CHELMSFORD ROCKS
Live music, memories & history from Chelmsford and beyond.
Established January 2006
Evidence relationships

Folk Club People & Performance Network

A relationship view of people, groups and performances named in surviving Chelmsford Folk Club recording descriptions. It is deliberately source-led: a name appears here because an identified archive or Record Office publication names that person or group in connection with a recording. It is not a reconstructed complete artist roster.

How to use this page: start with a person or group, then follow the recording reference to the underlying catalogue or research source. The network records who is named in the surviving evidence; it does not turn every named person into a confirmed standalone gig record. The Essex Record Office says Jim Etheridge recorded almost every Chelmsford Folk Club between 1978 and 1986, often capturing the whole evening. Essex Record Office collection guide.

Search the network

Name / groupRole in sourceDateArchive referenceEvidence
Mick and Sarah GravesNamed performers18 Jul 1982SA 30/6/402/1Catalogue
Geoff and Penny HarrisNamed performers18 Jul 1982SA 30/6/402/1Catalogue
Martin CarthyFeatured performer17 Oct 1982SA 30/6/425/1Catalogue
Colin CaterIntroduction / compère17 Oct 1982SA 30/6/425/1Catalogue
Annie HardingFloor singer7 Nov 1982SA 30/6/428/1Catalogue
Mick GravesIntroduces floor singers7 Nov 1982SA 30/6/428/1Catalogue
Chelmsford MorrisDance group; 10th anniversary material7 Nov 1982SA 30/6/428/1Catalogue
Blackmore MorrisDance group named in collection guide1983SA 30/6/478/1Dance guide
Sam BondCompère3 Mar 1985SA 30/6/653/1Catalogue
Popular WobbliesFloor singers / performers3 Mar 1985SA 30/6/653/1Catalogue
Peter BillingFloor singer / performer3 Mar 1985SA 30/6/653/1Catalogue
Geoff HarrisFloor singer / performer3 Mar 1985SA 30/6/653/1Catalogue
Simon Ritchie and Bobbie?Named performers; source retains question mark3 Mar 1985SA 30/6/653/1Catalogue
Steve MorrisFloor singer / performer3 Mar 1985SA 30/6/653/1Catalogue
Paul McCannPerformer with East Anglian Dulcimers22 Dec 1985SA 30/6/712/1Record Office article
Jill Palmer-SwiftPerformer with East Anglian Dulcimers22 Dec 1985SA 30/6/712/1Record Office article
East Anglian DulcimersGroup / performance22 Dec 1985SA 30/6/712/1Record Office article
Residents' BandIntroductory music20 Apr 1986SA 30/6/736/1Catalogue
Pete BillingeSinger / performer20 Apr 1986SA 30/6/736/1Catalogue
Roger JohnsonSinger / performer20 Apr 1986SA 30/6/736/1Catalogue
Countryman's FavourPerformance / group named in catalogue20 Apr 1986SA 30/6/736/1Catalogue
Tony WynnSinger / performer20 Apr 1986SA 30/6/736/1Catalogue
Annie ButcherSinger / performer20 Apr 1986SA 30/6/736/1Catalogue
Seven Straw BraidDance group20 Apr 1986SA 30/6/736/1Catalogue
Phil Heath-ColemanTunes / musician20 Apr 1986SA 30/6/736/1Catalogue

What this network reveals

Repeated people

Some names recur across different nights. Those repetitions are useful research leads, but they should not be treated as proof of a regular booking or a complete performance history without further evidence.

Different kinds of participation

The surviving descriptions include floor singers, featured performers, compères, dance groups, introductory musicians and named musical groups. The network keeps those roles separate instead of flattening them into one artist list.

Uncertainty stays visible

The 3 March 1985 catalogue describes “Simon Ritchie and Bobbie?” and the question mark is retained here. It is not silently converted into a certain identification.

Collection context

The Essex Record Office's collection guide describes Jim Etheridge's Chelmsford Folk Club recordings as whole-evening documents, including announcements, floor singers, guest spots, applause and other atmosphere. It says there are usually two cassettes per evening and that the wider Jim Etheridge series contains 770 tapes. Essex Record Office collection guide.

The Record Office's published research also connects Chelmsford Folk Club recordings with the wider Essex folk movement, including Simon and Bobbie Ritchie, Annie Harding, Jill Palmer-Swift and Seven Straw Braid. Essex Record Office research article.

Related pages

Folk Club CollectionDated Record DetailsVerification Guide — the recording-evidence index.

External Archive Sources — wider external archive research.

Archive Questions — unresolved source discrepancies and research questions.