill for putting the St Georges gig at the Chequers in Ash - Driftwood photos of the evening can be found here .

A great evening!

Driftwood playing at Ash 23rd April

2010-04-11T13:28:00.000+01:00

Driftwood are playing at the Chequers Inn in Ash on Friday evening 23rd April - Bill Howarth is organising the evening ...

Canterbury Climate Fair - 15th + 16th May

2010-03-24T20:32:00.001Z

Canterbury Greenpeace are organising a two day Climate Fair on the 15th & 16th May - Driftwood will be playing there (probably on the 15th) and many of our friends from Deal Friday Folk Club are doing sessions. More details to follow...

The Climate Fair will run from 9am to 5pm on the Saturday and from 10am to 4pm on the Sunday.
There will be campaign stalls, entertainers, Fairtrade and organic produce stalls, and displays stretching along The Parade and St George’s Street between the ancient clock tower and historic Rose Lane.

Canterbury Climate Fair website: http://www.canterburyclimatefair.org/
Canterbury Greenpeace: http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/groups/canterbury

Birthday Pics....

2010-03-20T09:42:00.001Z

We have now uploaded the photos from Avril's birthday party on the Driftwood Flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/driftwood_deal/sets/72157623653611772/

Gigs Glore...

2010-03-13T14:28:00.002Z

The Driftwood Gigs webpage has been updated with 10 spots over the next few months http://www.driftwood.uk.net/gigs.html ... more coming so watch this space

feel the benefit...

2010-03-01T16:54:00.006Z

Big Driftwood thank you to Di and Louie at BlueSkyPie for organising the benefit at the Lanterns for Folkestone Rescue lifeboat last Weds 24th. Well done on raising so much money for great cause!

Driftwood photos are at http://www.flickr.com/photos/driftwood_deal/sets/72157623620188930/

The long and winding (and very muddy) road.....

2010-03-01T16:41:00.002Z

The Roadie completed his ultra run of 50miles - the Not for Nothing Fifty - on Saturday with his mate Simon from Deal Tri. Lovely run, really nice countryside and we were (comparatively) lucky with the weather. Much respect for the Walkers in the LDWA - some we past at mile 10 came steaming past us at 45miles. Well organised by Norfolk & Suffolk LDWA - probably spent far to long at the inviting checkpoints. Got a lot harder once it got dark, especially on a long section thru the woods - we got lost big time and ended up doing nearly an extra 6miles. I was not in my happy place on the last 3-4miles thru somme like fields at the end. Big thanks to Si - would not have liked to have done by myself.

a bit of the French brogue...

2010-02-20T10:05:00.006Z

Last night we had the Trotwood family at packed Deal Friday Folk Club. This intergenerational melee of talent was, well amazing! If you closed your eyes you could have been in a small back street pub somewhere in Kerry....

The Secret Sea Celebration... Weds 24th Feb Folkestone

2010-02-16T12:38:00.002Z

There is a benefit evening for the Folkestone Rescue an independent lifeboat service at The Lanterns 24 Rendezvous Street Folkestone CT20 1EY
The evening will have a 'sea theme' and there will be a real electic mix of indie bands, comedy, singers, poetry, folk and perhaps even the odd piece of Driftwood ...Cost £5 in advance or £7 on the door ....
Folkestone Rescue : http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=117470281791

The St Valentine's weekend.....

2010-02-08T15:06:00.006Z

Busy weekend coming for all us Driftwooders. On Friday we are doing a mega practise at Sue's (we are in process of learning a some new (old) songs for our Folkestone Gig on the 24th) - So looks like we will miss the Deal Friday Folk Club again (hear there was standing room only at last friday's). [on the following 19th Feb Trotwood from France are playing]

On Saturday is the official re-opening of the Astor Community Theatre (Stanhope Street Deal CT14 6AB). Dave & Maggie are singing in Choir at about 2pm and at 4pm there is EP launch of Deal's fab Cocos Lovers.
BTW : The Astor & Smugglers Records are hosting a weekly open session in the balcony on Thursdays from 7:30 if you fancy it

Saturday is also the AGM of Deal's green group DealWithIt at 2:30pm at Dealability in Victoria Road - we are sending the Roadie as an official delegate.

Sunday [just after the canoodling & chocolate Ed] sees the running of Deal Tri's Dover Half Marathon at the Duke of Yorks School Dover starts 10:30am - Some of us are helping and we are sending the Roadie on the race as our official delegate..... Then a sound check in the Folkestone venue

Yes going to be a busy one ... a real massacre!

