Elles Bailey - Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh, 15 November 2024

Elles Bailey and her band have just breezed through the jollification of ‘Enjoy The Ride’, the “top down, wind in my hair” opening song of tonight’s show, and as they regroup for the next tune she bends down and tries to reclaim some much needed space on the cramped stage by pushing a floor fan further to one side. At which point it promptly collapses on its back.  She pokes it a bit more, then hears the band start in on ‘Leave The Light On’, and with a laugh and a shrug abandons it to get back to her mic, just in time.
She’s not precious, is Elles.  It’s clear from the lyrics of her more serious songs that she’s a

Elles Bailey gets jiggy with it

thoughtful individual.  But there’s a delightfully goofy side to her too, throwing herself into the uptempo numbers in her set with gleeful abandon and dancing, as the saying goes, like there’s no-one watching.  And she puts a positive spin on the fact that tonight’s venue is, frankly, too small for where she’s at now, observing that it’s “cosy”, and allows her to get “up close and personal”, just the way she likes it.
But to the music, eh?  And on that front she throws the spotlight firmly onto her latest album Beneath The Neon Glow, playing all ten tracks from it in the course of the show.  And why not, when the standard of them is so consistently high?  So she follows up ‘Enjoy The Ride’ with the soulful, snappy ‘Leave The Light On’, cleverly juxtaposing images of life on the road with appreciation of the partner left behind to manage the home front, and then dials things down further with the reflective ‘Ballad Of A Broken Dream’.  For this she squeezes in next to Jonny Henderson in his keyboard corner to add piano to his organ, and the band set about adding some sumptuous harmonies to her sad tale of the disappointed artist whose talent goes unrecognised.
They lift the mood again with the romp of ‘1972’, the band following drummer Matthew Jones to give a supple groove to a song that would surely have belonged in the charts of that yesteryear. The best song of this first stretch though, is ‘Silhouette In A Sunset’, a beautiful ballad exploring the notion of soul mates at first sight that’s set aglow by Jonny Henderson’s keyboards, while Bailey gets to work selling the melody and the imaginative lyrics – including the reference to the old soul classic ‘Dark End Of The Street’ – in fine style.
Her commitment to her newer material is emphasised by the fact that she only includes one song from her first two studio albums, the mournful-then-strident Americana of ‘Hell Or High Water’, which ultimately builds up a good head of steam but really serves to show how far her songwriting has progressed in the five years since its release.  Meanwhile the only cover in the set is ‘Angel Of Montgomery’, selected by the audience by acclamation from four options she gives them, and a ballad which in the hands of musicians like Bailey and her band can’t miss.
Back beneath that neon glow they nail the elegiac glide of ‘Truth Ain’t Gonna Save Us’, Demi Marriner doing the acoustic strumming, allowing Joe Wilkins to add colour on electric guitar.  ‘Love Yourself’ is a relaxed slice of soul positivity, given gospel inflections via the backing vocals, Henderson’s swelling organ, and a rousing finale.  But my favourite song from this stretch of new songs is ‘If This Is Love’, which pulls the Springsteenian trick of matching an acerbic lyric to an upbeat, gutsy arrangement, Bailey getting her dancing feet going and giving it plenty on the swinging chorus.
‘If This Is Love’ is a song that demonstrates the happy knack of sounding like something you’ve known for years.  Which makes it a good scene-setter for the set closer ‘Riding Out The Storm’ a

Jonny Henderson and Elles Bailey get cosy

barnstormer on which guitarist Joe Wilkins gets to let rip and hammer home the final coda.  Mind you, I had the impression from the way a fella approached him after it finished that his playing went largely unheard in some quarters due to a sound problem.  For my part too, I was conscious that Bailey’s vocals were increasingly getting lost throughout the second half, whether due to her mic, the mix, or some other issue – disappointing, but not fatal.  And since I’m having a small grumble, I’ll add that I really wish Elles would put her phone away for the duration of the show.  It’s bad enough audience members waving their phones around these days, without the band doing it too.
Still, after cooling things off with the sombre ‘Turn Off The News’, they finish the evening with a rip-roaring rendition of the glorious ‘Sunshine City’, driven along by Wilkins’ gutsy guitar and giving a moment in the spotlight to Marriner and her ear-bending vocal range.
A quick vox pop conducted by Bailey mid-set suggested that there were as many newcomers tonight as long-standing fans.  I’m betting that’ll be the case the next time I see her too – hopefully in a room with twice the capacity.
A quick word for supporting duo Ida Mae, who delivered a sharp half hour of blues-inflected Americana, showing how much you can do with just a guitar, an electronic kick drum pedal, a tambourine and a shaker, and two perfectly blended voices.
The husband and wife pair of Chris Turpin and Stephanie Jean Ward are nobody’s neophytes, with three albums and a wealth of touring behind them, some of it in the States, and it shows in the quality of their delivery on songs like ‘My Girl Is A Heartbreak’ and ‘Long Gone And Heartworn’, full of perfect harmonies, an implicit sense of rhythm, and bursts of flaying guitar from Turpin.  I imagine a lot of audience members will be taking more interest in them, me included.

Elles Bailey is touring Britain and Ireland until 7 December, with further dates in 2025.  Full details available here.

Elles Bailey - Beneath The Neon Glow

Warmth. Joy. Sensitivity.  These are three of the qualities – doubtless you could name others - that have contributed to Elles Bailey’s rise in recent years.  They’re personal qualities that she’s successfully invested in her music, and they’re all present and correct on new album Beneath The Neon Glow.
That sense of joy imbues opening track ‘Enjoy The Ride’, a sprightly testament to following your dreams and making the most of the journey, characterised by lightly tripping drums, spangles of guitar, and now trademark quality harmonies. Joe Wilkins adds a skating slide solo, and all the while Bailey captures the spirit with her lead vocal, punching home the short and sweet chorus.

