Once again this famous East Lincolnshire coastal holiday resort has made great use of its facilities during the somewhat un-seasonal winter months, with another exciting music festival celebrating the combined forces of British rock and British blues music. It’s not the first time that Butlins has played host to this festival in Skegness, a winter gathering that has fairly quickly achieved a great reputation and a fervent following, which now draws in a 7,000 strong audience. The resort provides all the warmth and comfort such a gathering could possibly wish for, especially at this time of year and ensures that all who want to ‘rock out’ (with air guitars plugged in at the ready) or just ‘mellow out’ to some soulful blues, can do so in equal measure. This weekend the Great British Rock and Blues Festival showcased a varied programme of rock and blues acts, including a number of musicians who have passed through the ranks of such outfits as David Bowie’s Spiders from Mars, Whitesnake, Black Sabbath, Wishbone Ash, Rory Gallagher, even the Rolling Stones, to name drop a few, together with the cream of contemporary rock and blues. Sensibly dividing the two main stages into rock and blues, The Centre Stage offered a series of quality R&B bands (the original R&B if you please); whilst the Reds stage tentatively challenged the speaker stack capabilities as it showcased one loud rock outfit after the other. It has to be said, the festival leaned slightly more towards the blues, as the Centre Stage also programmed in afternoon concerts on both Saturday and Sunday, whilst the rock stage catered for lengthy sound checks in order for things to run swimmingly in the evening. Friday night saw things get off to a good start with the Climax Blues Band who opened proceedings on the blues stage, kicking off with Willie Dixon’s “Seventh Son”, featuring Johnny Pugh’s trademark sax, Lester Hart’s informative guitar and George Glover assured keyboard work. The band, originally formed in 1969, has historically enjoyed chart success regionally but most famously worldwide in 1973 with the timeless “Couldn’t Get it Right”, which the band performed during their opening set on Friday night. Simultaneously, North Shields-born rock singer Lorraine Crosby kicked things off on the rock stage next door with an energy driven spectacle, offering something quite different from the blues stage. Crosby’s voice is known to millions and in particular to Meatloaf fans, albeit under the pseudonym of ‘Mrs Loud’, as the female voice on the multi-million selling album Bat Out of Hell II, most notably on “I Will Do Anything for Love”, despite some imposter appearing in the videos. Increasing the volume, Crosby clearly enjoyed strutting her stuff whilst two swaying lovelies, who Crosby affectionately referred to as the ‘Sweaty Bettys’, provided a visual treat for the male dominated audience. With a string of Meatloaf hits, a handful of partner Stuart Emerson’s songs and the one Beatles cover and current single Help, the singer brought a bit of glamour to the opening night. Back on the Centre Stage, the festival welcomed back Liverpool-born singer Connie Lush who is recognised as arguably the UK’s greatest female blues singers, an entertainer through and through whose pedigree includes working with the Memphis Horns and the Hodges Brothers, Al Green’s backing band. Sporting a poppy red top hat, the singer brought some cheeky northern banter to the stage, as well as some soulful blues, all of which was eagerly consumed by an appreciative audience. Back next door and the Heavy Metal Kids delivered a taste of their own specific brand of attitude and punk sensibility, with a lively set featuring new front man, actor John Altman, otherwise known to Eastenders fans as Nasty Nick Cotton. Altman joined the band last year replacing the late Gary Holton, both of whom had previously worked together in the film version of the Who’s rock opera Quadrophenia. Dressed in a black ankle-length leather coat, Altman entertained an ‘uncontrollable’ and enthusiastic crowd on the Rock Stage on Friday night, before the Quireboys performed their headliner set. In the Sixties, the Rolling Stones were described as mere ‘choirboys’ compared with the contemporary band the Pretty Things, the original bad lads of British rock. Tonight the band turned in an exhilarating R&B set, which included the title song from their seminal rock opera SF Sorrow. Original members Phil May and Dick Taylor, the original Rolling Stones bassist, coincidentally celebrating his 68th birthday, led a cast of musicians young and old to recreate some of the more blues-based numbers from the band’s forty-eight year career. On Saturday, the Centre Stage opened with a surprise replacement for the Malchicks who were unable to attend the festival. At very short notice, fine artist and musician Steve Pablo, who had up until this point been busy selling his paintings in the Skyline Pavilion just outside, jumped on stage armed with a bouzouki and a couple of acoustic guitars and played a suitably laid back opening set. Despite admitting to being slightly unsettled, Steve performed well and provided a low key set of both rhythmic and melodic songs, embellished with some percussion sampling at his feet. A nice start to what promised to be a packed day of entertainment. The Welsh-born Australian guitarist Gwyn Ashton was up next to perform a blistering set aided and abetted by the young drummer Kev Hickman, who between them became, for all intents and purposes, the White Stripes on Blues for the next forty-five minutes. The Two Man Blues Army provided some of the funkiest guitar of the day, augmented by some excellent sticks work by the young drummer. Later that evening Hickman was seen backstage with Monsters of British Rock drummer Harry James, who was overheard by this reviewer to say to the young drummer ‘I hear you’re good?’; he heard right. Fresh from their radio session on the Paul Jones BBC Radio 2 show, Paul Lamb and the Kingsnakes brought a taste of classy R&B to the blues stage. Led by the sharp-dressed North East harmonica player Paul Lamb, the band featured Chad Strentz on guitar, Rod Demick on bass, Paul’s son Ryan ‘Junior’ Lamb on guitar and Mike Thorne on drums, who together played a tightly storming set on Saturday afternoon. Slack Alice returned to Skegness after first appearing at the festival in 2008 and closed the Saturday afternoon concert on the blues stage. With gritty rock and blues combined, the band could quite easily have played either stage. Fronted by founder member Cliff Stocker who commanded the stage throughout, weaving in and out between the sparring partners of Colin Redmond and Chris Preston on guitars, the band played an exciting set of songs culled from a thirty-eight year career, rounding off a perfectly enjoyable afternoon of blues-based concerts. After a short break, giving the festival goers an opportunity to freshen up and have a bite to eat, the evening concerts began on cue with two bands led by their drummers. Whilst John Coghlan took to his seat to present some classic hits from his former band Status Quo, including the throbbing “In My Chair”, Taste’s John Wilson made himself comfortable on the blues stage to remind us all of the much-missed Rory Gallagher. Normally used to playing sprawling two and half hour sets, Wilson together with Albert Mills and Sam Davidson of Northern Ireland’s premier blues outfit, were just about getting into their stride when their forty-five minute slot was up. The band, well known as being the vehicle for the success of the late Rory Gallagher in the 1960s and early 1970s, brought along a newer revitalised version of Taste, which featured a new repertoire, as well as the obligatory nod to Gallagher’s heyday, with the inclusion of the crowd pleasing classic “Bullfrog blues”. In December, Sandi Thom made a headlining appearance at the inaugural Great British Folk Festival at this same resort, an appearance which was potentially marred by illness, as the singer came down with a bout of flu hours before her performance. Soldiering on in good old fashioned ‘the show must go on’ professionalism, her illness being completely camouflaged by her own determination to perform well, Sandi’s appearance here was eagerly anticipated by a packed audience in the Centre Stage on Saturday night. Playing songs primarily from her most recent album Merchants and Thieves, such as the opener “Maggie McCall”, together with the earlier breakthrough single “I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker (With Flowers in My Hair)”, the Aberdeenshire-born singer-songwriter went on to perform with her band a delightful version of Little Willie John’s astonishingly beautiful “Need Your Love So Bad”. Whilst Sandi Thom emoted in classic Fleetwood Mac style on the blues stage, the Monsters of British Rock were raising the roof next door with an electrifying set bringing together the shared experience of luminaries of such bands as Whitesnake, Black Sabbath, Wishbone Ash and Thunder. With Mickey Moody on guitar, Neil Murray on bass, Laurie Wisefield on guitar, Harry James on drums, Michael Bramwell on keyboards the energetic Chris Ousey on vocals, the band collectively encapsulated the spirit of British rock music, spanning four decades of unique music. Saturday night’s final concert on the blues stage brought with it a touch of class from the blues world with the legendary Herbie Goins. Working with the likes of BB King, Sam Cooke, Bobby Bland, Jimi Hendrix and John Lee Hooker as well as giants of British blues such as the late Alexis Korner and Dick Heckstall Smith, the 72 year-old Florida-born singer joined the Norman Beaker Band for a thrilling late night set on the Centre Stage. A showman through and through, Goins commanded the stage as the veteran British bluesman Norman Beaker and his tightly intuitive band gave him the kind of support he fully deserved. There’s a great sense of community at the Great British Rock and Blues Festival, where between acts the audience can be seen milling around the no man’s land area between the two main stages, where smokers gather offering one another some communal warmth in the otherwise freezing canopy covered open air. So many people gather here, that some much needed busking wouldn’t go amiss. The Skyline Pavilion is the general meeting place for everyone concerned and is always bustling with activity. Once the two main stages have called it a day, some late night entertainment is still on offer in Jaks nightclub, where its own programme of events took place over the weekend organised by Blues Matters magazine. Roadhouse provided some jam sessions during the day and such acts as Idle Hands, Elephant Shelf, the Dale Store Band, Green Mac, the Clare Free Band, Delta Ladies and Babajak maintained a quality driven alternative to the main stages throughout the weekend. On Saturday night, or more accurately Sunday morning, the charismatic Larry Miller performed to literally a packed house, appealing to music lovers of all ages, within the legal requirements of course. After such an exhilarating and sweat-soaked Saturday night in Jaks nightclub, Sunday morning takes a little easing in. The one thing that most of the acts like to comment on at the end of their respective sets on either of the three stages is just how good the staff is on site. Credit where credit’s due; the staff work tremendously hard in all the outlets, bars and restaurants, even the security are all smiles and helpful. It all makes for a pleasant experience. Without labouring the point, I noticed one example of great hospitality in the Yacht Club restaurant for example, where a friend chose just egg and tomatoes at the breakfast buffet and was immediately asked by a member of staff if he was vegetarian. His plate was soon replenished with veggie sausages. It’s that sort of attention to detail that makes all the difference. Sunday afternoon got off to a great start with the Blues Band’s Gary Fletcher, who brought along his own blend of R&B to the blues stage with his own band featuring ex-Dire Straits drummer Pick Withers, Steve Ling on lead guitar and Gary’s son Jack on bass. For consummate showmanship, we need look no further than Hamsters’ front man Snail’s-Pace Slim, who was on fire throughout a mid-Sunday afternoon set, featuring a handful of Hendrix classics such as “Voodoo Chile” and “Purple Haze”, the odd nod towards ZZ Top, as well as a handful of self-penned material, in a frenzy of licks from his familiar yellow Burnin’ Vermin guitar. With several smirking Ozzy’s peering out from the guitarist’s shirt, together with a whole menagerie of toy merchandise hamsters, either splatted to a speaker or merrily spinning their clockwork wheels, the band added a sense of humour and fun to the day. Making a last minute appearance at December’s folk festival, with a stripped down acoustic appearance, Nine Below Zero returned to full blown electric form for their Sunday afternoon appearance on the blues stage. Fronted by guitarist/singer Dennis Greaves and harp player Mark Feltham, with one of the tightest rhythm sections in the business courtesy of former Rory Gallagher sidemen Gerry McAvoy on bass and Brendan O’Neill on drums, the band maintained the momentum of what was becoming a thrilling afternoon of top quality music on the Centre Stage, which was completed shortly afterwards by a main stage appearance by Roadhouse, the band responsible for some of the fine jamming session in Jaks. The final home run of the 2011 Great British Rock and Blues Festival on Sunday evening started with a choice of late 1960’s rock and blues. Whilst Juicy Lucy cranked up the volume on the rock stage, the legendary Ric Lee, original drummer with the equally legendary Ten Years After, flew in especially from Switzerland to join his band, the Blues Project, for this rare appearance at the festival. Joined by former Savoy Brown luminary Bob Hall on keyboards, the band alternated between Boogie Woogie and Barrelhouse to classic R&B and good old Rock n Roll with equal authority, with the obligatory drum solo somewhere in the middle. It has to be said that this reviewer chose the relative comfort of the Centre Stage for the most part of the festival, basking in the warmth of British blues, in its many manifestations. The final night however did provide a moment of nostalgia with the appearance of headliner band Uriah Heep, a band whose albums helped a fifteen year-old forget school homework of an evening back in the day. The band pulled out all the stops, increased the volume (presumably preparing a couple of thousand eardrums for Girlschool who followed shortly afterwards) with a lively set featuring such classic Heep fare as “Gypsy”, “Bird of Prey” as well as the relatively pastoral “The Wizard”. This nostalgic trip unfortunately meant completely missing Dr Feelgood on the blues stage, who apparently ripped the place up in style. With some initial technical problems, Girlschool’s set was delayed slightly before they took to the stage to demonstrate their prowess at making a noise. Setting the dials to twelve, the all-female band comprising of original members Kim McAuliffe on guitar, Denise Duford on bass and Enid Williams on drums, with ten year veteran Jackie Chambers also on guitar, raised the roof with a selection of songs from their thirty-three year career. As the curtain remained down during the technical problems, Kim McAuliffe teased the audience by popping her head through the curtain and winking at the audience. The surprise hit of the festival was King King who played the final concert on the blues stage on Sunday night. The band provided possibly the high point of the festival with an astonishing version of the Clapton/Cray number “Old Love”, complete with Alan Nimmo’s sublime guitar solo, which arrived quite fittingly very close to the climax of the festival. The kilted front man brought a delicate touch to the festival, despite a noisy reception during some of the most beautifully soulful guitar playing of the entire weekend. I’m confidently certain that had King King started the evening’s concert, there would have been a hushed silence throughout “Old Love”, a moment this reviewer will look forward to sharing with the band once again during their forthcoming UK tour.
