Club Reports
This is where you can read about clubs from their members or club promoters to see what is happening on the Country music circuit. It is updated as and when we receive reports and get the time to include them.
Country Revival, Dagenham, Essex
Pete Jones
by Nick Catford
30th June 2024
The Country Revival CMC meets at the Dagenham & Redbridge Club so whenever there is an important football match going on, the Country club is shunted into the smaller hall. On the 30th June, it was the European Cup match between England and Slovakia and the usual hall was full of very loud lagered-up football fans.
Pete Jones comes from Rotherham in South Yorkshire and last visited the Country Revival in 2015, so he was well overdue for a return visit. It was nice to see the hall pretty full by the time Pete opened proceedings with Waylon Jennings’s Where Corn Don’t Grow. There was more Waylon to come as the evening progressed with Just To Satisfy You and Struggle Jennings’ We’re Gonna Ride.
Pete has a cheeky sense of humour and he’s a good story teller and he had no trouble making loadsa friends very quickly with his rich voice and a delightful personality. He told me during the evening that his voice has got richer with age. The evening was all classic Country with something from many of the big names in Country music over 50 years. There were some songs I haven’t heard in a long time and a few I don’t remember ever hearing at all.
A few that stood out for me in the first set included Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville, Alan Jackson’s Don’t Rock the Jukebox and Jim Reeves’ I Love You Because. For several years many artists have been singing Bonaparte’s Retreat which I know is still popular with line dancers but it was good to hear some different Glen Campbell songs for a change including By The Time I Get To Phoenix and Rhinestone Cowboy.
Pete ended the first set with what is best described as one of his party pieces. A hilarious rendition Stan Jones’ 1948 classic (Ghost) Riders in the Sky full of bizarre noises that brought a lot of laughter and applause from the audience. Luckily Mrs Jones (Lynne-Marie) tipped me the wink that it would be a good one to video so I did and I’m glad I did.
Pete was interacting with the audience all evening and I feel he really entertained everyone with his sense of humour and good ol’ Country. As the evening progressed, we heard Brooks & Dunn’s You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone, Vince Gill’s Liza Jane, Hal Ketchum’s Old Soldiers and Tracy Byrd’s Heaven In My Woman’s Eyes
Pete is known on the circuit as The Egg Man and he was quick to explain why. He has a smallholding at home in Rotherham and he keeps lots of chickens which means he has lots of eggs every day. He is the only artist I know who sells CDs and eggs and in the second break he was doing a roaring trade. I had a couple for breakfast the next day, a white one and a brown one – very nice!
As the evening progressed there were plenty more classics to come including Dire Straits’ Walk of Life, Midland’s Runnin’ Wild and Dwight Yoakam’s A Thousand Miles From Nowhere. I was pleased to hear One of my favourite George Strait songs Amarillo By Morning, More George Strait followed including I Just Want To Dance With You and The Cowboy Rides Away. Towards the end of the evening we heard John Anderson’s Seminole Wind, Gord Bamford’s Disappearing Tail Lights and Mark Knopfler and Chet Atkins’ Poor Boy Blues.
As with many Country and Western clubs it’s good ballads that fill the dance floor and Pete took us out in style with Don Williams’ First Fool in Line which had all the couples out of their seats. Having never seen Pete before I had no idea when I arrived what a fun filled evening it was going to be. The applause and cheering at the end was loud and well deserved. I look forward to seeing the egg man again at the earliest opportunity. Phil Mann said at the end of the evening “It’s a long time since Pete was last here”, judging by the very enthusiastic audience reaction it won’t be another 9 years before he’s back at the Dagenham Football Club.
I videoed a couple of songs on my phone during the evening
Western Steppers CMDC, Bexley Park, Kent
Western Steppers promoters
Philip & Karin with Darren Flack
by Nick Catford
14th June 2024
Darren Flack first launched his solo Country career in June 2023 so he will still be a new name to many people. Some will remember him as the lead guitarist in Calico duo between 2016 and the arrival of covid and lockdown in 2020. After covid, Calico’s Nikki Napier went solo and Darren continued with his lockdown driving job until 2024 when he realised he was missing playing. He began looking at all the soloists making a living out of Country music and thought, “If they can do it why can’t I”? He had never sung lead before, only harmonies but he was determined to give it a go. Having bought the necessary equipment and backing tracks he was ready to go and Paul Weston gave him his first booking at his Birmingham club in June 2023.
