We’ll be heading for the country on Sunday 4 September to add some busking ineptitude in between the fine performers appearing at Folk On The Farm, Lichfield Arts’ preview to their L2F Festival coming up in October.

It’s all happening from 12 noon at the lovely Woodhouse Farm and Garden, originally part of the Capability Brown-designed Fisherwick Estate, just near Whittington, Staffordshire.

Please pop along to see us… and hear some real musicians at the same place on the same day!

Here is all you need to know, from the Lichfield Arts publicity machine:

“Join us for an open-air afternoon of entertainment that will include live music on the outdoor stage from local musicians and groups, other music events around the farm, Morris Dancing and the Lichfield Storytellers. We will also be showcasing a number of the entries from this year’s Lichfield Festival of Folk songwriting competition as well as exhibiting a retrospective of last year’s Art Competition in the Farm café.

“Entry for children 12 and under is free, so bring a family picnic to enjoy before taking them on a tour of the working farm. The admission price for adults includes a Woodhouse Hog Roast bap or a vegetarian option, provided by the farm kitchen.

“There is ample free parking and a licensed bar. The gates open at 11:15am and the music and other entertainment starts at noon.

“Tickets for adults are £10.00 in advance or £12.00 on the day.”

LINK TO BOOK TICKETS

More about the farm:

Woodhouse Farm and Garden CIC
Woodhouse Farm
Fisherwick Wood Lane
Lichfield
WS13 8QG

www.woodhousefarmandgardencic.org.uk

The Fuse Festival in Lichfield started out as a kind of Fringe to the Lichfield Festival… Well, on that basis, the Wayside Serenaders are a Fringe to the Fringe… albeit a Fringe of one band. A single-strand fringe, if you like, straggling across the bald pate of the woebegone…

We’ll be busking this Saturday (9 July) afternoon for your pleasure somewhere in Beacon Park so that as you make your way from town past the tennis courts and on towards the Fuse Festival marquees up beyond the sports fields you can make your promenade in step with the loping beat of Dead Skunk, the rapid run of Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door or the louche funereal-step of St James Infirmary. Other options include joining those Saints as they Come Marching In or high-stepping Just A Closer Walk With Thee.

Look out for our motley band between 2.30 and 3.30pm.

And if you are around earlier, do check out our good friend the Lichfield Gospel Choir who are on stage in one of the Fuse marquees at 12.30pm.

Supreme tea-chest builder and decorator Andrew Paterson RA*, inspired by his proximity at the time to the ocean – well, the English Channel anyway – requested a sea shanty (cf: comment on yesterday’s post).

And we’re happy to oblige! Apologies in advance for the Rev J. Olly Glum’s inept video work:

• We are pleased to remind other tea chest players that Mr Paterson has signed an exclusivity deal in perpetuity with the Wayside Serenaders so approaching him for similar would be a complete waste of time… As the Rev J Olly Glum so often says: “Get your own bloody artiste!”

Most of the Wayside Serenaders will be at Speakers’ Corner, beside Minster Pool in Lichfield tomorrow between approximately 11am and 1pm.

There may be four of us, there may be five. Alas, we’ll be without the multi-instrumental skills and deadpan demeanour of Ian Doleful – he’ll be reading the runes of the Roman ruins of Wall – but those Serenaders present will be doing their utmost to fill the multiple spaces left by his absence.

Do pop along to see us.

The Wayside Serenaders’ branding is now complete – and don’t you like our new motto: “Musica Longa Vita Brevis”? Yes, you can take the “Graveside” out of the band name but our brief time upon this earth should never be denied.

As always, the hugest of huge thanks to our loyal artiste, Mr Andrew Paterson RA, for a sterling job with pen and ink.

(Ankle and foot: model’s own)

The Wayside Serenaders, with their new six-person line-up, had a jolly time at Speakers’ Corner on Saturday. Here is a picture:

And here are a couple of videos:

Many thanks to Gerbo Huisman for the vids, pic and for his enduring enthusiasm.

The Wayside Serenaders will be playing at Speakers’ Corner, beside Minster Pool, Lichfield, tomorrow (Saturday 21 May) from about 11am to about 1pm. Do drop by on your way to or from the shops, while taking a breather on your morning run, after having brunch at a cafe or before going for a lunchtime pint.

We might have some new tunes to play… and perhaps a new instrument too. And I think it is safe to assert that you will not hear two Swanee whistles in harmony anywhere else in town!

… or to be more accurate, on the pavement again. The Wayside Serenaders will be at Speaker’s Corner or thereabouts, beside Minster Pool in Lichfield, this Saturday, 16 April, from about 11am to about 12.45pm. Why not drop past for a little sing-song when you’ve done your Easter egg shopping or picked up your leg of lamb ready for the Easter Sunday feast?

Oh! And we have new “business” cards which include our new website address. Mind you, if you are reading this, you already know that!

We’ve changed our name! The original one seemed like a good idea back in the late teens of the 21st century when all the world felt complacent in its invincibility and the words “memento mori” might have been a useful warning to all. Now, with the dreaded C-19 having brought our limited time and fragile place on this planet into sharp relief, the name Graveside Serenaders seems like an unnecessary reminder of our mortality.

But we continue to be Serenaders, we continue to busk alongside the byways of this fair land and we do it in an old-fashioned manner, so we’re adopting the descriptor Wayside instead.

With the weather warming up, we hope to see you along the way very soon…