Miss Quincy | The Wheelhouse, Wombwell | 06.02.11
Having feasted upon Miss Quincy’s current album Your Mama Don’t Like Me over the winter months, a thought occurred to me; how will a stripped down version of these songs go down at the Wheelhouse? Pretty well it transpires. Miss Quincy is quoted to have said, when referring to the home-made approach she applied to her album, which was recorded in a similar log cabin up in British Columbia during the hostile winter of 2009/2010, that if you listen carefully you can hear ‘the crackling of a wood stove or the swish of a whiskey bottle’. It was that sort of feeling that came over tonight at the Wheelhouse in Wombwell. Miss Quincy is the alter-ego of Canadian singer-songwriter Jody Peck, who when suitably attired in cowboy boots and trilby hat, sporting a bright red flower and matching lippy, to go with the ever present and intriguing full forearm tattoo, brings the character of one of her songs to life. “The Ballad of Miss Quincy” appeared on her first album Miss Quincy and the Ramblers and has subsequently become the singer-songwriter’s charismatic character. Starting with a new song “Northern Sky”, the title of which derives from the name of this very website I’m flattered to say, Miss Quincy and guitar/banjo maestro Tyler ‘Lefty’ Toews, went on to showcase a couple of sets of songs, largely made up with songs from the new album with a handful of others thrown in. Alternating between acoustic and electric guitars, apparently chosen randomly as the mood suited, both musicians were characteristically in tune with both one another and the audience alike in no time flat. “Carmen”, also from the first album, provided the sort of chorus that invited an enthusiastic audience response without too much trouble. The great blues women of the 1930s feature quite liberally in Miss Quincy’s set, both in terms of homage, with her self-penned “Sing Lady”, dedicated to the first queen of the blues Ma Rainey and the inclusion of the odd blues cover, Memphis Minnie’s “Bad Luck Woman” for example, featuring Miss Quincy’s bluesy harmonica playing. For the sheer passion in Miss Quincy’s inimitable voice there was no finer moment than when forty pairs of ears awaited the sound of a pin to drop during the astonishingly beautiful “Record Store”, which closed the first set. The reference in that song to Hank Williams was echoed during the second set, when the duo performed one of the country legend’s most memorable songs, “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry”. Both musicians brought to Wombwell a sense of fun, the kind of banter that can only be honed from the experience of the road, a road that Miss Quincy is no stranger to. Some of the characters Miss Quincy meets on that road inevitably find their way into some of her songs and also in the stories she likes to tell in between those songs. Coming from a cowboy family, Miss Quincy reminded us that dragging a dead horse around is a difficult business, especially when used as a simile for being involved with ‘married men and whiskey’. Using the Wheelhouse stage as a stomp box, Miss Quincy delivered a stunning version of “Dead Horse”, catching the audience off guard with one of those ‘the song’s not quite finished yet’ moments. Other songs from the new album included the show stopping “Nobody With You” coupled with “Sweet Jesus Café” as well as a fine reading of the traditional “Poor Wayfaring Stranger” with Tyler’s syncopated banjo accompaniment. In “Silent Movie”, we are invited to ‘go there’ with Miss Quincy, which we obligingly and quite willingly do, joining her on the tracks as Buster Keaton’s runaway train approaches, to the proverbial drama of the piano accompaniment, or on this occasion, deputised by a couple of guitars. Returning to the stage for a final encore of Nina Simone’s “Sugar in My Bowl”, Miss Quincy dispelled all my initial fears that I might not engage with her live music as freely as I did her album. How wrong; it was on equal par if not better.
Dan Walsh and Will Pound | The Greystones, Sheffield | 16.02.11
Once again Bright Phoebus smiled down on a packed sell-out Greystones audience and certainly not for the very first time. Dan Walsh and Will Pound, two talented young musicians and specialists in their own chosen fields, that of fine clawhammer style banjo playing and breathtaking harmonica playing respectively, were welcomed with the usual abundance of enthusiasm and gusto awarded to all the artists who visit this popular South Yorkshire venue. With their self-titled debut album due out in April, the duo brought a taste of their broad repertoire to Sheffield, which included everything from traditional English Morris tunes, Irish and Scots fiddle tunes, Bluegrass, Blues and a fair bit of Arabic music, together with a bunch of self-penned songs. Tonight Martin Simpson took care of MC duties, which included the obligatory raffle, the parish notices and an opening song, where the singer/guitarist recalled his former life as a resident of New Orleans, drawing upon some of the real life characters he met in the Big Easy with a song from his Righteousness and Humidity album, “Easy Money”. Walsh and Pound noted that it was written into their contract to follow ‘the most intimidating opening act in the world’, a daunting task at the best of times, but this duo fearlessly took to the stage in order to continue to dazzle and entertain, whilst mixing it up pretty much throughout. The material ranged from the Delta Blues of Robert Johnson with “Stop Breaking Down”, to the Irish reggae of Horslips with “Wrath of the Rain”, to some pretty complex Arabic music in “CCCs (Curries Cure Colds)” incorporating ‘a multitude of time signatures’. Once or twice throughout the two sets, one musician would leave the stage for the other to showcase his dexterous playing ability alone with Walsh’s “Dust on the Roses” set and Pound’s arrangement of the old Bampton Morris tune “Old Tom of Oxford”. When Will Pound is in full flight with either of his chromatic or diatonic harmonicas, it’s increasingly difficult to imagine that this instrument was originally intended as a therapeutic tool to aid his breathing exercises after undergoing open heart surgery, twice. The fact that he is now one of the country’s leading harmonica players is testament to hard work, dedication and good old fashioned raw talent. Bright Phoebus regular Roy Bailey kept it in the family so to speak, being introduced by his son-in-law and going on to bring to the evening a good old rousing chorus song, Si Kahn’s “Go to Work on Monday”, which kicked off the second half and soon had the entire room joining in. Bright Phoebus encourages freedom of speech and there’s always a sense of healthy dissent in some of the between song patter, therefore protest songs never go overlooked or unrewarded at any of these concerts. Dan Walsh provided a wry look at a couple of subjects close to his heart, Education in “Pointless Greedy Figures” and the Jeremy Kyle Show (of all things) or more specifically the people who sit and watch the thing, in “More About You”, each providing food for thought. Towards the end of the concert the duo continued to dazzle with their take on the popular Paul Thorn song “Hammer and Nail”, which helped demonstrate the duo’s almost telepathic cohesion, before a final set of tunes for an encore, which unsurprisingly was rewarded with a standing ovation.
King King | Selby Town Hall, Selby | 19.02.11
The walls of Selby Town Hall rattled and rocked tonight to the sound of one of the most exciting blues bands on the scene today. Led by Alan Nimmo, whose confident vocal and seasoned guitar playing provides the band with its focal point, King King launched into their first set with the opening number from their debut album due out at the end of March. “Lose Control” set the standard for the rest of the night with two sets of Nimmo/Coulson originals and blues standards, all preceded by a noteworthy scene, where each of the players touched knuckles with their front man, in a gesture of pure musical comradeship. The night was just about divided into two sets, the Gibson Les Paul set and the Fender Stratocaster set, where Nimmo could demonstrate his musical prowess on both celebrated works of genius. The band, which also included Lindsay Coulson on bass, Joel White on keyboards and Jamie Little on drums, paid homage to The Fabulous Thunderbirds with a storming version of “Wait on Time” and to John Hiatt with the soulfully beautiful “Feels Like Rain”, providing the night with one of its high points. The relatively small Town Hall in Selby helped create an intimate atmosphere, where the audience is allowed to feel very much part of the show, whether in the stalls or up in the Gods. With some friendly banter with some fellow Glaswegians in the wings, Alan Nimmo’s charismatic personality matched his musicianship measure for measure, which helped create a bond with the audience, rewarded by some healthy applause between songs. Dedicating the Eric Clapton/Robert Cray classic “Old Love” to his big brother Stevie, Alan Nimmo together with the rest of the band, brought the volume level down to almost zero during the guitar solo, with Nimmo playing some highly emotive guitar, eventually turning the dial on his Strat down to nothing, allowing the duty sound tech Jon Chapman a moment to lean over the sound desk and enjoy it with the rest of us. The fact that those acoustic notes could be heard throughout the venue is testament to the audience’s respect and to the band’s command over musical cohesion. A thrilling moment. Showcasing much of the band’s Take My hand album, including “Don’t You Get the Feeling (You’ve Been Had)”, “Heart Without a Soul”, “Broken Heal” and “All Your Life”, together with the title cut, the band also revived “Six in the Morning”, which appeared on the earlier Broken Heal EP. Encouraging some of the female audience to get up and dance, King King launched into a storming rock and roll number “Gravy Train”, featuring White’s superb honky-tonk piano solo, which did the trick. Closing with a couple of well-chosen covers, Howling Wolf’s “Mr Highway Man”, followed by a final encore of Stevie Wonder’s funky “I Wish”, King King made an exceptional and memorable debut in Selby.
