Water Tower Bucket Boys. The Geese. Brighton. 3rd August 2009
This amazing young band from Portland, Oregon are referred to by the media as a Bluegrass band, in fact at times they even refer to themselves as a bluegrass band, so why do I disagree? I'll tell you why. It's because they are not a bluegrass band! Some of the songs they play may be classic bluegrass songs but when they play them they are so much more than that. I have heard more bluegrass than most people who are not fans but certainly not as much as an afficiando; but I have listened to & studied in some depth 'old time string bands'. It is an updated version of old time that this band play & they do so to a much higher standard than just about anyone else today & maybe even some of the old timers! For me, Bluegrass is all about the purity of the vocals & the, at times, instrumental histrionics both added to great discipline. The Water Tower Bucket Boys don't have the purity of vocals, although all can sing. They also don't seem to go in for flashy playing, but simply play what is necessary to get the best out of every song. They also have that lovely almost ramshackle quality that only comes with total confidence in what you are doing. They are Josh Rabie on Fiddle, Kenny Feinstein on Guitar & Harmonica, Cory Goldman on Banjo & Walter Spence on Bass, all playing with an almost psychic alt.country feel. They have total control over everything they play & are a really tight accomplished band, their individual vocals all being well suited to the type of song they lead on. Add this to their excellent harmonies, infecious enthusiasm & their ability to form an easy rapport with the audience & you have pretty much a complete package. On this night it was fairly obvious that the packed pub took to them, forcing them eventually to play several encores, in fact, some of the assemblage had seen them in London a day or two before & followed them to Brighton!
They played a few of their own excellently written songs such as Tennessee as well as covers which included Bill Monroe's Blue moon of Kentucky & the traditional Southbound train. They bring the same life & fire & even at times humour to all of the songs whoever they were written by, the bluegrass songs being played with the same 'old time/ alt.country' style. The two forty five minute sets were nowhere near long enough but unavoidable due to licencing laws, although it was pretty obvious that the band were having as good a time as the audience. Surprisingly this was a night off from their busy European tour, yet they have such enthusiasm for playing anywhere & at anytime that they managed to fit in a small pub in Brighton & make friends for life with a group of strangers!
Www.myspace.com/watertowerbucketboys
They played a few of their own excellently written songs such as Tennessee as well as covers which included Bill Monroe's Blue moon of Kentucky & the traditional Southbound train. They bring the same life & fire & even at times humour to all of the songs whoever they were written by, the bluegrass songs being played with the same 'old time/ alt.country' style. The two forty five minute sets were nowhere near long enough but unavoidable due to licencing laws, although it was pretty obvious that the band were having as good a time as the audience. Surprisingly this was a night off from their busy European tour, yet they have such enthusiasm for playing anywhere & at anytime that they managed to fit in a small pub in Brighton & make friends for life with a group of strangers!
Www.myspace.com/watertowerbucketboys
The Curst Sons
The Brunswick, Hove. 29-01-10.
First up were a band I saw last October at Applefest when they played an otherwise excellent set that was continuously interrupted by electrical connection problems. There was nothing to blight Hatful of Rains performance this evening. They are made up of Chloe Overton on acoustic guitar, stunning lead vocals & songwriting. Ben McGuire plays the Banjo better than most, whilst Phil Jones is excellent on upright bass & harmony/backing vocals. The sound they get is pure 'old-time' rather than bluegrass & is made so much stronger by the avoidance of getting more musicians in & trying to be another Southern Tenants Folk Union or Coal Porters. They really have hit on a natural style & obviously have a real feel for the sounds they are producing. Immediately Chloe started singing the crowd fell silent & were held in thrall for the entirety of their short set by the beauty of the music. Just a few highlights were Gillian Welch's Caleb Meyer & Nanci Griffiths I wish it would rain, the latter almost eclipsing Nanci's version! There were also two of Chloe's own songs Wanderlust & Evangeline which promise much for the future.