Buddy can spare a dimme ... or some Loose Change?

2010-01-31T17:18:00.003Z

A good day on Saturday 30th Jan at the folkie-friendly Good Intent in Rochester for the day long 'Loose Change and Friends' sessions.

Some really good sets from Border Crossing, Loose Change and Folkestone's Mike Broomfield. There was nearly twenty acts during the day from all around Kent, including Driftwood

Thank you

Loose Change

for organising a great day!

Photos are at Driftwood's Flickr site

The Folkestone Tapes......

2010-01-24T23:07:00.003Z

Driftwood had their first experience of being professionally recorded on Saturday or shall I say the poor sound engineers (Mike & his mate Steve) had their first experience of herding cats.

It was a long day which produced three of the band's current fav's and there was more kit there that you could shake a stick at (IMHO there also seems an awful lot a food there as well!. Ed)

The photos of this epic session can be found at our Flickr site here

I will let you know when the MP3 are out-and-about

Big Driftwood thank you for our patient sound engineers Mike & Steve

I understand now why they give you dog-tags on these runs....

2010-01-24T22:46:00.003Z

I never understood why instead of medals you usually get on Marathons this particular tough series of coastal trail marathons hands out dog-tags as a finishers mento.

It was the Portland Bill one Saturday - Portland is basically a very hilly stone quarry connected (at this time of year) by mud & pools of water. About two minutes after this photo was taken I clipped my big foot on a rock and went flying. Cuts and bruises, a broken garmin and some very sore ribs. Once I picked myself up I noticed the nice 400ft drop to the left... Hmmm .... Guess I have answered my question

Finished in 4:53 after the three miles of running along Chisel Bank.... Thats another roadie story

Errr is this mic on ?

2010-01-19T16:58:00.003Z

Driftwood after several months of moaning & sulking by the Roadie are finally going to record some of their songs, so he can have some MP3s for the website and MySpace page.
Who is going perform this miracle of audio science (& medical - there is bound to tears! Ed) none other than folkestone's favourite singer/songwriter Mike Broomfield. I have already started the petition for beatification for his efforts this coming Saturday... good luck Mike, you are going to need it!

Unfortunately, The Roadie will not be there witness this momentus event as he is running around Portland Bill in Dorset on another of his off-road trail marathons.
Shame....

Full report next week, so dont go changing channels.

And the band ate on .....

2010-01-10T15:31:00.002Z

There was a thaw in Deal so band practise was back on for this Sunday for Driftwood. Things were going fine for an hour or so at Driftwood HQ then it got strangely quiet ... the roadie investigated and found the cause for the lack of tuneful delight - Cake.

One band member who will remain nameless ( but he knows who he is...) had smuggled it in. I despair!

A Roadie's life can be like herding cats sometime....

It may be freezing outside; Inside we are Spinning

2010-01-09T12:21:00.001Z

The winter besieged Deal Folk Club on Friday had a guest spot from Mick Groves member of the Spinners. A small but select audience were privileged to hear Mick render several favourites of his friend Ewan McColl and many songs echoing his native Salford.

www.mickgroves.com

Trevor & Hannah-lou video of Deal Folk Festival FolkSong Competition 2009

2010-01-03T21:26:00.011Z

The Deal Maritime Folk Festival held an competition for new folksong in Sept 2009. This was won by Trevor Moss and Hannah-Lou for their excellent Alottment Song.

I have just found the brilliant video they made of the event - Can you spot the Deal landmarks and persons of note? Hint there are at least two members of Driftwood in the audience of this deserved win...

If you cannot see the embedded video follow this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KdN497zaEE

All IMHO
Roadie

PS If you look carefully you can tag the Cocos Lovers busking in high street....
PPS Isn't funny how Deal & Folkies look better in Black&White....

Gig of the decade (so far...)

2010-01-03T11:51:00.012Z

The Winter Ash Mini Folk Festival at the Chequer Inn on Saturday 2nd January 2010 kick started the new year in fine style. If it had been a turkey it would have exploded because it was over-stuffed with an truck-load of talent for twelve hours (there were nearly 70 performers and 30 acts in all).

A day full of folkie heros, four deserve a special mention in despatches : Two of Driftwood's great friends Avril Cameron and Sue Watson got it together on the day to do the two most beautiful songs. We had the soulful Loose Change and the what can only be described as phenomemal Trevor Moss & Hannah-Lou (and if you dont believe us check out their Allotment Song on their MySpace Site). Finally Steve O Kane and Fiona McBain did their wonderful Make Mine a Miracle by Driftwood request.

