The snow was on the ground, the North Wind did blow, but that didn’t stop a bunch of the finest, most intrepid vocalists (Some had travelled from the sunny South! Who says they’re soft down there?) joining the Yuletide Serenaders for a practice run-through in the back garden:

Public outings are now being planned. Look out for us on possibly Saturday 11, Sunday 12 and/or Saturday 18 December near Minster Pool in Lichfield. And be part of the choir! More details soon…

Huge thanks to Andy for the pics.

… but the Serenaders are filling in the imaginary grave in December to plant an imaginary Christmas tree. We’ve decided to go relatively festive (only in terms of our repertoire… NO CHRISTMAS JUMPERS!), we have a new instrumental line-up and are enlisting some of the finest singers we know to help us.

Look out for us in our usual spot under the yew tree beside Minster Pool, Lichfield, sometime on a Saturday or Sunday in December (slightly more specific details in due course).

In the New Year we will chop the tree down and re-dig the grave, our fellow miserabilists will be relieved to hear.

And, as usual, huge thanks to the band’s best friend, Andy, for updating the artwork.

10 April 1956 – 26 August 2021

We gave him the ironic stage surname “Sombre”, but Richard remains in our memories the very opposite of sombre. A gentleman of unquenchable optimism and boundless generosity, the musical rock upon which the Serenaders tried to maintain their precarious stumble across the song structures, he is missed more than our words can express.

Play on in that celestial band, our dearest Richard.

Richard’s funeral will be held at Wade Street Church, Lichfield, at 2pm on Friday 17 September.

Pete Joyless, accordionist, Swanee whistle, bones, etc, with the Graveside Serenaders, has another life it seems, as a festival organiser. Lichfield’s own Bill Graham writes:

“You might know I’m helping to organise the ‘Folk on the Farm’ picnic at Woodhouse Community Farm on Sunday 5 September for Lichfield Arts. This is gearing up to be a genuinely exciting event – half a dozen local bands/duos, plus the five finalists from this year’s Songwriting Competition, dancers, storytellers, mummers etc., all performing in the lovely setting of Woodhouse farm in Fisherwick Wood Lane (you might know the produce from the farmers’ market in Lichfield).”

The Serenaders had been asked to play this event but, alas and alack, due to J. Olly Glum (a Right Rev if ever there was one) having accidentally arranged a holiday in the Eastern lands, this is not to be.

But please don’t let that stop you going… it might, in fact, encourage attendance! You need to book beforehand and there is free food with your entrance fee. Oh, and please spread the word!

Full details and booking here.

Not only did the Graveside Serenaders brave the drizzle on Saturday, we expanded our horizons and busked not only beneath the home-from-home Yew beside Minster Pool in Lichfield, but also beneath another tree in Beacon Park, not far from Capt Smith, of the Titanic, and the budding Djokovics and Bartys smashing them back and forth on the tennis courts. The passing Fuse Festival crowds looked a little bemused, but the children – and the dogs! – seemed to really dig what we were doing.

And look! We used the trusty garden wheelbarrow to assist our new touring operation. Today Lichfield… tomorrow, the World!

(Thanks to Harriet Bleak for the selfie/vid)

The Lichfield Fuse Festival started out many years ago as the fringe to the Lichfield Festival, but it’s now very much its own thing, and it happens this weekend (13-15 August) in Beacon Park.

The Graveside Serenaders did make a vague attempt to get on to the Fuse’s Open Mic stage but failed, which was a relief as Mics are not our thing at all. So we will be outside the main arena banging the drum – and whatever else we can find – for purely acoustic music. You could say we are the Fuse’s fringe!

Look out for us on Saturday between high noon and early to mid-afternoon. We’ll start out under the usual yew tree beside Minster Pool but then may be somewhere over in Beacon Park, perhaps not far from Capt Smith’s statue (the Titanic is our kind of ship) or overshadowed by the magnificent copper beech near the lower end of the sports fields, trying to appeal to Fuse goers to part with their loose change before the main event.

Do hope to see you!