The Curst Sons just seem to get better every time I see them. The first time must be nearly ten years ago & their music, still rooted in 'Hillbilly Blues' seems to evolve & improve with each performance & every song that they write. They still play traditional blues & 'hillbilly'music from that 'old weird America', but add much more to it, almost making some of the decades old songs their own, then segueing into their own originals to such a seamless degree that no one but an afficianado would spot the difference between ancient & months old songs! Dave Simner is the backbone with his immaculate high quality playing, be it on guitars or banjo as well as harmony vocals. Tim Dunkerley is a brilliant foil with his, at times, outrageous experimentation on a variety of guitars & includes slide mandolin! He also pitches in with harmonies as well as a few lead vocals. Then we have Willi Kerr's roaring vocals, mighty rhythm pole, washboard & other percussive elements all adding to the highly original, always interesting mix. Willi can also do gentle ballads when necessary but their forte is 'good time music'. (songs about murder, gal done me wrong, lost love??) On this night they were supported on some songs by Dickie Jayston on drums with Phil Jones on bass & Dave's daughter Kate adding some glamour & sweet vocal harmonies. It's unlikely that many bands can, by simply using the power of their music, generate an atmosphere of such huge excitement, but they seem to manage it regardless of the audience size, although on this night, as is now usual, it was pretty much a full house. They are shortly releasing their fourth album entitled THE GENUINE AND ORIGINAL, with all of the songs being written by the band & many of which were played at this gig. Judging by the music on offer & the audience reaction, this could be their best seller yet. The highlights as usual were just about everything they played so if you want a hugely entertaining musical evening seek out the Curst Sons. They really are unique!
The Brunswick, Hove. 29-01-10.
First up were a band I saw last October at Applefest when they played an otherwise excellent set that was continuously interrupted by electrical connection problems. There was nothing to blight Hatful of Rains performance this evening. They are made up of Chloe Overton on acoustic guitar, stunning lead vocals & songwriting. Ben McGuire plays the Banjo better than most, whilst Phil Jones is excellent on upright bass & harmony/backing vocals. The sound they get is pure 'old-time' rather than bluegrass & is made so much stronger by the avoidance of getting more musicians in & trying to be another Southern Tenants Folk Union or Coal Porters. They really have hit on a natural style & obviously have a real feel for the sounds they are producing. Immediately Chloe started singing the crowd fell silent & were held in thrall for the entirety of their short set by the beauty of the music. Just a few highlights were Gillian Welch's Caleb Meyer & Nanci Griffiths I wish it would rain, the latter almost eclipsing Nanci's version! There were also two of Chloe's own songs Wanderlust & Evangeline which promise much for the future.
The Curst Sons just seem to get better every time I see them. The first time must be nearly ten years ago & their music, still rooted in 'Hillbilly Blues' seems to evolve & improve with each performance & every song that they write. They still play traditional blues & 'hillbilly'music from that 'old weird America', but add much more to it, almost making some of the decades old songs their own, then segueing into their own originals to such a seamless degree that no one but an afficianado would spot the difference between ancient & months old songs! Dave Simner is the backbone with his immaculate high quality playing, be it on guitars or banjo as well as harmony vocals. Tim Dunkerley is a brilliant foil with his, at times, outrageous experimentation on a variety of guitars & includes slide mandolin! He also pitches in with harmonies as well as a few lead vocals. Then we have Willi Kerr's roaring vocals, mighty rhythm pole, washboard & other percussive elements all adding to the highly original, always interesting mix. Willi can also do gentle ballads when necessary but their forte is 'good time music'. (songs about murder, gal done me wrong, lost love??) On this night they were supported on some songs by Dickie Jayston on drums with Phil Jones on bass & Dave's daughter Kate adding some glamour & sweet vocal harmonies. It's unlikely that many bands can, by simply using the power of their music, generate an atmosphere of such huge excitement, but they seem to manage it regardless of the audience size, although on this night, as is now usual, it was pretty much a full house. They are shortly releasing their fourth album entitled THE GENUINE AND ORIGINAL, with all of the songs being written by the band & many of which were played at this gig. Judging by the music on offer & the audience reaction, this could be their best seller yet. The highlights as usual were just about everything they played so if you want a hugely entertaining musical evening seek out the Curst Sons. They really are unique!
Southern Tenant Folk Union.
07-03-09. Hanover Community Centre, Brighton.
This was a first for Shaun Whitehouses' 'Gilded Palace of Sin' promotions. He has never put a gig on at this location before, in fact back in pre world war two days it was apparently a soup kitchen! In spite of it's history it is an excellent venue. It has a high ceiling & high windows exactly like the old church hall that it probably was at some time in the past. I'm not sure what the capacity is but would guess at a couple of hundred, it being about two thirds full for the Brighton headline debut of this superb band. The support, local band 'The Righteous Ones' were no slouches either & were first up.
