The Serenaders had a jolly time on Saturday. Just an hour’s playing but we managed to pack in most of our tunes. A jolly time seemed to have been had, too, by the passers-by who were most generous with their coins (and a note!)

One man took a video and said he was sending it to his daughter who was down at some festival called Glazonberry or something like that, seeing a band called the Fooey Floaters or some such. He was asking her why she’d gone all that way when he was being thoroughly entertained right here in Market St, Lichfield. Good man!

We may have some videos to come once the Reverend gets his thoughts together, but in the meantime many thanks to one of our most loyal supporters, Kate Slater, for this pic:

There’s an ice cream van in our usual spot so we are reconvening at the far more classy Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum.

See you there!

Six months is a lot of time off, even for as laid-back a mob as the Wayside Serenaders. We finally got together yesterday to re-learn all the regular material that had been erased from our meagre brains by the Yuletide repertoire, and we should be the full six-strong for our return to Speaker’s Corner, beside Minster Pool in Lichfield, this Saturday, 24 June, between 11am and about 12.45pm.

Hope to see you there!

The people of Lichfield – and visitors to the city – have been most generous this December. Not only did they stop to listen a while to the most ramshackle of bands, they threw loads of coins and notes (!) into the hatbox.

As a result, we have been able to donate £350 to Crisis.

The charity says: “Supporters like you help give people facing homelessness a safe, joyful Christmas and the support they need to leave homelessness behind for good. I’ve seen first-hand how bright and confident our guests become over the Christmas period after being shown dignity and care.

“And Christmas is just the beginning.

“Your gift can also help provide tailored support all year round – for example, helping someone with finding a home and settling in, gaining new skills or a new job, or helping with their health and wellbeing.”

Hurrah! We look forward to seeing you again when we are the Wayside Serenaders once more, when the days are longer and the weather is warmer. In the meantime, may you all have a very merry Christmas and a most prosperous 2023.

‘Tis the season to be jolly and that’s exactly how the Wayside Serenaders are feeling as they “rebrand” for the second time, for one month only. The tea-chest artwork is appropriately amended (many thanks Andy P!), the carols and Christmas tunes have been dusted off, and an invitation is heartily extended to anyone who feels like a festive sing-song to join us (dates below).

The Yuletide Serenaders will be at Speakers’ Corner (sundry festival stalls, officious security guards, weather, etc, permitting), next to Minster Pool in Lichfield, from 11am to 12.30pm on Saturday 10, Saturday 17, Wednesday 21 and Saturday 24 December, and would love as many as want to be part of the Yuletide Serenaders Massed Choir to join them. Songbooks will be provided! No previous experience needed!

Here’s a taste from last year (with, again, apologies to Themba Mvula for murdering his arrangement!):

Last year we raised nearly £200 for the Crisis charity. We’ll be asking for donations again this year. Even if you don’t want to sing, please come along to see us and say hello.

We chickened in! The plucky Wayside Serenaders filled in the gaps between the pukka artistes at Lichfield Arts’ Folk On The Farm yesterday at the bucolic Woodside Farm, and we were, briefly, a septet. Here’s the proof:

Many thanks to Jill Sewell for clucking the shitter (as the Rev Spooner might almost have had it)

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

Here we are in Beacon Park at the weekend, playing for festival-goers on their way to or from the Fuse Festival:

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.

…and they met unexpectedly at Speakers’ Corner in Lichfield.

The Rev J Olly Glum was busy plucking at nylon string and pulling on broom handle when Kath From Huddersfield happened to stroll by in the company of her bowls-playing, Lichfield-resident mum.

Kath From Huddersfield, who plays in a blues-skiffle outfit called Hokum, had been collecting bird feathers to use as quills with her writing group, but was persuaded to swap feathers for tea chest briefly, sitting in with the Serenaders for a run-through of Mama Don’t Allow.

And here she and they are (once again Rev Glum has failed hopelessly in his videoing, leaving Kath From Huddersfield hidden behind her own hand for much of the video. He offers his apologies):

If you want to find out what Kath From Huddersfield and Hokum are up to, their Facebook page is here:

https://www.facebook.com/HokumHudds