The Brue Boys with conductor Jennifer
and harpist & present accompanist Carolyn
before the first concert
(Jennifer's son Jeremy (2nd from left) was accompanist for this first concert)

How Lucky was that?
Baltonsborough Parish Magazine article July 2007 from Ron Smith who was in the audience

Those of us who made the trip up to Tilham the night of Saturday 19th May were there for "the first public appearance" of a new singing group calling themselves the "Brue Boys" (what a nerve) and with the aid of a talented bunch of other musical types gave us a great evening of singing and playing, for all the world like an old-fashioned concert and certainly giving everybody there a wonderful evening.

I suppose it all started with the arrival a few years ago of Robert and Sue Peto who not only brought Tilham Farm back to life but also built the small theatre which they called The Stalls - how mad was that! At roughly the same time a lady called Jennifer Martin came to the village who made her mark by breathing new life into the church choir whilst at the same time nursing a secret (?) ambition to form a men's singing group. This led to the rounding up of the current seventeen voices with outstanding options on a further 33 making a total of fifty some time in the future.

Anyway, for the time being a founding group did a wonderful job on the night and we enjoyed songs ranging from well known spirituals to old favourites such as 'There is nothing like a Dame' - we all joined in with this one before supper. Personally I loved the way they tackled that rather strange song called Kumba Jah and made it sound really fresh and original. All this was no more than uncovering hidden talent in the village and "our" two saxophonists, Phil Jackson and Dave Sheenan-Dare, gave us a turn. introducing a slightly more astringent note to set against the mellow tone of the singers.

When we listen to a singer we think we understand what is going on; many of us have had an uncle who played a wind instrument or even persuaded our daughters to learn the flute but when it comes to the harp it looks as though it has come from another, more poetic country. We go to concerts for singing or playing but the chance to hear a harpist is a pretty rare event. This made the presence of Carolyn Young and her beautiful harp that much more of a treat. I suppose it was a typical harp occasion as it took two Brue Boys to carry in the golden treasure and doubtless every harpist must also travel with a large estate car as transport.

There was a nice gentle guitar solo and song but there's no doubt that the star of the evening was Jennifer who got the best out of everyone including (or you might say especially) the audience - and it was a packed house with everyone really joining in and sharing the fun. There were so many good things going on in our village and this evening was one of the best. Needless to say it didn't happen without a lot of work behind the scenes. Beverley Sessions not only organised the supper, but made the chutney that went with it. Generous donations were made by farmer Mr Clapp, who provided the very nice cheese, and Mr Burns the very nice (and not at all burnt!) bread rolls. What an evening.