DALRY Folk Club, the latest addition to Ayrshire’s thriving music scene, held its opening night to a thrilled audience of over 80 people.

Many locals joined in with the singing and some even pulled out tambourines during the event at Dalry Blair Masonic Lodge on Saturday, January 23.

Robyn Mitchell, who helped organise the evening, was shocked at how many people came along to show their support.

She told us: “Because it was our first night we were a bit worried that people were not going to turn up, but it was a massive success and so much better than we ever thought it would be. It was a great buzz at the start with the acts all warming up, but we didn’t expect so many people to turn up so early. At about half seven I was on the phone to my mum and dad telling them they could still come along but there were no seats left! We had to squeeze more chairs into the hall and I ended up having to stand.”

Stewarton singer Dominic Boyce opened the evening and soon got the crowd involved in a sing-along. He was followed by Ayrshire’s Spancil Hillbillies, who also had everyone clapping and singing along, then by Irish folk band Finnegan’s Wake, who had audience members producing tambourines to join in. Fiddle player and BBC Radio 2’s Folk Musician of the Year Award Winner Tom McConville closed the night, and was accompanied by guitarist Phil Waites.

The event, which also included refreshments and a raffle, ended with an after-show session – musicians from across Ayrshire showed off their own talents into the early hours of the morning in tradition folk style.

Robyn said: “It was an amazing night; really, really good. Everyone seemed to enjoy singing and clapping along. For such a new club, we couldn’t be more proud of how things went.”

Robyn, who is in her final year of Media and Communications at Glasgow Caledonian University, helped devise Dalry Folk Club along with Eddie and Dale Dunlop from Kilwinning and David Grant from Kilmarnock.

The aim of the club is to bring members of the community together, share talent and introduce local people to new musicians and songs. In the long-term, the club hopes that it will succeed in introducing traditional folk music to a younger generation, keeping the genre alive for years to come.

Robyn said: “Eddie knew about a folk session on a Sunday night in one of the local pubs in Dalry and that was quite popular so he thought it would be a great idea to start something. I asked people at these nights how they felt about us starting a folk club and we got very positive responses. The enthusiasm was very encouraging

“We’re really hoping we can make a lot of bonds in the community. We want to encourage people to get involved and celebrate the musical talent from Dalry and beyond. We’re hoping that in a couple of years maybe we could run a festival in the town. We want to bring people into Dalry and get the town name out.”

Dalry Folk Club’s next event is a guest night with Dave Gibb and Ella Munro on Friday, March 4 at Dalry Blair Masonic Lodge at 7.30pm. Tickets are £5 for members and £7 for non-members. This will be the last chance to sign up to a year’s membership for only £5. Floor spots will be available on the night. For more information visit dalryfolkclub.weebly.com.