Top line-up for 2015 Folk on the Coast in Bognor Regis

Bognor Regis’ Folk on the Coast series goes from strength to strength with another sparkling line-up for 2015.
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Roger

The club meets at Seasons at Bognor Regis Football Club where it has prospered.

Organiser Roger Nash is delighted with the programme he has been able to put together for this year.

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“We started in about 2006. We used to have Folk on the Coast at the Regis Centre many years ago. I left teaching, and I decided it would be good to revive it, and then we moved in around 2009 to the football club.

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Roger

“It’s a nice relaxing atmosphere, and hopefully we have been able to get the kinds of performers people want to see. Seasons is a good venue with good car-parking, and we can get at least 100 to 150 people in there without it seeming squashed. It’s good and comfortable, and all the artists that have come have always commented on the quality of the venue.”

Key to success has always been variety, which is easier to achieve given the wealth of contacts Roger has got and is developing still.

“We have got Richard Digance in March. We have actually become quite good friends. I was able to just call him up. And we have got Phil Beer in February. It is the same with Phil, working through his agent.

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“Gerry Colvin is the first act for 2015, someone I have known for quite a while.

“So it is all about variety. It’s about different styles and different genres, but we do always try to have a balance, and I think we have got quite a nice balance for 2015. All the people we have chosen for the programme this year are exceptionally talented. We are very much looking forward to David Francey coming over from Canada in May. He is a very accomplished singer-songwriter, and we managed to get him through an agency.

“Generally we get very good audiences, 50 to 100 people and quite a lot of times 100-plus. Some nights are more successful than others, but from the financial point of view, it does well. We are able to put any money back into the series. It’s swings and roundabouts, but really it is all about having a good time and enjoying good music.”

Strengthening the series in recent years is the fact it dovetails so well with the South Downs Folk Festival which Roger also revived and which this year sees its third outing since its come back. Folk on the Coast runs through from January to May and resumes in October and November, leaving the summer months clear for the build-up to the South Downs Folk Festival each year.

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There is plenty of cross-over between the festival and the series and plenty of chance for the one to promote the other. Throw in ROX as well, and Roger likes to label Bognor the festival town these days, a great place to enjoy music and a place with a steadily-improving reputation.

Club Nights are on a Friday each month and start at 7.30pm. Tickets are available in advance for selected evenings. See www.folkonthecoast.co.uk for full details.

January 23; Gerry Colvin Trio; £8 (£7 concessions); February 27; Phil Beer; £12 (£11); March 13: Richard Digance; £12 (£11); April 17 Paul Downes; £8 (£7)May 29: David Francey, Canadian singer; £8 (£7).October 30: Steve Tilston, award-winning folk legend; £10 (£9); November 27: The Jigantics; £10 (£9).