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Rogues Gallery
Ray
John
 Colin
 Andy
Sharon
Phil Beer (far left)
mixing whilst
Sharon shows him how to play fiddle
in "Man In Green"
at Tiverton Beer Festival 2002
Phil, Alan, John, Sharon, Ray, Cliff
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Sean & Heard
Sean & Heard was an acoustic folk music duo, comprising John Andrews and
Ray Heard. We did however often have the pleasure of friends
joining us and a welcome addition when available was Ray's daughter
Sharon. Normally playing at Folk Clubs we were asked to play at
local events.
John and Ray first met in 1995 at the Crediton Folk Club then being held
in The Red Lion, Shobrooke. having both returned to the folk scene after
breaks of around 20 years. A friendship quickly formed and Sean & Heard
was born. Ray’s daughter Sharon, an excellent fiddler, often joins them
when work commitments permit.
Although both enjoy all forms of folk music, traditional and
contemporary, John prefers the slower English ballads where Ray prefers
the up-tempo Irish style. With a repertoire of over 300, they are
regular performers at local folk clubs, including The Seven Stars Folk
Club and The Barnfield Music Club. Live recordings at various venues
have given rise to a number of CDs which are greatly enjoyed by our
families!
The name "Sean & Heard" is one of John's awful jokes. Ray likes Irish Folk
music, Sean is Irish for John. But we say "Seen & Heard".
Ray Heard
Crediton born and bred. Ray had played in the late 60’s and 70’s at
local folk clubs with John Phillips after a stint as rhythm guitarist in the
rock group The Kynd. Despite being an accomplished guitarist and a keen
keyboard player, Ray continues to search for a Bob Dylan song that he can play
on the harmonica, having been taught to play this ghastly instrument at the age
of 4 by his father. Ray's obvious enjoyment of performing easily transmits
to audiences. He has played with Mick Groves of The Spinners on a number
of occasions.
Sadly Ray passed away 9th May 2010
John Andrews
John moved to Crediton in 1990 from South East London where during the
1960s and 1970s he had played in many of the Folk clubs as part of the duo “Wee
Two”. John prefers the "finger picking" style of playing and enjoys tracing the
history of the traditional songs the group plays. John has been a great
fan of Cyril Tawney since first hearing The Oggie Man in 1966. Sean &
Heard sung "Sally Free and Easy" and "The Grey Funnel Line" in front of Cyril at
The Iron Bridge Folk Club, Exeter on 7th February 2003 - a wonderful moment,
thoroughly enjoyed by Cyril who commented that it was the first time he had
actually heard his songs sung in a folk club, he knew they were sung often in
clubs but this was a first for him! In 2004 John was invited to
do the portrait photography for the jewel case booklet for
Mick Burch's CD "Listen". In August 2009 John did the
artwork for Mick's double album "Achives". See
artwork below.
Colin Wills
Colin dusted off his guitar so he could join us for a song or two, then
bought a new guitar to become a regular of Sean & Heard. Colin also
accompanies Ray at The Whipton Guitar Club. Every group needs a "Colin",
he knows how to put a plaster on.
The Others
Andy Stevens
Our "sound man". That is to say he is loud. He sings
forcefully and in key, plays Spanish guitar beautifully, bass guitar
like a pro, Bouzouki like an Eastern European on caffeine, keyboards
better than Chubb & Yale, the violin a la Yehudi - and I don't mean the
character out of Star Wars, and writes his own songs. He can
even read music More importantly, he is the only one who knows how
to set up the PA system and his professional stage sound set up is
greatly appreciated by grateful local and international musicians.
He says he learnt the piano and violin during the early years.
He was involved in organising local festivals and "doing" the local
folk clubs whilst at College and in Teacher Training,
moving to Exeter in 1979 to run St Thomas High School music
department for 20 years.
He frequented
the local folk clubs, but only recently
returned to playing outside educational events(!)
Andy now does some sound engineering work with Devon Youth Music
and other local groups. That's how
he became involved with Sean and Heard. The later years are yet
to come!
Sharon Heard
Sharon was an original member of Sean & Heard but now living and working
in Wales, she can only join us for special events. An excellent fiddler, having
started at the tender age of 8 and playing folk music since she was 13, makes
her in great demand. Her ambition was to play "Man In Green" (written by Steve
Knightley) in front of an audience containing Steve and Phil Beer
www.showofhands.co.uk
, and this was achieved at Tiverton Beer Festival on 10th
August 2002. Goodness knows what she'll want to get up to next.
Alan Howlett, Cliff Jones, Peter Cornelius
Sean & Heard are often accompanied by these worthy fellows. Alan is a
multi-instrumentalist, Cliff plays a mean bass guitar, normally with
Hips
& Haws and potters about with a classical guitar, and Peter, although
playing left-handed, can get a tune out of a mandolin, despite his instrument's
protestations. Alan is a popular multi-instrumentalist and plays in many local
groups including Peter's "Cornelius Family".
Artwork for Mick Burch's double album "Archives"
available from September 2009
Page last updated: 17 May 2010 |
