Acoustic Norfolk evening to savour from Philippa Hanna

Christian singer Philippa Hanna produced an entertaining evening of contemporary acoustic folk music with the help of the Daughters of Davis at Aylsham Community Church last night (March 8). Keith Morris reports.

 

Philippa held a packed house of over 200 people captivated not only by her delightful brand of folk and bluegrass acoustic guitar but also the stories that lay behind each individual song.
 
Opening with Happy in My Skin, which Philippa obviously is, she explained how being born into an Irish showbiz family defined her childhood and choice of career.
 
Moving into Summer Bride, also from the Out of the Blue EP, we learnt of the heartache of Philippa’s flatmate. The catchy Raggedy Doll went down well with an appreciative audience and the picture it painted of a perfectly-made toy. Apples was golden rather than poisoned until Philippa mentioned her love of Norwich anti-hero Alan Partridge, which did not go down so well with her Norfolk audience.
 
A sneak preview of Philippa’s first-ever single, the upbeat Lighthouse set to be released on March 25, brought her first set to a close.
 
An unbeat Work in Progress kicked off the second half leading into Cherry Coloured Coat from her forthcoming album Through The Woods with an oblique reference to Little Red Riding Hood. I Am Amazing was a personal favourite followed by a moving Godfrey Birtill cover when Philippa also spoke of the day she played to 20,000 peopl at the O2 Arena while supporting superstar Lionel Ritchie.
 
A haunting cover of You Are Always in My Mind and a sing-along version of I Saw The Light, with Daughters of Davis as backing singers brought the set to a close.
 
An encore was demanded by the appreciative audience and Philippa responded with The Love You Always Give Me to round off an excellent night’s entertainment.
 

Earlier in the evening, soul sisters Fern and Adrienne of Daughters of Davis in the support slot also went down well with the audience. Especially a cover of Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean and their own Where Do We Go from album To The Water, which was so popular with the audience that they completely sold out of copies on the night.
 
The event was put on by the Norfolk-based www.spiritmusic.co.uk.

Article by Keith Morris, Network Norwich