The Bishops Stortford Acoustic Club
at South Mill Arts Centre
1-3, South Road, Bishops Stortford, Herts.
CM23 3JG
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Previous
Performances – Who played when |
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A
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ACOUSTIC CLUB
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The Godfathers of the Acoustic Club
Keef Jackman & Drew Bonnington |
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Keef
Jackman and Drew Bonnington started the Acoustic Club in April 2002 as they
both had a desire to play blues music acoustically and had no stage to do so!
Initially, it was held once a month, with an open mic for all styles of
music, any acoustic instrument, and any level with Keef’s partner Annie
carrying out the door function. |
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With Drew
taking a back seat, Keef & Annie ran the club successfully for 10 years
creating a weekly night that was very much an important part of the local
music scene. It was expanded and the format was set with a Showcase Act being
supported by 9 acts. During those early days a number of performers came to
call the Acoustic Club their first home. Players who gained Internationally
renown:- George Ezra, Surie, John Gomm, Sam Smith, Matt Cardle to name a few
but there have been so many!! |
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In June
2012 Keef and Annie made the decision that they would like a break from
organising the Club and handed the reins over to Jess & Neil – 2/3’s of
the fabulous band The Huxleys who were in the business of Music Clubs. They gladly
inherited the club to run alongside their regular Hertford open mic nights.
They installed Hertford guitarist and songwriter Luke Silver as Host and M/C
with Rob Daniels as resident sound engineer. |
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The Club
continued with a vast range of players and headliners as Jess introduced us
to many of her musical friends from around the world whilst continuing with
local performers. |
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In 2014,
with a thriving music shop and school and teaching business in Hertford and a
growing young family, Jess and Neil could no longer dedicate the time
necessary to the Club. At this point Geoff and Bill became the next inheritors
of the Bishops Stortford Acoustic Club |
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Since
then, Geoff and Bill have been able to steer the club from almost closure to
being stalled for 15 months during the pandemic via a relocation to the other
end of Town during the closure of the Half Moon for refurbishment. Because of
the refocussing of the Horn at the Half Moon into the wonderful music venue
it is, we have changed days from Thursday to Wednesday. Also, to suit other
requirements we now run every other week. |
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Geoff and
Bill have expanded the scope of music to include differing formats featuring
the traditional evening of a Showcase Act supported by 8 support acts, 6 x 4
and 4 x 6 acts with either 6 acts with 4 songs or 4 acts with 6 songs and
finally Concert nights with a major headliner and one or two supporting
artists. |
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In 2020 BP
(before the pandemic), we planned to have outdoor concerts in the Courtyard
and more special nights with headline acts, with album launches and
supporting tours of the very top players. Now things are back on an even keel
we will get back on those as well as our involvement in BISH BASH!. In 2021
the Bandstand Acoustic stage was the centre of peace and tranquillity and we
featured 16 hours of live acoustic-ish music with 33 headline acts
and 65 musicians (some played twice or even 3 times. Grateful thanks to all our performers who
were in order of playing Friday 4th:- Jo Clack , Clark &
Johnson, Cider at Yours (both of them), Joe Chipperfield, Bill Johnson, Troi,
The One After 909 (Colin and James Frid), India Purton accompanied by Stuart
Purton, Hanako Ward, Billianna accompanied by Graham Instrall & Joe
Hazell, Ella Brand, Pat Crilly & Paul Hilder, Peter Crossley, Luke James
Williams, Junkyard Dawg Jug Band (All four of them), Thursday’s Band (Four of
them of them), Elliot Porter, Parker (both of them) Saturday:- Martin Day plus Bill, Laura
Dannan, Stephen Aravena + Richard Johnson and one whose name escapes me on
cajon (sorry), Jay Williams, Terry Hiscock, Archie Eastlake with Hanako Ward,
Sofia Gatland with Hanako Ward, Bill Tarran, Jono (Four of them Mike, Ed Kris
and Cormac), Dan Starr, Frances & Love Hobbs, Bill Tarran, Sheri Kershaw
Band (Sheri, Martin and David), Linda Moylan and Ian Montague, Joe Hazell and
Tom Ryder and the Joe Chipperfield Blues Breakers ( Joe Chipperfield, Joe
Hazell, Grant, Graham, Dan and Cormac) |
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During
2023 things at the Horn at the Half Moon went from bad to worse. The first
was that, following a serious incident outside the Pub, the Licensing
Authority closed the premises for 8 weeks. This caused us no end of issues
the most trying was the cancellation of the gig by SuRie, which had been long
planned and was at very short notice. We managed
to work around the closure of the Pub and we found temporary location at the
South Mill Arts Centre. This temporary move was very popular with the players
and audience alike. However once the pub was reopened we happily moved back
to the Horns at the Half Moon. Disaster
almost struck again when at the end of October the Management, who had
installed a new manager to run the premises as part of the re-opening,
decided that they no longer wished to run the pub and surrendered the lease.
This resulted in yet another shutdown of the pub and because the SMAC was not
available we were delighted to move to the Belgian Brewer. Due to the
ongoing issues in Stortford Town Centre and the obvious advantages of being
primarily located at the South Mill Arts Centre, from 11th January
we will be located at the SMAC for our 2024 season. It is such
a wrench to move on a permanent basis from the Half Moon – we have been there
through thick and thin for over 20 years – but circumstances change and we
either change or fade into the background. So we look
forward to 2024 with hope an enthusiasm for a New Year and some wonderful
nights in prospect Geoff and
Bill |
