Real ale and cider festival approaches

FOLLOWING the success of last year's beer festival weekend, the Mermaid Tavern is pushing the boat out and hosting a whole week.

The 2012 Real Ale and Cider Festival will run from 21 May to 27 May, showcasing Channel Islands ales and ciders and guest ales from across the UK. In all, there will be 40 to 60 ales and around 10 ciders.

To complement the different beers and ciders, there will be foods from around the world to sample too. As well as the usual high season courtyard menu, Asian and Italian dishes will be offered alongside a classic hog roast and barbecue.

And of course there'll be live music.

Bands venturing over for the event cover a variety of styles and genres and each night's musical entertainment will be matched with a different type of cuisine.

Jazz band The Blue Note Quartet draw material from 50s hard bop and the 60s modal stylings of Miles Davis and John Coltrane, right through to modern funk compositions.

Popular local band Bailiwick Folk 'n' Roots play blazing fiddle tunes with slap bass gymnastics, a handful of old drinking songs and some self-penned numbers. Influenced by Celtic folk and American rockabilly, there's also a pinch of swing in there.

Also on the bill is John Wesley Stone. The group combines country, skiffle and cowpunk, with a touch of rockabilly. Cowpunk sounds extremely suitable for the location – it's also known as country punk and is an offshoot of punk and new wave, combined with country, folk and blues.

Sons Of The Desert, who take their name from a Laurel and Hardy film, are primarily a ska band but also take sounds from first-wave Jamaican, 2-Tone and third-wave US punk/ska.

Another group heading over are String Theory, comprising Autumn Curtis-Summers on harp/vocals and Karl Dorfner on percussion/looping. The duo provide an eclectic mix of music combining classical harp with percussive electronica, beats and loops. Autumn and Karl perform original material mixed with a few pop and rock covers.

Herm visitors may already be familiar with Autumn, as she regularly plays harp in the White House conservatory restaurant during the summer.

I'm sure everyone will enjoy supporting these local musicians while trying a few little tipples.