30/10/2017
Sadly, I have to tell you that the Acoustic Session at Joules on the 16th November will be the last.
As many of you are aware, Joules Eating House closed at the end of last year, but the yard was kept open for the Acoustic Sessions and other musical events. Unfortunately it is no longer feasible to keep the yard running for these events, so after almost exactly 18 years, we must bring this great institution to an end. The wood burner business will continue to operate from the yard.
When Dan Baines and I (aided and abetted by Dave and Clare Davies) decided, at the end of the last millennium (yes, really!), to start a regular music session at the yard, little did I imagine that it would run for 18 years, still less that I would be the MC for all that time. But it’s been a success far beyond our expectations and I for one have had enormous pleasure from playing music and listening to others playing in such a relaxed informal setting. I long ago gave up counting how many people have played there – it must be well into the hundreds - maybe even over a thousand, who knows? – and many of them really talented people. I hope that we’ve helped to give their musical careers, even if it’s just a hobby, a bit of a boost.
When we started the sessions, there was nothing like it in the area. I regularly trekked over to Earls Shilton since it was the nearest open mic session I could find at the time which wasn’t specifically intended for folk music. (Nothing against folk music, but I wanted to play other kinds of music as well). But the good news is that there are now several successful sessions running in and around Harborough (I like to think maybe inspired by what we’ve been doing at Joules), so local musos won’t be robbed of the chance to play.
We must express a great big thank-you to Ian Joule, and of course Nick, for hosting our sessions all this time (and letting me run them exactly as I wanted) and in particular for his support in the last year, when he kept things going specifically for the music.
So I hope to see you all at Joules on the 16th November for our 18th birthday and final session. Let’s make it a really good one.
Cheers,
Steve