JT and the Clouds | The Wheelhouse, Wombwell | 20.02.11
Midway through their current UK tour, JT and the Clouds stopped by the Wheelhouse for a short break, staying with their host and tour companion Hedley Jones, who just so happens to have his own stage at the bottom of the family garden, here in the heart of the South Yorkshire Delta. In this relatively intimate setting, Jeremy ‘JT’ Lindsay, together with Dan Abu-Absi on guitar, Chris Neal on keyboards and Mike Bruno on drums, stripped themselves down to a couple of acoustic sets so to speak, leaving their electric guitars in the van, in order to bring the essence of their often rich and melodic songs to a very appreciative audience in ‘the shed’ tonight. The Chicago based four-piece band are currently touring their new album Caledonia but tonight also showcased a few songs from JT’s rootsy side project Mountains/Forests under the guise of JT Nero, the singer-songwriter’s solo alter-ego, performing the title song early in the first set tonight. Other songs from that project due to be released in the UK later this year included “MI Salvador What’s Happenin’”, “Gallup NM”, “North Star” and “Double Helix (Rainbow)”, which closed the first set. Relaxed and gently spoken, Jeremy Lindsay appeared comfortable and in control, with a gentle guitar style and soulful gruff voice that alternated effortlessly between the throatiness of, let’s say a Rod Stewart, together with the rich falsetto of a Curtis Mayfield. It’s quite fitting for the kind of songs he writes and nowhere more effectively as in “I Have Heard Words”, a beautifully soulful love song from the current album featuring the sort of keyboard work that turns heads, not unlike that of Billy Preston, courtesy of Chris Neal. With the uplifting “Fever Dream”, the opening song from the new album, JT managed to cram in so many hooks, any one of them good enough to ensure a hit single in an ideal world, none of which were lost in this stripped down acoustic performance tonight. Referring to The Wheelhouse as a ‘man cave’, JT struck up a good rapport with the audience from the start, with some gentle between-song banter and a repertoire any performer would die for. Songs as thoroughly engaging as “Funeral”, the most joyous and fun-filled song to the dear departed this reviewer has ever heard as well as a couple of songs from the earlier Delilah album of 2004, “Prairie Lullaby” and “Scattered Leaves”, subsequently covered by the Be Good Tanyas. With a crowd pleasing version of Dylan’s “You Ain’t Going Nowhere”, the band headed towards the finishing line, but not before a stunning performance of the title song from the current album, the Neil Young inflected “Caledonia”, which had everyone in the Wheelhouse joining in. “Til It’s Gone” followed as the intended closer, featuring some excellent guitar from Dan Abu-Absi on the Gibson he borrowed from the host, but finally the band rounded everything off with an encore of Townes Van Zandt’s “White Freight Liner”, JT and the Clouds leaving their mark on this tiny South Yorkshire venue, where their picture will join the healthy array of talent already pasted upon its walls. Earlier in the evening, photographer and general good fellah Phil Carter stepped up to the mic to provide a set of well-chosen songs from the pens of a handful of well-established and much acclaimed songwriters from both sides of the pond including Pete Morton, Ralph McTell, Martyn Joseph, Bob Dylan and Ray Hearne. By his own admission, these songs would normally be shared exclusively between him and the four walls of his bedroom; the audience agreed that these songs were just as fittingly suited to the four walls of the Wheelhouse. Why should the wardrobe and the chest of drawers have them all to themselves?
Michael Roach | Selby Town Hall, Selby | 26.02.11
Washington DC born ‘songster’ Michael Roach made a return visit to the Selby Town Hall tonight for a couple of sets consisting of a broad range of songs that included several blues standards, a handful of gospel and spiritual songs, a few from Roach’s own pen and one or two nursery rhymes. Smartly suited and wearing his trademark brown fedora, the seated musician alternated between his Gibson acoustic and prized National Steel, for an evening of songs predominantly from his current album release Innocent Child. Easing the audience into his opening set with four songs from the new album, Mississippi John Hurt’s “Got the Blues and Can’t Be Satisfied”, “Be a Man”, “What’s the Matter Blues” and “Noah”, the singer’s warmth and relaxed manner soon became apparent. With an almost encyclopaedic knowledge of African/American music and culture, Roach went on to insist that he is no Bluesman, rather a Songster. He also contested his status as an academic, preferring to be acknowledged as just an ordinary fellah with an insatiable curiosity. As is the case of many songsters and bluesmen in the evolving traditions of American folk music, Roach learned a good deal from his elders and in his own particular case, Archie Edwards, John Jackson, John Cephas and Jerry Ricks, all now sadly passed, but with their legacy very much living on in Michael Roach’s music. Speaking highly of John Cephas in particular, both as a major influence, teacher and friend, Roach went on to pay tribute to him with a heartfelt performance of “Remember Me”, Roach’s composite arrangement of the Swan Silvertones’ “That Cross on Calvary” and the Harmonising Four’s “When Tears are Falling”. With some enlightening historical anecdotes between songs, Roach dispelled some of the myths surrounding the story of the blues, such as the incorrect notion that the blues began in Africa or indeed in the Mississippi Delta, using simple chronological historical records. Roach also attempted to demonstrate how some of our modern musical styles derived such as in the case of Bo Diddley, who’s style of playing Roach believes comes directly from the art of ‘hand bone’, the rhythmic slapping of hands on thighs, chest, chops and anywhere else that takes your fancy. For those in the audience who had come along to hear some real down home blues, they wouldn’t have been disappointed with Roach’s performances of such classics as Sleepy John Estes’ “Brownsville Blues”, Willie Dixon’s “Little Red Rooster”, both incorporating the bottleneck style and resonator guitar, together with a faithful version of Son House’s “Death Letter”. Reminiscent at times of Big Bill Broonzy, Roach paid tribute to his fellow ‘Songster’ with “A Shanty in Old Shanty Town” and the suggestive “How Do You Want It Done?”, both very much a part of the American folk tradition. Consistent with Roach’s claim to be a Songster, rather than a Bluesman, the singer went on to perform in a variety of styles such as in the folk blues of “Staggerlee” and “Kassie Jones”, the country blues of Hawkshaw Hawkins’ “Rattlesnakin’ Daddy”, the jazz inflected “Minnie the Moocher”, the spirituals “Swing Low Sweet Chariot” and “Jesus Knows I’m Coming” and even a bunch of nursery rhymes with the audience offering suggestions as Michael proved that every one of them fit snuggly into the same blues tune with an infectious chorus of “Little Boy Blue”. Finishing with a version of the old American folk song “I Shall Not Be Moved” and a final a cappella version of Mahalia Jackson’s “It Don’t Cost Very Much”, Michael Roach left the stage, once again leaving behind a suitably satisfied Selby audience.
Dead Rock West | The Greystones, Sheffield | 09.03.11
The Backroom of the Greystones pub on the outskirts of Sheffield once again played host to another night of great music, tonight MC’d by both Alex Buchanan and Simon Hughes, two local music enthusiasts who collectively make up Boo Hoo Music Promotions. This first headliner tour of the UK for Californian band Dead Rock West was marred slightly by an unfortunate and completely unexpected bout of illness, which has put Frank Lee Drennen out of the picture for a few days, forcing the band to cancel at least one show and press upon Frank’s musical partner some additional pressure in order to keep things going and keep things together. Cindy Wasserman went on tonight to demonstrate her resilience, abiding by the old theatrical rule that the show must go on. With sheer professionalism and bundles of raw talent, Cindy fronted her band, which was obviously missing one of its integral ingredients, but managed to fill the cracks, gulfs and chasms with some remarkable musicianship. The band settled themselves into the set with a comfortable selection from Dead Rock West’s debut album Honey and Salt, including “Rocket From the Crypt”, “Don’t Worry About Me”, “Desert Rose” and “All I Know”, before showcasing some of the songs from their stunning follow up Bright Morning Stars due out in April. The new album’s rootsy surveillance of source material such as Blind Willie Johnson’s “God Don’t Ever Change”, the Staples Singers’ “This May Be the Last Time” and the traditional “Ain’t No Grave”, transferred well into live performance, with Cindy Wasserman on particularly good form. One or two of the songs that would normally appear in the set were left out for obvious reasons such as the beautiful Wings of Angels, a Wasserman/Drennen close harmony song and Frank’s take on the Jesus and Mary Chains’ “God Help Me”. Incidentally, Frank was by this time upstairs in his sick bed, having just returned from one of Sheffield’s busy hospitals. One can only assume those words were going through his head as he listened to his band playing without him downstairs. Joining Cindy were Jack Reynolds on bass, Charlie Mcree on drums and Christopher Hoffee on both electric guitar and National Steel, all chipping in harmonies where presumably Drennen’s would normally go. Whilst Cindy performed all the songs from the band’s repertoire that wouldn’t miss Drennen’s input too drastically, such as Peter Case’s gorgeous “Beyond the Blues”, there was the slight suspicion that much of the repertoire available to the band was running out towards the end, hence treating the audience to two well-chosen covers to end the night, the Velvet Underground’s “Baby Be Good” and the Gun Club’s “Fire of Love”, both affording the band the opportunity to rock out for the climax of what turned out to be a great night. Earlier in the evening, local five-piece band Dave Woodcock and the Dead Comedians provided an energetic set of raw Americana, setting the standard for the evening. With a band consisting of Chris Saunders, whose amazing photographs adorn the walls of the Backroom, on guitar, Richard Hunter on drums, Chris Murphy on piano and guitar and Lee Bradley on bass, Dave Woodcock led his band with some familiar tunes including “Firewater” and “City Lights”, dedicated to Charlie’s Chaplin and Bukowski, as well as some brand new material including “Should I Laugh Now, Or Should I Wait Until It Gets Funny”. All in all, a pretty good night.
Rua Macmillan Trio and Ewan Robertson | The Courthouse, Otley | 19.03.11
Greentrax label mates Rua Macmillan and Ewan Robertson embarked on their joint debut UK tour tonight at the Courthouse in the Wharf Valley market town of Otley. The refurbished nineteenth century magistrates court provided the ideal place to kick off this tour, which featured two Scots musicians known for their work in two successful Scots bands, The Paul McKenna Band and Breabach respectively. The concert was divided into two sets, one dominated by a selection of well-chosen songs, both traditional and contemporary, whilst the second set was totally instrumental. In good spirits, the young Carrbridge, Strathspey-born singer/guitarist Ewan Robertson, just 28 yesterday, made his solo debut kicking off with the whaling song “Greenland”, followed by a handful of songs from his debut solo album Some Kind of Beauty, including the album opener “One For The Ditch”, Dave Sudbury’s gorgeous “King of Rome” and Richard Thompson’s classic boy/girl/motorbike/disaster road movie “Vincent Black Lightning”, for which Rua Macmillan was invited up onstage to contribute some flighty fiddle playing. After a short break, the Rua Macmillan Trio, consisting of Ruairidh Macmillan on fiddle, Bodega’s Tia Files on guitar and Adam Brown on bodhran, brought much of the Tyro album to life with an instrumental set showcasing the trio’s command over traditional music from north of the border. Starting with “Ooh Pierre!”, the band gently eased themselves into their set, which would boast some remarkably intuitive and dextrous playing throughout. Whilst Tia and Adam remained seated, Rua dominated the stage with a storming performance, the vibration of which on more than one occasion sent chairs off the stage to the rear and little pedal gadgets off stage to the front. A powerful and energetic set consisting of various sets of jigs and reels, mostly from the debut album, together with pieces including “George, Donald and Sandy”, “Harv’s” and “Kitchen Criminals”. Whilst “Traditionally Incorrect”, featuring the tunes “The Ewie Wi’ the Crooked Horn” and “The Chancer” brought Tia Files’ confident guitar playing to the fore, it was Adam Brown’s demonstration of precisely how the Bodhran should be played that had the audience on the edge of their seats, with some virtuoso playing midway through the performance, courtesy of the young Newmarket musician, utilising the self-made instrument to its full potential. For the final encore, Rua invited Ewan Robertson back to the stage to join the band on fiddle this time, with a final waltz, completing an inspiring evening of music.
