Northern Renegades

July 27th 2006 IAN CAL FORD and THE RAILMEN

Tonight one of my favourite groups was in attendance and as expected they gave us another show to savour. not only are they all very talented musicians / singers, but they are also three of the nicest people you could ever meet.

Ian,Steve and 'Dusty' (Dave) filled their show with Johnny Cash songs in the main, but also included some Hank Williams',a few Elvis songs,and others as a total surprise.

So it was we had,Rocking songs, Ballads of the West, Prison songs, Folk / Blues numbers etc.equally enjoyed by dancers and listeners alike.

Every song for me was a gem but some are worthy of special mention including, Five Feet High And Rising, San Quentin, Big River and some solo performances by Ian, Delia's Gone, Dark As A Dungeon which was a tribute to his dad. Bob Dylan's, One Too Many Mornings and Tennessee Stud.

The surprise of the night was Ian's brilliant version of the Jimi Hendrix classic, Hey Joe which had me spell bound.

And as their concluding encore, the lads gave us a super version of, Shake, Rattle and Roll, modeled on Elvis' peformance on the Ed Sullivan show.

WHAT A NIGHT! WHAT A SHOW! JUST GREAT!

Cyril Insley

JULY 21st 2005 IAN CALFORD and THE RAILMEN

My expectations of a good show were extremely high tonight as i was aware of the group's pedigree and their love of music popularised by three of my favourite singer / songwriters.ie. Johnny Cash, Hank Williams and Elvis Presley.

Ian Cal-Ford, since his birth, was enveloped in Country Music, being the son of British country music star Cal Ford. Like his father he hails from Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales and developed a love of music at a very erly age.When only six years old he made his first solo public performance and sang Johnny Cash's ' Cry, Cry, Cry' to a very incredulous audience at a St. David's Day celebration concert.

His working career consisted of fifteen years service in the Royal Air Force during which time, approximately twelve years ago he formed his trio, The Railmen.

Steve Tomsett, a lifelong school friend from Merthyr has always been his lead guitarist and David Greaves from Chesterfield has been his upright Bass player for the last five years.

Ian himself plays acoustic guitar and sings all the vocals.

From the first few bars of their opening song ' Big River ' this reviewer was immediately won over and the excellent rendition of this melody was maintained for every song throughout their show.

Ian's super vocals, Steve 's Luther Perkins' style guitar and Dave's slapping bass rhythms were faultless and left me spellbound.

Most of their programme was devoted to Johnny Cash's Sun Records catalogue; so quite a few songs would not be known by a lot of our audience.eg.' Belshazar', ' Katy Too' ' Mean Eyed Cat', ' There You Go' and 'So Doggone Lonesome' but such performances of lesser known ditties only enhance a concert.

Ian rested his band members for a couple of acoustic versions of ' The Alamo' and 'Tennessee Stud'. He also proved himself to be a fine raconteur of various experiences he had endured.

The dancers were mainly inactive tonight but managed to fill the floor for Hank's ' Mind Your Own Business' and Elvis' ' You're Right I'm Left, She's Gone'.

Lots of Johnny Cash songs were delivered, ' I Walk The Line', ' Folsome Prison Blues' ' San Quentin' and ' Boy Named Sue' etc. but all too soon the entertainment had to end. We were treated to three encores, however, to conclude as good a show as I have seen.

During the evening i managed to spend some time with Ian and can confirm that he is as friendly, charming and passionate about Johnny Cash and his music off stage as he is on it.

Where ever his band is playing do not hesitate to go and see them. I can assure you, you will not be disappointed. I for one cannot wait to see them here again.

Cyril Insley