The dark days of winter and their attendant awards season are now sinking into memory, and with this in mind I tracked down the man who perhaps shone the brightest at this year’s Radio2 ceremony. Steve Knightley won the award for best duo, along with Phil Beer as the other half of Show Of Hands, and they also took the prize for best original song, with Knightley’s highly relevant Arrogance Ignorance and Greed.
I found him playing a gig at Papplewick Village Hall, in Nottinghamshire, towards the end of a UK tour with his protégé and singing partner of the last four years, Jenna Witts. Show Of Hands are now on a six-date tour of Germany, before beginning a 25-date tour of the UK next month.
The gig was staged by Farnsfield Acoustic, a group of friends who operate on a non-profit making basis to bring the best of folk music to their part of Sherwood Forest. Two of them – Mike and Jill Jervis – also handle the ticketing operation for Fairport’s Cropredy Convention, so they’re a little busy at the moment.
The evening consisted of the predictable back catalogue offerings, including Seven Days and Exile, from the Show Of Hands album Country Life, before Jenna took solo slot with songs from her new album, Brother.
During the interval I managed to talk to him about the awards. After all, in nearly three decades at the top of English folk music he had never won one before, had he? He said: “Well actually, we had previously won the award for best live act, but that was by popular vote, rather than the judging panel. It seems we are becoming more accepted within the music world. We feel we have been basically ignored in the past because we don’t use the services of a manager or agent. Our attitude has been: ‘If you want to sing, then get out there and sing,’ and this seems to have distanced us from the mainstream. Now we are being accepted as people who write strong, challenging songs. It was great to win the awards. I don’t think Arrogance Ignorance and Greed was even our best song. I think Country Life and Roots were both stronger, but it all comes with the acceptance.”
After the interval things speeded up, with Are We All Right and Cousin Jack, before Knightley treated his audience to what he called a work in progress. Stop Copying Me was a scary song about the darker side of the internet, with the words cloaked in a veil of childlike innocence.
All in all, it was a great night’s music, with the added bonus of a drive home which included Jenna’s song Brother being played on the late night Bob Harris show on Radio2. These West Country folk have justifiably reached the top of British music.
by Frank Chester