Driftwood thoroughly enjoyed themselves and a big thank you for Lin, David and Pat for coming down from the Smoke and Charlie & Vicky from Deal coming to listen to us. Driftwood photos are on our Flickr Site Click here

A Mighty Driftwood thank you to Whispering Adrian O for organising a great event...Put the 28th August in you Diary for the summer Mini-Fest.

Happy new year from Driftwood

2010-01-01T01:09:00.003Z

Driftwood had a wonderful time playing with our friends at the Plough & Harrow in Tilmanstone on New Years Eve

There were lots of brilliant acts from Deal and all round Kent (I counted at least 15) ... the pub audience even entertained the players!

You can see many of them at the Ash Mini-Folk Fest on the 2nd January

To see the photos from the evening check our Flickr Site here

Thanks to Adrian O for organising another great event....

New Year's Eve at the Plough & Harow Tilmanstone

2009-12-19T15:22:00.000Z

Adrian O has organised a New Year's Eve event at the Plough & Harrow, Tilmanstone (between Dover & Eastry) http://www.ploughandharrowtilmanstone.co.uk/ starts at 8pm to well 12ish .... Driftwood will be making an appearance....

Deal Folk Club Xmas Bash 2009

2009-12-19T13:34:00.001Z

Deal Folk Club had a packed session at last night's xmas bash. Driftwood were there (with Rose in full evil pixie attire); Dave had one of his christmas wishes (fanasty? Ed) come true as he was in the front seat with seven women (and Adrian!) . Good friends Mike Broomfield and Steve O'Kane did some great numbers; Lynda excelled herself with her witty lyrics. All under Avril's gentle direction....

See all the photos at the Driftwood flickr site

its time to sport your festive bra....

2009-12-14T15:05:00.002Z

New Years Day 2010 sees the 6th running of
Deal Tri Bra Run.

This is aid of Breast Cancer Care and is 5k along Deal seafront, which you can run, walk or crawl around if you over did the night before. The only stipulation is you wear a bra! There are lots of prizes for best decorated ones & children's fancy dress. Its great fun and a fanastic way to kick off the New Year.

The Race starts at 11am in front of Deal Castle. Entry is £9 before 31st Dec or £10 on the day (Juniors £5). Race HQ is in Walmer Sea Scout hut (near the paddling pool) and you will find a member of Driftwood helping on the desk. You can get an entry from the DealTri website http://www.dealtri.co.uk/ or by clicking here

It may just be coincidence, but the roadie always does his best time for a 5k when he sports one .... So stop that sniggering in the back row chaps;
Time to do one for our sisters.

I don't win things but ....

2009-12-13T13:18:00.007Z

The usual response from colleagues and some family members to my running career is 'Did you win then ?'.
When this is asked after the London Marathon, where I come in at good 3500th it feels something has been lost in translation.

The odd thing today was I actually won something. It was at the Fowlmead 5miler Christmas Cracker. Ok it not exactly the New York Marathon but a race is a race. The announcer listed the winning men's team ... 'Deal Tri with Gordon, Steve... and Stephen Wakeford'.... and I got a bottle of red wine.

This was a trophy destined for the mantlepiece, well so I thought. When I got home holding the trophy bottle my beloved Rose looked wide-eyed (I sub-contract all my drinking to her) - 'you can win wine at these things? - You are going to have to train a bit harder in the future ....'

I dare say the 'trophy' will not last long - its the Xmas bash next Friday at the Deal Folk Club and I can see the said bottle will be used in the Driftwood warm up... c'est la guerre.

Roadie

PS. My time was 0:33:32 a seasons best...

The good, the bad and the muddy

2009-12-06T12:33:00.005Z

The roadie ran the Gower peninsula coastal trail marathon on saturday - a very scenic course (which is code for hills and more hills) around the south welsh coast in 5:07 - it had over 5000ft of accent including a lovely 600ft climb in the last two miles (and a suicidal descent to the finish - think vertical mud and rocks). The course was so magificient that the organisers decided to extend it to over 28miles!

PS: Just found out today 14th Dec - that I won the age group prize for V50. Gosh twice in one week!

Rumble in the Jumble

2009-12-06T11:06:00.002Z

Driftwood the band that will play anywhere (especially for a good a cause) were in full motion at Deal Craft Fair on Saturday 5th December.

The fair was raising money for the repair fund at St Leonards in upper Deal and organised by our good friend & fan Lynda

Also on the bill was Deal Folk Club's favourite Mac McLean

strumming and singing

The fab four are back in town...

