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Eddie And Frank Thomas/Lonesome Georginas

Venue: Grateful Freds
Town: Formby, Liverpool
Date: 1st march
Website: http://www.eddieandfrank.com/

Yet another evening of excellent music at Grateful Fred's!

Opening the evening was the Grateful Fred's House Band, who get better and better every time out. They have invented a new style of music. You've heard of Tex-Mex ? Well here in Liverpool we have a new variety called Tox-Mex !This features an unusual combination of lead instruments- mandolin and melodeon -with a rhythm section of acoustic guitar, electric bass and percussion . The band romped through a selection of popular covers- Steve Earle's Galway Girl; I've Just Seen a Face [The Beatles]; Creedence's Bad Moon Rising; Lindisfarne's Meet Me On the Corner and, best of all, He'll Have To Go, which owes much more to Ry Cooder's version [on Chicken Skin Music ] than the more famous Jim Reeves hit.As ever, GFHB got the evening off to a flying start.

Next on were Liverpool trio The Lonesome Georginas. Apparently, they based their name on that of the last surviving Galapagos Giant Tortoise, who is known as "Lonesome George ". The band's members are German Georgina [who is German, writes the songs, sings, plays percussion and does trumpet impressions with her voice]; Georgina of The Jungle [from Macclesfield! ] who plays acoustic guitar and sings and, last but not least, Georgina of China who plays electric bass and who really is from China but, despite his name, is male! You have probably gathered that this is not your regular kind of band. The Georginas are quirky and highly individual in both the lyrics to their songs and their music. They were warmly received by the large audience.

Headlining the evening were Eddie and Frank Thomas who are, unsurprisingly, brothers .They hail from a small town in Mississippi called Iuka and are award-winning film makers. They have previously toured the UK with their multimedia show " Angels on the Backroads" which traces the musical roots of Highway 61 from Memphis to New Orleans. Tonight, they presented a purely musical show featuring their own, original songs.

Resplendent in full dinner suits [their mother told them to look smart], they took us on a musical trip to their hometown of Iuka . The evocative songs beautifully described growing up and living in a small town in rural Mississippi . Using various forms of American roots music, they recreated the faces and places of their youth with vivid descriptions of dances in the high-school gym; gathering and selling scrap metal to buy tickets for the movies; rural house parties; forbidden trips to the railroad yard; the cotton fields; bootleg liquor and hunting raccoon .

In the words of one of the songs they took us "Back to Mississippi". On previous tours they have used a combination of images and music. This time they did not need the pictures, their storytelling and songs were all they needed to evoke the atmosphere of life in the rural South.

If you get the chance, go and see Eddie and Frank live, you won't be disappointed.

Peter Cowley