The Believers | Town Hall, Kirton in Lindsey | 20.03.11
The Kirton in Lindsey Diamond Jubilee Town Hall played host once again to the second in a series of monthly concerts held in this charming market square venue, organised by a bunch of local enthusiasts, eager to welcome exciting musicians to their town. Craig Aspen and Cyd Frazzini otherwise known as New Orleans-based duo The Believers brought their own special blend of alt country to this sleepy North Lincolnshire town, the appearance of which was welcomed by an enthusiastic and appreciative audience. Performing a couple of sets of songs mainly drawn from The Believers’ back catalogue, featuring a handful from their debut album Row (2002), including the song “Believers”, from which the duo acquired their name and “White Trash Queen”, to a generous selection from their follow up and highly regarded sophomore album Crashyertown (2005), including “Highway Song”, “Good Days”, “Railroad Spikes” and “Shotgun Shells” as well as the title song of course. With a throw away comment, jokingly referring to their music as ‘shit-kicking music’, Craig and Cyd went on to demonstrate their approach to being a ‘Rock band with a Country problem’ as anything but throw away. With some close harmony singing fused with a hard rocking, albeit acoustic accompaniment, Cyd sticking to her sunburst acoustic throughout whilst Craig alternated between guitar and mandolin, the duo showed off their rich credentials as seasoned performers, Cyd referring to Craig’s mandolin playing as far too psychedelic and untraditional for Nashville. Guessing that the audience would probably be unaware of much of the material played tonight, the duo included one or two covers, Dylan’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues”, being quite possibly the most recognisable. Heavily influenced by the collaborative efforts of Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris, Craig and Cyd paid tribute to arguably one of alt-country’s best loved pairings with their take on Boudleaux Bryant’s beautifully timeless “Love Hurts”, which was tagged onto the end of the equally tender “Pour Down”. With many of the songs taken from the duo’s first couple of albums, songs from the new album Lucky You were kept to a minimum with just the two inclusions, “Your Hurting Ways” and “Higher Ground”, which was played towards the end of the set, one of two songs from the album addressing the unfortunate and catastrophic events in the wake of Hurricane Katrina’s most unwelcomed visit to New Orleans in 2005. With a final encore of the Depeche Mode song “Personal Jesus”, prefaced by the notion that ‘if it’s good enough for Johnny Cash, then it’s good enough for us’, The Believers brought the concert to its climax. Earlier in the evening, Sleaford-based singer-songwriter Ben Ellis warmed up the audience with a handful of highly original self-penned songs including a plea to a local newsreader to spare us the details of all the horrors we hear on the news in Peter Levy and the one cover, the old Smokey Robinson hit “I Second That Emotion”.
Devon Sproule | The Wheelhouse, Wombwell | 27.03.11
A bit of a coup for the little Wheelhouse in Wombwell tonight, as Devon Sproule stopped over for a one-off house concert, fresh from her appearance at the Tallinn Music Week in Estonia, which took place over the weekend. Playing solo, the Charlottesville, Virginia-based singer-songwriter showcased each and every song from her new as yet to be released sixth studio album I Love You, Go Easy due out on general release sometime in May. Dividing her two sets tonight between the established repertoire in the first half, leaving the brand new songs for the second, Devon eased herself into the first set with the jazz inflected “Let’s Go Out”, gently picking and strumming her prized 1954 f-hole Gibson throughout. Relaxed enough to ask the audience to shout up any particular song they wished to hear, Devon went on to perform material from her back catalogue and in particular her last two studio albums Keep Your Silver Shined (“Stop By Anytime”, “Keep Your Silver Shined”, “Old Virginia Block”) and Don’t Hurry for Heaven (“Ain’t That the Way”, “Julie”, “Don’t Hurry For Heaven”) as well as a couple of older songs, including the gorgeous “Plea For a Good Night’s Rest” from her Upstate Songs period. The first of the new songs “The Warning Bell” appeared during the first set, which Devon explained was an updated version of “Hang on the Bell Nellie”, learned from an old song book entitled Rise Up Singing. This was a brief hint at what was to come in the second half. With a strong, if sometimes vulnerable voice, never afraid to go for the note that her characteristically frail voice could never actually reach, the singer’s reputation as being a slightly eccentric singer came across loud and clear; but that’s precisely what makes Devon Sproule different, special, interesting and unique. The only non-original song played in the first half was The Beatles’ “The Night Before”, which Devon prefaced by admitting some self-indulgence, a song previously heard as an instrumental played on many occasion beside husband Paul Curreri. It was brave of Devon to reveal every song from her forthcoming album one after the other in the second half, particularly in view of the fact that the new songs show a marked shift in direction for the songwriter. Describing the new material as minimalist, a little simpler and more personal, Devon seems to have dropped the highly melodic song structures for a more stripped-down meditative approach to song writing, highlighting her vulnerability as a singer even more than before. Despite the first set being for all intents and purposes an overview of her career so far, with some of the singer’s best loved songs, it was the second set that pushed the boundaries, which in turn challenged the senses, with some of the most daring songs of her career thus far. With song titles such as “I Love You, Go Easy”, “Monk/Monkey” and get this, “The Evening Ghost Crab”, Devon Sproule is all set for the next phase in an already extraordinary career. The new album is made up entirely of Sproule originals except for “Runs in the Family”, written by Terre Roche and “Body’s in Trouble” by Mary Margaret O’Hara. Devon also performed “Flowers (Eurydice’s Song)”, one of the songs from the new ‘folk opera’ Hadestown, written by Anais Mitchell, which retells the Orpheus myth. Finishing off with something more conventional, the old Nina Simone song “My Baby Just Cares For Me”, Devon certainly left an impression and served up some food for thought.
Barnsley Acoustic Roots Festival 2011 | Various Venues, Barnsley | 02.04.11
This weekend, the second annual Barnsley Acoustic Roots Festival reached an even wider audience than the first one back in 2010, proving at least two things; that the organisers are getting it right and that the word is getting out there. The three-day festival was once again held at two venues across town, the Barnsley Civic for the opening night and the Kingstone School for the rest of the weekend. Sixteen main concert events and countless open mic appearances, together with a couple of singaround sessions made up one of the first festivals of the year and one that seems to be gathering enough interest to establish itself as a fixture on the annual festival calendar. On Friday night, two Devon-based duos appeared at the sell-out concert at the Civic, featuring Show of Hands (okay, technically a trio) and their current tour guests Phillip Henry and Hannah Martin. With a dazzling performance, the dobro and the harmonica met the fiddle and the banjo head on in a set that featured a handful of songs from the duo’s current album Live in the Living Room, including updated versions of the O’Carolan tune “Shebeg and Sheemore”, Gillian Welch’s “Wichita” and a stunning harmonica solo based around Sonny Terry’s “I Wanna Boogie” coupled with the old Blind Willie Johnson classic “Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning”. Henry’s virtuosity on the harmonica was apparent as he played two simultaneously on “Death and the Lady”, effectively doing the work normally reserved for an accordion, with a little beat boxing thrown in. One of the highlights of the set was Hannah’s beautiful banjo-accompanied “The Painter”, which featured a confident vocal performance by the young singer. Show of Hands’ Steve Knightley and Phil Beer, together with Miranda Sykes on double bass, performed a relaxed and it has to be said, flawless set, which included many familiar anthemic songs including “Is There Anything Left in England That’s Not For Sale”, “Country Life”, “Santiago” and “Cousin Jack” as well as some newer songs including “Stop Copying Me”, a song highlighting the perils of social networking and the brand new and highly topical “We’re All In It Together”. Forging an ongoing reputation as being the archetypal ‘English’ folk band, Show of Hands are never afraid to show their American influences, on Friday including in their set Bruce Springsteen’s “Youngstown”, Bob Dylan’s “Senor (Tales of Yankee Power)” and Don Henley’s “Boys of Summer”. Miranda Sykes was also left alone on stage to perform a delightful solo version of Kate Rusby’s “Old Man Time”, accompanying herself on bowed double bass in her own inimitable style. On Saturday morning, the inaugural Seth Lakeman Rising Stars Competition took place in the ‘open mic’ room at the festival, with seven young acts competing for the new trophy that Seth Lakeman was only too happy to sponsor. With ages ranging from 12 to 19, each act performed two pieces, either songs or tunes, before the three judges, the performers Dave Burland and Kayla Kavanagh as well as Shepley Spring Festival organiser Kate Atkinson. Sarah Horn and James Cudworth, Jennifer Beadnell and Olivia Clifton, Dylan Brierley, Amy Condrey, Josh Lockwood, Lydia Noble and Mia Symmonds performed in good spirits and gave the three judges something of a task, the outcome being revealed shortly afterwards when it was announced that 13 year-old Dylan Brierley took the overall first place and the trophy, with Amy Condrey taking joint first place in the older category and classical guitarist Josh Lockwood as runner up. Opening the afternoon concert on the main stage was Barnsley’s own Richard Kitson who performed songs from his debut solo album Home and Dry, including “Robin Hood’s Bay”, “My Love”, “Low Tide” and “Gambling Woman”, together with a tribute to Davy Graham with the timeless finger challenging guitar piece “Anji”. Nashville-based singer-songwriter Stephanie Lambring has now got herself an impressive day job, in that she works in an office specifically writing songs for BMG, just as in the old Brill Building days. Some of those songs were performed on Saturday afternoon by one of the most confident young performers working out of Nashville today. Mixing some of the new songs “I Will” and “You Too” with the more established repertoire such as “Sober”, “Vincent” and “Lonely To Alone”, Stephanie won a few new friends with her distinctive voice and mature song-writing. Continuing the afternoon’s theme of singer-songwriter based performers, producer and musician Nigel Stonier came out from behind the studio console to perform a handful of his own songs. Famed for his production work with Thea Gilmore, Fairport Convention and more recently Katy Lied, Nigel launched into his set with “Wild and Beautiful”, going on to perform songs from his current album Notes from Overground including “Whole Lotta Nothin’ Going On” and “Set You Free”. Perching himself on the edge of the stage, effectively abandoning the sound system, Nigel performed an unplugged version of Donovan’s “Catch the Wind”, which was well received by the audience. Headlining the afternoon concert on the main stage was Karine Polwart and her trio consisting of brother Steve on guitar and Inge Thomson on everything else. Karine is without question one of our most treasured songwriters, whose intelligent songs are several notches above the normal standard. Starting with “Resolution Road” from her debut album Faultlines, Karine went on to perform several of her best loved songs including “Daisy”, “We’re All Leaving”, “River’s Run”, “Sorry”, “Beo” and “This Earthly Spell”, together with her memorable take on the Blue Nile’s “From Rags to Riches”. Karine finished her set with the optimistic “I’m Gonna Do It All”, which was rewarded with a unanimous call for more, Karine’s trio returning for a final encore of the gorgeous “Follow the Heron”. Whilst the afternoon concert was taking place on the main stage, other activities were going on elsewhere throughout the school, with Gerry McNeice presiding over an open mic session, which saw some of the festival artists performing informally together with other singers and musicians popping in and out throughout the afternoon. Lou Marriott also ran a singaround in one of the other classrooms for those who preferred a more laid back session. Saturday evening’s concert on the main stage began with an appearance by festival patron Dave Burland, fresh from judging the Rising Stars competition, who joked that he accepted the role as he intended to patronise everyone in the place before the evening was over. Dave’s own star rose in the early 1970s, but his eclectic choice of songs are still remembered and cherished today in this area in particular. Starting with Richard Thompson’s “Hard Luck Stories”, Dave went on to perform such much loved songs as Bob