2009-11-29T22:17:00.002Z

Driftwood is back to full strength this week after half of the band went on a raid to Norway.

They will be getting down to Deal Folk Club on friday to do a quick number while listening to Deal's power trio of Carey, Rathbone & Bell who are headlining. Starts at 8pm at the RMA club on the strand Walmer (next to the fish&chip shop)

Driftwood are back in action on Saturday 5th December when they are playing the Craft Fair at St Leonards in Upper Deal (about 10am, I think).

Alas the Roadie will not be there as he charging around the Gower Peninsula in Wales doing a Trail Marathon (basically hills&mud and more hills)

Birthday party marathon

2009-11-29T21:57:00.000Z

Well done to Sue & Rose! At Doug's birthday bash on Saturday evening they did an amazing 24 songs not including 'Happy Birthday'. By my reckoning if the whole band was there it would be pushing 48 songs. Now that is what I call value for money!

Mystery instrument revealed

2009-11-28T11:46:00.001Z

The mystery instrument appearing on Friday' Deal Folk Club has been revealed as a Cajun Drum.

The Drum appeared with Sue & Rose from Driftwood on their rendition of 'Answer Me'. The duo also played one of the Roadie's fav's ' Shady Grove'

Also at the session was Alchemy - a tuneful vocal trio from Sussex which brings together Mike Nicholson & Capella - with their beautiful version of 'the water is wide', a favourite of the band.

Join the Magnificent Revolution!

2009-11-26T12:53:00.007Z

Just come accross an organisation - Magnificent Revolution - which brings together my love of music, bicycles and all things green.
They are a collective of artists, musicans, engineers, designers and eco-builders who come up with some simple but brilliant ideas - The one that got my attention was their bicycle generators for the PA for Deal's very own Cocos Lovers at a gig in the Secret Garden Festival.

Cocos Lovers - Howling Wind
(Generated by Bicycles + all Seven of them in a Van!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmrouE4y-PM

Check out Magnificent Revolution's site at http://www.magnificentrevolution.org/ as they have got some fanastic ideas!

Midwinter Folk Festival - Ash 2nd Jan 2010

2009-11-23T09:17:00.005Z

East Kent's master songmiester and teller of tall tales, Adrian O, is organising another of his successful mini-folk fests at the Chequer Inn at Ash (between Canterbury & Sandwich) on Saturday 2nd January 2010 - 11am to 11pm.

The guest list is starting to emerge - as well as Driftwood (who will be on about 3pm) - it looks like an impressive one: Bob Kenward, Redeye, Deal Hoodeners, Mac&Clive John Barden, Steve O'Kane, No Worries, Trevor Moss & Hannah Lou, True Colours, Loose Change, Not that John & Paul, Rambling Boys, Sue Watson, Knyghtriders Ceili Band and MC Adrian O.... more to follow

There will be food and I suspect some drink all day. More details will be posted here!

News: Mystery instrument to appear at Deal Folk Club!

2009-11-22T16:25:00.003Z

A mystery instrument will have its world premire at Deal's Friday Folk Club on the 27th Nov.

The instrument who wishes to remain nameless at this point will be appearing wth the half of Driftwood (Rose and Sue) which is not touring the land of northern lights.

The Roadie will award one coconut to the first person to identify our mystery friend.... its that thing on the table (Hint).

Yet another thing for the poor Roadie to carry!

Show of Hands - AIG Video

2009-11-16T09:59:00.002Z

As you know the band are a great fan of Show of Hands and especially their new album 'AIG'
Video of title track now on YouTube and in our favourites! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1u2ill7yOZo

Driftwood 'Lite' playing at Blean Barn dance

2009-11-15T13:03:00.007Z

Driftwood was playing support for the Deal Hoodeners at the Blean Barn dance on Sat 14th Nov in aid of the village's project to build a new Village Hall. The band were down a man (literally) as Dave had been kidnapped by those desperate men in Bottles... We want him back in the same condition, please !

Adrian O was also providing some light relief and joined the band for a rendition of 'This Land, is Your land'.

All this was happening between energy boosted sets of the Deal Hoodeners and caller Bill that had the dancers begging for a rest.

A great time was had by all.

Arrogance, Ignorance and Greed - Show of Hands

2009-11-07T16:35:00.002Z

We bought this today (in Deal's Indie record shop SoundHouse) totally brilliant. A real anthem for a doomed banker...

You can listen online at http://www.myspace.com/showofhandsuk

Why are most folk songs so miserable?

