Hove Folk Club

Ruth Cooke : 11th June 2010

We may have had to fight against the football or a return to sunny summer evenings, but for those of us who came to the Hove Folk Club tonight it was well worth the journey. Ruth has been performing at the folk club for a long while now, and her songs are always good to catch, so a whole evening of her singing was a particularly exciting prospect.

Host Robb kicked the night off with some timely reflections on the maybe-not-all-embracing nature of the South African World Cup ("how come the rich are still rich and the poor still poor?"), and the floor acts caught the mood of the evening and drew the listeners together. Ian and Trevor each showed us some fine finger-picking and songwriting (Trevor's "A Soldier's Pay" was a particular high point of the evening, and I look forward to seeing him at the folk club again in future), while Bethan and Jon performed a variety of songs on violin and guitar.

And so to Ruth. Her songs are deceptively simple, and speak disarmingly honestly and insightfully about love, human frailty, the passage of time and simple pleasures. Alongside her own songs, though, Ruth treated us to traditional songs, great choices of covers (including a rousing a cappella number by Seize the Day) and spoken words by Shel Silverstein. She sings in a comfortable, assured style that holds the attention and draws you into the emotion of the song, and her informal, relaxed performance eased the audience in and carried us through sets that were at times soothing, soulful, humorous and stirring. Even a well-aired song like Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" sounded fresh and showed why it was so good in the first place. A great singer, a great songwriter, and another great night of songs and music.  I'm looking forward to the next one on 2nd July.

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