Nick Cave and Jarvis Cocker came close, but at lunch time on the 27th June on the Jazz World Stage, Rolf emerged with his wobbleboard and entertained an appreciative, eclectic crowd. The veteran performer doesn't have a great  voice, and he sings other people's songs, but his choice of songs and the honesty and sincerity of his delivery is endearing. Two Little Boys, which was written byTheodore Morse and Edward Madden at the turn of the twentieth century about soldiers in the American civil war, never fails to leave a lump in my throat (not the dodgy festival falafel type lump) but the raw emotion lump in the throat that precedes watery eyes. The strength of the song is in the sentiment of the narrative. I can't think of many folk songs that are still being performed a hundred years on by a real mix of artists. A version was sung by Spud at Tommy's funeral in the film Trainspotting!

I've been struggling with the lyrics of a song recently that is about family and childhood (nearly all positive reflection) and I want to evoke those same emotions without straying into the schmaltzy corniness that turns people off in a second. Other songs that do it for me are Robert Wyatt's Shipbuilding and, as an instrumental, Eric Satie's Gymnopedies gets me going every time. I've come to the conclusion, and Rolf is living proof, that the conviction and enthusiasm of the delivery are as important as the lyric and the tune.

Throw a decent melody and a good story ino the pot and you could have a recipe for success.

So I'll say what I think, say it like I mean it, and hope that it strikes a chord.

Warren

Warren is on MySpace, Bebo and Facebook - check them out to listen to his music and be part of the story.