2009-11-07T15:00:00.010Z

The body count was running,particularly high at the Deal Friday Folk Club last night (6th Nov).

We had the slaughter of the Rochdale pals on the Somme, the massacre of an entire extended Yorkshire victorian family on the moors (except the dog), the sinking of the titanic, death of 14yr old troopers, the death of 20 cornish tin miners ... it was relentless ... did I mention the poor polar bears?

Not that it was bad music; just the opposite it was great evening jam packed with performers enjoying every minute and a vocal & engaged audience. This is not an argument for more songs about kittens - (although I note that Adrian O's songs on a truculent donkey and pathological goat both went down very well) - I liked Sue Watson's darkish 'Vampire Rag'. More of Les's demonic accordian on Leaving Liverpool please....

By the way if you got an answer please tell me.
All IMHO - Roadie
http://www.dealfolkclub.co.uk/

Cocos Lovers - 'Father' great new video+song

2009-11-03T11:55:00.008Z

Great new video + song from Deal's most soulful neo-Indie-folk group - Roadie five stars rating; most good (IMHO)

Cocos Lovers: http://cocoslovers.co.uk/ + http://www.myspace.com/cocoslovers

Link if you cannot see the embedded video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTo5XFdECBk

When, Oh When is this Ukulele madness going to stop!

2009-10-31T14:29:00.007Z

No time soon, by looks ....

Driftwood is tooling up

If you missed them at the Deal Maritime Folk Festival check out the great Deal Band Ukulele Gangstas : their neo-Formby-Punk ''Unicycle drive-byes' made me cough out loud (Sue's nephew is lead singer).

You do want see 851 ukuleles doing a mexician wave click here ....

Friday the 30th Oct - it should be more scary!

2009-10-31T11:42:00.013Z

Busy Friday Night - Driftwood were playing at Crabble Mill in Dover last night. Dave was reported as enjoying himself with his other job in Bottles (they were headlining at the event).

I decided to attend the Deal With IT meeting on 'Renewable Energy' at St Georges with Michael Meacher MP and Alistair Gould from the Pines Calyx in St Margaret's Bay (5miles along the coast).

Good to catchup with Patrick (we compared notes on last weekend's marathons) and discuss his ideas on getting a sustainable-cycling campaign going locally.

The meeting was well attended for a friday - about 70 people and there was was a good level of discussion. I have not heard Michael Meacher since the Miners Strike and he was forthwright and critical of the Government and political class in general but enjoyable to listen too.

Personally I thought the discussion missed the point a bit:

a) what should be no-brainers like delivering the 'decent homes' standard to the millions of council homes which is being put on hold by the Government to save money to pay the debts from bailing out the bankers.This will only get worse with all parties pushing the cuts agenda in 2010.

b) The not in my-back-yard localism - In my view this is because others are making profits from a perceived eye-sore (like a turbine), and there is no direct benefit to the communities effected. Easy remedy give them a percentage of the profits or free power...

c) The sense of urgency - in 150 year if nothing changes, where the meeting was held (in a plush Georgian Church) will be under the sea (due to rising sea levels and the fact that Kent is sinking [thats the Ice-age for you]). Time to pick up the pace... we should be scared

All in MHO, Roadie

Celebrating Our Deal...

2009-10-25T20:35:00.006Z

'CelebrateYour Deal'
This Sunday 25th Oct saw a very successful 'Think Global, Act Local' event - the day was jam packed with stalls from local producers, Canterbury Greenpeace, creative writing, seed exchanges, workshops, talks, some community singing, face painting, a scary lot of pumkins from Rippledown and a really dangerous amount of real chocolate...

There was a good presence of local performers at the event:

Bill and Mac kicking things off at 10:30 in fine style

and the Deal Hoodeners did a couple of sets outside - including the 'Great North Run' which went down well with Snowdon marathon recovering Roadie

Driftwood played from 2:30 to the close (well actually beyond the close - they did Nelson's Blood as things were being packed up and the lights were going off; but they do pride themselves on being a band that can out last their audience!). A great set which went down well, fuelled by some serial tastings of a local cider. Thanks to our loyal supporters Lynda, Martin and Karen + Oregano for the lovely cake!

A video of Bad Moon Rising can be found at the band's YouTube Site

Well done to Helen (Age??) and all at 'Deal With It' for organising a fantasic event - Here's to a Greener Deal

after the flood

2009-10-25T13:05:00.005Z

Your intrepid roadie completed yesterday's Snowdonia Marathon in respectable 3:57:37 and was fully operational today in Deal for Roadie duties.

