Alan Dearling enjoyed this musical double-headliner
This was one of those evenings for musical connoisseurs. A two-course cuisine of quality sounds and nicely balanced styles of musical fare. First up were the duo performing as Swimming Bell. And Bobby Lee’s band provided them with musical backing for much of their set. In the advance promo, it informed us about Katie Schottland’s ‘superb voice’ and ‘remarkable songwriting ability’. It added that in Swimming Bell her sound is one of a ‘lush, mid-‘70s Californian vibe’.
“An intriguing, experimental and at times hypnotic new voice in the world of alt-folk.” Folk Radio UK
Katie plays an acoustic Guild guitar and certainly evokes the patina of the late ‘60s singer/songwriters out of Laurel Canyon. Many of her songs display a mournful character, a fragility, but with a hint of the melodic qualities of later Fleetwood Mac duos from Stevie and Christine. Many of the songs are from the Swimming Bell album, ‘Charlie’. Songs featuring relationships, the ups and the downs. ‘I believe in us’, ‘Ash in the Jar’ and ‘Imagine us’ were three powerful examples. Lots of break-ups, high emotions, and perceptive observations on the roller-coaster rides through life. And ‘Take it Easy’ was perhaps Swimming Bell in Katie’s most California dreaming mode. Actually, Katie is Brooklyn-based! And the harmonies produced by the duo were lovely.
Here’s the video for the very catchy: ‘Take it Easy’: https://youtu.be/rmSDHUIz8hE
Bobby Lee personifies Cosmic Americana. Cinematic, elegiac instrumentals combining loops of beats with repetitions of wide-screen themes. It builds up a fine head of musical steam, which is aptly described in the publicity as providing: “Touches of JJ Cale’s analogue Americana, the swampy groove of Tony Joe White and Richard Thompson’s sinewy, modal guitar work. Amps hum in the warm afternoon sun, kids and dogs snooze on the grass and broken drum machines keep time with the universe…”
“A spiritual guide for the contemporary ultra-heady Americana jam cult, delivers a defining culmination of his signature cosmic farmstead choogle” New Commute
Prior to the gig, I listened a couple of times through Bobby’s most recent album release, his third, entitled, ‘Endless Skyways’. It’s a thing of power and beauty. The title is apparently borrowed from a line in Woody Guthrie’s ‘This Land Is Your Land’. Indeed, Bobby’s music would work well as a film score for a Spaghetti Western. Meanwhile his titles for the tracks are enigmatic in the extreme, including the intriguing and mesmeric opener, ‘Reds for a Blue Planet’.
Endless Skyways live launch gig: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apyfZihg208
At the live gig, Bobby employed a substantial bass-sound from his rhythm box and this seems to create a mix of drum ‘n’ bass, over which Bobby’s band expand the sound of Endless Skyways.
Chatting to Bobby after the gig, I quickly realised that Bobby has assimilated a vast repertoire of musical influence and knowledge ranging from early Steve Hillage through to the good-time, psych-riffing of the Grateful Dead.
Meanwhile, I spotted this on-line from a Self Portrait Gospel interview. So there are new musical plans afoot:
“Back in spring we did a tour with Jeffrey Silverstein and Joe Harvey-Whyte which we called the Cosmic Country Revue. That was a total blast. Guy, and Mark from my band learnt all Jeffrey’s songs and I felt like a proud dad every night watching them play them. Me and Joe are in the early stages of making a record together too. We’ve got a bunch of shows lined up for late summer and we’re going to do a full UK tour in Autumn.”
