It’s a two for one review this week with a local Wednesday show in Guildford and then Friday night in east London with this super talented up and coming band Brown Horse. Hailing from Norwich this six piece of multi instrumentalists, songwriters and performers are currently setting the UK Americana scene alight after the release of their superb debut album ‘Reservoir’ which is already a contended for album of the year and its only March.
The sets are broadly similar and by that I mean that everything played on Friday night was evident on Wednesday but the main difference is we got a full ninety minute show in Guildford but the London show was curtailed to a little over an hour due to club night curfew at the Shacklewell.
What can I say, both sets were excellent and the quality of the musicianship on show is so impressive given their youth. Instruments are swapped regularly and at any one time you would see a combination of acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass, banjo, fiddle, pedal steel, lap steel, mini organ and accordion squeezebox too. All supported by the drummer at the back keeping the rhythm going. Whilst not wanting to single any of the band out, who are all excellent, I am going to do just that with a special word to Emma Tovell on pedal steel who especially at the Guildford show was a lot higher in the mix and was superb. And the sound was my only gripe at the Shacklewell gig which wasn’t consistent on the night whereas the sound at The Keep was spot on.
With these shows supporting the album which gets played almost in its entirety there is plenty of room to showcase a bunch of new songs slated for recording on the follow up. From the seventies funk of Holy Smokes to Dog Rose it augurs well for the next chapter of this band. The next chapter for this band will surely be playing at much larger venues than these two tiny shows.
Highlights were many and varied from the aforementioned Holy Smokes to Bloodstain and set closer Shoot Back.
I was going to say for fans of Americana and for me early Felice Brothers these guys are already now a must see but to be honest for any lover of great music if you get a chance don’t pass them up.
Keep on country rockin’ y’all