I woke to a parent discussing the merits of dressing up as a crocodile with her child, viagra buy and when I peeked my head out of the tent a man was relaxing across the way with a book emblazoned with the immortal phrase Do More Faster. Perhaps not at Wood, medications eh?

Wood Festival 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.

Wood Festival on Saturday was like those days you dream of… breezy sunshine, children running through the grass, plenty of good music. And no trouble in deciding what bands to listen to – for the very simple reason that nothing ever clashed at Wood. From the workshops to the music acts everything was timed to fit together and allow for maximum participation without boredom.

And so in the morning I was able to take my boyfriend on a mini tour of Braziers Park – a place that I have often visited with FSC camps, but which I have never really seen inside of. It’s an inspiring community founded on principles of sharing for a better world that was formed in the wake of two disastrous world wars. And it has some truly wonderful gardens, not to mention an ancient listed barn house that I am lucky enough to have called ceilidhs in.

Trevor Moss and Hannah Lou at Braziers Park.

Acupuncture is something I’ve wanted to try out for ages so for a tenner I decided that Wood would be the perfect place to experience acupuncture in the ear and in the feet. It was meant to help my sore back but I think that my lifestyle, sat in front of the computer for hours every day, is going to be hard to cure in one session. Despite my boyfriend’s disparaging opinion of alternative therapies I definitely felt a bit soozed once I had the tiny pins in my ear from Abingdon based Ana at Acuabi and I’d like to try it out again.

Acupuncture for a teddy at Acuabi.

Our first musical stop of the day was the dulcet alt country tones of Owen Tromans, joined on stage by Joe Bennett in what was to prove a bit of a common theme – one or other (or both) of the Bennett brothers taking their place on the stage with a band.

Joe Bennett on keys and vocals with Owen Tromans.

In the afternoon we went on a sound tour with Dan Mayfield of Enderby’s Room, who encouraged us to listen to all the sounds around us, not just the background music. He started to explore alternative sounds after moving from rural Lincolnshire to London, and he referred us to his well battered copy of Wild Soundscapes: Discovering the Voice of the Natural World, which I am very tempted to hunt down and read.

Good Biscuits, who helped out at Comma Shop the next week on the ACOFI Book Tour.

Workshops are announced.

And then we headed into the afternoon’s entertainment. In typical multi-tasking Wood Festival style the keyboardist with Co-Pilgrim was the girl who sorted out my press pass. Police Dog Hogan offered more soothing British Bluegrass sounds under canvas.

Co-Pilgrim.

Police Dog Hogan. And children skipping.

Then it was time for Sarabeth Tucek, much championed in these very pages. She sat beside her partner (apparently a very well known music producer) head bowed, slightly nervy, apparently a bit uncomfortable with performing. But as on record it was her voice and songwriting that shone through, a wonderful mix of languid folk and bittersweet lyrics.

Sarabeth Tucek at Wood Festival by Sam Parr.

Uiscedwr, pronounced Ish-Ca-Door, were at pains to explain their strange name, which means water in both Welsh and Irish. Badges bearing the explanation ensured a pint sized riot as the younger members of the crowd deluged the stage. The bouncy lead singer was very engaging and a brilliant fiddler who soon got the sleepy afternoon crowd bouncing along.

Uiscedwr.

The Truck Monster proves a great distraction to everyone, including former Amelia’s Magazine music editor Cari Steel.

Cari Steel chatting with festival organiser Robin Bennett.

Khaira Arby is not exactly a sprightly young thing but in her gold medallion encrusted headdress she was certainly giving it some as she shook to the Afrobeat sounds. One of the festival highlights for many if the party mood of the Saturday night crowd was anything to go by. Impressive!

Khaira Arby at Wood Festival 2011 by Sam Parr.

Then it was straight on over to the Tree Tent to hear Amelia’s Magazine favourite Trevor Moss and Hannah Lou, who gave us an assured set of new songs from their new album Quality First, Last & Forever! Their harmonies may be deceptively simple but the way that Hannah’s voice occasionally curls over the top of Trevor’s falsetto is really quite special.

Headliner Willy Mason then took to the stage in his jeans and braces, dusky orange shirt tucked in. Despite his laid back demeanour this was a crowd pleasing set from a very confident young man, who is clearly happy with his lot as underground folk festival pleasing favourite. You can read a great write up of Wood Festival on Green Wedge, which features a soundcloud interview with Willy Mason about offshore wind turbines in New England. Love it.

