{"id":2832,"date":"2023-07-28T20:46:27","date_gmt":"2023-07-28T19:46:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/folk.wales\/magazine\/?p=2832"},"modified":"2023-07-28T20:52:36","modified_gmt":"2023-07-28T19:52:36","slug":"2832","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/folk.wales\/magazine\/?p=2832","title":{"rendered":"Review: Wilmot is a winner for songsmith Chris"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was only by chance that Wilmot: A Musical Journey<\/em> came to fruition. Chris Dale is an impressive guitarist, a lovely songwriter and a stalwart of Llantrisant Folk Club; his son married a girl from Annan, a small Scottish border town on the River Annan, which is just near the Solway Firth. Chris unearthed a story about a man called William Knox, who made his arduous emigration journey from Annan via Liverpool, across the wild Atlantic Ocean and ended up in the Canadian rural township of Wilmot in south-western Ontario. He wrote a song about it \u2013 but gradually his interest, and his written material, expanded. On Wednesday, he presented his first full show to a crowded Folk Club room, and the delighted audience clapped and cheered and loved it to bits.<\/p>\n

Wilmot: A Musical Journey<\/em> comprised 19 hard-hitting and really original songs, punctuated by Chris\u2019s magnetic, entertaining stories and Annan native Angela Jack\u2019s recorded readings of Knox\u2019s letter to his uncle, Andrew Redford. In his letter, Knox told of his stormy and perilous voyage, Ellis Island (where countless hopeful men, wives and families endured the American immigration queues), rough-and-ready New York, the Erie Canal by horse-drawn barge and overland by wagons to reach Wilmot. Chris\u2019s very singable songs always make a habit of playfully prodding minds and hearts; he slips in artful and well-chosen phrases and epithets, and his melody and his exquisite chord progression are simply out of this world.<\/p>\n

\u2018The Letter\u2019 was an appetising introduction, and \u2018The Liverpool Runner\u2019 described all the crafty ways to swindle unsuspecting emigrants of their hard-earned cash. Knox boarded on an American ship called the Republic, and \u2018The Sailor\u2019s Life\u2019 and \u2018The Storm\u2019 painted a vivid picture of the long, lonely voyage. The audacious and super-complicated \u2018New York\u2019 told of a brash city, and the music hall-like \u2018A House On The Hudson\u2019 completed the show, which was in two 45-minute parts.<\/p>\n

Albany, the capital of New York State, ignored the age-old custom of naming streets after British royalty and the establishment, and Chris performed \u2018The Streets Of Albany\u2019 to underline his tale. \u2018Conversation With A Barge Horse\u2019 described Knox\u2019s journey along the Erie Canal, nick-named \u2018Clinton\u2019s Ditch\u2019 \u2013 obviously a song was germinating, and Chris had to be the writer to cultivate it! The town of Oswego lies on Lake Ontario\u2019s shores, the Oswego River bisecting it. David Tsang narrated a recorded extract from the local newspaper, The Oswego Palladium; Chris sang \u2018Oswego Farewell\u2019, and the story-song \u2018The Wreck Of The Three Brothers\u2019 showed that the Lake can be so harsh and cruel when the wind rattles down from the Arctic. Knox finally crossed into Canada, and the cheeky \u2018Hamilton Girls\u2019 and the stirring \u2018One Last Road\u2019 bought his lengthy sojourn to an end. Chris triumphantly finished with \u2018A Man Of Property\u2019, and the audience just erupted.<\/p>\n

What now for Chris and Wilmot<\/em>? I listened to his 19 songs, and everyone was a surefire winner – it would be a crying shame if these songs were quietly buried and forgotten. Could he go one step further and record the show for posterity? Take Wilmot<\/em> into the village halls? There\u2019s no doubt that Chris has scored with his latest and best achievement \u2013 well done, sir!<\/p>\n

Mick Tems<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was only by chance that Wilmot: A Musical Journey came to fruition. Chris Dale is an impressive guitarist, a lovely songwriter and a stalwart of Llantrisant Folk Club; his son married a girl from Annan, a small Scottish border town on the River Annan, which is just near the Solway Firth. Chris unearthed a…<\/p>\n

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