The History of NotMells...

Way back in 1990 I went to the Trowbridge Village Pump Folk Festival. After thoroughly enjoying the stage performances and drinking copious amounts of real ale, I returned to the campsite, hoping to find a late-night session. I bumped into a fiddle player and a whistle player who had the same idea. We eventually chanced upon a small gathering around a campfire where Phil Heelys was picking a few tunes on his mandolin. Another log went on the fire, beer was dispensed and a session was soon in full swing. The session quickly grew as other musicians who heard the music came to join us. Within minutes about twenty or so musicians were playing jigs and reels, singing songs and generally having a ball.

Inevitably I suppose, a gentleman with a badge, or an official looking tee-shirt or a radio or something (I have a memory like one of those things you use for straining rice) turned up to tell us not to make “noise” as people are trying to sleep! It was this incident that prompted the discussion… “Wouldn’t it be nice if we had a festival – sort of thing – where we didn’t have to pay to get in, where musicians could play tunes till dawn, with a good campfire session, good beer etc...” Impossible we thought!

The first Mells Irish music Weekend took place in September that year. It was an event where you didn’t have to pay to get in, where musicians could play tunes till dawn, with a good campfire session, good beer etc... I teamed up with David McClew in Mells who worked like a Trojan to get the campsite organised, and George Crompton in the Talbot Inn who provided an excellent venue, and we had a most wonderful session weekend centred around the pub and the campsite. The event has always followed roughly the same format, attracting a large number of musicians, singers, families and friends. The standard of musicianship varies from raw beginner to top-whack. Sessions take place in and around the pub and campsite, and the quality and type of music played is entirely in the hands of the musicians in the session! While most of the sessions are Irish, there are no rules – Swedish, Russian and even Japanese tunes have all been heard at one time or other!

The event normally attracts a couple of hundred people, of which roughly half play an instrument (or sing). Instruments have included: fiddle, guitar, mandolin, mandola, blarge, pipes, harp, mouth organ, jaws harp, accordion, concertina, melodeon, flute, whistle, bodran, spoons, wash-board, banjo, ukulele, autoharp, hurdy-gurdy, and probably a lot more!

Times have moved on a bit since the first Mells Irish Weekend in 1990. After 18 years in Mells, we have now moved the event to Coleford (3 miles from Mells). Although the venue has changed, the concept of the event has not. We can’t really call it Mells anymore so to avoid confusion we have adopted the name “NotMells”.

The pub is the Kings Head Inn, run by Craig and Helen, who look forward to welcoming the usual bunch of musicians and love to see new faces each year.