Things have been very quiet in the Serenaders’ camp over the last few months. Partly it has been the weather, but mainly it has been the fact that one of our merry band, banjoist extraordinaire and man of French letters, Richard Sombre, has been laid low by – let us not beat about the bush – cancer. With his indomitable spirit and humour in the face of the worst kind of news he continues to be an inspiration to us all.

While he might not be with us in person when we regroup for a busk as the weather gets warmer and drier (hope springs eternal), he will definitely be there in our hearts… And, we trust, rooting for us from his comfy chair.

A four-person Graveside Serenaders played in the buskers’ tent yesterday, shaded from an unseasonally clear blue sky. The number of listeners swelled during our half-hour set which is a jolly encouraging sign; we were clearly not too boring. Thank you to all who stayed to listen and to the HHG for organising a busking area. Thanks to our good friend Trish for the top pic! And thanks to Angie Cole for the one below, and to Chris Pattison for the one at the bottom.

The Graveside Serenaders are returning to the place they started on Saturday 31 August. We’ll be playing a private party, just as we did for our first public performance a year ago, and it’s the same annual event: The Party In The Paddock, courtesy of Sean and Helen, up in the wilds of Derbyshire. It’ll be exciting to be back and we’re most grateful for the opportunity.

After that, the next planned public performance is at Huddlesford Heritage Gathering on Saturday 21 September. We’ll be playing the special Buskers’ spot from 2pm to 2.30pm. The Heritage gang run a rigorous ship so we’re tightly tied to that time slot – arrive late and you’ll miss us!

Of course there could always be some random busking under the Yew beside Minster Pool in Lichfield before then… you never know. And neither do we!

Hope to see you somewhere soon…

Another lovely afternoon beneath the Yew next to Minster Pool.

Here we are:

And here you are:

Many thanks to Phil for the pics.

We had such a fun time a couple of Saturdays back under the Yew tree beside Minster Pool in Lichfield that we’ve decided to make a return visit… Tomorrow, Saturday 17 August  from approx 2pm to 3pm.

Would be lovely to see you there! We can offer a possible new tune or two… and definitely a new instrument! What is it? Come along to see…

We spent a happy hour yesterday afternoon busking beneath a fine Yew next to Minster Pool in Lichfield and some of our friends as well as the general public kindly threw money at us in reward.

We introduced some new numbers into the meagre repertoire among the solid gold oldies such as this one:

Thank you to our good friends Dave Mills (for the picture) and Kate Slater (for the video)

Dear Mortals – come and see/hear us tomorrow beside Minster Pool in Lichfield as we attempt to hold back the dark clouds of eternal darkness – and that’s just a no-deal Brexit! – with a jolly ditty or two. New tunes! Busking from 2pm or so… until we get told to clear off!