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Reviews<br />
SPIRITS FLYING HIGH<br />
Beer From The Wood BW01<br />
Under normal circumstances I would always<br />
decline the invitation to review a recording by<br />
friends or acquaintances. For no other reason than<br />
I have no wish to offend or even lose friends in<br />
the process. Well, this is one CD where, in the<br />
course of reviewing, there is no likelihood of that<br />
occurring.<br />
‘Beer From the Wood’ is the collective name of<br />
the musically talented family Henrywood. They<br />
are,- in age order, I hope – Dick, Melanie, Ross<br />
and Verity.<br />
I perceived this CD as being more than a recording<br />
but rather a performance, and a good one at that<br />
too. The selection of these eighteen tracks have<br />
clearly been well considered and well balanced,<br />
one against the other. Of that grand total of<br />
eighteen tracks, seven are the product of Dick’s<br />
creative mind. Dick’s image creating ability is<br />
beyond question, The Gleaning Bell, Pierhead<br />
Painters, and The Loss of HMS Avenger, are<br />
particularly good examples of this. Then at the<br />
other end of the Dick’s song writing spectrum<br />
there is Double-barrelled. Here Dick has brought<br />
together in song form, something which we have<br />
all witnessed at sometime or another when on our<br />
travels and found extremely amusing – brilliant!<br />
Regretfully, Verity only sings one song solo,<br />
The Bergen, and I would like to have heard<br />
more from this young lady. She sings with a<br />
strong awareness of the subject matter, and the<br />
maturity and appeal of her voice belies her age,<br />
( thirteen at the making of this CD ). Ross is the<br />
baritone voice of the family and in terms of the<br />
family group renditions, has a very important<br />
input. Although still a young man, he sings with<br />
authority and commitment, Echoes in the Stall, is<br />
a prime example of those qualities.<br />
RUMPUS<br />
Dance Band<br />
Traditional music for folk<br />
dance, ceilidh, barn dance<br />
Weddings, functions, etc.<br />
Fiddle, concertina, melodeon, guitar.<br />
Contact Nigel or Sarah<br />
01548 531525<br />
sings on a number of tracks and her rendition<br />
of The Gleaning Bell, Faraway Tom, Crazy<br />
Man Michael, One I Love, and Wild Geese, is<br />
perfection. I’d go so far as to say that I think The<br />
Gleaning Bell in particular, is a classic. It doesn’t<br />
get any better than that.<br />
In mentioning One I Love, I realise that I’ve failed<br />
to make any reference to a crucial ingredient in<br />
many of the songs on this CD, i.e. Dick’s tasteful<br />
accompaniment on either the treble concertina or<br />
the guitar. It’s just one of the many elements This<br />
CD has everything, group singing, solo singing,<br />
accompanied singing, mix-gender singing and<br />
first class songs.which make this CD so very<br />
enjoyable.<br />
Ken.Hinchliffe.<br />
Now I’m obliged to consider Melanie’s role This CD can be obtained by e-mail to,<br />
within this family quartet. I consider her to be one beerfromthewood@bowstation.com for £6 incl.<br />
of the finest female <strong>Folk</strong> singers in <strong>Devon</strong>. She of p&p.<br />
has what I can only describe as an emotionally<br />
laden quality voice – like a bit special. Melanie 49
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