A foot-stomping, soul-searching, rib-tickling night was had by all at Quids Inn on Tuesday, shortly before New Year’s Eve, when Joshua T Whalebone presented his 10th Originals Night, with a solid line-up of local musicians playing their own tunes .

The show began with Jon Lightfield who describes himself as a late-blooming Norwegian songwriter.

He’s been out there on the scene for a few years and his nimble guitar playing had the crowd captivated with a short set culminating in the heart-rending ’Dancing With Stars’, which he dedicated to the island charity ’Start A Conversation’. Catch this man when you can.

’JTW’s Originals Nights’ are never driven into a cul-de-sac of styles or genres and this was no exception.

Hailing from the world of traditional Manx and Irish folk music, Mark Lawrence treated us to an outstanding and dexterous display of instrumental acoustic folk songs, including Car Ny Ferrishyn, Car Juan Nan, Eunasagh Vona and Santa Cruz by Irish musician David Qualyey. We need more of this in our lives, Mark!

Ever-popular, Steve Nash, the eccentric waistcoat-wearing gentleman with a poetic licence for the absurd and who has more pairs of shoes than his Mrs, gave us a selection of his more recent self-penned songs from his latest EP ’Strangers’ with ’Drift Away’, ’Complicated Man’, ’Every Road Leads Back To You’ and the eponymous, ’Strangers’. This is one Cool musician.

He’s been on the band scene for a decade or two but making his debut at Originals was Steve Breslin, a singer-songwriter who has written for artists in UK and Ireland. He gave us a selection from his latest EP, ’Toe To Toe’. Recorded at Small Bear, Fatally yours and Time between. ’Hammer Through The Skull’, dealt with the darker side of life but with a humorous nod to keep the listener engaged.

The scene deserves to see more of you, Steve.

Mike Jelski has been described as the hardest working front-man on the island’s music scene.

You’ve seen him with a plethora of bands like Southern State, Jesters Dead and Bon Jelski among others, and that well-known and well-loved vocal was soaring against the stripped-down arrangement on his trusty acoustic.

His set included ’Come Out of the Rain’, ’Brighter Day’ and ’Black Gate’, with the highlight, ’Dare to Try’, inspired by a friend who had little but never gave up to achieve his goals.

We should all have a song written by this performer.

Bringing the night to a raucous close was an acoustic manifestation of the hard stomping folk-punk outfit, the Ballaghs, with Mike Wade and Ian Allen giving no-less a rollicking performance than expected.

Full of passion and energy that got you straight in the back of the knees, they indulged the throng to ’Wrong Side Of The Street’, ’Would I Be The Wiser’, a debut of a brand new song ’Three Corpses’, ’Trim Rigged Dixie’, ’The Brig Lily’ and an encore of ’Black Pages’, which Mike just about remembered in time.

It was an excellent finale to an excellent night of live, original music, written right here in the Isle of Man.

As always, huge thanks must go to Andy Saunders and the team at Quids Inn for the continuing support for musicians and the island’s live music scene, especially through these difficult times.

Make it your new year’s resolution to support them and the rest of the Manx music scene in 2022.

Keep your eyes open for the next originals night.