Artists' report - part 2

One band adding an international flavour to this year’s festival was Canadian trio The Wailin’ Jennys. Their set included everything from an Emmylou Harris classic to a song inspired by a mosquito at 4am and ended with ‘One Voice’, a song that perfectly illustrated why the Jennys are enjoying such outstanding success.

Nicky Mehta, one of the founding Jennys, said the crowd at Shrewsbury reflected the growing popularity that folk based music is enjoying across the UK and the rest of the world.
”We did a handful of concerts in the UK last summer but we’ve been busy in the US and Canada this year. It’s great to be in Shrewsbury.
”Looking out at the crowd, there was a real mix of ages including young people. You can really feel the resurgence of folk and traditional music in England.”

Acclaimed singer/songwriter Richard Shindell travelled from Buenos Aries to perform at Shrewsbury – his first performance in England in 10 years. Shrewsbury was the only folk festival he played on a whirlwind tour of seven concerts in the UK.
Despite very little sleep because of his gruelling schedule, Richard and his guitar held the audience in the main stage spellbound on Sunday evening, with a set that showed his talent as a writer and performer.

Speaking after his afternoon performance in marquee two, he said the audience had been attentive and he had been looking forward to performing on the main stage.
“It’s virgin territory for me, very few people know who I am. Out of the thousands in the audience maybe a couple of hundred will know who I am. I like that – it gives me a chance to show what I can do, and they won’t have heard my jokes before so they’ll laugh!”
Richard, who also did a ‘meet the artist’ session, was full of praise for the festival. “It seems a great place, everything is wonderful!”