Dylan’s “Girl From the North Country”, the traditional “The Water is Wide” and the old Louis Jordan rocker “Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens”. Dave finished his set with the old Lowell George classic “Willin’”, which had everyone singing along in typical Little Feat harmony. The Devon-based twins Laura and Charlotte Carrivick brought a taste of bluegrass to Barnsley, with songs from the Carrivick Sisters’ Jupiter’s Corner album. Starting with “Waiting For a Train”, the sisters alternated between guitar, mandolin, dobro and fiddle, for some of the weekend’s most dextrous musicianship. Mixing Old Time with Bluegrass, the twins played an assured set featuring songs such as “Stars”, “Martha’s Witchalse”, “Garden Girl”, “The William and Emma and Charlotte Dymond”, as well as their take on the Alison Krauss song “Gentle River”. From the tiny town of Nokomis, in the Saskatchewan province of Canada, Little Miss Higgins together with partner Foy Taylor, brandished their respective electric guitars for some retro-blues, rockabilly and jazz-tinged vaudeville, delivering on cue some of their eagerly anticipated numbers from their most recent album Across the Plains. Starting with “In the Middle of Nowhere”, from their previous Junction City album, the duo stomped out their own brand of blues, making an immediate impression on the unsuspecting Barnsley audience. With a slight technical hitch, which effectively took guitarist Foy Taylor out of the picture for a few minutes, Little Miss Higgins took up the mantle and soon had the audience in the palm of her hands with the unaccompanied “Gather My Fruit”. With a particularly good time feel, songs like “The Tornado Song”, “Snowin’ Today: A Lament for Louis Riel” and the infectious “Bargain! Shop Panties”, brought a sense of fun to the evening. With a last minute name change from the advertised Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams to the simplified The Grand Slambovians, Josiah Longo and his merry band brought some of their famed hillbilly Pink Floyd to Barnsley. One of the most exciting retro bands on the scene at the moment, the Slambovians notched up yet another successful UK festival appearance, adding another bunch of enthusiasts to their word-of-mouth gathered fanbase with songs such as “Picture” and “The Trans-Slambovian BiPolar Express”. Sunday afternoon began with a couple of classical guitar pieces played by 12 year-old Josh Lockwood, runner up in the Seth Lakeman Rising Stars competition, playing impressive note-perfect recitals of “Waltz in E Minor” and “Ausurious Leyanda”. The overall winner, 13 year-old singer-songwriter Dylan Brierley, went on next to perform a couple of self-penned songs including “My Hero”, a song about Dylan’s mum, just for Mother’s Day. Sharon King and the Reckless Angels performed a gentle set on Sunday afternoon, with a handful of songs from Sharon’s growing repertoire, including “Lady Tuesday”, “High Times”, and “Shiny Shoes” from Sharon’s current album Reckless Angels. The seated trio were relaxed throughout their set, which also included “Travelling Ways” and “Josie”. The legendary Vin Garbutt returned to the Barnsley after a long time away to perform some of his most enduring songs such as “The Turner’s Song”, “The One Legged Beggar”, “Morning Informs” and “Not For the First Time” and sounding just as good as ever. With his familiar between-song banter, a handful of remarkably poignant songs and the odd whistle tune, Vin’s hour-long set seemed over before it began, testament to the Teeside Bard’s command over engaging with his audience. Possibly the most eagerly anticipated set of the festival this year was North Georgia’s thoroughly exciting Larkin Poe, with the Lovell Sisters Rebecca and Megan dominating a stage for a set filled with some of the most spirit-lifting bluegrass-inflected music of the weekend. Starting with the infectious “Long Hard Fall”, Larkin Poe brought to life the music British audiences had only previously known on record over the last twelve months. Their debut UK tour reveals that Larkin Poe are just as good if not better live than on their four seasonal EPs Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. Performing favourites “In My Time of Dying”, “Teardrop”, “We Intertwine”, “Sea Song”, “Trance”, “Praying for the Bell” and the soulfully bluesy “Principle of Silver Lining”, the band endeavoured to bring the sleepy afternoon audience out of relaxation mode and up on the dance floor with varying degrees of success. With Knoxville’s Vince Llagan on bass and Chad Melton on drums, joining siblings Rebecca Lovell on guitar, mandolin and fiddle and Megan Lovell on dobro and lap steel guitar, Larkin Poe demonstrated some remarkable craftsmanship whilst having tremendous fun at the same time. A memorable performance by any standard. As Sunday evening approached, the two winners of the Seth Lakeman Rising Stars competition, Amy Condrey and Dylan Brierley, gave the audience of a taste of what to expect in their future endeavours as artists and performers. Sam Lakeman, who was at the concert specifically to play with headliner Cara Dillon as part of her band, came on stage to present young Dylan with his trophy, sponsored by his brother Seth. With a few words of encouragement, Sam handed over the trophy to the proud young performer. The evening continued with something of a family affair with each of the acts having within its ranks either a Roberts or a Lakeman and in one case both. Award-winning duo Katriona Gilmore and Jamie Roberts, no strangers to the Kingstone School, delighted the audience with a set of songs and tunes, including “All I’ve Known”, “Suzannah”, “Shepherd” and “Fleetwood Fair”. With a brilliant performance of “The Badger’s Set”, which was unfortunately brought to an abrupt end seconds before the planned end, by a string breaking on Jamie’s guitar, the duo switched instruments for one of Jamie’s most original songs, “The Bookseller’s Story”. Keeping it in the family, Jamie’s big sister Kathryn Roberts, who shares the title of festival patron with Dave Burland, took to the stage next with husband Sean Lakeman beside her, in an all too rare duo performance by the ex-Equation band mates. Opening with “Granite Mill”, the duo demonstrated an intuitive musical empathy with Kathryn occasionally visiting the piano stool for songs such as the stunning “Joe Peel” and the debut of an achingly sad song concerning the miners strike, which had the Kingstone School Hall in complete silence throughout. Other familiar songs from the Roberts/Lakeman repertoire included “The Red Barn”, “Lord Gregory”, “The Buxom Lass” and “The Whitby Maid”, finishing with the sublime “Jackie’s Song”. Rounding off the final evening and completing an excellent second Barnsley Acoustic Roots Festival, it seemed fitting to go out with one of folk music’s most delightful voices, Northern Ireland’s Cara Dillon. Once again the family connection remained intact with husband Sam Lakeman joining Cara on stage as part of her band for the festival finale. Starting with “Johnny, Lovely Johnny” from Cara’s current album Hill of Thieves, the band went on to perform such songs as “Johnny Mo Mhile Sor”, “Spencer the Rover”, “The Lass of Glenshee” as well as one or two older songs such as “I Wish You Well” and “Garden Valley” from Cara’s After the Morning period and “Black is the Colour” from her ten-year-old self-titled debut. With an encore of the aptly titled “The Parting Glass”, Cara Dillon brought a touch of class to the festival, a festival that will no doubt grow in popularity once the word gets out.
Larkin Poe | The Wheelhouse, Wombwell | 03.04.11
Fresh from their weekend appearance at the Barnsley Acoustic Roots Festival, where the band had the luxury of space on the large Kingstone School Hall stage, Larkin Poe squeezed into the relatively minute Wheelhouse for an intimate evening of fun and music. It came as no surprise then when our host Hedley Jones announced before the second set that tonight’s gig was ‘just unbelievably good’; of course the audience unanimously agreed. With two sets filled with Larkin Poe originals, which just happens to include some of the most highly melodic songs on the current Americana scene, the band instantly won over the sell-out audience with no problem whatsoever. Following a nice laid-back set of songs courtesy of Nottingham singer-songwriter Owen Harvey, no stranger to this venue, Larkin Poe took to the space where the stage normally stands, to start their first set with the feel-good and infectiously melodic “Long Hard Fall”, possibly the first song we in the UK heard just over a year ago, being the opening song from their first EP release. This song alone demonstrated that the band can do justice to the songs live just as well as on record, if not better. The Lovell siblings Rebecca and Megan, together with Chad Melton on drums and Vince Llagan on bass, went on to play some, if not all, the best songs from each of their seasonal EPs, Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter including “The Principle of Silver Lining”, “We Intertwine”, “Teardrop” and “Praying For The Bell”. With charisma and charm, Rebecca dominated the show, with her infectious personality and uniquely gutsy vocal prowess, whilst Megan, the ‘studious one’, stoically observed with a quiet serenity from the side. The second set saw the band loosen up with a mixture of Larkin Poe’s more sensitive songs, which Rebecca refers to as ‘low key material’, such as “Free Like a Bird”, “Distance” and the tension-filled “Burglary”. Towards the end of the set the band played one of Rebecca’s most heartfelt songs about home, simply entitled “My Home”, which has an astonishing bluegrass coda, showcasing the duos’ breathtaking dobro/mandolin sparring credentials, lest we forget these two musicians have a background steeped in bluegrass. Finishing with an astonishing take on Jimi Hendrix’s “Bleeding Heart”, which gave each of the musicians the space to take on a solo, the band could not possibly be let out of the place without at least a couple of encores, which included the fiddle tune “Big Sciota” and finally the Don Williams song “We’re all the Way”. By the end of the two sets even the most devoted Larkin Poe fans would have to admit that all the material they know and love had been played. What more can one ask for at a concert? Great musicianship, great performances, entertaining between-song banter and all your songs done. There you go, the perfect gig.
Little Miss Higgins | The Wheelhouse, Wombwell | 09.04.11
There was a lot in the way of ‘littles’ tonight. From the little town of Nokomis in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada, Little Miss ‘Jolene’ Higgins made her debut at the little Wheelhouse, bringing a taste of vaudeville style entertainment to the popular venue, filling the room with her strong and distinctive jazz-flavoured voice, mixing her own material with classic Memphis Minnie blues songs. There’s nothing little about that voice though, which dominated the house concert, whilst partner Foy Taylor provided the rhythm guitar and backing vocals throughout. With vintage guitars in hand and at the ready, Jolene and Foy performed songs from the Little Miss Higgins catalogue, including a selection from her last record Junction City (2007) including “That Train’s a Comin’ Down”, “Velvet Barley Bed”, “In the Middle of Nowhere” and the wonderfully confrontational “Liar Liar”. Much of the set though centred around Little Miss Higgins’ current album Across the Plains, with arguably some of her best songs to date such as “The Tornado Song”, the unaccompanied “Gather My Fruit”, “Snowin’ Today: Lament for Louis Riel” and the surprise ‘hit’ and live favourite “Bargain! Shop Panties”. There was also a couple of well-chosen Memphis Minnie songs included, both of which clearly showed Jolene’s roots; “You Ain’t Done Nothing To Me” and “Killer Diller”. With some entertaining between-song banter with the audience, which centred around Jolene’s Alberta background, her travel exploits and beer, together with an evenly balanced mixture of country-flavoured ballads, juke joint blues numbers, rockabilly stompers and jazz-tinged crooners, Jolene presented a couple of sets that makes her act difficult to categorise. During the old Bessie Smith blues classic “Me and My Gin”, Jolene requested a shot glass from the bar for some spontaneous bottleneck slide playing. Not to waste the opportunity, Jolene also requested that the glass be filled with gin. Andy the barman dutifully handed over a couple of gins, one of which our host Hedley Jones had to ‘feed’ to Foy Taylor, whilst he continued playing his guitar, not missing a beat. The other one was down Jolene’s neck in one, then explored the neck of her guitar for the remainder of the song. Finishing with “Romance in the Dark”, a much older song which appeared on Jolene’s debut album Cobbler Shop Sessions (2005), Little Miss Higgins left both the stage and a lasting impression on the Wombwell audience. Continuing the theme of all things little, the support came in the form of 14 year-old Mia Symonds, a tiny frame with a massive talent, who performed a handful of songs, including KT Tunstall’s “The Other Side of the World”, Beyonce’s “Smash Into You” and the Jason Mraz hit “I’m Yours”, together with the achingly personal self-penned song “Closer”, extraordinarily mature lyrics for one so young. I’m certain we’ll hear a lot more from Mia in due course.
