THE recent upheavals at Washington’s Davy Lamp Folk Club has resulted in the launch of a new weekly folk club to supplement the now-monthly concerts at their regular venue. From next Wednesday, the Westwood Social Club in Station Road, Washington, will be the venue for the “Davy Lamp Lite”, presenting local guests initially, along with all the Davy Lamp regulars. For the opening night, I’ve been asked to take centre-stage, and hopefully it will be the start of something that will flourish longterm.

More good news is that Tyneside’s Rachel Hamer Band has been given a grant from the Graeme Miles Bursary, courtesy of the English Folk Dance and Song Society, to help them finance the recording of a new CD. This really feels like a worthwhile handing over of the folk baton. On a sadder note, another local stalwart of the scene, John Kelly, the organiser of Croxdale Folk Club, left us last week, and will be missed by many.

Meanwhile, tonight at Darlington Folk Club, Tich Frier will be special guest at their Burns Night celebration, and this weekend sees the culmination of our Pitmen Poets tour with shows at Newcastle Tyne Theatre on Saturday and Durham Gala Theatre on Sunday, the latter of which is already sold out. Also on Sunday, Bill Elliott and Kevin Youldon will be at The Customs House in South Shields. On Tuesday, popular songstress Anna Shannon is at Redcar Bowling Club for The Cutty Wren, and a touch of jazz is at Cramlington’s Clef and Cask with The Keith Stephens Hot Club Trio. Elsewhere there’s the usual mixture of singarounds and sessions that are such a vital and popular part of the folk scene, so dive in and enjoy it all.