Elles Bailey strikes a pose - there's nothing to it

Pic by Rob Blackham

It’s there a few tracks later too on ‘1972’, a very 70s-sounding slice of country-funkiness given a distinctive feel by Matthew Jones’ laid back, shuffling percussion and Matthew Waer’s elasticated bass, enriched by sax from Pete Fraser, over which Bailey delivers a relaxed vocal to cap the sunny vibe.
At the other end of the spectrum, ‘Silhouette In A Sunset’ is a standout that displays Bailey’s sensitivity, a ballad of the kind that Bailey nailed on her last album Shining In The Half-Light.  A contemplation of deep human connection, it sports the wonderfully allusive lines “I’ll see you when we meet, at the dark end of the street / Or at the end of the galaxy”, Bailey’s patience and phrasing capturing the mood perfectly. The backing is subtle, with tickles of piano from Jonny Henderson, what sounds like moans of lap steel guitar but is probably Joe Wilkins conjuring up something atmospheric on guitar, and towards the end another appealing bass groove from Waer.
That slippery guitar sound crops up again on the even deeper set ballad ‘Let It Burn’, contributing to the evocative, dramatic mood alongside Bailey’s aching, reverb-heavy vocal and some soaring, wordless backing vocals, the song elevated further by Wilkins’ stinging, ringing solo.
‘Ballad Of A Broken Dream’ is a ballad in the sense of story-telling rather than tempo, downbeat but taken at a clip. Now and then I’ve remarked that Bailey could surely produce a great version of Elles Bailey’s ‘Pearl’s A Singer’, and here she actually contrives a similar lyrical tale.  But whereas the strength of ‘Pearl . . .’ was its elegiac honky-tonk simplicity, Bailey’s ‘Ballad’ is more intricate, lyrically and musically, and stylistically if it stems from Americana it ends up a mainstream crossover.
“Crossover” in fact, is a key factor in Bailey’s development.  The finger-snapping ‘Leave The Light On’ contemplates the tension between liberty and tolerance in a relationship, and does so with an intent that you could compare to, say, Gerry Rafferty - rootsy but not stuck in a pigeonhole.  ‘If This Is Love’ is even better, with its chunky guitar chords and great opening line, “You got the face in a line-up that I’ll never forget”.  The chorus is irresistible, and full of typical Bailey joie de vivre, and the song is boosted by a brief but gutsy organ break from Henderson. At her best, with a song like this, Bailey is really serving up old-fashioned, quality pop music that goes beyond genre.  And it has that signature warmth too, the naturalness of someone who can rock the onstage glad-rags alright, but is still the smiling and winking girl next door you've known since whenever.
Maybe ‘Truth Ain’t Gonna Save Us’ and the strolling ‘Love Yourself’ don’t quite reach the same level as the best material here, but they’re still enjoyable enough.  And Bailey saves a trump card for last with the plangent ballad ‘Turn Off The News’, a heartfelt reflection about how the world beyond our front door can be a sad and dangerous place, that’s all about Bailey conveying the emotion, which she does in spades.
Beneath The Neon Glow doesn’t quite leap out of the speakers as a humdinger in the way that Shining In The Half-Light did.  But it’s still a damn good successor, underlining that Elles Bailey is here to stay, deepening her sound and growing her audience at every step.
 
Beneath The Neon Glow is released by Cooking Vinyl Records on 9 August, and can be ordered here.

Elles Bailey - Live At The Fire Station

It was a year ago yesterday that I wrote a review of Elles Bailey playing live in Edinburgh, and since Live At The Fire Station is a document of the same tour, one might wonder what more there is to say beyond what I wrote then.  But as it turns out, the album provides the opportunity for a deeper appreciation of certain aspects of her live show.
For one thing, it may be Elles Bailey’s name on the backdrop, but she ain’t doing this alone, and Fire Station absolutely justifies her calling on the audience at the end of ‘Sunshine City’ to “Give it up for this incredible band!”  It’s not that there are lots of jaw-dropping individual showcases

Elles Bailey - cooking up a perfect storm

being served up – though there are a few excellent solo spots.  But as an ensemble this gang absolutely click as they deliver some quality arrangements that allow the songs, and Bailey’s vocals, to shine.
A good example is ‘Perfect Storm’, which evolves in measured fashion over Matthew Jones’ tripping drums.  There are no displays of flashy virtuosity, but in addition to the fuzzy guitar stings from Joe Wilkins and dreamy organ from Jonny Henderson, Matthew Waer unwraps some delicious bass variations - having already found some tasty grooves on the preceding ‘Colours Start To Run’.  Meanwhile the soulful voice of backing singer Demi Marriner – who wasn’t available for last year’s Edinburgh gig – complement Bailey’s lead vocal beautifully.
This is not, by any means, an isolated example. ‘Stones’ is a simple enough song, but the arrangement is always interesting, with Wilkins’ angle-grinding slide injections and edgy solo, along with Marriner’s voice, adding some spice to Bailey’s own impressive delivery.  It is, mind you, one of numerous instances of Bailey’s fondness for “Ah-wooh-ah-ooh” type vocal interpolations, a tendency she could do with tempering in her future writing.  No such qualms about the aforementioned ‘Colours Start To Run’ though, which is really all about the melody and the vocals, peaking in a pre-chorus and chorus which are downright divine, and do justice to some superb lyrics.  And speaking of lyrics, the brooding, sophisticated and cleverly structured ‘Shining In The Half-Light’ is as good a bit of writing as you’re going to get about the alienation that comes with our modern online life.
Sophistication comes in different forms of course.  ‘Spinning Stopped’ is a delicate lullaby which is kept very simple, and is all the better for it.  Meanwhile the halting ‘Halfway House' comes over like a folk song that’s been bathed in soul, and is all about another marvellous chorus, elevated by the backing vocals of Marriner and, indeed, Wilkins.  Bailey may be an Americana award-winner, but to me these outings are far more convincing than the cowboy blues Americana arrangement of ‘Medicine Man’, which is in any case outdone in its own terms by the gripping ‘Cheats And Liars’, with its stronger chorus and better dynamics.  Basically, Elles Bailey has some better shots in her locker than ‘Medicine Man’.
Bailey and co can rock out too, in case you were wondering.  The inspired good-time cover of John Martyn’s ‘Over The Hill’ is upbeat from the off, but they don’t half whack out the latter part of it.  Meantime the revved-up ending of ‘Hole In My Pocket’ gives a big lift to the rather middle-of-the-road song, with Wilkins’ guitar scrabbling around like a Jackson Pollock painting.  But it’s with the set-closer ‘Riding Out The Storm’ and the encore ‘Sunshine City’ that they really hit rocking paydirt. The former is a great song, the verse drawing you in towards a chorus that’s sublime, with a great hook, and I do love a good false ending, especially when it allows Joe Wilkins to take the spotlight and dig out a sizzling solo. And ‘Sunshine City’ is a no-arguments barn-burner, a great tune with a crunking riff and swooping organ over Jones’ driving, swinging beat, and Bailey hollering away from the front as they make like a locomotive steaming down the track.
Those Americana awards are all very well, but for me Elles Bailey is really a crossover artist who puts the songs first, has bags of soul in her vocals, and with the help of her amigos is ready and willin’ to rock in pursuit a good time. And that’s a very tasty recipe for a live album.
 