Since then he hasn’t looked back. He very quickly made a good impression around the clubs with a good voice, great instrumentation and a well balanced mix selected to go down well at both line dance and country and western clubs. I first saw him in January this year when he had only been on the road as a soloist for seven months. I was extremely impressed with Darren both as a front man and an instrumentalist. He has been playing guitar since he was 11 and was inspired to be a guitarist after hearing Eddie Van Halen’s guitar solo in Michael Jackson’s ‘Beat It’ in the late 1980s. He joined his first band when he was 14 and had a long career as a rock guitarist before switching to Country when he joined Calico in 2016.
I was a regular visitor to the Western Steppers in the 1990s when they used to meet on a Wednesday in Woolwich. It’s always good to visit this friendly club and I was keen to see Darren again on 14th June – I certainly didn’t go home disappointed. He opened proceedings with Tim McGraw’s Just to See You Smile which got the dancers onto the floor and that’s pretty much where they stayed all night. A few other songs early on included Darryl Worley’s Messed Up In Memphis, Drake Milligan’s Save It For A Sunny Day and the first of several songs from Luke Combs, The Kind of Love We Make, others followed later, Five Leaf Clover and 1, 2 Many.
Darren looked and sounded like a Country singer with a nice personality and a good understanding of what the audience wanted. His many guitar solos were outstanding and always brought loud and well deserved applause from the Steppers. There were a lot of great solos but the one that really stood out was Glenn Frey’s Who’s Been Sleeping in My Bed where he performed his ‘party piece’ turning his back on the audience and playing his guitar above his head.
Darren kept the music generally up tempo and contemporary, a few other songs that stood out during the evening included Jaden Hamilton’s Heaven’s Jukebox, Old Dominion’s Memory Lane, The Weeknd’s Blinding Lights, Cole Swindell’s Drinkaby, Breland’s Cowboy Don’t, Josiah Siska’s 3 Tequila Floor and Gord Bamford’s Diamonds In A Whiskey Glass.
Darren left it to the last set to do a barn dance song and he chose Brad Paisley’s You Need a Man Around Here which got almost the whole club (except me) onto the floor. He slowed down towards the end of the evening with a nice rendition of Alan Jackson’s Remember When. Ending a high energy evening of good songs and excellent picking with the ever popular Lennerockers’ High Class Lady which brought loud applause from the very knowledgeable members at the Western Steppers. There’s no doubt that this guaranteed Darren a return visit to the club next year. As I said, he was good in January when I saw him, six months on he was even better. I am sure Darren’s future on the Country circuit is assured.
I recorded one song on my phone during the evening; Glenn Frey’s Who’s Been Sleeping in My Bed (Caught In The Act). See below.
Best Of British CMC, Larkfield, Kent
Gary Leonard Duo
with Jim Martin
by Nick Catford
8th June 2024
The last time I went to the Best Of British CMC was in March 2020, a few days before lockdown started when they had Kalibre duo. This was to be steelie Bob Dixon’s last performance with Kalibre before he retired. Since then, both Bob Dixon and Bobby Reed have sadly passed away. Despite covid looming, there was a good turn out that night.
I was pleased to see a full house on 8th June for a welcome return to the club of the Gary Leonard Duo with Gary and steelie Jim Martin. I never saw Gary back in the old days although I must have seen him on TV in Stars In Their Eyes in 1996 when he impersonated Neil Young. I first saw him as a Country soloist at the Cambridge CMC in September 2018. He impressed me then as he did on two occasions more recently.
Gary opened proceedings with James Johnston’s Keepin’ It Country a good stomper. Gary described James as one of his favourite modern country singers and he included another of his songs, Old Country Barn, later in the evening. Gary has a clear, powerful voice delivering all his vocals with clarity; he is also a good communicator and had no problem keeping the dancers on the floor as he went through his programme of Country favourites. He like to include a few songs that other singers don’t do so long as everything is a good Country song. “I’m not here as a juke box, I’m here to provide entertainment” he told me.
A few song earlier in the evening included Ty England’s Should’ve Asked Her Faster, Merle Haggard’s Let’s Chase Each Other Around The Room, Hal Ketchum’s Loving You Makes Me a Better Man and Randy Travis’ Forever And Ever, Amen. Every evening should have a suitable barn dance song as it usually gets everyone on the floor at both line dance and Country clubs. Tonight Gary sung Alan Jackson’s Jim And Jack And Hank and as I looked round the hall nearly every table was empty as the whole club took to the floor. There was more Alan Jackson to come including Walkin’ the Floor Over Me
At the end of the first set, I told Gary that it was a good driving performance delivered with energy and enthusiasm, he responded “When I get up on stage, I have to push it, even if I am having an off day – it has to be like that” One of my favourite Country singers is George Strait and tonight we heard a good selection of his songs including Down Louisiana Way, Overnight Male, Ace In The Hole and The Fireman which gave Jim Martin an opportunity to pick up his fiddle.
