Review: Martin Harley band at Jagz Ascot UK

Subject: Review: Martin Harley band at Jagz Ascot UK
From: Roger the Skiffler
Date: 17 Feb 06 - 09:13 AM

My regular jazz club night is Wednesday and at the moment Dixieland and Big Band are on once a month. Non-jazz tribute bands are on once a month and the other week is usually an open mike night for local singer song-writers. I usually only go to the first two. However seeing this publicity for February 15th:
Martin Harley is a mesmerising singer/songwriter whose original sound draws on influences from old time blues and folk to classic rock. A blend of three part harmonies over a backdrop of stunning slide and finger style guitar, homemade acoustic bass and brush drums completes the Martin Harley Band's unique sound. Just signed to Junkbait Music for their debut album "Money Don't Matter". A release date has been scheduled for February
I thought I'd give them a try. I'm glad I did. This young 3-piece band is fronted by Martin who sounds at times like Jim Kweskin and at others like Eric Burden. He plays two amplified acoustic guitars, one fingerstyle and the other lap steel style. His drummer, Pete "the beat" Swatton, plays a 2-drum, 2 cymbal kit with brusheds, and the bass player,Adam Wolters, plays a homemade 2-string stick amplified bass which I suppose is the electric equivalent of a washtub bass. The bass player and the drummer both double on a balalaika, which the drummer plays lefty (upside down). It has a pick-up held on with the obligatory duct tape. They play a lot of self-penned material and have 2 CDs out (full details at www.martinharley.com) but also play some blues classics:Leadbelly's Irene, Johnson's Crossroads and Blind Blake's Police Dog Blues. They finished the first set with the lapsteel acoustic through an effects pedal making Chocolate Jesus sound very Hendrix-like. Otherwise I'd describe them as an acoustic/electric jug band without the jug, or a skiffle group without the washboard. Their own material was sometimes raggy, sometimes bluesy, sometimes folkie, sometimes rockabilly and well sung & harmonized and the guitar playing in both styles was excellent and the accompaniment tasteful.   There were about 25 of us there, mostly my age rather than theirs, but they were enthusiastically received and left the audience baying for more.
In the absence of the Twickenham and Caversham skiffle gigs this year this may be my only chance to hear this style of music locally in 2006.

RtS