Live At The Fire Station is out now and available here.

Gimme 5 - Elles Bailey turns the spotlight on the music and people that give her chills and thrills

She’s a multiple UK Blues Award winner, a multiple UK Americana Award winner, hit the bullseye with her 2022 album Shining In The Half-Light, recently completed a highly successful UK tour, and has her own weekly show on Planet Rock Radio.  But Elles Bailey has still found the time to play the Gimme 5 game with Blues Enthused, telling us about the music and people that float her boat.  Take it away, Elles!
 
Gimme 5 songs, old or new, that have been on your radar recently. 
 
‘Broken Horses’ by Brandi Carlile:  “Taken from her last record, I love how this song rocks. Its
been great being able to give this track some love on my Planet Rock Show. I am a huge Brandi fan, not just her incredible writing and incomparable voice but she is a huge champion of up and coming artists and she’s always celebrating someone else. What a woman.”
 

Elles Bailey goes all Mona Lisa smile

Pic by Rob Blackham

‘Nightflyer’ by Allison Russell: “I think Allison’s last record is a masterpiece. I had the absolute joy of sharing the stage with her at the Uk Americana Awards. She’s an incredibly generous artist who lifts up all around her.”
 
‘Speed Dial’ by Alice Armstrong:  “What a debut single! I’ve been a fan of Alice’s for about 4 years in her various projects but It is so great to finally hear what she’s got to say.”
 
‘Find Yourself’ by Lukas Nelson & The Promise of the Real:  “I can’t get enough of this song, I am totally obsessed by it. I am really looking forward to sharing the stage with them at Black Deer Fest!”
 

‘Long Road Ahead’ by Delaney & Bonnie:  “This has been spinning a lot over the last few months. So much so that we have recorded a cover of it. I look forward to sharing it soon.”
 
 
Gimme 5 artists or bands who have had a big influence on your work. 
 
Mavis Staples:  “Mavis is all heart, soul & feel - her delivery is like no one else’s. You feel every word she sings and being in her audience is like being taken to church.” 
 
Bonnie Raitt:  “The trailblazer. I remember listening to Bonnie’s Dig in Deep record a lot whilst

Bonnie Raitt ready to blaze some trails

Pic by Marina Chavez

making Wildfire. She’s an artist I look up to, and aspire to have a career like. It’s a long game, but she’s played hard and shone like a light to inspire artists like myself.” 
 
Creedence Clearwater Revival:  “I don’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t have CCR in it. My dad always played old records of theirs and I’m super proud of our version of ‘Long As I Can See the Light’ on the Shining in the Half Light Deluxe Edition. An honour to take on this Classic Creedence Song. 
 
Fleetwood Mac/ Stevie Nicks:  “Stevie Nicks is one of the most Iconic women of the 20th Century . There is no denying that I love her, her music, her fashion sense. Again another trailblazer.”
 
The Civil Wars:  “This was the act that introduced me to the modern Americana Scene. I remember hearing 'Barton Hollow' in 2012 and it was a game changer. That song inspired ‘Wildfire’, ‘Waiting Game’, ‘Medicine Man’ and so much more Elles Bailey!”

The entirely average looking Ryan Gosling

Gimme 5 guests you’d love to invite to your ideal long lunch. 
 
Jennifer Lawrence and Taylor Swift:  “Cuz I reckon they would be so much fun to have dinner with. Can we go out dancing after too?”
 
Ryan Gosling:  “So I can just sit and stare. (Shhh don’t tell my hubby!)”
 
Mavis and Bonnie:  “So we can discuss our future collab!!”
 
Just one track – pick one of your tracks that you’d share with a new listener to introduce your music.
 
“I’m going for ‘Spinning Stopped’, from the Shining In The Half-Light Deluxe Edition. I think this song is really beautiful and sums up exactly what I wanted to say. It's my intimate reflections of becoming a mother in the crazy beautiful yet totally messed up world during a pandemic. Recorded live it also shows how incredible my band are, Yes we can rock out at the best of times but this shows us in a different light, subtle and sensitive!"

Check out Elles Bailey's summer dates below.

 

Elles Bailey - The Caves, Edinburgh, 16 March 2023

When I first saw Elles Bailey here in Edinburgh, nearly six years ago, I reckoned she was a promising young artist.  Nowadays though – blimey, when she and her band come onstage and get cracking with ‘The Game’, it’s clear that that promise has absolutely been fulfilled.  The song is a gutsy belter, the band are cooking, and Bailey is a commanding presence, a vibrant performer both vocally and visually.
And that, really, is the story of the night.  This is Bailey’s first UK tour since releasing Shining In The Half-Light a year ago, and that game-changing album is inevitably the backbone of the show.  They roll out the pulsing, rolling ‘Stones’ to keep the momentum going, with Joe Wilkins

Elles Bailey - "Oh god, what's the next line?"

making his first delivery of gritty slide guitar, then turn down the heat for the reflective ‘Colours Start To Run’.  Now, you could stick a pin in the track listing of . . . Half-Light and be sure to find a cracking song just about every time, but this ballad is a real gem, with a chorus that rolls one hook into another, while Wilkins gives it an extra lift with a spiky solo.
Bailey is celebrating the tour by releasing a Deluxe edition of . . . Half-Light that includes four newly recorded tracks, and all of them get an outing tonight.  ‘Spinning Stopped’, a product of Bailey becoming a mother, is a simple lullaby which she delivers with assured simplicity.  ‘Hole In My Pocket’, in contrast, is a sturdy animal with an offbeat, lurching rhythm and an explosive coda, emphasising the range of Bailey and co, as they rock out in style.  And if their cover of John Fogerty’s ‘Long As I See The Light’ is played pretty straight, embroidered by some jazzy piano from Jonny Henderson, they achieve the unlikely feat of transforming John Martyn’s ‘Over The Hill’ (now 50 years old, fer chrissake) into an upbeat opportunity for dancing - an opportunity Bailey grabs with enthusiasm.
A few older songs get an outing, the pick of them perhaps ‘Perfect Storm’, her tribute to the music of Muscle Shoals on which Wilkins coaxes out subtleties on guitar, and the loping, shuffling and soulful ‘Help Somebody’, on which Bailey undertakes a brief stroll through the crowd.
But the real highlights are the newer songs, especially ‘Shining In The Half-Light’ itself, on which Bailey makes the most of the strong melody, over elastic bass from Matthew Waer, and swooping, moaning, e-Bow inflected guitar from Wilkins, en route to a drum thumping conclusion.  ‘Cheats And Liars’ is by turns magnificently brooding and angry, as Bailey vents her spleen about government dishonesty and offhandedness during the pandemic.  And ‘Riding Out The Storm’ is an irresistible set closer, with another great chorus and some slinky organ and guitar tag team work from Henderson and Wilkins.
They come back for two contrasting encores, with Mary Gaulthier’s emotive, politically charged ballad ‘Mercy Now’, which Bailey recorded on her Ain't Nothing But album, and then the emphatic finale of ‘Sunshine City’, a grooving and rocking justification for hip-wiggling if ever there was one, bringing the night to such an exuberant close that Bailey even casts her trademark hat to one side
Throughout all of this Elles Bailey is really quite marvellous.  Her voice is terrific, with great range and depth, and the versatility to tackle every facet of her genre-crossing repertoire with style.  She always had the gift of being likeable, but now her performance seems that much more mature in every respect, whether it’s her look, her movement, or her relaxed chat between songs.
It was no surprise to me that The Caves was packed for this show.  It seems to have happened almost casually, but all of a sudden Elles Bailey has become a star of the British roots music firmament.  Next time around she's going to need bigger venues.

