As we prepare for two upcoming gigs I’m reflecting on some of the things Steve and I have been doing since my last post – which was far too long ago! First of all, (with full details on our gigs page), our upcoming dates are as follows:
Wednesday 9th April 2025 at The Silverdale Hotel which is near Carnforth, just south of Kendal
Saturday 12th April 2025 at Wark Town Hall, just North of Hexham, Northumberland
We are very much looking to these two gigs.
Steve had a busy year in 2024 making custom guitars, a baritone ukelele and he even found time to make one for himself.
I have been spending a lot of time in Northumberland, joining in with all manner of sessions and singarounds and having a great time. I’m hoping to move there permanently soon. I also had occasion to spend a few weeks in Chelmsford and took the opportunity to look up local sessions and singarounds. It’s very refreshing to hear different styles of music played at the tune sessions, reflecting different areas of the country. I met lots of very lovely people too! I have recently re strung my little archtop guitar into Nashville tuning and I’m really enjoying the sounds it brings to our duo. In Nashville tuning, the 1st and second strings remain the same but strings 3-6 are replaced with the top four octave strings from a 12 string set, resulting in a lighter, more ringing tone.
One very fun thing that emerged recently was courtesy of a good friend in Essex who spends some of his time as a DJ. He included part of a Hicks and Goulbourn song in a mix that he put together. Steve was tickled pink with this and he wrote the following:
‘Hicks and Goulbourn hit the dance floor, no not us physically, but our music has.
To our delight, Lynn’s Song ‘I’m Gonna Take This Rainbow’ was recently included in a dance music live mix mash up by our good friend James Phillips. James, a great singer rhythm guitarist and long-time musical partner of ‘Tritts and The Numbers’ lead singer Rob Oliver, (James and Rob are a powerhouse duo), has taken to presenting disco events incorporating live mixing to his range of work. So, recently we received from James a WhatsApp Video bite and track listing where he had included ‘I’m Gonna Take This Rainbow’ . That this came to us live at 1:13am pausing momentarily Steve’s nocturnal You Tube following of You Tube Toronto Video Walker, Ken Continuum, but not quite his second glass of Pino Noir, caused Steve great delight and was absolutely knocked out by the sound. Lynn too praising James with bountiful thanks for this modern treatment of the song. Tech-House Drum beat, a great vibe and some very nice folks dancing away, couldn’t be happier, it was Essex after all. But wow! what a massive upturn in Hicks and Goulbourn’s Street cred. Here we are alongside such luminaries as Chaka Kahn, 13 Burnin, Freak on a Leash and Boney M. Where next?’
Hicks and Goulbourn gigs are few and far between nowadays but we will always welcome invitations to play. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed our recent bookings including Stevington Guitar Concerts Bedfordshire, Carrington Triangle Folk Club Nottingham and, late last year, Sail Loft Folk Club in Essex. Many thanks to all the club and event organisers who give so generously of their considerable time and energies to support independent musicians. It is very much appreciated. I’ll finish by sharing this recent review from Carrington Triangle Folk Club, which pretty much sums up a typical Hicks and Goulbourn performance. NB. Thanks to the club for the two photos
‘Lynn Goulbourn and Steve Hicks were our hugely entertaining guests on 12th March 2025. It was something of a nostalgic return for Lynn, who had been a club regular in the 1980s. Her Gren Blatherwick moped anecdote was much appreciated.
Numerous Hicks-made instruments were in evidence. Steve treated us to a splash of Turlough O’Carolan on a guitar that Lynn assured us “he’s just knocked up”, and she introduced us to Nashville tuning (E A D G up an octave + standard B E) on a Hicks mini-guitar. Possibly the ukulele upon which Steve (supposedly beginners-level) shredded later in the evening was also a Hicks product. One suspects he even hand-crafted the coconuts which clip-clopped us through ‘Black Hills of Dakota’.
The room was packed and in good voice. The chance to join in on the call-and-response gospel blues of ‘Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning’ was very eagerly seized.
US-derived material made up a sizeable portion of the evening’s delicious fare, from Lead Belly’s ‘Bring Me Little Water, Sylvie’ to John Prine’s ‘The Speed of the Sound of Loneliness’ via the trad children’s songs ‘Polly Wolly Doodle’ and ‘Shortnin’ Bread’ (the latter morphing into Scott Joplin’s ‘The Entertainer’) and a roaring version of ‘Saint James Infirmary’ with more hi-de-hoes than Cab Calloway (though slightly fewer dance steps). Steve’s extraordinary guitar-playing was mesmerizing as he paid tribute fingerstyle to Duck Baker and effortlessly merged the oldtime bluegrass of ‘Ragtime Annie’ with ‘Angeline the Baker’.
Lynn sang ‘Fear a’ Bhàta’ in impressively capable Scottish Gaelic, and turned the Geordie up to 11 for ‘The Lambton Worm’ [rhymes with storm]. Steve delivered some wonderful Canadian poetry in Bruce Cockburn’s mixed spoken-word-n-song ‘Three Al Purdys’, and played a beautiful guitar-adaption of the South African composer Abdullah Ibrahim’s piano piece ‘The Wedding’.
For variety and dexterity the duo are hard to beat. If we learnt one thing this evening, it’s that talent can outplay arthritis. If we learnt a second thing, it’s that Jesus was a Geordie.’