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Sheesham & Lotus & Son + Robert Vincent Band

Venue: Grateful Fred's, The Atkinson
Town: Southport
Date: 3/9/14
Website: http://sheeshamandlotus.com/

Grateful Fred has, in the past, presented many great nights of music but tonight's combination of the Robert Vincent Band and Sheesham & Lotus &Son must surely rank as one of the absolute best.

These are two very different bands, the first being an electric rock band from the present day, from Merseyside via Nashville and the other being an acoustic trio from Canada who look and sound as though they have just stepped out of the Tardis, having travelled forwards in time from the 1920's.

Both bands were outstanding in their own style and the very fortunate audience were treated to a superb night's entertainment.

Starting off the evening were the Grateful Fred's House Band, augmented once again by Pete McPartland of The Big I Am on guitar and ukulele. Indeed, tonight's set featured Pete singing a couple of his own, country-flavoured compositions "Banging On The Wall"[about noisy neighbours] and "Friendly Fire". Other highlights were Les's beautiful rendition of "She Moved Through The Fair" and a sprightly version of Richard Thompson's "1952 Vincent Black Lightning".

Robert Vincent is a highly accomplished singer-songwriter from Crosby, Liverpool. He has just returned from Nashville and, in my opinion, he can, as a songwriter, hold his own with the best of them.

Tonight was the first time that I have seen Rob perform with a full electric band and what a superb band they are, featuring Michael Gay [lead guitar, vocals], Emily Jackson [piano, vocals], Etienne Girard [bass, vocals]and Tom Cowley [no relation ] on drums.

This talented young band backed Rob on his recently released live album "Live At The Scandinavian Church"and, unsurprisingly, tonight's set featured several songs from that album- "Light Of The Stars", "Burns Like Cotton In The Field", "Lady", "Life In Easy Steps" [the title track of Rob's critically acclaimed studio album] and the climactic "Demons".

This band is really tight, and I was particularly impressed with the vocal harmonies and Michael Gay's slide guitar playing which reminded me of David Lindley's work with Jackson Browne.

If the evening had finished at the end of Rob's set, I would have gone home a happy man. But there was more to come.

Much more.

The best way to describe Sheesham & Lotus & Son are as the musical equivalent of Doctor Who, having travelled in time from the 1920's and rematerialised here in 2014. In fact, this analogy was reinforced when they were photographed with an actual Dalek at BBC Radio Merseyside earlier in the day!

S&L&S are a marvellously entertaining old-time band who have been [accurately] described as a "modern-day Mississippi Sheiks". They are Sheesham Crow [fiddle, harmonica, kazoo, whistling and vocals], Lotus Wight [banjo, contrabassHarmoniphonium, kazoo and vocals] and Son Sanderson on the monstrous, serpentine Sousaphone which provides the bass lines [and which looks as though it is about to devour Son].

Together, they make the most authentic old-time music this side of 1930.

Following an energetic harmonica trio, we were treated to a hilarious and very skilful routine called "Hambone" which involved Sheesham and Lotus rhythmically clapping, slapping and tapping each other with great synchronicity, which had the audience in stitches.

We were then introduced to the Sepiaphone, a curious sort of double megaphone into which Sheesham and Lotus sing simultaneously to create a glorious monophonic sound on ancient songs such as "Frankie and Johnny" and The Carter Family's "My Dixie Darling".

S&L&S's forte is ancient fiddle and banjo breakdowns, including tunes such as "Jackson Stomp", "Blackberry Blossom" and "Chinquipin", as well as harmonica showcases, including "F & D Rag" and "John Henry", as performed by DeFord Bailey, the "Harmonica King" and the first black country music star.

Sheesham & Lotus & Son's extraordinary set ended with Sam Allison's "Back In 1929" and that's exactly where this hugely entertaining band had taken us tonight. Truly they are "The New Kings Of Old Time".

Peter Cowley