The Shining In The Half-Light Deluxe Edition is out now, and can be ordered here.

Quickies - Elles Bailey, Robert Jon & The Wreck, and Austin Gold

Elles Bailey – Shining In The Half-Light Deluxe Edition
 
Okay, so I’m gonna do something a bit odd here, and review half an album.  How come?  Because I reviewed the original release of Shining In The Half-Light last year, that’s why.  So you can go read that review, though I'll just reaffirm what I said then - that it’s the best album of Elles Bailey’s career so far.

What about these bonus tracks that put the Deluxe in this Deluxe Edition then?  Are they just outtakes’n’filler swept up from the studio floor?  No, dear reader, they are not.  What you get for

Elles Bailey posing in the half-light

Pic by Rob Blackham

your money includes two brand new songs, two newly recorded covers, and live-in-the-studio versions of five tracks from the original album.
The first of the new tunes is ‘Spinning Stopped’, a delicate twirl of folkie Americana whose stripped back tones wouldn’t have sounded out of place on Bailey’s Ain’t Nothing But album.  The lyrics combine a mother’s fascination with her new child, a meditation on the world-stopped period into which that child was born, delivered with subtlety and warmth.
‘Hole In My Pocket’ is a more muscular affair, even if it opens in controlled fashion.  Matthew Waer adds supple bass lines to offbeat drum patterns from Matthew Jones, while Joe Wilkins delivers sparse flourishes of bendy guitar.  Bailey’s vocal is assertive, gradually supplemented by more of those delicious backing vocals that adorned the original album.  And then – crash, bang, wallop!  They put their collective foot down and give the thing a proper seeing to, just to make clear they can rock.
The covers also come in two different flavours.  It seems like a bold move to cover anything by the maverick genius John Martyn, but Bailey and co take his wistful, acoustic ‘Over The Hill’, and propelled by bristling electric guitar from Wilkins and waves of organ from Jonny Henderson they turn it into a joyfully rhythmic, muscular animal – hell, danceable even!  By way of contrast, the cover of Creedence’s ‘Long As I See The Light’ is contemplative and downbeat, with Bailey nailing the vocal to render unnecessary any comparisons with John Fogerty, while Henderson adds piano embellishments and Wilkins digs out a scraping slide solo.
To be honest, I’m not sure that the five live takes explore much territory beyond the originals – seems to me that Bailey might have been better revisiting a few songs from her back catalogue, armed with all the learning she and her chums have done since.  Because make no mistake, the new stuff here shows that Bailey and her band have matured big time over the years, and now ooze confidence as they go about their work.  
I’m looking forward to seeing Elles Bailey live tomorrow night – and I'm hoping she plays ‘Over The Hill’!
 
The Shining In The Half-Light Deluxe Edition is released on 17 March, and can be ordered here.
 
 
Robert Jon & The Wreck – One Of A Kind EP
 
Robert Jon & The Wreck like an EP – they’ve released a few of them over the years.  And maybe it’s a particularly good idea these days, to get some fresh material out between albums, to go alongside continued touring.  Of course, it’s got to be quality “product” – and One Of A Kind, produced by some time Stones knob twiddler Don Was, is just that.

I know, it's only wreck'n'roll, but I like it!

Pic by Trees Rommelaaere

They open up this quartet of tracks with ‘Pain No More’, a dynamic thing that veers between surging, pulsating passages and dialled down verses, with some squealing slide thrown in along the way.  It’s not got the strongest chorus they’ve ever produced, but given their songwriting standards that’s a bit like saying a second hand Porsche is nothing to get excited about.
They put that right on the catchy ‘Who Can You Love’, a lower key song with a dialled down vocal from Robert Jon Burrison, subtle injections of twanging guitar, and trademark quality harmonies on the chorus.  It’s a bit too countrified for my taste mind you – what I really wanna hear from these guys is high quality wreck’n’roll.
And that’s exactly what they deliver on the remaining two tracks.  ‘One Of A Kind’ wades in with staccato riffing and rat-a-tat vocals, boosted by slithering, serpentine lead guitar from six-string whizz Henry James.  It’s a punchy, emphatic adrenaline rush of a tune – but if anything it’s bettered by the closing ‘Come At Me’.  Throbbing bass and twisting and turning, twinkling guitar lines drive the verse – and then it explodes into a scruff-of-your-neck chorus, followed by a wild guitar solo.  Then they smack you around the head with that chorus a couple more times, before heading for the exit.
One Of A Kind is a like a weekend city break to some city that never sleeps – short, intense, and highly enjoyable.
 
One Of A Kind is out now on Journeyman Records, and can be downloaded or streamed here.
 
 
Austin Gold – Those City Lights
 
I don’t often venture into reviewing straight-up hard rock on this site, even though it’s why I first got bitten by the music bug – one of the reasons being that not much of the new stuff I hear floats my boat.  But I’m happy to make a brief exception for this latest release by English band Austin Gold, because they refresh the musical parts a lot of modern rockers don’t reach.

