{"id":70945,"date":"2021-08-25T15:48:04","date_gmt":"2021-08-25T14:48:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/?p=70945"},"modified":"2021-08-28T19:26:23","modified_gmt":"2021-08-28T18:26:23","slug":"spilling-more-beans-review-of-beans-on-toasts-new-book-foolhardy-folk-tales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/2021\/08\/spilling-more-beans-review-of-beans-on-toasts-new-book-foolhardy-folk-tales\/","title":{"rendered":"SPILLING MORE BEANS – Review Of Beans On Toast’s New Book ‘Foolhardy Folk Tales’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Foolhardy Folk Tales\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>is a new collection of stories by singer-songwriter Jay McAllister, who goes by the name Beans on Toast.<\/h4>\n

The follow up to 2018’s\u00a0Drunk Folk<\/em>\u00a0Stories<\/em>, it’s a semi-auto-biographical ramble, loosely tracing Beans’ journey from teenage Braintree stoner to 40-year-old professional folk musician and father.<\/h4>\n

There’s no straight narrative, more a series of anecdotes,\u00a0 sketches and musings on life, love and happiness.<\/p>\n

He even throws in a game designed to make long drives – an essential part of the life of a touring artist – that bit more bearable.<\/p>\n

The first and last chapters are the strongest – one is true, the other – a tounge-in-cheek account of a meticulously planned robbery of Tesco’s, is not.<\/p>\n

Other chapters, are by their very nature a bit uneven, but what comes over in spades is Beans\u2019 honesty, fearlessness and openness to new people and experiences – and I\u2019m not just talking mind-altering substances here.<\/p>\n

By taking chances, refusing to plan and being prepared to engage with, well, just about anyone, he seems to have made his own luck.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a sharp mind and real entrepreneurial spirit, behind his easygoing persona.<\/p>\n

Sure he’s got talent, but what’s kept the wolf from the door is his nous, ingenuity and eye for the main chance.<\/p>\n

A master of the blag with the gift of the gab to back it up, he\u2019s also, as he says \u201cworked his ass off\u201d to get to a level of relative – and I mean relative – comfort.<\/p>\n

Told in a conversational style – you can easily imagine him sat beside you at a late-night lock-in, or around a flickering fire at some festival or other – his stories provide real insight into the life of a solo performer.<\/p>\n

\"Neans
Beans Means Fans – Beans on Toast live in Bristol<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But what elevates these tales beyond the scribblings of just another Camden hipster, is his generosity of spirit, enthusiasm for life and determination to make the best of any situation.<\/p>\n

His account of how he survives the pandemic by creating a cottage industry with the help of his partner and parents is genuinely inspiring.<\/p>\n

He also has some smart things to say on the contradictions of being an anti-capitalist folkie working in the endemically grasping money-mad music business.<\/p>\n

And while Beans’ accounts of Herculean boozing, cocaine and weed binges can get a bit wearing, his vignettes of life on the road and encounters with the likes of Grandaddy<\/strong> more than make up for these indulgences.<\/p>\n

You don’t have to be a fan of his music to enjoy Foolhardy…<\/em>, but it might inspire you to check out his back catalogue, along with those of friends and tour mates like Skinny Lister<\/strong>, Will Varley<\/strong> and\u00a0Frank Turner<\/strong>, who contributes a foreward to this volume.<\/p>\n

At a slim 167 pages, this is not a book that outstays its welcome, but you could do a lot worse than spend a couple of hours in the company of The Bard of Braintree and his words of wisdom.<\/p>\n