|
 Country music is alive and wildly waving its Stetsons in Sheffield. Hazel Davis gets in line
Of all the musical genres, country and western probably gets by far the most flack. Though it goes through odd spells of being briefly fashionable, its fan base has traditionally been associated with nerdy line dancers in bad outfits.
Not, however, in the working men's clubs of Rotherham and Chesterfield. Here you can hardly move for rhinestone cowboys. In South Yorkshire, C&W has never actually gone out of fashion and since the 1960s, among the clubs and bars of Sheffield and its surrounding towns, a whole scene has been thriving.
Jonny Williams, an award-winning singer-songwriter, is one of the scene's leading lights. "South Yorkshire is home to some of the finest country music singers and musicians in the UK," he says. "Country music has its roots steeped in honest, truthful subjects and values. A lot of us are proud, working-class people who can relate to the songs and put them over well."
Rotherham's Carolann B is known in these parts as Yorkshire's own First Lady of country music. With regular gigs in the USA and her own online country show on www. ukcountryradio.com, she maintains that South Yorkshire's scene is unique: "The fans are some of the most loyal. If you travel to a new venue, in an area you may never have visited before, you are always guaranteed a warm welcome and leave the club having made lots of new friends."
 With Sheffield generally heaving with indie venues and young (Arctic) monkey-boys, the cowboys have tended to spend much of their time on the fringe. Until now, that is.
Local promoter Graham Fawley has launched a monthly night at The Moon on Upperthorpe Road, after the closure of their regular venue, The Polish Club. Texas Fridays, says Fawley, is not restricted to one type of performer: "My personal preference is for traditional country, but I'll try to cater for most tastes."
To that end, the featured artist in April's Texas Friday is Mary Jean (Jerry Lee Lewis' niece), then in May it's back to Sheffield with their very own Jonny Williams. We're polishing our chaps in anticipation…
Spójrzmy prawdzie w oczy - sposród wszystkich gatunków muzyki, muzyka country zbiera najwięcej głosów krytyki.
Ale w Południowym Yorkshire nigdy nie wyszła z mody. Od lat 60. po dzis dzień scena muzyki country w klubach i barach Sheffield oraz okolicznych miasteczek ma się bardzo dobrze.
Jonny Williams, jeden z najlepszych wykonawców tego gatunku i autor piosenek, mówi: „Muzyka country odwołuje się do prawdziwych, życiowych tematów i najważniejszych wartosci. Wielu z nas to dumni, prosci ludzie, którzy doskonale rozumieją tę muzykę i umieją ją interpretować."
TEXAS FRIDAYS
The Moon, 117 Upperthorpe Road, Sheffield, +44 (0)114 278 1951, www.moonsheffield.co.uk 7:30pm-til late. Tickets L3 on the door
|