David James Smith - subtlety personified

Their main man David James Smith brings a lot to the party, with a clear, powerful voice and bags of range, suggestive of Toby Jepson, some damn fine guitar work, and serious songwriting chops – and the rest of the AG crew live up to his example.
Think Thunder maybe, or a less angry Wayward Sons perhaps.  Those City Lights is melodic hard rock, with plenty of light and shade.  So ‘Mountain’ is a soaring rush of energy akin to some kid with a parachute chucking themselves off, well, a mountain.  ‘Morning Light’ is a sensitive breather, which is much needed amidst the forceful gale blowing elsewhere.  And ‘Real You’ is an demi-prog extravaganza packed into five and a half minutes, incorporating hop, skip and jumping drum rhythms, big guitar motifs, ethereal, stratospheric backing vocals, chocolate box piano, and more besides.  You could liken it to Magnum at their very best.  Well, I could, anyway.
Oh yeah, and Smith is a declared Beatles nut, which may seem strange when he wasn’t even born when the Fab Four called it a day, but as it emerged when I interviewed an earlier line-up of the band a few years back, his dad’s music tastes have been a big influence since he was a kid.  So on a song like ‘Get In Line’, and elsewhere besides, you can hear distant echoes of late 60s rocking Beatles.  Mind you, with the blend of guitar and keyboards, you might equally compare them to modern day Uriah Heep (if that doesn’t sound like a contradiction in terms).
Whatever.  If you like your hard rock to have a healthy dose of sophistication, Austin Gold could be just the band for you.  Go experience Those City Lights, and see what you think.
 
Those City Lights is out now, and can be ordered here.

Elles Bailey - Shining In The Half-Light

Let’s not mess about.  Shining In The Half-Light is the best album yet from Elles Bailey.
It was obvious from her first two albums, Wildfire and Road I Call Home, that the girl could go far.  This time around the block though, she’s taken a big felt-tip pen and ticked a whole heap of boxes with a flourish.
The songs here are strong, and more consistent than on past outings.  The production by Dan Weller is uncluttered but warm and bright, bringing out the best in some excellent arrangements.  For my money she’s also benefited from recording the album here, with her own band alongside her, rather than going to Nashville as planned – this sounds like the work of an ensemble who

Elles Bailey is tickled pink by the Blues Enthused review

Pic by Rob Blackham

are quite naturally more than the sum of their parts.  And while the quality of Bailey’s voice is a given, Shining In The Half-Light is given an extra lift by some stellar backing vocals, arranged by Izo Fitzroy and delivered by her, Jade Elliot and Andrusilla Mosley.
Songs like ‘The Game’, with its crunchy guitar chords, and surging organ from Jonny Henderson, are pleasingly muscular.  It sounds like they’re having fun when they strip back one of the choruses to just voices and handclaps, and the only problem with the slide break by Joe Wilkins – the long-time guitar yin to Bailey’s vocal yang - is that it’s too short.  Never mind, his slide is back right away on the patient but punchy ‘Stones’, providing a moaning intro and then extra grit with a brief solo – and in general becoming one of the signature sounds across the album.
Bailey is at her best on ‘Colours Start To Run’, with a low key arrangement highlighting her voice on a delicious, swoonsome melody.  And her phrasing is then terrific on the romantic ‘A Different Kind Of Love’, which opens with a sensitive Wilkins guitar line that carries echoes of Gladys Knight’s ‘Help Me Make It Through The Night’, and has an extra layer of soul courtesy of the superb, gospel-inflected contributions of Fitzroy and co.  It’s all about Bailey’s delivery on the slow and haunted ‘Halfway House’ too, the only song here with distinct Americana leanings, and she shows excellent control and clarity as she’s backed by just acoustic guitar for much of the track.
Contrastingly, ‘Sunshine City’ is an upbeat, booty-shaking highlight, with a fuzzy, rocking riff and Bailey singing about “Tom Petty hits on the radio”, while Wilkins spices things up further with injections of slide and eventually a shivering solo.  And ‘Riding Out The Storm’ is even better, a hazy, bluesy affair on which Bailey brings to life the lyric about “what a beautiful mess we have made of the story”, underscored by some sweet slide guitar commentary, flutters of organ, and more of those gospel-tinged backing vocals.
The album closes with the title track, a spooky tune held together by relaxed rubber band bass lines from Matthew Waer over lightly skipping drums from Matthew Jones, with twinkling piano and guitar notes in the margins.  The lyric meditates on the challenge of overcoming the isolation of precarious times, and Bailey captures the mood well, culminating in the nagging melody she circles around as they build a tense bridge, before subsiding to a hopeful close.
There’s little to get picky about on Shining In The Half-Light.  The opening ‘Cheats And Liars’ is too Elles-Bailey-by-numbers for me, and in the future she could perhaps curb her enthusiasm for “woo-ooh” vocal phrases – but hey, I’m praising with the faintest of damns here.
“Elles Bailey brings the sounds of Nashville to our side of the pond with her blues-ridden third album,” it says in the PR bumf, as these things do.  But it’s wrong.  The great thing about Shining In The Half-Light is that it doesn’t sound like Nashville.  It sounds like Elles Bailey dancing, as she puts it on ‘The Game’, to the beat of her own blues.

Shining In The Half-Light is released on 25 February, and can be ordered here.

Quickies - Jimmy Regal And The Royals, Elles Bailey, Wily Bo Walker, and John Mayall

Here's a chance to catch up with a clutch of recent releases in the EP and single domain.

Jimmy Regal And The Royals – Ain’t Done Yet
 
As Bertie Wooster might have put it, they interest me strangely, do Jimmy Regal And The Royals.  On one level there’s a sensibility to them that’s as British as roast beef and Yorkshire pudding.  But as the five tracks on their Ain’t Done Yet EP demonstrate, their musical palette extends to more exotic influences.
This openness is most apparent on the tracks that bookend the EP, ‘Ain’t Done Yet’ itself and a radio edit of ‘Can’t Cry No More’, which appeared previously on their album Late Night Chicken.  

Jimmy Regal And The Royals - which one's Jimmy?

