The pub is a stone-built village pub, the only thatched building and the oldest pub in the town of Shipston-on-Stour. The pub licence dates back to 1540, and the lounge is cosy and welcoming with a large inglenook real fireplace.
The Open Mic session was run by Barney Porter and a range of local talent turned up to play from the small garden stage to large appreciative audiences, who were enjoying the real of real ales, wines and other drinks from enigmatic proprietor Baggy Saunders.
This included a trio of Barney Porter (guitar), Valerie Vet (vocals) and Mark Jervis (beat box) sang several songs including the Stevie Wonder classic Superstition, with strong female vocals from Valerie.
Next up was singer and guitarist with his powerful voice with renditions of Blue Suede Shoes (Elvis Presley), Strange Brew (Cream) and Poison (Alice Cooper).
Then up on stage ambled a more mature trio called the Shambolics, featuring Alan Thompson (Guitar), Mark Dudfield (guitar) and Colin Beckett (washboard & harmonica) with renditions of Sea of Heartbreak (Johnny Cash), Gypsy Woman (Don Williams) and Teenager in Love (Dion and the Belmonts).
Next our pub proprietor Baggy Saunders told up a few humorous short poems, one of which he had submitted to Beano magazine and had won 10 shillings as a winner.
Then two of Third Dimension took to the stage, George Scholes (guitar) and Laura Furnell (vocals) with the help of Mark Jervis on beatbox. The full group (with Jez Walker) are playing again on Saturday night as part of the Proms. Their set included She’s Not There (Santana), Smooth Operator (Sade) and China Girl (David Bowie).
Then we moved to a more jazz/folk style with two of 16 Strings and a Dead Goat with Eleanor Stanley (violin) and James Thomas (guitar) with their versions of That Man, Galway Girl (Steve Earle), Over The Waterfall (Henry Reed) and Sweet Child Of Mine (Guns ‘N Roses), so a bit more rock in there too!
Next we had on stage singer/guitarist Becky with her rendition of I’m not Perfect (Missy Elliott) and finished off the evening with had Barney Porter (guitar), his Dad and Shipston Proms organiser Tim Porter (harmonica) and Mark Jervis called into action again on beatbox. They gave us renditions of Take a load (The Band), the Theme from the BBC2 show Old Grey Whistletest and a version of The Eagles Desparado with Tim’s harmonica rather than vocals. This was the second time this evening that Tim had performed that as he had played this with The Vale Musicians at their Proms gig at Cherington.
The next night it was the turn of Stratford Folk Club comes to Shipston, run by Tori Rushton, as part of the Shipston Proms, again hosted at the Black Horse’s garden stage area.
This included a selection of Irish (and similar) songs played and sung by Roger Reed, Battered Soul lead singer/guitarist Ben Bryan with a rendition of Travis’s Why does it always Rain, which at 1994 was a part back as he wanted to go songwise, which got a large laugh from the slightly more mature audience than 16-year-old Ben!
Next up was Battered Soul’s singer Charley Mack playing her guitar with her versions of Atlas Hands (Benjamin Francis Leftwich) and Mine (Beyonce) before she introduced and debuted her own song Kisses in the Rain.
Following was a much more mature singer Bill Pulham, with a selection of old favorites and historic songs some just with vocals and the final song with harmonica. This included Bling George, Whose Horse is That? And Earnie Ford’s 1956 song Muscle and Blood.
Back up again was Roger Reed, this time with guitar, with a version of Lindisfarne’s Fog on the Tyne.
Next up we had the guitarist from Daisy Chain Quartet John Bird and singer Bill Pulham with a duet. Finally host Tori Rushton with her cello (and also a Daisy Chain Quartet member) and fellow band member John Bird (guitar) gave us their version of Kissing on a Knife edge.
At the end after great audience appreciation, the Shipston Proms and its future events were plugged with events up to and including the big finale on Saturday 4th July in Shipston’s main square.
