The regular Wednesday country folk music jam session at the Coach and Horses in the quaint West Country harbour town of Appledore, North Devon, started at 8.30pm and has to be the friendliest session I have ever attended. If you’re looking for a musical night out and wondering where to go, it’s definitely worth a visit (but always check it’s on by phoning the landlord).
Scarcely was I through the door of this traditional pub that nestles just one street back from the harbour amongst a higglety pigglety cluster of tiny houses and tinier streets when the master of ceremonies called me over to join the group of musicians that were gathering around a group of tables at the end of the pub.
Now, to a shrinking violet, this would have been a terrifying experience because the pub was already quite busy with regulars and tourists but yours truly thrives on false ideas of grandeur so I plonked myself down next to him, got out my soprano saxophone and alto flute and tried to look intelligent as he rattled off the names of all musicians who were present.
As with the Monday session at Ye Champion of Wales, the musicians were dominated by acoustic guitars but there was a picked Mandolin player again giving an extremely good account of himself. The mandolin is a quiet instrument but by a combination of picking and tremolo, the mandolin player contributed enormously to the country folk tunes. Tremolo really takes a lot of skill and from time to time he also doubled on the violin (fiddle) which he played with soul and accomplishment. I remember this particular musician telling me about his house full of musical instruments. I bet he can play them all as brilliantly. Appledore is truly a town of great musicians.
So the evening progressed at great speed with the MC welcoming more and more musicians (mainly guitar players), directing the order of the lead instruments and contributing some great songs himself. Session playing can be confusing for those who haven’t before experienced it’s delights. It usually appears completely spontaneous to the onlooker but there is always an underlying organisation to ensure that all musicians get the chance to play or sing.
The way session playing works is that, once a musician has been selected, usually by the MC, the rest of the group essentially take the lead from that musician. The lead musician determines the speed the music should be played, the key, when it starts and when it finishes.
Joining in by other musicians must always be sympathetic and the musician who breaks these unwritten rules will become very unpopular, very quickly. The skill of the session is to be sensitive to the other players and engage in a true musical conversation that electrifies the audience and sends tingles up the spines of all present. Which it certainly did at the Coach and Horses in Appledore on Wednesday night.
I was in paradise and believed things couldn’t get better until Chloe, of the popular Appledore band The Dambuskers, slipped unobtrusively into the session. Chloe is a master musician with huge musicality, She may join a session unobtrusively but her startling and immensely creative violin improvisation immediately contributed massively to the groups musical sound so nobody could fail to know she’d arrived. Dambuskers has been the success story of the folk festivals this year and I enjoyed seeing them at the Exmoor Folk Festival in the delightful village of Brendon. They are a band going places. So don’t delay, book them … while you can!
The sure sign of a great session is, when it is time to stop playing at pub closing time, the musicians still want to hang around and talk. But, eventually, the proprietor disengaged us from his excellent hostelry. Even then, I heard some of the other musicians talking about ‘tinnies’ at somebodies house. Regretfully, I had to head for my car and the long drive home across Exmoor.
The regular Wednesday acoustic jam session at the Coach and Horses pub in the West Country harbour town of Appledore, North Devon was a truly great experience that leaves me with a conundrum.
Do I come back next week and learn some more about playing Country Folk with these excellent musicians. Or do I jump ship and sample the delights of the Wednesday traditional session at Torrington I’ve just heard about in North Devon .
Life is so full of tough dilemmas 
See you soon!
Update 14 Sepember 2006
There still seem to be some problems with the Entertainment License at the Coach and Horses, Appledore. Hopefully these will be resolved soon but please check the Wednesday evening session is on with the landlord before committing yourself to avoid any disappointment. If the session is not taking place at the Coach and Horses, Appledore, try checking with Ye Champion of Wales, Appledore which seems to be the local musicians alternative venue. Happy playing … Rob
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