Holy Moly and the Crackers comes to Danby

Through Rural Arts, based in Thirsk, we try and book acts once or twice a year to perform at Danby Village Hall. Without their sponsorship of these events it would be very difficult to afford what are very professional performers.

This year we were lucky in booking Holy Moly and the Crackers to perform on Friday 8 March. Keeping tickets to the minimum price allowed (£6 adults, £3 children) we attracted our best audience to date. As usual the evening was advertised as bring your own drink and food which always adds to the atmosphere.
Over 100 people were treated to a brilliant performance by young talented musicians and singers who, with a medley of original songs, told a story of a man with a love affair of whiskey. This seemed to strike a chord with some of the audience judging by their reaction!
With ticket sales and a great response to the raffle we managed to make almost £400 on the evening.
Why travel miles to the theatre when you can see this class of act on your doorstep at very low prices. Look out in Valley News for the next act hopefully later in the year. ◼

Les Underwood, Danby Village Hall Secretary (published in Apr 2013 issue, Valley News)

If the River was Whiskey

Danby Village Hall, 8 March 2013

We arrived in Danby early afternoon. We’d been winding and bumping our way down from Newcastle in a 1953 Land Rover. The rain hadn’t been long gone and the mist was rising from the hedges. The silence of the countryside was immense. This was a long way off from our usual stomping grounds – the rowdy clubs we play up on the banks of the Tyne.
We had travelled down to perform our show If the River was Whiskey in Danby Village hall as part of Rural Arts OnTour. We were welcomed by Les Underwood who introduced us to the very impressive stage – red theatre curtains, lovely wooden panelling, a trap door, and a green room … it could almost have been the Albert Hall. We spent the afternoon setting up and sound checking, only to be interrupted by an invasion of sheep, who stormed the village green. We panicked, running around the village like headless chickens in an attempt to warn the inhabitants of these shaggy marauders. We were quickly, and with a certain amount of ‘dear me, it’s the city folk’, reassured that the farmers regularly brought the herd off the hills in bad weather. On with the sound check. Later, Les brought down homemade cottage pie and a bottle of wine. Smiles around the table widened.

And then the crowd started tumbling in. The show itself is inspired by Americana folk/oldtime/blues music and the story-telling tradition that comes with it: an evening of lively music, tall tales and hard liquor, a collision of rowdy music, dancing, storytelling and drinking. It is the story of Willy O’Connell whose love affair with whiskey leads him away from home and into the path of malt soaked Scots, wild women and old American moonshiners. And in similar style the performance turns out to be an absolute hoot; plenty of whiskey guzzling, foot stomping and hat flinging. The crowd were both attentive and interactive, giving back as much as we threw at them. It was an absolute pleasure and an honour to perform in front of such a grand bunch of people. What really sticks with you is the awesome sense of community. To be welcomed, fed, accommodated and cheered on, to give back in performance what you are handed in hospitality.
The role of Rural Arts OnTour is vital in sending out troupes to the countryside. Being a North Yorkshire boy myself, my first memories of performances are from my local village hall, put on by Rural Arts and similar organisations. It is what first interested me in the stage, and I hope our show will have similar effect.
Holy Moly and the Crackers plan to continue working with Rural Arts and developing If the River was Whiskey. There are plans to take it north to Edinburgh and south to London. Look to the road, we’re sure to be passing by, a-hooting and a-hollering.
Thank you to Rural Arts and Alex Wright at Flanagan Collective for putting us on tour, Danby Village and especially Les for making us so welcome, to Chris for driving us and making us sound much better than we should be, and all who turned up to listen to our tale of love, loss and a heck of a lot of whiskey. We raise our glasses to you all! ◼

HOLY MOLY AND THE CRACKERS
(Conrad, Ruth, Rosie, Ash, Andy, Henry)