The Righteous Ones style of dress is a little reminiscent of Hot Club of Cowtown but the music is all their own. Sally Ward takes care of most of the percussion & shares lead vocals with Anthony Hodgson who also plays guitar & banjo. The other regular is 'Father John' who contributes backing vocals whilst his double bass drives the sound along. Their songs are well written & as their myspace page acurately states, are 'dark & sometimes lurid, with exciting pared down rhythms & spectacular harmonies'. There were even a couple of times when Sally's vocals & the epic style of the songs brought 10,000 Maniacs to mind. Also included in the mix were traces of western swing, rockabilly & even at times a slightly jazzy feel, but without ever sounding derivative. Along with a number of people I spoke to I would like to see them again before too long.
After a short break the Southern Tenant Folk Union played a set that almost matched their astounding performance at last years Maverick festival. This without their usual excellent mandolin player Eamon Flynn. In his place was local band 'Chicken Shed Zeppelin' vocalist & mandolin player Joe Hymas. He fitted in almost seamlessly & was even allowed a lead vocal on one song. They have often been described as a bluegrass band or even a folk group, although I've always depicted their music as 'alt.country played on bluegrass instruments'. The fact is that what they play may well encompass these descriptions but is actually music that has very few, if any, boundaries. I defy anyone to see them in concert or listen to one of their two superb albums & not at least feel themselves getting caught up with this infectious brew that they bring to roots music. I know that they have worked long & hard to achieve their sound but not by having any formal plan of where they are going in mind. They have taken all of the strengths & influences of each band member & blended them together with mathematical precision, but always with a casualness that belies how hard they work thus allowing everything to coalesce seamlessly. A classic case of music by osmosis! I suppose with the level of talent that each of them posess they can actually relax & give an air of casuality, almost ramshackleness but still keep that incredible precision in their music. As you get to see a band a few times many of the songs begin to get familiar so you can almost get a sense of complacency creeping in when hearing the same things again. Not so the Southern Tenants; they always keep their songs fresh with sometimes subtle changes in their superb harmonies & maybe a slight increase or decrease in the tempo or instrumentation of certain songs. All small changes but enough to make the songs sound fresh. You could follow them on a tour & still not get fed up with the songs; a sure sign of quality, not only in the songwriting but also in the inventiveness of the musicians. Talking of the musicians, their bass player Matt Lloyd never seems to get a mention, something that seems to apply to most bass players! There is usually a line across the front of the stage consisting of Pat, Pete, Oliver, Roddy & Eamon (on this occasion Joe Hymas). Matt is always behind them. Maybe he likes it this way, but what it means is that his skills tend to get ignored. At this gig I tried to listen more to his playing & found that he too brings his own style & invention to the music & underpins everything with the way he keeps the tempo going, thus disproving many of the old bass/drum jokes?
There were very few at this gig that had seen the band before, Pat having asked for a show of hands, so the majority have sadly missed quite a few excellent songs that may or may not get played again. Fortunately several of their classic original songs, (some must surely be picked up by top American artists soon!) were performed with their usual adept playing & the creation of an ambience that many artists can only dream about. There is no filler, but personal favourites that were played are The Cold Flagstone, for me, the best murder ballad ever bar none! We also had Mosul Train, Can You Light A Flame, A Little Deeper, No More Hard Times, all played with great feeling & the wringing of every last bit of emotion from each song. There were other songs of the same high quality from their first two albums, but intriguingly there were four or five new songs that hopefully, will form part of the new album they are currently working on. I can't wait for the release! There were several covers, one being Jesse Fullers 99 Years & the traditional Blackjack David that has been performed by a great many roots artists but few, if any, have done it better than the Southern Tenants.
For those that have never seen them they are made up of Pat McGarvey who plays banjo, takes some of the lead & backing vocals as well as keeping the patter going with the audience! Pete Gow, acoustic guitar & also some of the lead & backing vocals. Next is Oliver Talkes. He takes the majority of the lead vocals as well as acoustic guitar. Then there is the most recent permanent member Roddy Neilson, their tremendous fiddle player, who also helps out on vocals. On this night, as already mentioned we had Joe Hymas on mandolin & vocals. Last but far from least is the earlier mentioned Matt Lloyd on double bass & backing vocals. If you like roots music that takes you through a whole range of emotions, do yourself a huge favour & see them next time you get a chance
www.southerntenantfolkunion.com
www.myspace.com/southerntenantfolkunion
