Woodburner folk keep flame lit on acoustic sessions

Hackney unplugged: The Turbans playing at the Russet Cafe

In a musical age when samplers and sequencers rule the mainstream, it was only a matter of time before people began to seek pleasure in simpler aesthetics.

It’s a well-worn scene, but one that endures. The strumming storyteller, armed only with the power of song, regaling tales to an audience gathered beside the fire in a back room bar.

And this was how Woodburner began. The space below The George, a derelict pub in Clapton, was rented out cheaply to a group of students with a shared desire to play music and build a community.

One of the occupants, Theo Brown, hatched a plan with a young folk singer called Theo Bard to host acoustic nights there. Stripping the “hideous” red and green paint of the basement’s interior away and tearing up the old carpet he discovered a “beautiful old shell of bare wood”.

The stage was almost set, but with what Bard considered to be an important omission – a wood burning stove that punters could gather round, which gave the project its name.

“It seemed like the perfect place to host acoustic music” says Bard. “It harks back to older days when music was live, drinks were cheap and local people came to convene at the nearest pub to hand.”

People who lived at the pub called themselves ‘The Georgians’ and set about putting on weekly events.

But when The George finally fell foul to developers and was turned into flats, Bard took the night to the nearby Russet café in Hackney Downs, where it has become a weekly event.

As perhaps the longest standing performer, Bard is passionate about his craft and wears his Dylan and Drake influences on his sleeve.

“I’m really into the process of storytelling and showing integrity through music,” he says. “You reach the universal through the personal and what I mean by that is I think you have be true to yourself in order to have an appeal.

“I can’t write sea-shanties because I’m not a sailor,” he adds.

Bard released an album The Springtime Fool off his own bat last year, and he is continuing to produce new material.

His outlet is Woodburner, which has seen appearances from renowned performers such as Johnny Flynn.

“People still come who were there at the beginning though,” says Bard. “Even when people haven’t heard of the musical acts, they trust that we’ll have something worth seeing.”

Woodburner
Tuesdays from 8pm
Russet Café
17 Amhurst Terrace
E8 2BT

Entry £3 or £9 with dinner