Curtis Eller | The Greystones, Sheffield | 23.04.11
You would imagine the task of describing a Curtis Eller gig to be relatively difficult; there’s a lot of strangely eccentric behaviour granted, but in reality, it’s pretty much like describing one of the oldest forms of entertainment, that of a pretty standard song and dance routine, albeit with a slight difference. Tonight, the Detroit-born, now North Carolina-based showman began his set standing bolt upright on a high backed chair, banjo in hand with the usual silent movie-style attire, vest, waistcoat, baggy trousers and braces (suspenders to Stateside folk) and sneakers, all of which, I’ve had on good authority, is pretty much Eller’s daily costume. With a healthy mixture of Vaudeville, Music Hall, old time folk, circus clowning and yodelling, as well as being imbued with a punk-acrobat sensibility, Eller grabs your attention from the start, not exclusively through his frenzied stage antics but also through his very distinctive songs. Whether referencing historical figures from the American Civil War era such as Ulysses Grant, Jefferson Davis and William Tecumseh Sherman or Hollywood movie stars such as Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney and Buster Keaton, or even the sporting legend Joe Louis, the songs are instantly recognisable as Curtis Eller’s. Rather than following any coherent narrative though, these names are used more like paints on a palette with unusual juxtapositions. However engaging the songs are to the audience, it’s the stage shenanigans that really draw the audiences in. Eller’s unpredictable behaviour probably comes as much of a surprise to him as it does to the audience, whether it be simply leaving the stage to lean nonchalantly against the pub wall whilst the band continues to play, or maybe exiting through the fire escape and into the car park with the radio mic losing signal after a while, leaving the audience strangely bewildered. Or perhaps it’s the over-enthusiastic spin on stage, which sees our hero ploughing into the drum kit, then ricocheting off into the double bassist. Scary stuff, but absolutely part of the Eller experience. Making several excursions into the audience tonight, either by crawling along the floor begging for a kazoo, or fearlessly negotiating the treacherous table tops, whilst at one point even resting his foot on the head of one unsuspecting young punter, whose decision to attend this gig was perhaps at this point in question, Eller seldom misses a beat on his backless banjo, delivering one song after another, songs about coal mining disasters, circus fires or having just three more minutes with Elvis. During all this mayhem, we also experience one of the most cherished moments of any Curtis Eller gig, the part of the show where we are all invited to become pigeons for a moment. “The Last Flight of the Pigeon Club” is not only hilarious in its concept, but strangely beautiful at the same time. Joined by a British rhythm section, Matthew Rheeston on drums and Bradley Blackwell on upright bass, Eller revisited many of his best known songs such as “Sweatshop Fire”, “Sugar in My Coffin” and “Taking Up Serpents Again”, finishing with a song that the enthusiastic Greystones audience pretty much demanded to be played, the timeless “Buster Keaton”, which brought the evening to a more than satisfactory conclusion. I wouldn’t like to think what might have happened had this beautiful homage to the silent era not been played. Someone would’ve had to call the cops I guess, Keystone or otherwise.
Wath Festival 2011 | Montgomery Hall, Wath Upon Dearne | 01.05.11
The May Day bank holiday weekend traditionally brings light and colour to the small South Yorkshire town of Wath upon Dearne and has been doing so for at least thirty-nine years in the form of the annual Wath Festival. Three days of fun and music may have been the famous Woodstock slogan back in the day, with memorable stage announcements such as ‘some hamburger guy had his hamburger stand burned down last night’, bringing a momentary frown upon proceedings at the iconic 1969 festival in upstate New York. A similar frown appeared on the faces of the good people of Wath on Friday night when a portaloo was torched in similar fashion down by the War Memorial, damaging part of the stone memorial, the perpetrator seemingly unconcerned about the distress this silly act may have caused the families of our local heroes. But there’s always one isn’t there? Just the one glitch then in an otherwise fun-filled, warm and friendly festival, where much of the town was out in support of the festivities throughout the town including a variety of street entertainment, stalls, crafts, face-painting, street theatre, dance displays, stilt walkers together with Moonarooni, the new and exciting audio visual experience down on the Brook Dyke green space. With various singarounds in the Red Lion and the Sandygate, as well as some fine chorus singing led by Wath Morris in the Rugby Club, together with a whole host of major folk music acts performing at the Montgomery Hall, including The Tannerhill Weavers, Frances Black, Chris Wood and Drever, McCusker, Woomble and Talbot, the weekend had something for everyone. On Friday night Ray Hearne opened the main concert section of the festival, with a short set of down to earth self-penned songs such as “Things to Say”, diverting our attention from the other main event of the day, towards the more important things in life, that is, good thought-provoking songs for and about ordinary people. Ray then continued to host the rest of the Friday night concert in his own inimitable way. The theme of songwriting and storytelling continued throughout Friday evening with a visit from the North East’s favourite son Jez Lowe, making a welcome return to the festival, whose songs seemed to reflect some of the images that adorn the walls of the Montgomery Hall, most notably the one depicting the area’s history of coal mining. Alternating between his usual guitar, cittern and mandolin, Jez sang a selection of songs from his repertoire including “The Judas Bus”, “Taking on Men” and “Will of the People2. There’s always something warm and enchanting about an appearance at Wath Festival by festival patron John Tams, who always tries to make himself available during this annual weekend. With Barry Coope on keyboards, Tam’s gentle approach to communicating with his audience brought the Montgomery Hall to a hushed silence as the Derbyshire songwriter delivered a handful of uplifting songs whilst regaling the audience with some of his random stories, from a chance meeting with Hollywood legend Lauren Bacall outside the Dakota Building in New York to the plight of the Manchester Ramblers. Friday’s headliner saw the first of this year’s strong Celtic contingent, with one of Ireland’s finest singers, who Nanci Griffith once referred to as the ‘sweetest voice in Ireland’, Frances Black, together with her small band, bringing the sound of Dublin to South Yorkshire with such songs as “The Sky Road”, “Ready For the Storm” and “After the Ball”. As Wath Morris, Barnsley Samba and Maltby Phoenix Sword Dancers congregated outside Montgomery Hall early on Saturday morning, in order to lead a procession down to the main town square, the sun came out on cue to flood the town with colour. Thomas Tuke’s will was read out twice during the morning, firstly in the town square and then a few moments later in front of the All Saint’s Parish Church doors, whilst 40 dozen bread buns were hoisted up to the lofty bell tower. The suitably attired Mike the Travelling Minstrel put the Will to song and music as the buns were hurled down upon the masses with hundreds of hands reaching skywards to receive their share of the bread. Shortly afterwards Rob Shaw took to the Montgomery Hall stage to welcome a handful of quality folk acts to the festival including Charlie Barker and Harriet Bartlett, two songbirds on guitar and accordion respectively, the aptly dressed Bernard Wrigley in Dennis the Menace shirt, who brought an hour of music, song and comedy to the stage and finally a headline appearance from Irish singer-songwriter Kieran Halpin, with a set of the type of songs that actually mean something. Elsewhere during the afternoon, Lou Marriott presided over the Silver Roots Competition at the Red Lion whilst Wath Morris Team ran their ‘Mostly Chorus’ session at Wath Rugby Club. Bernard Wrigley then returned to the main Montgomery Hall stage to present an evening of music starting with a fine performance by Scarborough’s Anna Shannon. Chris Wood made his debut at the festival with an engaging performance, with a selection of songs that span his solo career thus far, as well as a handful of songs from his current album Handmade Life, such as “Spitfires”, “My Darling’s Downsized” and “The Grand Correction”. Another debut for Wath Festival was Paisley’s Tannahill Weavers, a band that has been around for a good 43 years and quite possibly the first band to incorporate the Highland Pipes as an integral instrument, rather than being just a solo instrument. Roy Gullane led the Weavers through a storming headliner set rounding off Saturday night’s concert. The sun hung around for Sunday as Wath Festival stalwart Gary Wells introduced Shropshire’s Flaxenby, featuring Sam McLeod’s versatile voice blending folk, rock and jazz influences, together with Chris Buttery’s mandolin and guitar and Andy Jones’s informed fiddle. The band were also responsible for encouraging the first bit of impromptu dancing in front of the stage, not bad for so early on a Sunday afternoon. York’s Holly Taymar and partner Chris Bilton returned for their third consecutive visit to the festival, demonstrating that Wath Festival knows a good thing when it hears it. Holly’s trademark between song rambling was interspersed as always by a delightful set of songs including “Toes”, “Beautiful Days” and “Keeping Time”. The combined musical dexterity of Anna Esslemont and Cormac Byrne, collectively known as Uiscedwr, went on to demonstrate some of their highly rhythmic sounds in a breathtaking set of songs and tunes, featuring Cormac’s outstanding command over a variety of percussion instruments and Anna’s virtuoso fiddle playing, not to mention her remarkable voice. Returning to Wath once again was Kris Drever, one third of the groundbreaking power trio Lau, the singer/guitarist playing a solo spot, which included a set of songs including Ewan Maccoll’s “Freeborn Man”, Boo Hewerdine’s “Harvest Gypsies” as well as the traditional “Green Grow the Laurel”. Whilst Holly Tamar ran a ukulele workshop in the St James Room, Charlie Barker hosted the Wath Young Performers Award 2011, with three finalists performing before a panel of judges including radio presenter Dave Eyre, and musicians John McCusker and Kris Drever. The winners were Luke Hirst and Sarah Smout who went on to open the final evening concert, which also featured a welcome return of Merseyside’s Elbow Jane. Festival regulars Cathryn Craig and Brian Willoughby paid another visit to Wath with some of their most cherished songs such as the moving “Alice’s Song”, the superb “That Old Guitar” and finally the showstopping Native American tale of “Accanoe”. Finally, and bringing the festival weekend to a close, an eagerly anticipated appearance by Kris Drever, John McCusker, Roddy Woomble and Heidi Talbot, who performed songs from each of the collective’s respective performers, including “Steel and Stone”, “My Secret Is My Silence”, “The Poorest Company” and “Start It All Over Again”, whilst at the same time adding a touch of class to the proceedings. The thought on a lot of minds I dare say, bearing in mind this was the 39th festival, is how the Wath Team can follow it next year, when the festival will be celebrating its fortieth birthday. If this year is anything to go by, then the organising committee led by David and Ann Roche, together with Gary Wells and a team of dedicated supporters will no doubt be getting their thinking caps on in order to try and make the next one even better than this year. It has to be said that each year the festival becomes a harder act to follow.
