Acoustic Club Information

Wednesday 25th August 2021

The Horn at the Half Moon
31 North Street, Bishop's Stortford. CM23 2LD

Hello Acoustic Clubbers

The Joy of live music continued last week  with a brilliant evening headlined with the Sheri Kershaw Band and a great line up of support artists

This week we have the ever popular 6 Acts in one night. I have resent this as we announce a change of Artists

Also it would churlish not to mention that on Saturday 9th October the memorial day to the Late Great Dangerous Brian Barrett at the Cock Inn at Hockerill Lights on Stansted Road, Stortford was a brilliant success

BRIAN FEST

Brian passed away last year after suffering a stroke and has been missed by us all in the Herts and Essex live music scene. He was an eager and popular member of the live music community playing with so many bands, groups and ensembles. He could always be counted on to turn up at a Blues Jam almost anywhere at the drop of a hat, host the legendary Stansted 02 Summer Festival at the Dog and Duck whilst dressed and performing as a magician and then fill in or headline any blues band being it Blues Export or Blues Inc, Bill, Dangerous and Brian the Bash and so many Bands in between.
 
It is fair to say that we all loved Brian and miss him enormously.
 

Bill

6th October 2021
6 Acts 4 Songs

MARK SHEPHERD
Cambridge singer-songwriter Mark Shepherd plays his original brand of thought-provoking Acoustic rock/Americana at festivals and venues across the UK and USA. His strong, distinctive vocal is complimented by powerful and melodic acoustic guitar and his songs often explore the darker side of life and the world in general. Mark and his music are sure to stay with you long after you finish listening.

PATERSON
In the life of the mundane and every day we have the occasional spark of absolute originality. Paterson are just that.
A versatile, original and with a performance worthy of being listened to. They are unpredictable and will both surprise and delight you. You have been warned.

PAT CRILLY and GREG CAMBURN
Not a great deal can be said about these two fantastic musicians that has not been said already. Guitar, Banjo, Strange 8 string instruments, Penny Whistles, Saxaphone, songs and seriously good music. They are the watchword for professional music.

PETER CROSSLEY
Peter is a multi-talented musician and music teacher. A terrific finger style guitarist but is also a master violinist playing in a number of guises.
A great songwriter and wonderful singer are so evident on his debut album, which is reviewed on this website. Just brilliant!

PAUL BOOTH with SI LEE
Paul is a singer songwriter who crafts his songs such they are identifiable has his. He has appeared in many guises and line ups. His latest with bassist Si Lee is one of the best.

TRANQUILITY BEACH
Tranquility Beach, a new Stortford based roots-rock band. Starting their musical journey is always a great big step so with recently recorded songs on sound cloud things are looking up for this new duo
As usual doors open at 8.30, music starts at 9.00pm and we should finish at around 11.00pm.

Admission, as ever, is £5 on the door (cash only please we are still in the dark ages!) 

Last time we were delighted to welcome back the Sheri Kershaw Band

As an artist there are few who are able to hold a candle in terms of  stage presence, ability, virtuosity and down right listen ability to Sheri Kershaw. Add to Sheri her guitarist Martin and bassist John then you are assured of a first class evening of principally acoustic music, but co loured in with a refreshing bass line and magical electric lead guitar.

We also had a full list of supporting artists:- Bill Tarran - Host and MC, Pete Croft, Tranquility Beach, Paul Booth, Laura Dannan, Colin Frid and Dan StarrIt was a shame that we had a fairly sparse crowd, but you cannot have everything. Thanks to those who came and enjoyed with us a full evening of great music.

WHATS ON SOON

27^th OCTOBER TENNESSEE TWIN with tonight's supporting acts - our Young Players
Tennessee Twin are a skillful acoustic duo playing original modern country music from their base in Cambridge, UK. Their original songs have quickly caught the admiration of British country audiences, blending memorable melodies, gritty yet thoughtful lyrics and delicious harmonies. Keren Morall - country commentator and podcast host, said of Tennessee Twin ‘These guys are exceptional. The emotion they bring with their songs is undeniable. Their story telling is second to none.

Jo’s music is immersive. Her songs comment on life as she observes and experiences it, sometimes with wry humour, sometimes with heart-felt introspection, and sometimes with both.  And when her imagination takes flight into the world of the unexpected, they tell engaging stories of vampires, magicians and buried treasure! Audiences can’t get enough.