Robin Bennett playing with Willy Mason.

Back on over at Tree we finished off Saturday with The Epstein, whose keyboardist managed to freak every single member of my group out with his somewhat spooky stare. Granted this might have been because we were all lounging around on the ground in a rather sleepy way when he might have preferred us to be hopping to the beat, but no matter what, it was a lovely way to end a lovely day at Wood.

The Epstein.

Make sure you also read my review of Friday’s bands at Wood Festival here. I’ll leave you with a great video from The Epstein:

Click here to view the embedded video.

This morning I woke up sick – emotionally and physically sick. And upset with myself, cheap because I knew that partly it was my own fault. The early spring sun and the frizzy breeze that would invite everybody else to go out and enjoy the fresh air just didn’t work for me. And in this antithesis of moods between me and the environment outside my room, tadalafil I put on Sarabeth Tucek’s Get Well Soon. And for the first time (despite having listened to it for so long since I got the pre-release in the post) I appreciated it fully.

The second album of the Florida-born, buy information pills Brooklyn-based actress-turned-singer is a therapeutic album indeed. After the success of her self-titled debut two years ago, the fragile songstress got overwhelmed by the fame and things started to precipitate. And apparently the death of the father made her touch the bottom. But music came into help and rescued her from the dark abysses of depression. Music as self-therapy, then. But despite the introspectiveness of the album, the 12 tracks that form the narrative of Get Well Soon address to every soul that can empathise with them, and their message has a healing power for everybody who’s open to let it in. Easy comparisons come to mind when listening to Get Well Soon – Cat Power, Neil Young, Big Star and even The Breeders, just to name a few. But there’s something truly unique about Sarabeth Tucek, that may lie in the genuineness of her grief that transpires from the notes and shades of her voice and hits the heart.

Illustration by Chandra Viola (website under construction)

The opening track ‘The Wound and The Bow’ is a little prelude to the album while ‘Wooden’ truly sets the mood for the whole record, with its enchant of mournful games of chords gently plucked that intertwine with Sarabeth’s bittersweet voice until it opens in a warm old school rock anthem Pink Floyd would be proud of. ‘A View’ is another little gem of melanchonic sweetness. Voluptas dolendi, the Latins would say. ‘You and I, we share a view’ the lyrics go. And I look at the view through my window – a cheeky cloud attempts to cover the sun, but a ray pierces through and I wonder whether ‘he’ is enjoying the same spectacle from wherever he might be in this moment. When ‘The Fireman’ – a autobiographical ballad describing a dream Sarabeth had about her father –  kicks in with its more upbeat tempo, I start thinking about my own dad. And I suddenly realise I miss him and his funny grumpiness that has always got on my nerves causing one too many unnecessary arguments.

Click here to view the embedded video.

‘Things Left Behind’ is in my opinion one of the most heart-breaking songs of the entire album, a sadness that’s hard to bear – ‘you wished yourself right off the map into the air / and if I’m looking hard, you’re above me now / hanging on some little star’ – but Sarabeth’s voice gets so gentle and touching that it makes it impossible not to listen to it 3 times in a row. ‘State I Am In’ opens with languid droney guitars, another classic rock tribute. It’s one of the most upbeat tracks of the whole album, and seems to prelude to the songwriter’s personal resurrection from Hell, which is confirmed by the splendid ‘Rising’ – ‘through a break in the window I can see something is shining’. I can see it too.

Illustration by Chandra Viola

This morning I was sick, I said. And I knew that part of the blame for this was mine. Illness is all about inner pain. And the more you mourn about your pain, the worst it gets. Sometimes you only need to recognise your faults and absolve yourself to feel better. ‘I knew I was sad / I recognised it was bad / but now looking back / I see my mind, it was cracked’, the lyrics of the startling Get Well Soon go, accompanying me to the final redemption. The sun is caressing my cheeks through the window. I open it, and let the fresh air come in. The birds sing along the last notes of the eponymous closing track. I jump on my bicycle and go to join my friends at the park. I’m well now. Thank you, Sarabeth.

Get Well Soon music video

Click here to view the embedded video.

Sarabeth Tucek will play at Camden Crawl and will headline a show in London at the Slaughtered Lamb on May 19th. She’s also beein added to the bill of End Of The Road Festival in September and also Oxfordshire’s Wood Festival in May. Get Well Soon will be out on Sonic Cathedral on 11th April 2011. A gem not to be missed.