Autumn Dawn Leader/Ray Garner

AUTUMN DAWN LEADER/RAY GARNER

Duffys Bar 11th January 2024

First up was a new name to me... RAY GARNER. Ray is a hugely talented guitar player, covering a range of jazz styles. The set was very low key and relaxed but i felt an injection of light and shade would have helped. No doubt about the quality of his playing, but for me not being a jazz buff, i found it all a bit samey...

Ray was received enthusiastically by the appreciative audience and I am certain that with as much ability as this guy has, with a bit more experience/confidence and maybe a more up-tempo piece added he will step up from a really great guitarist to a great performer. Not a set to thrill me, but Ray has so much talent i'd love to see him again

After a short turn round up stepped the maverick... the wonderful Autumn Dawn Leader: Songmistress. Autumn started with her medieval 10 string lyre with "Taste of the Wild"... it was clear from the first that she was in great voice!

Autumn is a trained contralto and sings with so much power, emotion and control and can hold a note until the audience gets breathless!!

The set continued with a selection of songs from the awesome "A Soft-Centre Melting" album, particularly the sapphic pride anthem "Just Be" and "An Untamed World". We also heard some older pieces and a cover of a song associated with Bowie (originally from Nina Simone), "Wild is the Wind" (Apologies if I have that title wrong!).

Tonights set was maybe a bit lighter than usual, with a bit less of the angst but remained a beautifully balanced set delivered by an exceptional artist on top of her game.

Autumn encored with "Radioactive", which is also from the album and received a very well merited and raucous response to her set.

If you haven't seen Autumn, go see her next opportunity and invest in the "Soft Centre Melting" album (preferably from Bandcamp!)

This was a great evening at Duffy's, two very different artists, and superb sound

Keep music live... keep music real... support your local venues

Stevie Jones & the Wildfires/The Fazed/Amy Dx

STEVIE JONES & THE WILDFIRES/THE FAZED/AMY DX

Musician Pub 5th January 2024

Back to the Musician Pub for a second gig of the year... and it was a really great night.

Proceedings started with AMY Dx... a band i've seen a few times before and really love them. Tonight Amy started with two numbers, including her first single "Worth", at the piano without the band, somethIng I dont recall seeing happen before, and she delivered both with assurance and quality... the band then came on and things got even better... partly because i am more familiar with the band setting, and partly because this section started with the lovely "We are only Human".. From here we heard a forthcoming single and a number of tracks from last years "Time" album...

This is a really fine band... Amy's voice soars effortlessly over the band and loses none of its clarity or tone when at full volume... at times I think i detected similarities to Grace Slick. Amy's songs are also consistently high quality.

Her band is in some ways unobtrusive in that it doesnt seek to dominate.. but simply adds layers of tone and feeling to the songs... a great performance by probably my favourite newish local band.

Next up were a great rock band, The Fazed. They started with a short pre-recorded trumpet before launching into their first song.

The Fazed proved to be a high quality rock band, with at least a hint of Oasis at times, and played with great energy and style.

Musically they are excellent and I particularly liked the balance between lovely jangly guitar (vaguely reminiscent of early Byrds) and the lead guitar, both of whom seem to play with ease and great empathy and complement each other perfectly, while the drummer and bass player drove things along beautifully, providing a solid powerful rhythm section around the guitars...

Hugely enjoyed this set...

Topping the bill was a band we all know and love... Stevie Jones and The Wildfires. Hard to categorize them, other than filing them under "Stevie Jones".

Stevie is is a natural performer and always delivers a high class performance, tonight being no exception. His song writing is always interesting, covering a good number of themes, and at times challenging... Tonight the set included a a fine song originally a personal mantra to keep going, never give up... ending unless i am mistaken with a touch of Bob Marley... partly a personal song but dedicated to friends in Ukraine.

Stevie is a really fine songwriter and performer and The Wildfires are a terrific band, featuring a father and son duo (Bob and Alfie) on bass and guitar respectively and a drummer (Dave) who work together and with Stevie to perfection.

Stevie has over 40 years experience playing music and is still one of the hardest working musicians on the scene... an enduring talent who has excelled in a host of genres... i guess i'd categorize him as a great acoustic singer/songwriter performing his great songs with a really great band.

Three totally different bands, all absolutely terrific, who gave us a really great enjoyable night

Keep music live... keep music real... support your local venues

Kevin Montgomery/Jude Johnstone/Michael Scott Boudreaux

KEVIN MONTGOMERY/JUDE JOHNSTONE/MICHAEL SCOTT BOUDREAUX

Musician Pub 3rd January 2024

My first gig of the year and the first of the year at The Musician Pub Also the first night of the tour, for KEVIN MONTGOMERY, JUDE JOHNSTONE & MICHAEL SCOTT BOUDREAUX, and as they said there was some rust and cobwebs to burn off, and that showed at times in the perfomance.

We started with a set by Jude Johnstone. Jude is a magnificent songwriter having written for among others Trisha Yearwood, Bonnie Raitt, Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris and Stevie Nicks among others... she also it seems co-wrote a song with Bob Dylan.

She delivered an excellent set, not only great songs, but a great raconteur with some great stories which added flesh to the songs. She accompanied herself on keyboards and was supported by Michael on electric guitar and at times Kevin on harmony vocals... though to be honest I found the didnt add anything to the performance and were more of a distraction. Judes vocals and keyboards work perfectly together and i feel more effectively, at least in a live setting, without the extra adornment.

After a break Kevin Montgomery stepped up, again accompanied by Michael on guitar and a fine keyboard player (embarrassingly i cant recalll his name). Kevin however started on keyboard and had a couple of false starts on the first piece... for me however the set didnt take off until Kevin picked up his guitar for the third song, though Michael delivered some wonderful slide guitar in the first number.

From there on Kevin delivered a fine set of great songs... though some pieces, for me, fell short of the high standards of the bulk of the set. He does have a great voice and sings well, and his guitar accompaniement was spot on.

During this set Michael played some really high class guitar and the keyboards added a layer of texture that really enhanced the set.

Kevin then put Michael centre stage to play a couple of his own songs, where he showed what a fine singer, writer and guitarist he is, hopefully he will, as suggested, be back headlining his own shows before too long.

Overall this was a hugely enjoyable concert though maybe a bit patchy... i am sure that as the rust wears off any shortcomings will soon be eliminated.

Keep music live... keep music real... support you local venue