Never happened before! But...last week, he had a request show, and so I wrote in, asking him to play something by Reg Meuross.

And...he did! :0)

Not only that, but he said that Reg was the artist he's had the most requests sent in for, ever.

Mike 'discovered' him just a few weeks back, when he found his wonderful song '...And Jesus Wept' from his new 'Dragonfly' CD, and that was it, he was so impressed, saying it was one of the best songs about the young men killed for alleged cowardice, during WWI, that he had ever heard. That evening, he was swamped with emails about Reg's music...and...when the request show came round, the same thing happened again. So now, Reg is firmly on Mike's horizon. :0)

The song he played was 'Lizzie Loves A Highwayman' which tells the story of Dick Turpin's long suffering wife..and paints Dick in a very different way from that in which he is normally portrayed. It's an *excellent* story song, very cleverly put together.

I recently saw Reg playing at Sidmouth Folk Festival and heck, he was good! He was joined on stage by Martin Carthy, Jackie Oates and Jim Moray, all of whom were superb.


Reg Meuross - Myspace

Reg - Main Site

And here is Harry Farr's page, Harry being the young soldier Reg wrote about so movingly, in '...And Jesus Wept'. I made it, because I was deeply moved by this song when I heard Reg sing it a year or so ago now. I sat down to start it..and everything poured out. I felt Harry was 'somewhere around' me during the days it took me to make it...and I even got to speak to his grandaughter, Janet, via emails, who's a really lovely lady. There was talk of making Harry's story into a film, I hope that it goes ahead, because it needs to be told..and I think Reg's song most definitely should be used in the film.   

Harry Farr - Myspace

If you've never seen Reg, then you are missing somebody special...and I cannot recommend 'Dragonfly' highly enough, and that goes for 'Still' and 'Short Stories' too.

So, there you are, Mike Harding really DOES play requests for people. Be sure and write in next time.

Lizzie :0)