This Is The Kit | Town Hall, Kirton in Lindsey | 13.05.11
The current music scene is awash with inventively created pseudonyms, whether it be the odd Badly Drawn Boy, the occasional Joan as Police Woman or just plain Tensheds, it can be slightly confusing and at times difficult to keep up with who is actually who. This Is The Kit’s bassist Jesse D Vernon, otherwise known as Morning Star, claims these names are there to make the artists sound more interesting than they actually are. The current vehicle for Kate Stables’ songs is This Is The Kit, an interchangeable collective, which tonight as always was represented by this enigmatic singer-songwriter, alternating between banjo and guitar, joined by fellow Winchester-born songwriter Rozi Plain, who provided voice and clarinet, the aforementioned Jesse D Vernon on the ‘low end’, Neil Smith on guitar and Jamie Whitbey-Coles on drums. The band’s appearance at the Town Hall in Kirton in Lindsey tonight was a mellow affair, with songs selected from both of Kate’s albums to date, her 2006 debut Krulle Bol and the more recent Wriggle Out the Restless. Initially starting her set alone on stage with an earlier song, “Moths” from This Is The Kit’s debut album, Kate soon surrounded herself with the full band in order to perform a handful of extraordinary songs including “White Ash Cut”, “Sometimes the Sea” and “See Here”. With her banjo harnessed in a small bum-bag type pouch instead of the usual strap, Kate had the audience mesmerised with her almost ethereal style of singing and playing, assisted by fellow Winchester singer Rozi Plain. With performances of both the band’s current single “Moon” and their forthcoming single release “Earthquake”, reminding us of some of the band’s finest melodies, Kate also performed the delightful “Two Wooden Spoons” featuring some fascinating whistled refrains, worthy of nightingale comparison. Finishing with the trance-like “Easy Pickins”, Kate and co gently left their mark, appealing to an audience of all ages. The three-piece version of Morning Star kicked off the night with forty minutes of mellow songs from the pen of Jesse D Vernon. Having a long time association with This Is The Kit, Vernon opened with the song “Morning Star” for a set that also included “Serious Guy”, “Great Day” and “I Heard Beauty Calling”, together with some intriguing dance routines and inventive slide guitar manouvres. Sandwiched between both performances, Rozi Plain played her own solo set, introducing some new songs including “Humans”, the single destined for her long awaited follow up album to 2008’s Inside Over Here. Starting her set with a traditional song from the Northumbrian minstrelsy “Blow The Wind Southerly”, Rozi sang her beautifully laid back songs to a respectfully silent audience with a set that also included such songs as “Let’s Go” and “You Can See My Boat”. Three fine sets, five musicians and a small but well formed audience once again made for an excellent night in the sleepy side of North Lincolnshire.
The Good Lovelies | The Wheelhouse, Wombwell | 26.05.11
Gregory Alan Isakov | Town Hall, Kirton in Lindsey | 05.06.11
Once again the Town Hall in Kirton in Lindsey played host to another visiting artist from the States, this time the Colorado-based singer-songwriter Gregory Alan Isakov, who brought with him his own brand of laid-back atmospheric songs. Selecting material primarily from his current album This Northern Hemisphere, the Johannesburg-born songwriter performed each song in a distinctively gentle manner, the emphasis centred on creating an atmosphere for each song, helped along by the trademark use of two microphones, one slightly distorting the voice. The set was augmented by some intuitive electric guitar accompaniment from best friend and touring companion Ramaya Soskin, whose sensitive guitar playing and harmony vocals fleshed out the songs superbly well, bringing to each song just the right amount of embellishment, which suitably enhanced each performance. With songs from the current album including “Evelyn”, “Virginia May”, “That Moon Song”, “If I Go, I’m Gone” and the soulful “Master and a Hound”, both musicians seemed relaxed and very much at home in the so called ‘Shire’. The Tolkien reference was emphasised further by the relatively tall Ramaya when referring to Gregory as a Hobbit, whilst adjusting his mic stand to perform a couple of his own songs. “Oh he likes it” quipped the singer, going on to perform “All in Good Time” and “Heatbreaker”, both from Soskin’s own solo album. A couple of earlier songs from Gregory’s That Sea, The Gambler period, including “The Stable Song”, “3AM” and the title song, were performed during the course of the night, together with “Second Chances”, a brand new song destined for his forthcoming fifth album. With an appreciative and respectful audience, a proverbial pin could’ve been heard to drop during each set, that is apart from the noise level being suitably raised at the end of each song, for some enthusiastic and thoroughly deserved applause. Finishing the night with Leonard Cohen’s “Chelsea Hotel”, which was dedicated to the humble MC, Gregory Alan Isakov maintained the standard that the Town Hall Live series of concerts have come to expect.
Beverley Folk Acoustic Roots Festival 2011 | Beverley | 19.06.11
Part Two: A Word or Two About Beverley.. by Liam Wilkinson
If you dip your ear carefully into the gentle mix of guitar, fiddle, bongo, bodhran and bass that floats like a folky fog over the Beverley Festival Village, you might just catch a few naked words as they expose themselves in dimly lit corners. A poem here and there, a joke, a story, perhaps a small fragment of a lecture. You might spot a long-haired, bearded storyteller nestled somewhere between the ethnic drum stall and the crepe stand or spy a stand-up comedian tucking into a sarnie from the hog roast. Yes, there’s an unplugged and unaccompanied side to the Beverley Festival and, each year, it seems to get better and better. Hosted by York-based writer and musician Miles Cain, the ‘Poetry & Toast’ sessions presented breakfast-time readings from a handful of local and not-so-local poets. Miles himself read poems from his forthcoming debut collection including the brilliantly alarming “Instructions For Downloading The Human Heart” and the dramatically-paced “Thirty Seconds” – a poem that explores the chaos of time’s passage within our daily lives. Stuffed generously with delicious imagery and an unmistakable verbal-musicality, Miles’s poems were a very welcome bowl of festival cereal on both mornings. York’s Oz Hardwick delivered another couple of his usual engaging performances by reading poems from his various collections and speaking about his recently-published study of English misericords – those intriguing little shelves on the undersides of church choir stalls. In poems such as “The Green Man” and “The Trail of the Fox”, Oz expertly fuses nature, history, mythology and reality together with the touch of a modern-day Beat poet. His poems, especially when recited by their author, plunge the listener deep into the foliage of their subjects. Fellow Yorkie Dave Gough was on hand to drag us out of the ethereal mists of Oz’s poems and into a world that slants like a wry grin. His poem English Summer with its rainy refrain, wet picnic plates and dampened cricket ground is a soggy postcard from an England we all know and love whilst “I’m Turning Into Philip Larkin” perfectly demonstrates Dave’s trademark dry poetic humour. Amongst the other subjects that causes Dave to pick up his pen are Cresta Orange Juice, the naturist tendencies of William Etty and the link between The Monkees and toilet paper. Whilst Dave Gough’s poems tip their heads slightly to view their world, Andy Humphrey’s poems poke a pen into their subjects until they roll over. There’s an abundance of humour in those poems, but its often tinged with a quiet yet palpable sense of melancholy. Nick Toczek, however, who is well-known in schools up and down the land for his hilarious children’s poetry and energetic performances, brought a fistful of political performance poems to this year’s Beverley Festival. With their addictive rhythmical patterns and unremitting verbal fireworks, poems such as “Bring Me The Coffin of Nicholas Griffin” and “New York Chant” clearly delighted the appreciative Sunday morning audience. David Cooke has had a long break from poetry, and we’re all the more lucky for his recent resurfacing and for the emergence of his latest collection, In The Distance (Night Publishing, 2011). His Irish roots were showing during his performance at Beverley, especially in the poems about his father and grandfather. “Your two great fists impressed me, for they were pondering chunks of granite, notched carelessly for fingers” he writes in Visiting – a poem about his grandfather that, like most of Cooke’s poems, is crafted with equal amounts of poetic mastery and a vivid, haunting memory. Renowned British poet Antony Dunn was a welcome addition to this year’s festival line-up and it was a treat to hear him read poems from past collections as well as a selection from his latest publication, Bugs (Carcanet, 2009). A technical master of his art, Dunn has a magnetic personality that held the crowd just as tightly as any Boden, Dickson or Taylor may have done on the other festival stages this weekend. As well as poetry readings, storytelling drifted through this year’s festival like a streamer in the wind. Festival regular Adrian Spendlow expertly handled stories of the fictional variety with his regular storytelling sessions whilst musician Jim Boyes, his wife and folklorist Georgina Boyes and local author Peggy Dunn took care of the non-fiction. Jim and Georgina Boyes could be found in the Club Room on Saturday, each with their own short talk on their specialised subjects. Georgina, author of The Imagined Village: Culture, Politics and the English Folk Revival (Manchester University Press, 1993) straightened the crooked picture-frames of the history of song collecting, revealing the truth behind the often exaggerated life and work of Cecil Sharp and highlighting the problem of those all-to-familiar rules and regulations that still exist in various corners of the folk world today. Jim, armed with his Powerpoint presentation, guitar and a sprawling knowledge of his family history, took us back in time to retrace the footsteps of his grandfather and the great war he fought in Europe whilst Peggy Dunn could be found on Sunday in the ‘Village Hall’ tent where she regaled a small but appreciative crowd in tales of the local hind house that her mother tirelessly ran during the second world war. For lovers of true stories and British history, Beverley 2011 was not the festival to skip. Also on a storytelling theme, this year’s festival presented a series of films, kindly projected by the Beverley Film Society. ‘Morris – A Life With Bells On’ and ‘A Mighty Wind’ were both shown in the Club Room during the festival, as were the Waterson Family films ‘Travelling for a Living’ and ‘The Waterson Family – Live At Hull Truck’, both of which managed to fill the gap left by Martin Carthy who was, sadly, unable to attend this year’s event due to illness. ‘Travelling for a Living’, in all its grimy, grainy black-and-white, stands as a monument to those early days of The Watersons and has never seemed more impressive than the moment it flickered into life on the big Beverley screen. Watching a youthful Norma and a cheeky twenty-something Mike was made all the more poignant by the fact that both Watersons have been quite ill of late. Thank goodness for the time-capsule of film. This year’s Beverley Festival Comedy Club, once again, refused to disappoint its loyal crowd. On Saturday evening, the Club presented performances from Welsh pun-master and one-line merchant Noel James, whose often aggressive and unrestrained act managed to split the audience in two before putting it back together again in time for Bernard Wrigley’s set. Bernard, whose face will be familiar to fans of Phoenix Nights, Dinner Ladies and Emmerdale, returned to Beverley this year with his hot pot of comedy songs, side-splitting short poems and naturally funny bones. As usual, he entertained by mongering plenty of laughs and proving that he’s the only funny man on the folk scene whose voice precisely matches the sound of a bass concertina – an instrument he so expertly demonstrates in his performance. Beverley Festival reminds us annually that the spoken word is as much a part of the folk scene as its musical sibling. It does so by offering its stages to writers, storytellers and musicians alike – surely a good enough reason to head to the Humber next year.