The former is built on twitching, pattering drums from Sammy Samuels, and sub-Saharan-tinged guitar lines from CJ Williams – and in due course a squeakin’n’scratchin’ solo - with honking sax from guest Chris Rand providing additional punctuation.  Meanwhile Joff Watkins gets to grips with a tongue-twisting vocal on the verses, and a simple but overly vibrato-prone chorus.  On the closing acoustic version of ‘Can’t Cry No More’ that African undertone is taken further and made more explicit, with more sparkling and shimmering guitar from Williams set to supple Kora rhythms courtesy of the guesting Diabel Cissokho.  Cissokho also adds some additional colour to the mantra-like vocal from Watkins, who earns his corn by adding further textures via moaning, gypsy jazz like harmonica work.
In between these two poles, ‘Mickey Two Suits’ – a title deserving of an award all on its won – is a blast of instrumental boogie on which Watkins’ harp lends an infusion of urgency to Williams’ chunka-chunka guitar.  ‘Way To Lose’ is a more downbeat affair, combining ripples of acoustic guitar, moans of nocturnal harmonica and minimalist, atmospheric persussion as the basis for Watkins’ groaned vocal.  And ‘Show Time’ is an intriguing affair, with Samuels’ patter-and-lurch rhythm matched to fuzzy splutters and splinters of guitar that occasionally get spiky in tandem with Watkins’ bursts of harp.  Meanwhile Watkins vocal may hint at a Brilleaux-esque growl, but this ain’t no Feelgood-like rock’n’roll, it’s a more idiosyncratic example of British blues.
All in all, Ain’t Done Yet confirms the impression that Jimmy Regal And The Royals may not be a big name in the making, but they are an outfit with something original to offer.
 
Ain’t Done Yet is out now, and available from Lunaria Records here.
 
 
Elles Bailey – ‘Stones’
 
The third single from Elles Bailey’s forthcoming album Shining In The Half Light rides in on a brooding slide riff from Joe Wilkins, grinding along in Resonator-like fashion over subtle, reined-in drums.  Then Bailey’s moody, assertive vocal swings into play, and Wilkins’ slide playing finds slithering groans and moans to harmonise with her on particular segments, while elsewhere some elegant vocal harmonies bring additional richness to Bailey’s delivery.  Wilkins then earns

Elles Bailey wonders where her hat has gone

Pic by Rob Blackham

extra bonus points with a slithering slide solo.  All in all ‘Stones’ makes a far more impressive impact than Bailey’s summer release ‘Cheats & Liars’.
 
Shining In The Half Light will be released by Outlaw Music on 25 February, and can be pre-ordered here.
 
 
Wily Bo Walker Acoustic Band – ‘Long Way To Heaven (Live)’
 
With which Wily Bo Walker, as is his wont, reworks a song from his back catalogue in a different style, this time taking a 90% acoustic approach to a song previously titled ‘The Ballad of Johnny And Louise’ when it appeared on the album The Roads We Ride recorded with compadre ED Brayshaw.  But while the instrumentation here may be different, there’s still a familiar cinematic tone to ‘Long Way To Heaven’, as a tale of the two characters out on the road in the American night.  Lyle Zimmerman adds twinkling mandolin to Walker’s familiar, Waits-like groan of a voice, while Gary Bridgewood contributes sweeps of elegiac fiddle.  Brayshaw meanwhile (whose latest solo album is reviewed here), is responsible for the non-acoustic dimension, adding harmonic electric guitar notes for colour, and a brief but typically edgy solo.
 
‘Long Way To Heaven (Live)’ is available now on Mescal Canyon Records.
 
 
John Mayall – ‘Can’t Take No More’
 
It’s remarkable to think that John Mayall is now 88-years old – the likes of Jagger and Richards are mere striplings by comparison – yet here he is gearing up to the release of his gazillionth album in the New Year, from which ‘Can’t Take No More’ is the second single.  And a sprightly affair it is too, even if Mayall’s vocal is, in all honesty, stronger on phrasing than melody.  Horns riff brightly, and Mayall’s organ tootles over a tripping, shuffling rhythm from Jay Davenport and funky bass from Greg Rzab.  Special guest Marcus King brings the guitar quotient, with an extended but relaxed solo, to which Mayall adds subtle remarks on organ, and there’s a spikier King outro to round things off.  ‘Can’t Take No More’ isn’t a humdinger of a track, but delivering something like this is still as easy as falling off a log for John Mayall.
 
John Mayall’s new album The Sun Is Shining Down is released by 40 Below Records on 28 January.
 

Quickies - Summer Singles from Sari Schorr, Dion, Elles Bailey and Davy Knowles

Sari Schorr – ‘Where Did You Sleep Last Night? (In The Pines)’
 
It’s taken me a few weeks to get round to this one, for which the more fool me.
Although she normally follows a modern blues-rock road, Sari Schorr has some previous when it comes to raking through antique folk-blues tunes from the Lead Belly canon.  Witness her quaking, eyeballs-out take on ‘Black Betty’ on her most recent album Live In Europe.
This time around she’s chosen a different vibe, with the downbeat and mysterious ‘Where Did You Sleep Last Night?’.  Lead Belly’s version was a stripped back affair involving just guitar and a simple vocal.  Schorr opts for a piano-led approach, drenched in reverb to accentuate the macabre atmosphere of the lyric, and with some haunted guitar colourings from Marc Copely and bass undertones from Livingston Brown to round out the sound.
In the end though, this is all about a bravura vocal performance from Schorr, restrained but at

Sari Schorr - not being macabre

Pic by Mat Robinson

the same time full of subtle variations.  Often the primary mode of her operatically-trained voice seems to be full force typhoon, but here Schorr demonstrates the variety and control she can bring to bear in a more understated setting.
 
 
Dion – ‘I Got To Get To You’
 
Something old, something new.  Which is to say that ‘I Got To Get To You’ may be Dion DiMucci’s new single, but it hasn’t just popped out of his head recently.  In fact he released it before back in 1989 – and a very 80s recording it was too, sounding like it was a contender for the soundtrack of Top Gun, or some such.
The 2021 version is different, and better – an altogether zippier reading that sounds like it’s just been laid down by Chuck Berry on a good day.  Boz Scaggs contributes some guest vocals – apparently a big deal for Dion even if I can only hear some sterling vocal support rather than anything transformative.
There are, however, some funky little rock’n’roll guitar breaks from the father-and-son guest pairing of Mike and Joe Menza to spice things up, including one particular yodel-like outing from dad Mike that ups the fun quotient – and Dion himself, still in fine vocal fettle, sounds like he’s having a good time.
It may not be knock-you-down original, but ‘I Got To Get To You’ still bodes well for the new Dion album coming later in the year.
 
 
Elles Bailey – Cheats & Liars
 
‘Cheats & Liars’ opens with a muscular rhythm as the foundation for its Americana sound, and for an acid lyric about political deceit.  As Bailey explains, “It's about the people in their ivory towers who told us arts don't really matter, and to go and retrain.”
The song builds to a rousing chorus swollen by some immaculate vocal harmonies which I imagine are all Elles’ own work.  There’s some swooning slide guitar work too, which I guess is the work of her regular six-string sidekick Joe Wilkins, and which I’d have liked to hear a bit more of.
Gotta say though, as well-assembled as the song is, it seems to me that on the verses our Elles has been down a road kinda like this before, with a vibe that sounds familiar from earlier songs such as ‘Wild

Davy Knowles - rolling with it

Pic by Timothy Schmidt

Wild West’ and ‘Medicine Man’.  ‘Cheats & Liars’ is the first single from her third album, Shining In The Half Light, slated to come out next year, and I look forward to the album exploring some different angles.
 
