It was impossible not to go to this gig: Lindy Morrison on drums, and Robert Lloyd exploring his interest in country music. I went with Gina and Mike, and everyone was out: Lee, Caryne and Dave, Simon Rivers, Terry Edwards, in fact almost the entire London Set, out on a Tuesday instead of a Saturday.
The evening kicked off with David Lance Callaghan and his fantastic drummer Darren. Lindy was watching from the wings with a blissfully happy smile on her face. They started off with a clutch of new songs, and then played songs that I was more familiar with including She's The King Of My Life. I'm an admirer of David's guitar style, which is similar in some ways to some of my own playing but with way more energy and much more reliance on the lowest 'E' string, which I believe he tunes to 'G'. I'm no adventurer with tunings but I love it when other people do it. I bought his CD to listen to, as I've seen him live several times since being on the same bill in Lewes last year.
We were sitting next to some people who live close to Robert Lloyd who'd come down specially from Brum for the gig. Their excitement was really infectious, and I think the entire audience was completely intrigued by what they were about to hear. Robert looked really excited too, and the band struck up their first couple of songs with a rather shambolic beginning from the twin vocalists: I felt that at first they looked and sounded like a Venn Diagram whose circles hadn't yet overlapped. But very soon they joined in the middle, Janet meeting Robert's relaxed approach and Robert meeting her professionalism, and the gig took off and became a seamless overlap between two artists who live in different worlds.
The band was superb. Mark Bedford played bass and there were two guitarists, one of whom (I think it was Mark Birchmore) was well up on rockabilly and country licks. I'd been listening to Chet Atkins as a housework soundtrack earlier in the day so my ears were well attuned to what he was playing, which was just brilliant: sharp, rhythmic and creative, at the same time as referencing all sorts of retro guitar heroes of the fifties era.
And Lindy- I don't think I've ever heard her play so well. How odd to discover that she is a perfect country/hillbilly drummer! The discipline of the backing musicians mean that Robert and Janet could be playful and informal, though at certain points they pulled together tightly to sing some absolutely perfect renditions of their songs. The songs themselves are really interesting. Because of Janet's vocal style, they at first appear as though they are country songs but then they suddenly swerve, at times throwing in the odd Bacharach-type chord that references something entirely different. None of them are anything like Nightingales songs, which are like wonderful miniature storms in enormous teacups. These stretched-out, elegant songs allowed space for Robert to sing with his full range and really deliver the words with sculptured clarity. By the end, the conversation between Janet and Robert had settled into a warm and funny groove.
Verdict: a fabulous gig, and lovely to see a different facet to Rob Lloyd's writing, set off in the context of a bunch of exceptionally skilled musicians and songwriters who are confident enough to play in an entirely different playground. I felt inspired, and started writing a new song today. Hooray!
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