music in the Medway towns?

Subject: music in the Medway towns?
From: sidtheferret
Date: 01 Jan 08 - 10:11 PM

I live in Portland,OR and I'll be spending a few weeks in the Medway Towns from the5th Jan-19th. Can anyone tell me if there are any singarounds/tune sessions on when I'm there?

             ta very much,
                                       Max

Subject: RE: music in the Medway towns?
From: GUEST,Barnacle (at work)
Date: 02 Jan 08 - 07:52 AM

Come on Gasstove and others ... answer the man

Subject: RE: music in the Medway towns?
From: Arnie
Date: 02 Jan 08 - 09:56 AM

Max,

Looking in my copy of Around Kent Folk, which lists most of the Kent club gig guides, I see that Rochester has folk at the Man of Kent Ale House - their website is at www.manofkent.org.uk and has a few singers listed for January. Also in Rochester, there's folk at The Good Intent in John St. The contact is [e-mail]. Further afield, there's plenty of folk clubs in the rest of Kent but these two should be a good place to start.

All the best

Adrian

Subject: RE: music in the Medway towns?
From: The Barden of England
Date: 02 Jan 08 - 12:44 PM

There's the following:-
Monday 7th. January The Barge, Layfield Road, Gillingham http://www.thebargepub.co.uk/
Wednesday 9th. January, The Man of Kent, John Street, Rochester (see link below for Good Intent, it's in the same road)
Friday 11th. January The Three Sisters, Otterham Quay Lane, Gillingham, ME8 8QR http://www.multimap.com/maps/?hloc=GB|ME8%208QR
Monday 14th. January a great session at The Greyhound, Wheeler Street, Maidstone http://www.192.com/local/KENT/PUBLIC_HOUSE/THE_GREYHOUND/XB3F4E9F884164EDEBC28F248BB2E3CAA
Tuesday 15th. January, The Good Intent, John Street, Rochester from about 8pm http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=574355&y=167781&z=0&ar=Y

Hope this helps, and hope to see you at one of these
John Barden

Subject: RE: music in the Medway towns?
From: GUEST,Silly old folker
Date: 02 Jan 08 - 02:50 PM

Since the OP specified sinagrounds and tune sessions the best bets are likely to be the Good Intent and the Greyhound (where everybody joins in with everything, hooray - both hosted usually by Growler and Kevin teh Shirt Murderer) and the Three Sisters (I think Maz and Dan Hobday 2 weeks and Derek Moore 1 week per month, and maybe hardore country and country and Western the other week - it used to be that way when the events were at the Three Mariners. There's also the other club in Maidstone Clive/Don/sometimes Sussed, etc - is it Tuesdays?

Tuesdays in the Man of Kent is also a jam session - acoustic but not folk.

Is there still open mic in the Two Brewers?

The Barge is concert, not even open mic.

And there's usually a booked folki-ish band at the pub just over the bridge into Strood, I think "folk" is Fridays.

Subject: RE: music in the Medway towns?
From: The Barden of England
Date: 02 Jan 08 - 03:30 PM

PM me Sidtheferret and I'll give you my phone number here in the UK. I'll try and help out if I can.
John Barden

Subject: RE: music in the Medway towns?
From: synbyn
Date: 02 Jan 08 - 04:16 PM

and there's this old geezer singing songs about Kent at the Faversham Folk Club on Wednesday January 9th not far away....

Subject: RE: music in the Medway towns?
From: sidtheferret
Date: 02 Jan 08 - 11:34 PM

Thanks to everyone who responded,I hope to get out for a tune and a pint-jetlag and time/pressure notwithstanding!

            happy new year,
                                           Max

Subject: RE: music in the Medway towns?
From: melodeonboy
Date: 03 Jan 08 - 10:28 AM

Well, sidtheferret, you seem to have been well informed already by the others.

Being the first Monday of the month, there should also be a mixed session/singaround at The Pilot in Stone Street, Maidstone on Monday, 7th January. Maidstone's not actually in the Medway Towns, but is accessible by bus (no. 101). The last bus from Maidstone to Chatham leaves the Chequers Centre (or "The Mall" as some council wag has imaginatively renamed it!) at 11.10 p.m. It's 5 minutes walk from the Pilot.

If you go the Greyhound on the 14th, you can get that same last bus from Maidstone East railway station (opposite County Hall - a brisk 5 minutes walk from the Greyhound!) at 11.14.

Suitable buses to Maidstone leave Chatham railway station at 7.03 and 7.38 p.m. If you've got internet access you can have a shufti at www.arrivabus.co.uk for full details.

As for synbyn's post above, his name's Bob Kenward and he's the guest artiste at Faversham Folk Club on Wednesday 9th January. He's written oodles of songs about Kent and is well worth seeing. It's a friendly folk club with good floor spots, and it's held at The Chimney Boy pub, which is just around the corner from Faversham railway station. There are plenty of direct trains to/from the Medway Towns. The last one back from Faversham is at 11.42 p.m.

(WARNING: SELF-PROMOTION ALERT!) If you fancy seeing some zydeco, Jumbo Gumbo are playing at The Hare and Hounds, Maidstone (next to County Hall - even nearer to the bus stop!) at 9 p.m. on Saturday 5th January.

I hope to see you at at least one of the events above. I'll be the big bugger with the loud shirt!: Come and say hello to me.

Subject: RE: music in the Medway towns?
From: melodeonboy
Date: 03 Jan 08 - 10:31 AM

By the way, I'm pleased you called it "The Medway Towns". These days, nearly everyone seems to refer to it as "Medway" (which is the river).

Subject: RE: music in the Medway towns?
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 03 Jan 08 - 08:10 PM

And as you may have figured, teh Medway would be a better place for some of us....

Oh, yes, and anone of these things are truly "tune" sessions, all the "sessions" are mostly sing and join in or the occasional tune and join in.

The Bear in Faversham may still have some tune sessions, but you'd have to check, and there used to be and may still be an Irish tune session Sunday afternoons at the White Horse in Stansted Kent (NOT really near Sevenoaks), famous right now as the village where the police shot dead a bloke allegedly behaving oddly with a firearm.

Also easy train ride to Dartford for a concert club on Tuesdays, largely American-style performers.

Subject: RE: music in the Medway towns?
From: GUEST,John of Elsie`s Band
Date: 04 Jan 08 - 03:52 PM

"ELSIE`S SING & PLAY EVENING"
Jan 12th, Cowden Pound, Nr.Edenbridge, KENT
8.30pm, featuring "The Hofners".
30 mins. drive from Maidstone area.
Call David on 01732 862862 next week.