Tim Broadbent

A potted musical history……………

1959 – First public performance??  Not sure that singing ‘The Rock Island Line’, aged 7, in the front room of 2, May Tree Walk, Hove to proud parents and bemused neighbours really counts but I suppose that’s how it all started. That and the Sunday mornings spent around the family Dansette, listening to anything from Edith Piaf to Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Beethoven, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee, Percy French, Tchaikovsky, Frank Crumit, Mado Robin, Florence Foster-Jenkins….. and later on of course, Tom Paxton, Joan Baez, Pete Seeger, The Clancy Brothers, Peter Paul & Mary, Dylan….

1960 – Attended first concert - Big Bill Broonzy at Brighton ’s ‘Dome’.

1964 – Sang ‘The Times They are a-Changing’, accompanied on an approximately tuned banjolele in front of the school music class. The applause was anything but thunderous; with good reason.

1965 – First guitar and first experience of the Brighton Folk Club scene courtesy of music-loving (or musician-hunting?!) sisters. The movement had been largely instigated by the legendary Brighton Ballads and Blues Club – a Sunday afternoon session held in a town centre coffee house and featuring the likes of Long John Baldry and Alexis Korner.

Immediately and irreversibly hooked by the sight and sound of live musicians, the Sunday night club at the Stanford Arms a particular favourite where the local regulars (Rod Machling, Brian Golbey, Allan Taylor, Johnnie Winch among others) always finished off the night with a gospel/blues/country set – even after illustrious guest performers like The Rev Gary Davis or Arlo Guthrie. The atmosphere was electric and not a microphone in sight.

1966 – First floor spots in local clubs. How lucky we were to have these miniature showcases for aspiring musicians, a nationwide movement which brought to the fore many of today’s stars of both music and comedy. My eternal thanks go to enthusiasts like Jim Marshall at the Stanford Arms who ran the clubs out of sheer love for the music and the camaraderie that went with it, often subsidising the guest artists out of their own pockets.

1969 – Offered and of course accepted the heady responsibility of becoming resident singer at the Stanford Arms alongside Miles Wootton and others, a tenure which was to last for nearly 10 years. The first paid gig was about this time too – all the way to The Dolphin in Eastbourne, with an ever-supportive Dad as roadie. Probably spent the £5 fee on a new Arran sweater.

Took up Morris dancing; the least said about that the better.

1969-72 – Regular gigs throughout the south east. Regular appearances on BBC Radio Brighton (‘Cabbages and Kings’, ‘Minstrel’s Gallery’, ‘Campers’ Folk’…)

1973 – First foray abroad; a 2-week residency in a Brittany campsite restaurant. Then followed 18 months of ‘retirement’ due to a debilitating attack of performer’s nerves, finally brought under control through hypnotherapy.

1974.….. - Back to full-time performing with a vengeance. UK-wide appearances including the Cambridge Folk Festival, London’s celebrated Troubador and the Woolwich Tram Shed and supports for the likes of Ralph McTell, Paul Brady, Jake Thackray, Rev. Gary Davis, Fairport Convention, Loudon Wainwright III…… BBC ‘Folk on Two’. First solo album, ‘The Female Drummer’, the latter now appearing with frightening regularity on e-bay as a ‘collectors’ (sic) item’.

1975-80 - First tour of southern Germany accompanying Johnnie Winch, returning to take up a 2-year residency in Nuremberg with frequent tours of the UK and France.  First of some 20 annual appearances at The Jersey Folk (later World Music) Festival and the first of several visits to perform at Nairobi ’s Bacchus Club and the Muthaiga Club (‘Out of Africa’) Cirencester Ball.

1980-81 – The ‘Globetrotting’ tour with Steve May. UK , Europe (Förcheim Annafest), Algeria, Kenya (via Moscow!), Malawi, South Africa, USA (British Airways Cultural Exchange Festival).

1982 – Moved to France to open ‘Lou Galès’ and later ‘Le Mûrier’ restaurants.

1983 – 25-date winter tour of Australia with Fiona Gibson including the National Folk Festival in Toodjay (Perth).

1984 – British Council tour of the Sudan.

1985 – Return to Australia for the National Festival in Alice Springs with an appearance at Hong Kong ’s Press Club en route.

1986-90 – Musical activities largely confined to end-of-evening sessions at the restaurant.

1991-4 – Back to more regular gigging, either solo or with various Folk/Blues/Rock formations (GG Gibson, Paul Fellows…..).

1994-6 – Two years as part of ‘Easy Money’ with Koko Harp and Jef Stephanus; concerts, tours and festivals.

1998…………. Return to solo appearances and summer duets with Steve May.

2003 – Release of ‘Behind the Smile’.

2006 – Release of ‘Home Truths’, featuring own compositions for the first time in French and English.

2008 – Weekly appearance on ATV-1’s JIT. News, information, general nonsense and a song (in English). Programme updated every Tuesday. Contact: www.ATV-1.com

……………………………………………………………… and so it goes on………….!!!