The weather totally fulfilled it forecast with horizonal rain and gusts of 60mph (there is about a inch of water in my rucksack still) and according to my garmin i did 4082ft of accent ... the last six miles were the killer with a three mile steep climb followed with equally steep 1.5mile drop down a trackway (I wish I had my fell shoes for this bit!), then just to add to the fun the organisers had included a dog-leg in LLanberis with another hill in it to the finish....

Thoughly soaked, thoughly enjoyed it!

Roadie

http://www.snowdoniamarathon.co.uk/

Over the hills and far away....

2009-10-22T18:56:00.000+01:00

Spare a thought for the poor roadie this Saturday 24th October - he is running the Snowdonia marathon and the forecast is for a mild monsoon.

To say this one is hilly is a bit of a understatement....

Back on Roadie duty on the Sunday as it the 'Celebrate Your Deal' Green event at the Landmark Centre ... with your favorite band playing at 2pm.

Bill & Mac are playing at 10:30 and the Deal Hoodeners are also lending their support....

Lots of interesting stalls ... see the report in this week's East Kent Mercury

Driftwood playing at Winter Folk Fest at Ash Sat 2nd Jan 2010

2009-10-20T18:15:00.000+01:00

Adrian O is organising another of his very successful and Roadie rated mini-folk fests at the Chequer Inn in Ash on Saturday 2nd January 2010.

Driftwood will be there ... so watch this space for details...

Driftwood (short of a plank - Sue had absconded) playing at the much warmer August 2009 Mini-Fest organised by Adrian (the 'Kat in the Hat')

Driftwood playing at Blean Barn Dance 14th Nov 2009

2009-10-18T14:03:00.001+01:00

Driftwood will be supporting the Deal Hoodeners at the Barn Dance in Blean School Hall (nr Canterbury) on Saturday 14th November.

The dance is raising funds for Blean Village Hall Project - starts at 7:30pm £5, Bring your own food/drink - contact Carol Sturgeon sturgeon.carol@googlemail.com for further detals.

This will be a womens only Driftwood line up (Dave is on the Bottle{s} that night)

http://www.driftwood.uk.net/gigs.html

Raising the St Leonards's roof - Gig Report October 17th 2009

2009-10-18T09:41:00.000+01:00

There was a real roll-call of local talent at the St Leonards repairs fund raiser on Saturday. The Evening was billed as one of 'music & song' and saw over 15 local groups and performers do their thing in fine style.

The Deal Hoodeners kicked off the event with a sea soaked medley, followed by rockers combo Mac & Clive, a lovely song from Janet, followed by Eddie, the marvellous Val & Bill, Sue Watson's Deal Fisherman's song with Stuart, Mike Woods' bluesy 'Mary Don't You Weep', New kids on the block 'Beux & Belles made their first outing and finally on the second half Bill and his magic accordion & dulcimer.

The second half kicked off with the excellent Loose Change, Mike Broomfield managed to sing his song without being struck by lightning, Jim rendered a great version of the dark isle, Adrian O give us his Ball of Blue, Steve O'Kane sang us his beautiful songs + Fiona lifted the roof (if not the spire) with amazing grace, then Driftwood got them singing in the aisles (literally).

The Management ended a great evening with abba's 'thank you for the music'.

Driftwood YouTube playlist : http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=8CEAB4C7BCD8620B

(as the roadie cannot multi-task there is a bit of wobble on the videos,sorry)

Roadie's photos from the evening : http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/213823947
(There will be some copies for performers at the next Deal Folk Club on the 23rd - but you can order your own copies/enlargements direct from photobox - if you need a electronic copy drop the roadie a line at roadie@driftwood.uk.net)

A big Driftwood thank you to Lynda for organising the evening

Like a virgin....

2009-10-12T17:21:00.000+01:00

The Roadie has manged to get into the 2010 London Marathon - It will his nine outing at the event.

Sponsorship has moved over the years from Mars (health food?) to Flora (Fatty spreads) and next year will be the turn of Virgin (beardie failed-ballonist capitalist). ...

so as madge says 'like a virgin, for the very nineth time'

It keeps the roadie on the streets....

October 30th an evening with 'Dave Marshall'

2009-10-03T14:21:00.000+01:00

Driftwood's lead flutist Dave Marshall will be playing with local bad boys 'Bottles' who are headlining at the Crabble Mill Folk Club in Dover on Friday 30th October.

Driftwood will also be there playing a few songs. Do you need a brodhran accompaniment ?