 
Davy Knowles – ‘Roll Me’
 
This slow and soulful blues penned by producer Eric Corne has something of a Joe Cocker feel, though leaning on deeply twanging guitar and a sensitive vocal from Chicago-based Manxman Davy Knowles rather than Cocker’s gut-wrenching style.
‘Roll Me’ is a tasteful trailer for Knowles’ upcoming album What Happens Next.  There are, truth be told, one or two rather corny lyrical lapses – “sure as the church bells do chime”, anyone? – but there’s still plenty to like, as it’s embellished by some delicate organ playing from a party currently unidentified, in addition to Knowles’ on-point delivery.
 
What Happens Next is released by Provogue Records on 22 October, and can be pre-ordered here.
 

Elles Bailey - Ain't Nothing But

Necessity, so the saying goes, is the mother of invention.  As professional musicians around the world have been forced off the road by the coronavirus pandemic, they’ve had to do things to try to offset the resulting loss of income.  Not all of these “inventions”, will be artistically successful.  Ain’t Nothing But, however, is an endeavour that delivers the goods with easy charm.
Drawn from two professionally filmed and recorded livestream shows at White Noise Studios this summer, Ain’t Nothing But is an unplugged covers album that captures two different sides of Elles Bailey’s musical personality.  On the one hand there are the opening seven songs, of a

Elles Bailey nervously awaits the Blues Enthused verdict

Pic by Alan Dunkley

 singer-songwriterly, Americana-leaning disposition.  And on the other hand there are nine rootsier, blues-driven songs.  Both elements work, but as to which works best – well, I refer you to the title of this blog for a clue to my thinking.
The scene is set with John Prine’s ‘I Remember Everything’, with a country-inflected melody that’s delicious in its simplicity, with Bailey’s delivery right on the money.  On these songs she’s backed by Phil King laying down a foundation of acoustic guitar picking, while her regular guitarist Joe Wilkins adds embroidery and colour, in this instance with some hints of the Hispanic in his solo.  And the gents also add some impressive harmonies to the mix, enhancing the earworm of a chorus on ‘Crowded Table’, for example.
Personal favourites from this set include Jeff Tweedy’s ‘You Are Not Alone’, which is heralded by some wonderful bendy notes from Wilkins and all crystallises around the line “Open up, this is a raid”, before going on to feature some iridescent guitar, like Hendrix gone folk; and ‘Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover’, on which Bailey brings delicacy to the verses before the guitars intertwine to give the chorus a swinging jauntiness.  And they also extend themselves well on the social commentary of Mary Gauthier’s ‘Mercy Now’, the intermeshed guitar picking again excellent.
For the blues set Wilkins is joined in the engine room by Joe James on double bass, and right away they bring muscle on Bonnie Raitt’s ‘Love Me Like A Man’, drawing more oomph and dynamics from Bailey’s vocal, while Wilkins adds not one but two exquisite slide solos.
Some of the song choices may be predictable, but that doesn’t detract from the quality of the performances.  On Tom Waits’ ‘Way Down In The Hole’, for example, James’ bass is sumptuously to the fore, while that rasp in Bailey’s voice is a perfect fit.  She’s right in the zone on the following ‘When The Levee Breaks’ too, over rolling and rippling blues guitar from Wilkins, with a sublime James bass solo into the bargain.  ‘Ain’t No Love In The Heart Of The City’, meanwhile, is caramel-smooth and rich, with excellent harmonies, until Wilkins cuts through with an edgier guitar break.
‘Spoonful’ is laid back instrumentally, but Bailey lets loose with a bit more raunch and some interesting phrasing, and Wilkins knocks off another bluesy-as-you-could-wish solo.  Stephen Stills’ ‘For What It’s Worth’ offers something a bit different, with harmonies underscoring the chorus, and a bass solo from James that twists and turns around the roots of the melody, and nifty punctuation from Wilkins’ guitar prefacing another cracker of a solo.  Then the rattling rhythm of Bo Diddley’s ‘You Can’t Judge A Book By Its Cover’ brings things to an upbeat close embellished with more chutzpah-laden soloing.
An affair like this may be small-scale, but like a miniature painting that can mean the details need to be all the more precise.  So salutes and medals to all concerned for getting it right, including Richard Stockley for the mix.  Ain’t Nothing But may be an album that was born of necessity, but it sure as hell underlines Elles Bailey’s quality – especially, I reckon, when the lady sings the blues.

Ain't Nothing But is available on CD only from 11 December, and can be ordered from her website, here.

Elles Bailey - Road I Call Home

In case you hadn’t noticed, there are a host of excellent female roots-orientated artists kicking around just now.  And among them, Elles Bailey has made her own mark in the last couple of years.  Combining soul, blues and country stylings, she has a terrific voice, and across her debut album Wildfire and this follow-up she also demonstrates real talent as a songwriter.

Both those strengths are apparent in three of the slower offerings here. ‘What’s The Matter With You’ is a bluesy, deceptively simple-sounding highlight, on which Bailey’s husky, Elkie Brooks-ish voice is paired with flutters of conversational organ and guitar to create the kind of intimate, emotional atmosphere that's done so well by Sean Webster.  (And by the way, I’d love to hear Elles revive Elkie’s old hit ‘Pearl’s A Singer’ – it would fit her like a glove.) The trick is repeated on ‘Foolish Hearts’, which couples a soulful verse that echoes ‘I’d

Elles Bailey, taking "on the road" a bit too literally

Pic by Alex Berger

Rather Go Blind’ with a more country-orientated chorus to good effect.  And the album is topped off by ‘A Light In The Distance’, a heartfelt piano and voice ballad that benefits from the decision to eschew further instrumentation as it conveys real emotional truthfulness.

But it’s not all downbeat contemplation.  At the centre of the album, the title track is a brisk, exciting affair driven by a rocking, ringing riff and walloping drums, with briefly duelling guitars and an appealing descending hook on the chorus, as Bailey tells the tale of the touring musician.  And she demonstrates a healthy streak of soul on the likes of ‘Deeper’ and ‘Help Somebody’. The former has a light touch, reminiscent of Deacon Blue, with an enjoyable melody, swirls of organ and horn interventions.  The latter is a slice of robust, upbeat soul, with thudding drums, neat horn riffs, well-judged organ and piano fills, bursts of slide and moans of harp – and a strong harp solo – all coming together in a well-constructed song that also benefits from some evocative imagery.

