Much like Hollywood and perhaps even the music industry, the opening night of the movie-themed Blissfields 2013 was very much a testosterone fuelled affair with beards and ballads the order of the day amongst the songwriting talent. Day two starts off very differently. The sun is once again beaming down on the Hampshire countryside and we wouldn’t be at all surprised to find the Blisscoteque bus pumping out ‘Here Come The Girls’.
I’ve had a lovely brunch of proper fried up breakfast grub and perched myself at the back of the acoustic tent in hope of a breeze and some great tunes from the artists handpicked by the guys over at FolkGeek and while we’re disappointed by a lack of circulating air, there’s probably no better soundtrack to death by heat than the one these girls provide.
Jerry Williams
Jerry Williams is an real find on early afternoon. Aged just seventeen, she looks a lot fresher than most of us as she takes to the stage. It’s a confident, assured delivery for someone so young. Apparently she’s been playing and writing for years though and it shows. We learn that she fancies Jake Bugg and ‘Fishing’ is her quirkily honest, refreshing take on modern day romance before finishing off with a cover of Bugg’s ‘Lightning Bolt’.
Whilst Williams may be the young pretender to the throne here, Hampshire’s own Marika Hackman is already a seasoned veteran of the songwriting scene at the tender age of nineteen. She’s described herself as ‘folk on the inner core and Kurt Cobain on the outer core’ and regularly draws comparisons with Nico. She’s a main stage act at Blissfields and has definitely earned a place up there. There’s an ever growing crowd and a bit of a hippie vibe kicking in. This could be our Joni Mitchell.
The Folk Geek team have urged us to check out Lucy Kitchen. The guys in the press tent have urged us to check out Lucy Kitchen and well, even Lucy Kitchen has invited us up to the acoustic stage to see what the fuss is about. The hype is to be believed; this is a solid performance of beautiful folksy songs borrowing heavily from old traditional balladry. You could hear a pin drop in the tent if the floor wasn’t made of grass as delicately picked guitar accompanies a sure but sultry vocal.
Up until now, I thought I was the only person who’d crossed the Irish Sea for this festival but lo and behold there’s Rosie Carney on stage having presumably come from her new base in Donegal. She’s originally a Portsmouth girl though so there’s a big crowd in the tent to enjoy a wonderful set of well crafted songs. She’s another one of the youngsters on the bill at only sixteen years old but has the talent of someone with many more years notched up on both the road and in the studio. I’m impressed. I’m feeling bloody old though!
Floella Grace is the last of the acts to check out for the afternoon sessions. There’s nothing more summery than a bit of ukulele and Floella plays it well. She’s another one who’s crossed the sea to get here; coming in with her guitarist from the Isle of Wight. There are a few covers in her repertoire and some light and breezy tunes which border on the more pop side of folk. Floella’s sporting a floral dress and some face paints and if you’ve made it to the end of this set and you’re still not in the festival spirit then I don’t know what we can do for you.
Food by Original Fry Up Material. Drinks by Quenchers. Thanks to FolkGeek for a good bill and good banter.