24^th NOVEMBER 6 Acts x 4 Songs
Line up to be announced

8^th DECEMBER   THURSDAY’S BAND and 8 Floor spots

One of the UK’s most intriguing acoustic bands - a unique combination of guitars and strings bringing to life intelligent original songwriting. Their repertoire has been described as spine-tingling, spellbinding, and ‘the most beautiful music I’ve heard in years’. 
Coming from an eclectic background that includes folk, country, blues, cajun and orchestral music, the band includes Mark Gamon (guitar, vocals and songs); Matt Kelly (fiddle, viola, mandolin, vocals and songs); Rhys Wilson (guitar and vocals); and Abby Wollston (cello). 
Thursday’s Band have released two full albums, and are available from www.clunkandrattle.com and www.thursdaysband.bandcamp.com

22^nd DECEMBER    Christmas Special
Line up to be announced but it will be a Big One!!!

<<WHATS ON SOON>>

COVID COMMONSENSE AND THE HORNS

In conjunction with our Landlords please read the following information from them. It just makes sense!

Following the announcement by HM Government that all legal restrictions for social contact measures will be lifted from Monday 19 July. It's been 16 very long months since our last gig without any restrictions, and we can't wait to welcome everyone back to gigs without social contact restrictions, and we will continue to make them as safe as we possibly can. Covid isn't going away anytime soon and we are committed to keeping everyone - you, our team members, our crew and all the artists, safe. We see this as a partnership with you, our friends and our community, to try to keep everyone safe from the risk of Covid infection. So please read these...

Six ways to enjoy a safe visit to The Horn at the Half Moon.

1. Please don't come if you have Covid symptoms, or believe you may have been exposed to infection. If you are suffering from Covid symptoms or fear you may be an infection risk and therefore shouldn't attend, we will be able to offer you a refund for your ticket.

2. Before coming to one of our events, we recommend that you do everything you can to make sure that you personally are not infectious. You can do this by:
-Getting vaccinated
-Taking a lateral flow test
-Registering that you are immune (due to previous Covid infection)

To be clear; we don't believe that we should operate a policy of excluding you from our venue because you haven't done those things. We will NOT be operating a certification or passport model to enter our shows. There are lots of reasons to not do this, not least the large numbers of people who have not had the opportunity for both vaccines and vulnerable people who cannot be vaccinated. But you, personally, can make sure you aren't adding to anyone's risk by keeping your record of immunity up to date, getting vaccinated when you are able and taking a free lateral flow test before you come. No one is forcing you to do this. We are just asking you to be kind and thoughtful and do it for the safety of everyone else and for our team members.

3. Some of our team members will be wearing face coverings during events. They are doing this because face coverings work. We aren't going to have a big social media debate with anyone about it, wearing a face covering inside an enclosed space like OUR VENUE reduces the risk of direct droplet transmission, so our team members may choose to wear them. If you want to reduce your contribution to the risk of droplet transmission, you can choose to wear a mask whenever you like during the event.

No one will force you to wear a mask, you can be kind and thoughtful and choose to wear one when it isn't inconvenient. If you are vulnerable, we strongly recommend that you wear a mask if you are able, and avoid close contact with gig goers who have chosen not to wear a mask.

4. The Half Moon is an intimate venue and whilst the operating margins for our events are very tight we will be reducing the number of tickets we sell for gigs to allow for increased comfort when in attendance. If at any point you don’t feel comfortable with being in an enclosed space with multiple people without restrictions please let a member of our team know. We also ask that you consider that other audience members may be anxious about returning to these environments, please help us ensure that everyone’s experience is as safe and enjoyable as it can be.

5. Service from the bar will return, however due to the great feedback that you’ve given we will continue to offer service using the app to order food and drink directly to your table. We are also planning to have collection points on the bars including collection only in the venue bar on all shows.

6. We will be deep cleaning the building very regularly including wiping down all surfaces. There are hand sanitiser stations around the building, and we ask you to please play your part in keeping the building clean from contact risk by regularly washing your hands and using the sanitiser.

We are a Grassroots Music Venue, we are also a community. Please always think of the safety of others and look after yourself at the same time.

TO ALL OUR PLAYERS

Before we were so rudely interrupted we were just about full with players for about 3 months, so it will probably take some time to get everyone back into the swing of booking to play in advance.

The truth is that we are all really keen to get started, none as keen as our regular players, our special friends and some outstanding artists who are on tour or promoting new music!

We need to appeal to you all to contact Geoff to restart our evenings in the proper manner. If you would like to play let us know as soon as possible.

To help identify the evenings we are running and whats on please click the link below

Acoustic Club Programme to December 2021