A few more sets on the 30th and we can declare it 'Dave Marshall Day'

http://www.myspace.com/thebottlesband
http://www.ccmt.org.uk/events.htm

Saturday 3rd Oct Busk - Deal High Street

2009-10-03T14:03:00.000+01:00

Members of Deal's local folk club came out today for a busk to publise the gig at St Leonards on the 17th Oct.(See earlier postings for details)
Rose and Sue were joined by Mac, Lynda, Eddie, Bill & Val and Jim

They raised £44 for the church repair and a good time was had by all

See all photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/38482905@N08/sets/72157622381585133/

St Leonards fundraiser 17th Oct at 7:30pm

2009-09-26T13:54:00.000+01:00

Driftwood are playing at the 'Music & Song' evening fundraiser for the repair of this historic church in in Upper Deal (part of it dates back to 1180, but it got a bit of everthing from the last 900years!)

As well as Driftwood there will be other local folk singers, hand bellers and the 'beaux and belles'

Saturday 17th October at 7:30 - tickets £5 from Sound House or contact Lynda on 01304 361 586

Organised by the 'Friends of St Leonards':
http://www.stleonardsdeal.co.uk/

We have a baby!

2009-09-26T11:15:00.001+01:00

Yes, Mrs Gadget (aka Rosie) has a new micro roland bass amp .... purchased from our excellent music shop 'Mark-One' in Deal ... letter of apologies in the post to all neighbours

yet another thing for the poor roadie to carry ....

Celebrate Your Deal - Landmark Centre 25th Oct 10am-4pm - Think Global, Act Local!

2009-09-22T11:56:00.000+01:00

Driftwood are supporting and doing a session at the 'Celebrate Your Deal' event organised by our local green group 'Deal with it!'

The day aims to raise local awareness of environmental and sustainability issues and encourage everyone to discover all that is being made or marketed in and around Deal in order to keep this a thriving town. There will be 30 plus stalls of independent businesses and local producers, creative workshops, community groups, presentations, music, seed swap, competitions, exhibitions, free tastings, gardener’ Question Time, and entertainment for the children as well as the rest of us

Driftwood will be on at 2:30...and we will be recycling our songs

Check the Event website at http://www.transitiondeal.blogspot.com/

Email celebrateyourdeal@yahoo.co.uk

or email dealwithittoday@yahoo.co.uk for the campaign

Driftwood playing at St Leonards 17th October 7pm

2009-09-22T11:36:00.000+01:00

Driftwood are on the bill on the fund raiser for St Leonards Church in Upper Deal. Starts at 7pm on Saturday 17th ... more details to follow

Driftwood & Friends - Busking Deal High St 3rd October

2009-09-22T11:33:00.000+01:00

Driftwood and friends are busking on Deal High Street on Saturday 3rd Oct for the repair fund for St Leonards Church in upper Deal - Starts at 10am. Contact Sue or Rose or Lynda for details

New David Rovics Album - Ten thousand miles away - due October 2009

2009-09-22T10:59:00.001+01:00

Two of Driftwood's most popular songs at the recent Deal Maritime Folk Festival were David Rovics's 'Black Flag Flying' and 'The Pirates Song'.

David is a singer/songwriter with unequivocal passion for social justice and change. His new album which you can hear online is really good - as a fully paid up member of the anti-best-western-league I love his song 'travel lodge' (Viva B&Bs!) and the Eureka Stockade is a corker!

David is never going to be a millionaire - his downloads are all free. So make a donation or order a few copies from 'Sound House' in Deal High Street. You can find his songs at http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=111310

He will be touring in the UK again in May 2010 .... so watch this space

David's Website: http://www.davidrovics.com/

of course all IMHO ... Roadie

Deal Maritime Folk Festival 2009 - Monster Busk

2009-09-20T17:03:00.000+01:00

Despite the weather whch was cloudy and threaten rain - we had a very successful Monster Busk on open area in front of the kings head.

At its height there were some 25 local musicians, bands and singers jamming along on a variety of folk standards....

There will be some videos posted to ou site latter on...

Roadie

Driftwood Deal Maritime Folk Festival - Videos now on YouTube

2009-09-20T10:59:00.000+01:00

Driftwood videos from the Ship Inn at now been posted on YouTube

www.driftwood.uk.net/video.html

Driftwood Deal Maritime Folk Festival - Shillelagh Ceilidh sesson Sat 9pm 19th Sept

2009-09-20T10:56:00.000+01:00

Third sesson of the day - this time in support of Chris & Geoff (and Lynda) at the Ceilidh.

