The Rarebits at Chepstow Festival 2000

History

The Rarebits were formed originally as a duo in the then very active Chepstow Folk Club in the late 70's. In the early days there were many changes in the line up sometimes the band would outnumber the audience. The nucleus of the band have been together from that time. Keith with the band for only eight years is a relative newcomer while Gerry has only been playing with us for three years so we haven't got to know him yet !

The People

The band including caller Eric usually go out as a five piece, sometimes six, the programme includes song spots and instrumentals to complement the dancing. The caller is an integral part of the band as he contributes to the music as and when possible.
Instrumentally we are Bernard fiddle,Gerry recorders, clarinet, saxaphone Steve acoustic guitar, Keith piano accordian, Eric concertinas and mandolin in our six piece configuration we include Geoff on fiddle and sometimes Vanessa on keyboard. In our number we include four vocalists offering solo and group songs.

The Music

The musical material that we draw on is essentially Celtic with a strong Irish influence, we include Scots and Welsh material also, but we are not exclusive as our extensive set includes American, English and some from more exotic sources. On demand we present 'Welsh nights', Scots nights and Irish nights all through the medium of the English language

The Performance

Our dance material is aimed at the less experienced dancer, we reckon that a complete novice can start the evening with us, enjoy every dance in the programme without feeling bewildered and acquire a fair repertoire of skills in the course of that evening.

30 November 2009

Current line up


History
The Rarebits were formed originally as a duo in the then very active Chepstow Folk Club in the late 70's. In the early days there were many changes in the line up sometimes the band would outnumber the audience. The nucleus of the band have been together from that time. Steve for more than 25 years Keith with the band for 18 years while Gerry has only been playing with us for 16 years, Geoff for 6 years so we haven't got to know him yet !

The People
The band including caller Eric usually go out as a five piece, the programme includes song spots and instrumentals to complement the dancing. The caller is an integral part of the band as he contributes to the music as and when possible.
Instrumentally we are Geoff fiddle,Gerry recorders, clarinet, saxophone Steve acoustic guitar, Keith piano accordian, Eric concertinas and mandolin. In our number we include four vocalists offering solo and group songs.

The Music
The musical material that we draw on is essentially Celtic with a strong Irish influence, we include Scots and Welsh material also, but we are not exclusive as our extensive set includes American, English and some from more exotic sources. On demand we present 'Welsh nights', Scots nights and Irish nights all through the medium of the English language

2 comments:

  1. AnonymousNovember 30, 2009 at 5:29 PM

    How do you keep going for so long?
    Still making good music.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Steve KitchenJanuary 6, 2010 at 4:49 PM

    Hello Anonymous,

    The key elements for me are the fear of rejection and the anticipation of quality suppers at the venues at any particular time.

    As for the music, we try to ensure that Keith, Geoff and Gerry keep practising and Eric stays on the floor with the dancers (only joking).

    We always have a lot of fun and hope you do too.

    Steve (Guitar)

    ReplyDelete

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