Foy Vance "Bringer of Hope"

 Foy Vance, I wrote in a piece for the Guardian music section last year, writes some of the most hopeful songs I’ve ever heard. (This is my favourite.) The first time I saw him was at the Brighton Dome. He was supporting Bonnie Raitt, one of my all time favourite artists. He came on stage, just him and his guitar and his trademark cap - few of the audience had heard of Foy before that evening – but when he hit those strings, man, everybody listened. The voice was like tooled granite, delivering lyrics that went straight to the heart. He made a lot of new fans that night, me included. Of course I never imagined I’d be hooking up with him sometime in the future for the Guardian feature on musicians who play in prisons. I met him in Belfast before his gig. We had a drink and chat and then I followed him to the venue. One of the best vantage points at any concert is standing at the mixing desk and that’s what I did. Foy was absolutely mesmerising – by then he was well into using the “loop” and it was like there was a stage full of Foy’s up there. The Belfast crowd love him and welcomed him with open arms when he decided to “crowd surf.” After the gig I sat back stage with him for a while chatting for my piece – what a terrific personality, a genuine good old boy with grace and humour in abundance.  Last week I managed to catch him again, performing at the Glee Club in Birmingham (supported by Kill it Kid.) Foy seemed a bit under the weather – he said he was poorly and to be honest he looked a bit pale. His voice took a while to warm up – but when he did he blew us all away with his power, integrity – and banter. It was supposed to be the beginning of a 17 date tour – sadly he had to postpone the next few dates due to his illness.  What a trooper – we would never have known he was suffering that badly. Top man. Foy Vance.