They did three songs in one of the breaks of the dancing - Gotta to Travel on, David Rovics's Pirate Song (Got the whole hall to join in) and Last thng on my mind - went down well and well played.

Now got two dutch fans who shared our table ...

Lizzie did some excellent numbers on her piano and jammed with the dance band

Roadie + a very tried Driftwood...

Driftwood Deal Maritime Folk Festival - Ship Inn sesson Sat 3pm 19th Sept

2009-09-20T10:45:00.000+01:00

Driftwood kicked off the One & Half hours set at the Ship Inn, in Middle Street with a stonking version of 'Bad Moon Rising'. It certainly woke the place up and apparantly it could be heard in Dover! Who needs amplification!

Lots of friends turned up for this one, including John+June from West Kent and Louise, Gill and Arthur from SE London, plus friends from Deal Folk Club.

All the standards like the Black Velvet Band & Wild Rover (which the band had only recently learnt) went down well and good sing-along (or bang-along) was generated. Some of the songs which are not well known like Karine Polwart's 'I'm gonna do it all' and Kipling's 'Smugglers Song' (featuring dave on flute) were really well recieved. In fact they had requests from people wanting to buy their CD (which does not exist... well not yet)

Another very good set but the band was tried by the end ...

Roadie

Driftwood Folk Festival Deal - Pier sesson Sat 12pm 19th Sept

2009-09-20T10:25:00.000+01:00

The band made a good showing at the open area at the front of Deal pier. Only enough amps for four mikes so the instruments were not balance - but good despite that. You could hear the 'Black Flag Flying' being belted out in the High Street!. The crew were were fully kitted in Pirate attaire, ther new band pirate flag and Sue had a scary tattoo which I hope washes off!

First public outing of David Rovics's 'Pirates Song' - one my favorites and they call it a childrens's song bah! - which went down well and they ended on another of his 'Black Flag Flying'.

Great weather and a great set... IMHO Roadie

Photos can be found off their website - www.driftwood.uk.net/snaps.html

New Driftwood Pirate Flag arrives

2009-09-18T13:04:00.000+01:00

Hurrah just in time for the festival and it looks good...

Final Driftwood practice before Saturday Festival gigs

2009-09-16T09:12:00.001+01:00

The band will be having an all day session at the village hall at Lyden on Friday... We have several friends coming to the Ship Inn session on saturday ....

The Ship is at
141 Middle Street
Deal
01304 372222

Driftwood.uk.net now indexed

2009-09-15T08:40:00.000+01:00

Google are now indexing the site - that's a relief, 5 days to go the band's busy weekend

http://www.driftwood.uk.net/

Marathon

2009-09-13T15:05:00.000+01:00

did not make it yesterday - bad night and woke up at 6am feeling exhausted! Decided to pass on this ... today I feel fine and ran over the cliffs to st margarets nr dover....

3toGo Marathon 12th Sept

2009-09-11T18:18:00.000+01:00

running my 31st marathon tomorrow - well hopefully, felt bad today very tried ... we shall see what tomorrow morning brings.

This a small marathon down the lee river valley to the 2012 Olympic Park ... off roadish but flat

Driftwood Folk Band Deal Kent UK, acoustic folk by the sea ...

2009-09-11T10:17:00.000+01:00

http://www.driftwood.uk.net/ is still not being indexed by google - god knows what i have done!

Possible gig date the 'Deal with it' event in October

2009-09-10T17:01:00.000+01:00

More details to follow - check the http://www.driftwood.uk.net/

Only a week to go Deal Maritime Folk Festival

2009-09-10T16:59:00.000+01:00

Everything kicks next friday 18th Sept - check the web site for gig details
http://www.driftwood.uk.net/

Driftwood Folk Band site news

2009-09-10T16:53:00.000+01:00

completed the move of the http://www.driftwood.uk.net/ site to plus on Wednesday. Email working fine - still issues on searching

Portland Marathon 24th January 2009

2009-02-05T21:42:00.000Z

This is suppose to be the 'easiest' of the Enduralife Coastal Trail Marathons, but still nearly took me 5 hrs to run.

The island itself was not as impossible of parts of the November Dorset stage but Portland is basically one large quarry so there is tons of loose stone around. The killer is Chisel Bank - the 7 mile pebble spit that contacts the island to the mainland. We had to run the ridge of this for about just under 2miles (x2) - hard on the legs and harder on the head. It was difficult first time around but at second time it hits at mile 23, hard.

Well organised run - run HQ is at the 2012 sailing centre which excellent facilities. Loved the 'dog-tag' medal plus ok teeshirt.

http://www.endurancelife.com/