The fiddle is a traditional Country instrument and we see far too little of it these days. Tonight Jim only played it twice which was a shame.
Best of British is a line dance club and the majority of song were up tempo which kept everyone on their feet for much of the evening but there were some beautiful slower songs like Vince Gill’s Young Man’s Town and Keith Whitley’s Would These Arms Be In Your Way a song I haven’t heard for a long time. Despite these slower songs Gary took us out of the second set with another corker, The Refreshments’ Riverboat Queen.
A few more songs that stood out during the evening included Josh Turner’s I Saw The Light, Travis Tritt’s Where Corn Don’t Grow, Billy Ray Cyrus’ Trail Of Tears, George Jones’ Love Bug and Jill King’s Can’t Let Go which seems just as popular now as it ever was.
Gary started the evening with James Johnston and went out with Cody Johnson and ‘Til You Can’t with brought loud applause and cheering after a great evening of Country music delivered with a lot of energy and enthusiasm. Gary has spent most of his Country career as a soloist but on the response to tonight’s show I think we are going to hear a lot more of the Gary Leonard Duo with Jim Martin and hopefully also Hillbilly Shoes a recently formed line dance trio with Gary, Jim and drummer James Bottone. Tonight was Country music of the highest standard.
I videoed Keith Whitley’s Would These Arms Be In Your Way on my phone, see below.
Pedlars CMC, Swaffham, Norfolk
George McIntosh
by Sid Randell
16th June 2024
Considering we had England football team playing live on television and it was also Father’s Day it was a bit light on people arriving at first but by the end of the evening numbers that included more new faces swelled to fill up the club and dance floor.
Mick Fisher ,our compere introduced George McIntosh to open with his first set singing Heaven In My Woman’s Eyes, Old Soldiers, Gypsy Woman, Heartaches By The Number, Lay Low, Today I Started Loving You Again, Tougher Than The Rest, High Class Lady, First Fool In Line, Down Louisiana Way and Dance The Night Away before taking a break.
Many thanks go out to Ann Bishop and her trusty team of Mick, Steve Key, and Evie Lusha.
Next week, on 23rd June it will be Rick Storm.
Mick Fisher, our compere had held a Country music night 25th May at Great Massingham Village Hall which raised £460 to donate to Dementia UK.
Country Revival, Dagenham, Essex
George Payling Jr
by Nick Catford
2nd June 2024
Since George Payling started his solo career in 2024, he has very quickly built up a loyal following with his humorous banter, great voice and an excellent and very wide choice of Country songs. In Texas Gun, although George was the main singer, his dad was the spokesman for the duo and now George has taken on that roll and it really does seem to come naturally to him as he created a good rapport with the audience very quickly. He’s a big man with a big voice.
He opened proceedings with Jerry Kilgore’s I Just Want My Baby Back. There were a few from Don Williams’ First Fool in Line and You’re My Best Friend and Glen Campbell’s Bonaparte’s Retreat came early on. I felt slower songs really suited George’s voice. A few today that stood out for me included Josh Turner’s Lay Low and Your Man, Keith Whitley’s Don’t Close Your Eyes and When You Say Nothing at All and my favourite Alan Jackson song Remember When which George described as his own interpretation. As at many Country & Western clubs it was the slower songs that always filled the dance floor.
Having played at the Country Revival many times, George knows exactly what people want to hear so he included a lot of old Country classics tonight which brought warm applause. He also got through a lot of requests.
A few other songs that stood out for me during the evening included Drake Milligan’s Save It For A Sunny Day, Keith Urban’s Somebody Like You, Clint Black’s A Better Man, Cody Johnson’s ‘Til You Can’t, Keith Whitley & Lorrie Morgan’s Til A Tear Becomes A Rose and James House’s This Is Me Missing You. Paddy Reilly’s The Fields Of Athenry is a song many people used to do in the clubs but it is rarely heard these days. So I was pleased to hear it two nights in a row.
Billy Fury’s Halfway To Paradise brought us to the end of a very enjoyable evening. For an encore, George sung another of his own interpretations, this time it was Patsy Cline’s Crazy. The applause was long, warm and very well deserved, George will be back at the Country Revival with another helping of great Country music and good humour in November.
See below two of the songs George sung during the evening, a fast one and a slow one.
Ray & Dave's CMC, Rettendon, Essex
Spinning Wheel
by Nick Catford
1st June 2024
I went to the final dance at Colin Wilson’s ‘Col’s CMC’ at the Rettendon Memorial Hall in Essex on 3rd December 2024. Ray and Dave’s CMC now have monthly dances at the same venue and I went there for the first time on 1st June to see Spinning Wheel Duo who are Jacqui Dean and Brian Delaney.
