Year 2 No 1 - October 1978
The first meetiong of the 1978/79 season was held in Oughtons on Tuesday evening, 12th September. Tony Dalton welcomed the capacity audience of almost 200. Local players from Beeswing, Dumfries, Castle Douglas and Gretna came along to entertain, as did Linda Williams, who travels all the way from Preston each month to attend our Club. Backing for the evening was provided by Max Houliston, accompanied by drummer Sandy McLellan. Tony remarked on the very high standard of the players and stressed the importance of the Accordion Clubs in forwarding the ambitions of players, especially young people.
Guest artistes for the first evening were The Tartan Lads, who provided a great selection of Scottish music to set the feet tapping. The two Lads entertained the audience with accordion solos, songs and jokes, proving to be a very versatile duo.
The evening concluded with Tony thanking everyone concerned for their help in making the first night a tremendous success, and we hope this will be the start of many good nights.
The next meeting of the Club will be held on 10th October when the guest will be Jim MacLeod and his Broadcasting Band.
Doreen Dalton
Year 2 No 2 - November 1978
On Tuesday evening, 10th October, the Dumfries Accordion Club held its second meeting of the season in Oughtons. The guest artistes for the evening were Jim MacLeod and his Broadcasting Band, who entertained the audience with music and song. Jim is always a very popular artiste in Dumfries and it was gratifying to see an audience of over 200.
Compere Tony Dalton arranged and introduced the players, who were given a very fine musical backing by Max Houliston playing piano for a change, and Sandy McLellan, our regular drummer.
Linda Williams from Preston started the evening with a fine selection of Scottish and Continental music and it was a pleasure to welcome Iain Campbell from Helensburgh who took a turn on the drums.
Local player taking part were Linda and Janice Gray, Katrina MacDonald, Ernie Currie, John Douglas, Jimmy Edwards and Walter McMillan from Kirkcudbright.
Langholm was represented by Walter Beattie and Albie Tedham – it was a pleasure to hear Albie, so rarely do we have a fiddle player at Dumfries. This will be rectified next month when our guest artistes on 14th November will be Ron Gonella and that very accomplished musical duo Ronnie Easton and Brian Griffin.
Doreen Dalton
Year 2 No 5 - February 1979
On Tuesday evening, 14th November, Dumfries Accordion Club held its third meeting of the season. The evening’s entertainment commenced with music from mine host, Tony Dalton, accompanied by Ernie Currie playing second accordion, Jackie Bonnar drums and Tony’s wife, Doreer, playing piano.
This month saw some new players at the Club, namely, Allan Henderson, a young boy with lots of enthusiasm and June Dalton, who, after months of coaxing, finally came along and played a selection of waltzes and a very modern selection. Gary Copeland and David Vernon followed then Janice Gray from Beeswing. We all missed her little sister Linda who was unable to attend this meeting. Both Janice and Linda are extremely competent young players.
Others taking part and providing varied musical entertainment were Walter and Ernie Currie, Katrina MacDonald, Jockie Brockbank from Lockerbie, Joyce McKenzie, Jim Gibson, John Douglas and Walter McMillan. Piano backing was provided by David Hepburn, with Jackie Bonnar at the drums.
We were fortunate in November to have two guest artistes. First to appear was Ron Gonella from Crieff. Ron, as always, held the audience spellbound with his superb playing. His narrative on the tunes makes an informative and interesting performance.
Our second guest artistes were Brian Griffin and Ronnie Easton, accompanied (unexpectedly) by drummer George Darling. Brian and Ronnie played a varied selection of Scottish traditional and continental duets, including some of Brian’s own compositions. It’s good to hear music played with such enthusiasm, and we must add thanks to George for coming along and providing excellent backing to the duo.
At December’s meeting, held on 12th December in Oughtons, once again it was a pleasure to welcome a capacity audience of almost 200. Guest artiste for the evening was Arthur Spink, who, accompanied by Charlie Armour, delighted the audience with some great entertainment. We almost lost Arthur and Charlie when, engrossed in conversation they forgot toturn off the M74 for Dumfries, but eventually noticed that Carlisle was becoming very close indeed! However, I am pleased to say they arrived none the worse for the extra miles! Arthur played many tracks from his new LP, and Charlie gave a spot of real rousing Country and Western music. He certainly can play the fiddle, and Arthur’s performance, as usual, was superb.
All our regular players came along, and it was nice to hear the Cairn Country Band, comprising Jim Gibson, Andy Blackwood and Willie Duncan. It just shows how keen the musicians are to play – on hearing that the ladies at the W.R.I. dinner upstairs were having problems with their cassette recorder, Jimmy Edwards volunteered to play for them after doing his spot for the Club, so Jimmy spent the night amongst the women!! To back the players were accordionists Max Houliston, and drummer Jackie Bonnar ; compere for the evening was Tony Dalton.
This very successful meeting ended in a stramash (a very unusual occurrence for Dumfries) led by Arthur and Charlie.