To me though, one of the risks of writing and recording in Nashville, as Bailey has largely done here, is the potential for material to become homogenised.  So while opener ‘Hell Or High Water’ is an effective, brooding affair, with twinkling and squiggly notes heralding a bluesy vocal from Bailey that builds patiently with asides from slide guitar, until eventually the band blends in to raise the temperature, ‘Wild Wild West’ and ‘Medicine Man’ are essentially more of the same.

But there are some other avenues explored to maintain enough variety, notably the jangly, Pretenders-like pop of ‘Little Piece Of Heaven’, which has a catchy chorus even if the descending turnaround that brackets it is a bit corny.  And ‘Miss Me When I’m Gone’, even if not a standout, is a well assembled melding of soul and country, though I could do without the slurred note that Bailey deploys a couple of times.

When Elles Bailey is good, she’s really good.  And she’s never bad – just a bit samey and so-so here and there. But Road I Call Home absolutely deserves attention for those classy moments of emotional depth, and more besides.  Get on the bus and join her on the road. 

The Friday Session - Carlisle Blues Rock Festival, 28 September 2018

It’s Friday, it’s 5 to 7, and it’s standing room only in the ballroom of the Crown & Mitre Hotel as we arrive for our first visit to the Carlisle Blues Rock Festival.  But it turns out to be well worth standing for the duration to see the four acts on offer.

First up are local favourites Redfish, and they turn in a much stronger performance than when I last saw them, in a support slot in Edinburgh. They deliver a solid set of old school R’n’B, with warm vocals and relaxed patter from bunnet-wearing front man Stumblin’ Harris.

Redfish - Bunnets Are Us

There are funky undercurrents on the likes of Bill Withers’ ‘Use Me Up’, with nimble bass from Rod Mackay and some neat drumming diversions as a bonus.

Their own material fits in well alongside a punchy version of ‘Messin’ With The Kid’ and Magic Sam’s ‘Every Night And Every Day’, with measured solos from guitarist Martin McDonald and boogieing piano from all action keys man Fraser Clark.  It all adds up to an entertaining set that has me acquiring their new EP at the interval.

The Chris Bevington Organisation have produced one of the albums of the year so far with Cut And Run, so I was looking forward to seeing them live, and they didn’t disappoint. With a nine-piece line-up it’s no wonder that other commitments mean there are stand-ins depping for two of three of the usual band, and sadly this includes guitarist and core contributor Jim Kirkpatrick.  I suspect the loss of his interaction with co-conspirator and vocalist/guitarist Scott Ralph dilutes the dynamic of this ensemble affair a bit, but Jordan

The Chris Bevington Organisation get cookin'

Swann does a good job of filling in.  He contributes a sizzling lead guitar intro on ‘Coming Down With The Blues’, eloquent playing on ‘Tin Pan Alley’, and a squealing solo on the excellent ‘Got To Know’. The last of these also features pumping bass from Chris Bevington, gutsy rhythm playing from Ralph, and strong punctuation all round.

‘Better Start Cookin’’ features a trumpet solo and call and response organ and guitar, underlining the variety they can bring to bear.  Ralph fronts operations with brio, and by the time they get to ‘Ain’t Got Nobody To Love’ his Cheshire Cat grin sums up the enjoyment both on and off the stage. They close their 50 minute set with the totally danceable ‘Rollin’’, closing a live show that emulates the vibrancy of their latest album.

Elles Bailey unshackled 

Elles Bailey is a more soulful proposition, but gets the ball rolling with a couple of familiar barn-burners in the form of ‘Let Me Hear You Scream’ and ‘Same Flame’ from her album Wildfire, before offering us something new in the form of the soulful ‘What’s The Matter’.  A cover of Levon Helm’s ‘When I Go Away’ suits her nicely, with some very Stax-like keys from stand-in ivory tinkler James Graham, and some good vocal interplay to boot. Depping drummer Craig Connett also shows up well, with good cymbal work to rev up the intensity on the Muscle Shoals tribute ‘Perfect Storm’, with its strong melody, while another newie in the form of ‘Medicine Man’ is offbeat, driving and dynamic, with appealing slide from Joe Wilkins.  

‘Shackles Of Love’ continues to be my favourite among her material though – a song with a great hook that wouldn’t be out of place on a Bonnie Raitt album.

She tells us that another new song, the thumping, train-like ‘The Road I Call Home’ will be the title track to her new album in the spring, before returning to familiar territory with the emotive ‘Girl Who Owned The Blues’, with its stomping conclusion, and ‘Wildfire’ with its moody slide solo from Wilkins.

Elles Bailey’s amiably daft and self-deprecating chat always makes for an engaging performance.  But more to the point she has a great voice, strong original material, and bags of potential still to be explored.

Guitar totin' Siegal and Cigaar

Topping the bill for the night is Ian Siegal, who has gone way past the point of being described in terms of potential.  Still, I do believe that he’s found another gear this year with the release of his latest album All The Rage.  Coming on wearing a headband, with his festival lanyard flapping around his knees, he eases in with the characteristic, immediately sing-able melody of ‘Shotgun Rider’.  He and the band raise the temperature with the clacking favourite ‘I Am The Train’, with inimitable guitarist Dusty Cigaar being – well, inimitably Dusty.  But they really hit the bullseye with ‘The Shit Hit’, on which a wild slide solo from Siegal is a prelude to a bout of finger wagging, electrifying truth telling.  On an entirely different note, the classic blues of ‘John The Revelator’ interpolates ‘Back Door Man’ in rowdy fashion, and leads to an outbreak of dancing from some of the ladies.  Then it’s back to Siegal at his most withering with ‘Eagle-Vulture’, its spiky guitar line embellished by wafting notes from Cigaar.

A different kind of highlight comes with the North Mississippi Hill Country blues of CeDell Davies’s ‘She’s Got The Devil In Her’.  It’s followed by ‘Gallo Del Cielo’, which apparently a patron begged for tonight, and on which the poor damn chicken inevitably meets a sticky end once again, before Siegal closes out the night with the lovely ‘Sweet Souvenir’.

The clock strikes twelve and it’s time to head for bed.  Will twelve hours be enough to let us rest up for the next day’s fun and games?

You can find a review of the Saturday afternoon session at Carlisle here.
And the Saturday night session is reviewed here.