Jacqui and Brian have both been singing since they were teenagers. Brian began singing Country in the 1980s and before going solo he was in a number of well known Country bands including Inner State Highway, Chuck Wagon and Pat Nugent’s Mustang. Jacqui Dean has been singing professionally since 1995 and she has worked solo and in a number of duos forming Spinning Wheel in 2009 with another partner. Brian joined the duo in 2017; although they have known each other since the early 1990s. They work as a band or duo with many of their gigs on the Irish circuit. Both describe themselves as Country and Irish singers through and through and they are keen to become more established on the Country club circuit. This was their first visit to Rettendon.
They opened the evening with Billie Jo Spears’ ’57 Chevrolet and it was quickly clear that Jacqui has a strong voice. Their programme was a mix of traditional Country and Irish Country and we had a wide and varied selection of well known classics with a good helping of lesser known songs. Brian and Jacqui alternated lead vocals although they did sing a couple of songs as duets.
There were a few songs from Merle Haggard like Okie from Muskogee and Mama Tried and a selection of songs by Big Tom including Four Country Roads and The Same Way You Came In which brought cheers and applause. A few other songs that stood out for me early in the evening included Ricky Skaggs’ Crying My Heart Out Over You, The Outlaws’ Five Minutes More, Ernest Tubb’s Waltz Across Texas and Desert Rose Band’s Ashes of Love.
The duo asked for requests and they got plenty of them with most people asking for Irish songs which included Mick Flavin’s Hard Times, Larry Cunningham’s Among the Wicklow Hills, and Philomena Begley’s Truck Drivin’ Woman. The dance floor wasn’t always full with many people choosing to sit and watch until The Fureys’ When You Were Sweet Sixteen, a beautiful ballad, coaxed many people onto the floor.
I think Spinning Wheel did a good job, I heard a lot of songs I haven’t heard for a long time and a few I had never heard before like The Longest Johns’ American Civil War song, Hard Times Come Again No More. A few other songs I enjoyed during the evening were Brendan Quinn’ Angeline, John Prine’s Speed of the Sound of Loneliness and Steve Earle’s The Galway Girl. There were, of course, a couple of Daniel O’Donnell songs, Home to Donegal and Pretty Little Girl From Omagh and a couple from Paddy Reilly, My Lovely Rose of Clare and The Fields of Athenry, a song that used to be very popular in clubs but is rarely heard these days.
Spinning Wheel took us out with the inevitable ‘fast one and a slow one’, first came The Mavericks’ Think of Me When You’re Lonely followed by another Merle Haggard classic Today I Started Loving You Again. The applause at the end of the evening confirmed we had all had a good time.
I filmed one song on my phone during the evening, see below to see Wild Side Of Life.
Silver Churn, Totnes, Devon
by Phil Jenkins
1sr June 2024
Thanks to Roger Colome for stepping in at short notice, with his personality and just a guitar and a drum machine>
Roger, from Westward Ho!, in North Devon, entertained a very healthy crowd with a well balanced and interesting programme of Country standards, mixed with a few Irish numbers and a bit of comic banter adding to the fun.
It was nice to hear a whole host of Don Williams’ nuggets, as well as music from Josh Turner, Waylon Jennngs, Don Gibson, Buck Owens, Keith Whitley, Leeroy Van Dyke and Jim Reeves, as well as músic from the singing Cowboys finishing a brilliant evenings entertainment, with Best Of friends.
Pedlars CMC, Swaffham, Norfolk
by Sid Randell
2nd June 2024
After getting people settled in with the new seating layout Mick Fisher, our compere, proceeded to welcome everyone which included many new faces too and then at 7pm he started off the Country music by introducing the Darren Busby Duo for their first set which included Imagine That, I Just Want To Dance with You, Take These Chains, Ring Of Fire, Guitars, Cadillac’s, Where’m I Gonna Live?, First Fool In Line, Just To See You Smile, Let your Love Flow, Billy B Bad and Somewhere Between Me And You brought it to close before the break when it was time for the announcements and celebrating three birthdays with a buffet selection of sandwiches for Darren Binns today plus Pauline Fisher and Jim later on this week.
8:15pm saw them back up for the second set singing songs such as Ruby, Coward Of The County, Gambler, Singing The Blues, Silver Wings, One Night At A Time, Galway Girl, Jambalaya, Big Iron, Help Me Make It Through The Night, Mr Man In The Moon, Cowboy Rides Away, ending it with Running Kind.
The night ended with a great turnout of many of our regulars plus newcomers alike.
Many thanks go out to Ann Bishop and her trusty team Mick, Steve Key, Evie Lusha, next week. There i no club on 9th June but George McIntosh will be with us on 16th June.