Doreen Dalton
The first meetiong of the 1978/79 season was held in Oughtons on Tuesday evening, 12th September. Tony Dalton welcomed the capacity audience of almost 200. Local players from Beeswing, Dumfries, Castle Douglas and Gretna came along to entertain, as did Linda Williams, who travels all the way from Preston each month to attend our Club. Backing for the evening was provided by Max Houliston, accompanied by drummer Sandy McLellan. Tony remarked on the very high standard of the players and stressed the importance of the Accordion Clubs in forwarding the ambitions of players, especially young people.
Guest artistes for the first evening were The Tartan Lads, who provided a great selection of Scottish music to set the feet tapping. The two Lads entertained the audience with accordion solos, songs and jokes, proving to be a very versatile duo.
The evening concluded with Tony thanking everyone concerned for their help in making the first night a tremendous success, and we hope this will be the start of many good nights.
The next meeting of the Club will be held on 10th October when the guest will be Jim MacLeod and his Broadcasting Band.
Doreen Dalton
Year 2 No 2 - November 1978
On Tuesday evening, 10th October, the Dumfries Accordion Club held its second meeting of the season in Oughtons. The guest artistes for the evening were Jim MacLeod and his Broadcasting Band, who entertained the audience with music and song. Jim is always a very popular artiste in Dumfries and it was gratifying to see an audience of over 200.
Compere Tony Dalton arranged and introduced the players, who were given a very fine musical backing by Max Houliston playing piano for a change, and Sandy McLellan, our regular drummer.
Linda Williams from Preston started the evening with a fine selection of Scottish and Continental music and it was a pleasure to welcome Iain Campbell from Helensburgh who took a turn on the drums.
Local player taking part were Linda and Janice Gray, Katrina MacDonald, Ernie Currie, John Douglas, Jimmy Edwards and Walter McMillan from Kirkcudbright.
Langholm was represented by Walter Beattie and Albie Tedham – it was a pleasure to hear Albie, so rarely do we have a fiddle player at Dumfries. This will be rectified next month when our guest artistes on 14th November will be Ron Gonella and that very accomplished musical duo Ronnie Easton and Brian Griffin.
Doreen Dalton
Year 2 No 5 - February 1979
On Tuesday evening, 14th November, Dumfries Accordion Club held its third meeting of the season. The evening’s entertainment commenced with music from mine host, Tony Dalton, accompanied by Ernie Currie playing second accordion, Jackie Bonnar drums and Tony’s wife, Doreer, playing piano.
This month saw some new players at the Club, namely, Allan Henderson, a young boy with lots of enthusiasm and June Dalton, who, after months of coaxing, finally came along and played a selection of waltzes and a very modern selection. Gary Copeland and David Vernon followed then Janice Gray from Beeswing. We all missed her little sister Linda who was unable to attend this meeting. Both Janice and Linda are extremely competent young players.
Others taking part and providing varied musical entertainment were Walter and Ernie Currie, Katrina MacDonald, Jockie Brockbank from Lockerbie, Joyce McKenzie, Jim Gibson, John Douglas and Walter McMillan. Piano backing was provided by David Hepburn, with Jackie Bonnar at the drums.
We were fortunate in November to have two guest artistes. First to appear was Ron Gonella from Crieff. Ron, as always, held the audience spellbound with his superb playing. His narrative on the tunes makes an informative and interesting performance.
Our second guest artistes were Brian Griffin and Ronnie Easton, accompanied (unexpectedly) by drummer George Darling. Brian and Ronnie played a varied selection of Scottish traditional and continental duets, including some of Brian’s own compositions. It’s good to hear music played with such enthusiasm, and we must add thanks to George for coming along and providing excellent backing to the duo.
At December’s meeting, held on 12th December in Oughtons, once again it was a pleasure to welcome a capacity audience of almost 200. Guest artiste for the evening was Arthur Spink, who, accompanied by Charlie Armour, delighted the audience with some great entertainment. We almost lost Arthur and Charlie when, engrossed in conversation they forgot toturn off the M74 for Dumfries, but eventually noticed that Carlisle was becoming very close indeed! However, I am pleased to say they arrived none the worse for the extra miles! Arthur played many tracks from his new LP, and Charlie gave a spot of real rousing Country and Western music. He certainly can play the fiddle, and Arthur’s performance, as usual, was superb.
All our regular players came along, and it was nice to hear the Cairn Country Band, comprising Jim Gibson, Andy Blackwood and Willie Duncan. It just shows how keen the musicians are to play – on hearing that the ladies at the W.R.I. dinner upstairs were having problems with their cassette recorder, Jimmy Edwards volunteered to play for them after doing his spot for the Club, so Jimmy spent the night amongst the women!! To back the players were accordionists Max Houliston, and drummer Jackie Bonnar ; compere for the evening was Tony Dalton.
This very successful meeting ended in a stramash (a very unusual occurrence for Dumfries) led by Arthur and Charlie.
Doreen Dalton