The Toy Hearts | The Wheelhouse, Wombwell | 23.06.11
The Toy Hearts made their Wheelhouse debut tonight bringing a feast of Bluegrass and Western Swing to South Yorkshire, demonstrating in no small measure their impressive ‘chops’, picking their way through several songs from their latest record Femme Fatale, together with one or two older songs and a handful of familiar covers from the world of Country and Bluegrass music. Fronted by petite sisters Hannah and Sophia Johnson, with dad Stewart on banjo and dobro and the ‘newest’ Toy Heart, John Potter on upright bass, the band managed to fill the packed Wheelhouse with sound using little amplification, just a couple of vocal mics to balance the siblings’ voices, the rest totally acoustic. Starting with Bill Monroe’s “Can’t You Hear Me Calling?”, the Birmingham-based quartet demonstrated not only their fabulous tight sibling harmonies but also their command over their astonishing musicianship, particularly Sophia’s eclectic flat-pick guitar playing, encompassing a broad range of influences including the Gypsy jazz legend Django Reinhardt, to whom she pays tribute to in Montpellier St from the band’s second album When I Cut Loose. Taking lead vocal throughout, even on some of Sophia’s songs such as “Tequila and High Heels” and “The Girl That You Can’t Fool”, the mandolin-toting Hannah Johnson demonstrated a passionate commitment to performance on both the feisty numbers such as “When I Cut Loose” to the more sensitive songs, “The Captain” for instance, the current single from the new album. Although Sophia’s intuitive high lonesome vocal harmony is crucial to the Toy Hearts sound, it’s with her dazzling guitar playing that this young performer will be remembered by this audience, alternating between her trusty Martin and her recently acquired Gypsy jazz guitar. Playing since the age of seven and picking up inspiration from the likes of Clarence White and Tony Rice, the eldest sibling plays with a proficiency far beyond her age, especially on the note perfect “Beaumont Rag”. With a handful of familiar songs such as Patsy Cline’s “Walking After Midnight”, the old Sun Studio period Elvis numbers “When It Rains It Really Pours” and “Trying To Get To You”, Kate MacKenzie’s bluesy Carolina and a couple of Hank Williams classics, “Your Cheating Heart” and “My Sweet Love Ain’t Around”, the band showed a mutual respect for their musical forebears, each song delivered with authenticity and flair. The band also played a couple of much newer country songs such as Ray Lamontagne’s “You Can Bring Me Flowers” and Dan Tyminski’s “Blue Trail of Sorrow”. Finishing the same way they came in, with another Bill Monroe song “Think Of What You’ve Done”, the Toy Hearts returned for one final encore of “The Texas Blues”, famously recorded by the King of Western Swing, Bob Wills. A fitting conclusion to another memorable night at the Wheelhouse, and with the firm offer of a return to the area for the next Barnsley Acoustic Roots Festival. Hope so. Providing support for the evening was young Staffordshire-born singer and recent joint winner of the Seth Lakeman Rising Stars competition held at the Barnsley Acoustic Roots Festival, Amy Condrey, who opened with a handful of songs including Peter Gabriel’s “Solsbury Hill”, Lisa Loeb’s “Stay (I Missed You)” Robyn’s “Dancing On My Own” and Bob Dylan’s “You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go”.
Oh My Darling | The Greystones, Sheffield | 28.06.11
It’s been a long time since I last witnessed a standing ovation at a gig and even longer since I joined in with one. Oh My Darling couldn’t have wished for a better reaction to their UK debut appearance at the Greystones in Sheffield tonight, where the four-piece Canadian Country Roots band headlined a showcase night featuring two other bands, the lively King Courgette and the quaintly named Mother Folkers in support. Winnipeg’s Oh My Darling comprises Allison De Groot, one of Canada’s leading clawhammer banjo players, Rosalyn Dennett on fiddle, Vanessa Kuzina on guitar and Marie-Josee Dandeneau, otherwise known as ‘MJ’ on upright bass, who collectively brought their charismatic stage presence and musical dexterity to this popular South Yorkshire venue for a ninety-minute set of North American and Canadian roots music. With a set largely centred around the band’s current album, their first full length release In the Lonesome Hours, including “Caught You Looking”, “Stolen Key” and “Pixou Falls”, together with a couple of their more sensitive songs, “Won’t Need My Shoes (On Heaven’s Door)” for instance, the band were indeed welcomed with open arms as pointed out by Rosalyn from the stage. The mainly original material was augmented by one or two more familiar songs such as the traditional “Red Rocking Chair”, “Sail Away Ladies” and “Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss”, which the band chose to kick off their set with. Each member of the band brought their own personality to the stage, Allison, the quiet one, observant, calm, doesn’t miss a trick; MJ, a descendant of Louis Riel’s Metis people, French speaking, has to run a few words past the band for a suitable English equivalent; Rosalyn, the witty one, tiny-framed with a huge personality, amazing fiddle player and then last but certainly not least, Vanessa, wearing her heart on her sleeve, sensitive, unafraid to share her heartache through her delightfully sensitive songs, such as the gorgeous “All the Sweetness”, co-written with friend Sam Baker. Oh My Darling’s combined stage presence left just as much of an impression as did the music they played. One of the high points of the concert was the ‘fiddle Sticks’ duet, which featured Vanessa brandishing a pair of knitting needles, which she then rhythmically struck bandmate Rosalyn’s prized violin whilst she played, careful not to damage either the fiddle nor the fiddler player’s hands along the way. One can imagine where the expression ‘fiddlesticks’ came from, with each strike on the knuckle. Having said that, I’m certain Rosalyn would have a much more choice Metis expression if that should ever occur! After the band’s last song, “Love Me Love Me Not”, from the band’s Love Shack EP, Oh My Darling returned to the stage after a lengthy and loud call for more from a now standing audience, performing a couple of newer songs Anna K, also from the Love Shack EP and finally Tom Cochran’s “Life Is A Highway”. As Oh My Darling near the end of their first European tour with only a handful of UK dates, we can only await with eager anticipation their speedy return. A thoroughly uplifting experience.
Danny Schmidt | The Wheelhouse, Wombwell | 04.07.11
Kacey Cubero | Town Hall, Kirton in Lindsey | 09.07.11
Once again Town Hall Live played host to another quality visiting artist, this time Santa Barbara Blues Society’s Artist of the Year (2006) Kacey Cubero. Flanked by the young German guitarist Florian Hofer and New Orleans pedal steel maestro Dave Easley, this Southern Californian singer-songwriter made her debut appearance at the Diamond Jubilee Town Hall in Kirton in Lindsey tonight, dressed entirely in black and equipped with a selection of her own self-penned songs, mostly from her current album Fill Your Cup. Born and raised in Washington DC, Kacey moved to California to make her mark on the burgeoning Americana scene, never resting on any one specific genre of music. While her first album was made up of blues and jazz numbers, her second Diamond in the Rough (2008) settled on a more country flavoured style. Kacey’s current album sees the singer flitting from country-tinged toe tappers such as “Feathers in the Wind” to the soulful blues of “Under My Skin” and everything else in between. Starting with “Set You Free”, a full blown blues workout, the trio settled into a short first set, which also featured the aforementioned “Feather in the Wind”, “Reserve the Right” and “What If I Really Love You?”, each from the new album. Although the attendance at tonight’s concert was rather disappointing, especially for such a quality artist, Kacey was gracious enough to put in a first rate performance, going on to play some of the other songs from Fill Your Cup including the title song, “Sunday Mornings”, “Two Trains” and “I Want More”. With support from Bridlington-based singer songwriter Ben Parcell opening with a handful of his own songs, Town Hall Live continues to bring some of the finest musicians to this charming little North Lincolnshire town.
Sarah Jarosz | The Greystones, Sheffield | 17.07.11
Back in the dark-ages, before my old man had begun stuffing me into his rucksack and taking me to folk festivals, I had enjoyed a string of summer holidays at several British holiday camps. You know the kind of thing – damp little chalets, amusement arcades, knobbly-knee contests and plenty of good, clean, British fun. My nostrils still retain the olfactory memory of starched bedsheets and cheap-and-cheerful canteen grub, whilst my head cherishes its memories of many a happy summer in a world that is reported to be crumbling like the cliffs beneath those few remaining camps. Strange, then, to arrive at Butlins, Skegness this weekend and find that the holiday camp is not only alive and well but is also being completely revitalised by the same company whose intent, so the old slogan insists, ‘is all for your delight’. And what a delight it is to discover that Billy Butlin’s oldest camp is now home to one of our finest festivals of folk. The Great British Folk Festival, now in its second year, takes over the entire Skegness camp between Friday and Monday, hosting performances from the likes of Seth Lakeman, Chumbawamba, Matthews Southern Comfort, Jacqui McShee’s Pentangle and Cara Dillon to name just a few. Each festival concert is held beneath the gigantic Skyline Pavilion at the centre of the camp, where two sizeable stages presumably give up their late-night discos and kids’ club party dances in favour of the best in live folk music. Both ‘Reds’ and ‘Centre Stage’ are plush, comfortable nightclubs – a welcome sight for those folkies who might be more accustomed to muddy fields and portable toilets. And then there’s the hospitality. Who could fault the cheerful, friendly nature of the Butlin’s staff and the warm and comfy apartments that have replaced the pebble-dash chalets of yore? Even before the music begins, you wonder why you ever bothered hammering in a single tent peg. Whilst Butlin’s is busy showing us how much it has changed, Ralph McTell wanders onto the stage at Reds on Friday evening to demonstrate how some things never change. Just as us campers are making ourselves at home, Ralph takes us on a brief journey through his life story, bundling us all into the back of his exquisite, sincere songwriting and driving us off into the hazy distance. At the end of a year that has seen the departure of too many of our most cherished singer-songwriters, it’s a welcome pleasure to stand in the wings as Ralph performs to a bunch of cosy folkies, embracing their glasses of Butlins True Delight. Over on Centre Stage, Chumbawamba are injecting the catchy melody of “Add Me” into the ears of another roomful of appreciative festival goers. Mixing their brand of comedy, politics, and traditional folk with oodles of spine-tingling harmonies, Chumbawamba once again manage to craft a family reunion out of their large audience. Shortly after inviting ‘anyone who fancies it’ to jump on stage and sing a Johnny Cash song, you get the feeling that those thousands of people sitting around you are old friends and, before the first night of the festival is over, you understand the thinking behind the name of this ‘Great British Folk Festival’. Shortly after a hearty breakfast in the Yacht Club and a nice frothy coffee under the canvas of the pavilion, it’s time to hit Centre Stage for a set from Richard Digance – a familiar face to folk fans and Countdown devotees alike. Even before he’s reached the mic stand, singer-songwriter and funny-man Digance is already prompting a belly-laugh epidemic with a few digs at the sound-man. The jibes soon give way to a selection of songs that go from side-splitting to tear-jerking at the turn of a chord. “I’ve Won the Lottery” is a singalong celebration of getting your own back on your boss, Jobs addresses the baffling concept of Peter Andre and Katie Price whilst his memorial song to the Christmas truce of 1914 provides the festival with one of its most beautiful and memorable anthems. A little later, Centre Stage is overwhelmed by the distinct aroma of fermented apples when The Wurzels dish up an outrageously funny yet slick and impressive set. A couple of decades have passed since these West Country superstars last topped the charts and, whilst it might be easy these days to dismiss the band as mere novelty, their performance in Skeggy this weekend proves otherwise. Like a good swig from a scrumpy jug, each song insists that the entire room dances and sings along as if their prize bullock depended upon it. One might be inclined to blame the cider, but the programme does indeed state that Matthews Southern Comfort, Jacqui McShee’s Pentangle and various artists connected with Fairport Convention are to perform sometime over the next twenty-four hours. And what a treat it is to see such folk legends as Ian Matthews and Jacqui McShee take to the stage on Saturday and Sunday night whilst Bob Fox, Steve Tilston, Anthony John Clarke, Anna Ryder and PJ Wright perform as part of a Fairport-themed showcase on Sunday afternoon, each performing a selection of songs from their personal repertoire before being joined by Dave Pegg and Gerry Conway to demonstrate their particular Fairport connection. Matthews’s Saturday evening set is a mesmerising affair comprising new and old songs from a man whose voice and vitality are very much untouched by the decades that have passed since he joined Fairport in 1967. Similarly, Jacqui McShee sounds cooler and more relevant than anything the X Factor might be churning out on the telly this weekend. As the Sunday evening concert draws to an end, I’m reminded of the final nights of all those happy home-grown childhood holidays. The red coats might not be waving goodbye to us tonight, but as the Dylan Project strum their final chord and The Magic Tombolinos attempt to replace the roof they just blew off, this happy camper can’t help feeling that he doesn’t really want to leave.
MY NORTHERN SKIES 