New venue for us tonight in the Hipster Ville enclave that is Dalton. Despite London Overground’s best efforts by cancelling all trains we hopped on a bus from Highbury and Islington to this old Victorian pub.
Kacy & Clayton are second cousins from Saskatchewan, Canada and tonight they are fleshed out with drum and bass. It’s a low key entrance on stage as they setup themselves but then we’re off. What follows is an exquisite demonstration of the finest folk country. The blend of Clayton’s staccato turquoise Telecaster and Kacy’s Gibson acoustic complement each other perfectly and the sound is surprisingly good for such a small room at the back of this pub.
What is most striking is Kacy’s beautiful vocals that evoke memories of Natalie Marchant from 10000 Maniacs with that haunting lilt. Her apparent indifference to the whole show coupled with her slightly sarcastic dry wit and beautiful smile are endearing and she provides an enigmatic presence on stage. At the same time Clayton’s quirky, jerky guitar style is reminiscent of Chuck Prophet who also has the same rigid body style. But boy can he play. Great picking.
The set leans heavily from their excellent album from last year ‘Carrying On’ and my favourites tonight are ‘Providence Place’ and ‘In a time of doubt’. It was a real pleasure to spend seventy five minutes in their company tonight with some great songs, beautiful harmonies coupled with understated but excellent musicianship to warm the cockles on a bitterly cold night. It’s a no fuss, no frills show just four chums playing good music to a hundred rapt souls.
Till the next time keep on country folk soft rockin y’all