This Sunday's guests at the Bothy are Dave Ellis & Boo Howard, not an act I've seen before, but I've listened to a few of their songs on YouTube and I think they're going to be rather good. From the Bothy website:
"Dave & Boo are based in London with a musical partnership that began in 1979 ... D&B's present acoustic style evolved in 1998 with Dave's intricate guitar work and Boo's mellow vocal combining to create something new and all their own. Dave has become known around the clubs for his unique guitar style plus his highly individual banjo tunes, while Boo completes the D&B sound with her exceptional voice and superb bass playing. Their harmony singing is second to none."
Here is a video of them playing the Chris Smither song "Love Me Like A Man," which has been covered previously by Bonnie Raitt and more recently by jazz singer Diana Krall:
If there were any justice in the music world, or any other sphere for that matter, these two would be up there on main stages worldwide. The dichotomy is that such a raised profile would take away from the responsive and imtimate atmosphere that you only get in small acoustically-based venues such as the Bothy. A memorable night and hugely enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteIf Southport at large knew that this quality of music-making existed on its doorstep, it would be beating a path along Park Road West every Sunday. Sssh-hh then, (he said ironically) we don't want to share this secret around too much do we?!
People would rather pay £150 to watch some distant dots in an arena than see excellent performers locally whom their workmates haven't heard of. But look at what happens to acoustic performers who do become big: they sell out the Albert Hall like Show Of Hands and don't perform in small clubs like ours any more.
ReplyDeleteThe show that night was videoed and Phil Yorke, the cameraperson has sent me through a DVD copy of their 2 sets and the promise of a full edit in due course with the supporting singers' performances included.
ReplyDeleteAvailable for borrow/copy from me - just ask.
It makes for a good viewing/listening experience and extracts will be on YouTube eventually.