That’s a familiar name, the name on all my correspondence and she’s been very helpful on emails so far, guiding me through their process. I follow the instructions, find a good parking spot in the shade under a tree and walk to the gate which leads straight into the viewing area or left into the backstage area. I ask a steward where I can find Stevie and show him my pass, a wristband as festivals have these days. ‘She’ll be over there in the press office’ said the steward, pointing in the general direction of some portacabins. A delightful middle-aged lady with loose curly purple and pink hair smiles as I approach one cabin. I introduce myself and ask if Stevie is around. ‘I’m Stevie’ she says and asks who I am. ‘Ah!’ she says after which she promptly gets me my list of interviewees for the weekend. ‘Just one today’. I notice it’s due to start in ten minutes and suggest waiting here. ‘Of course, and please meet here for all the other interviews fifteen minutes before they are due to start’ and with that same smile as before she disappeared back into her office to answer the phone. Looks like I turned up just in time.

Merry Hell

Formed from the ashes of The Tansads, a band from Wigan, Lancashire which split in 2001, both bands are centred on the three brothers, John, Andrew and Bob Kettle, Merry Hell having the additional family member of Virginia, John’s wife. They have released six studio albums to date and my interviewees are Virginia and Andrew.

Q: So, the name, is it from the expression, ‘playing merry hell’?

AK: No. We’ve been doing this for many years and my eldest brother John – who is the extreme driving force of us all – he wrote a song years and years ago which sort of took a little bit of Shakespeare:

    Get ye gone then
    To the nunnery of dreams

    And lay your head down

    In merry hell

Then, much, much later on, after hiatus after hiatus, we came to being this band and needed a name and someone mentioned it from there.

Q: It’s pretty rare to find a band of eight musicians, three of which are brothers, that get along so well. What’s your secret?

VK: I think it’s the age in which we got together this time. We all came to Merry hell at time when we had all played together before or been musicians for some time up to that point and I think we had all done the thing of trying to get famous - I certainly had and failed miserably (laughs) – so the enjoyment, fellowship and the message in the songs, it came out very strongly that that is what we wanted to be the new band about. When that is your foundation, it’s difficult to stretch that too far because the other member will pull you back to the reason why we are doing it. We have gone up hill and down dale with that ethos together and laughter has been very much at the forefront.

AK: Yes and also, we made all the mistakes when we were younger and when we got this band together, we said ‘Right, we are older’ and there is a sort of inbuilt humility, a strong sense of family and we try to propriate that with our audiences as well, in that we are all in it together.

Q: Let The Music Speak For Itself; how did you select the tracks for your recent compilation?

VK: We let our fans our audience decide. One of the reasons we wanted to put it together was because it’s been such a great journey but another is that people stand at our stalls and dither, they don’t know which album to buy. They want this one but then they also want songs from that one and they can’t afford both so we decided to put out what was most popular. We added a few that had not been heard from for a long time that we wanted to revisit because there are only so many you can play live but it was mostly our audience that chose them.

Q: Were there any tracks requested by your fans that surprised you?

AK: Not really. Most of our songs were suggested and we just went on numbers of votes. There was obscure stuff. Now, believe me, there are songs I can’t remember. Somebody will say to you in a field somewhere that they really love a certain song and I’m thinking ‘Is that us?’ (laughs)

VK: I know what you mean!

AK: But then there’s the opposite thing where you get someone saying their favourite song was such and such and it was a cover. (laughs)

Q: Is there a new album in the works?

VK: Yeah there is. We went away to Shropshire, hired an Airbnb and all rocked up with the songs we have been working on. I think we chose thirteen and I have to say, I think some of Bob’s writing is absolutely sublime. I can’t wait to work on those in September.

Q: Japan has no Folk music festivals– or at least none akin to British Folk ones – whereas the UK has more Folk festivals than any other genre. Is that down to tradition, the British character…

AK: Yeah! I think it’s because the original Folk scene that happened in the 60s and 70s was so strong so there is a lot of people who still love it. You will notice that a lot of the audience are of a mature age and back then, there was a lot of young people who decided to put events on and they have moved into these enormous events. They are still fighting the fight, still doing it and there is a real community support system within Folk music so people keep turning up. We’ve been to a few recently that went bust during covid and have emerged as a new thing and they are a much smaller event but they are still selling out tickets. It’s just a pure support thing and of course, there has been some amazing music that stands the test of time and we feel privileged to be riding on the coattails of that right now and hoping to find our own place in that list of people.

Q: I would argue you already have.

