Overview
Songs and ballads of Pub, Sea, and Shore.
Cliff Haslam is a balladeer of old English songs, well known for his baritone voice. Cliff had been a common feature at various pubs and coffee houses along the coast of Connecticut and into New York. He had been hired in October 1972 to help give a historical flavour to the Griswold Inn in Essex, CT. There, with time, he would be joined by various other singers; in 1986, he formed his band, The Jovial Crew, along with founding members Paul Elliott, Howard Hornstein, and Joseph Morneault since the group’s formation.
Cliff has been singing all his life, between performing with his brothers at family functions at home to school and church choirs; this in Woolston, Chesire, England. He was constantly exposed to folk songs from family, music class, even the radio, although like most folk singers today he found himself distracted by popular rock & roll as he hit puberty.
When Cliff turned 21, he applied for a job as a machinist in the US, coming to Connecticut in 1966 and finding that folk music was to be found in coffee houses rather than the pubs for the most part. While Cliff discovered that most of the songs he knew were yet to make it “to the scene” here, there was a rich folk tradition, and he was now in the middle of it; in fact, an influencer with many performers even today telling of how Cliff was their inspiration or mentor. Cliff shares the story of how, in his earliest days in CT, he would go to “The Exit Coffee House” folk club in New Haven, CT to sing but they wouldn’t believe that empty-handed Cliff was a performer, obligating him to pay the cover charge… He quickly learned that by carrying a guitar case in with him changed all that to his favour, placing some curtain rods inside for weight! Not long afterwards, he picked up an inexpensive guitar and learned a few chords to actually use it, although he doesn’t consider himself an instrumentalist. He also picked up the English concertina although he does not play it so much these days. He had been a commonly encountered performer on various tall ships and windjammer cruises and will occasionally still do this out of Maine or Massachusetts.
Cliff has been a resident of Madison, CT for most of his life. He can be seen every Monday (with rare exception) at the Griswold Inn in Essex, CT, framed by his Jovial Crew; the band now consists of Joseph Morneault (band manager), Rick Spencer, and Michael Hotkowski (Paul Elliott, when he is in town, will also rejoin). Cliff had performed at the annual Sea Music Festival in Mystic, CT and in the festival’s new location in Essex, CT; he is still part of their rotation every other year or so. Various house concerts are part of his schedule as well as folk music festivals around New England and sometimes in the UK.