AK: Well maybe we have but I don’t think it’s for the person to say though. (laughs)

VK: Also, the rebellion that was there when people were younger, that, in a gentle way, is still there. I don’t mean that as a ‘Let’s get together and protest!’ thing but you know, a lot of our land is no longer public and I think people genuinely enjoy getting together on a piece of land where they can dance and be a bit free. Now they are a little bit older but they were dyed-in-the-wool as that when they were younger. It’s not gone from inside the, they still rage like thunder.

At this point, there is a knock on the door and I am informed that we have to cut the interview short. Virginia tells me to make sure that gets into the interview. I request one more question and my request is granted.

Q: I suppose you know at the moment that in Hollywood, there is the big AI commotion going on.

VK: Yes.

Q: My question then – and I am going to ask every interviewee this over the weekend – is could AI write a Merry Hell song?

VK: That’s a really fantastic question because I was driving home with my son who is quite into computers and we gave a challenge of a Dr Seuss poem. My son gave us a ridiculous title and I came up with one quite quickly in my head and the AI did and I was very impressed with what the AI did but for me, the answer is no because the true joy of live music is the chance that you are going to make a mistake. It’s what you are, a simple human being of flesh and blood and bone and the fact that you could mess up. That’s what gives you that thing in your chest and that’s what AI can’t do. It’s too perfect.

AK: I think the answer to your question is yes, it could write one, but it couldn’t deliver one.

We exchange thanks and chat very briefly about Japan before they have to move on and I venture out into what makes Cropredy, Cropredy: the audience. 

You know those dreams you have when you are somewhere odd and suddenly find yourself naked? Well, I felt a bit like that when I realised, I was the only person there without a camping chair. I make a mental note to see if any shops in Banbury have one for sale tomorrow morning. It’s almost 4pm now and therefore almost time to get the festivities underway so I buy myself a pint of Hooky ale and walk up the hill to the rear of the field. It’s only a couple of minutes’ walk and thankfully, the rain has held off for a few days so the grass is dry. I find a nice spot to sit down and start taking the atmosphere in. The view down to the stage and beyond, up over the English countryside is magnificent. The people are friendly, it’s a family gathering and of course families include dogs so there are dogs – lots of dogs. There are lots of witty T-shirts as well and to pass the time I decide to scribble down a few of the best. ‘IPA lot when I drink’ and ‘Too old to die young’ make me smile but ‘It’s weird being the same age as old people’ is my favourite. Around me, some folks have set up a table with a bottle of wine, glasses, a cheeseboard with a selection of English cheeses, pork pie and pickled onions. Others are playing games with their kids. It’s clear I underestimated this event, it’s more like the biggest picnic in England than a music festival. I also underestimated the sun and have to buy a hat.

Fairport Acoustic take the stage right on time and open proceedings with The Festival Bell. It’s just a four-song, twenty minutes set and then a ten minutes changeover before Merry Hell are on. The Octet kick-off with a jolly number called Summer Is A-Comin’ which is about as apt as you can get on this glorious English summer afternoon and they soon have the audience swaying to Bury Me Naked, just one of their anthems. They are as a perfect a festival band as you can get; funny as well. Next up is Wilson & Wakeman and more laughter as poor Adam tried to reign in Damian who decided to go for a walk through the audience. The man is uncontrollable but this is a large part of what makes the duo so entertaining. Their music is pure and honest, they have fun together but they are also talented and can deliver a song so beautifully, it leaves you in wonderment. Toyah & Robert Fripp exceeded everyone’s expectations with a few of Toyah’s hits but the majority of the set made up of Rock Classics as per their Sunday Lunch videos. With a full band behind them, they collected the audience En masse during Sweet Child ‘O Mine, blew us all away with their version of Neil Young’s Keep On Rockin’ In The Free World and united the throng with Bowie’s Heroes. To see Robert play his parts live that he played on the original recording was a sweet moment. The sun had gone down by the time Nile Rogers & Chic came out and reboot the audience into dance mode, opening with Le Freak. What followed was an hour and a half of hits by Diana Ross, Bowie, Beyonce, Sheila B. Devotion, Madonna and others: Niles’ catalogue is vast to say the least. A few songs into the set, I make my way back to the bar. Time for one more pint before I need leave. The night is cool, both with the music coming off the stage and in temperature. People are chattering away, many saying cheery hellos to those that they haven’t met since the year before. Nile introduces the next one as being by Sister Sledge and launches into We Are Family. That sums it up.

On the way back to my accommodation in Banbury, I reflect on the day’s findings. From what I had seen already, I am very impressed with the organisation. This comes from an event growing naturally from 750 people at the first one in 1976 to 20,000+ this year, rather than some big corporation just plonking something somewhere and trying to figure out how many toilets and burgers are going to be needed. I shall explore more tomorrow but for now, the king size bed at the Ashlea Guest House is very appealing. Once in my room, I dump everything and flop onto the bed. I am asleep before my head touches the pillow.