We still, I guess, have to say that Tyler Ramsey used to be in Band of Horses as lead guitarist and a notable songwriter for that band, but he’s been ploughing his own furrow for nearly a decade now, and the music he makes is noteworthy in itself. And on this Sunday night, he was in London at the very cosy, very intimate venue that is The Social, nestling on the western edge of Fitzrovia. And as it turned out, there were a couple of Band of Horses songs on Tyler Ramsey’s hard-to-read set list. The Social is in Little Portland Street, not far from Oxford Circus, but a million miles away from the hub-bub of the London landmark, but in a strange L-shaped basement bar was the place to be on this Sunday night, if one wanted to hear some of the finest folk-leaning singer-songwriter music.
The last time I saw Tyler Ramsey it was at St Pancras Old Church, and his description ran “Tyler Ramsey is tall and rangy, with a beard almost as long as his hair”, and that’s all still true, except both beard and hair have undergone a radical trim. One thing that hasn’t changed is the quality of his playing and his soft and warm vocals.
Opening his set with 1,000 Blackbirds, both were to the fore, with the long finger-picked introduction a master class in what folk guitar should be, and with lyrics which could fool you into thinking this was an ancient song, revived for our times. Tyler Ramsey has recently been recording music with his long time friend Carl Broemel of My Morning Jacket and a couple of pieces from their new album Celestun including the title track, a gem of a folk guitar instrumental, as well as the song Flying Things a light and optimistic song full of love and joy which, Ramsey explained, was inspired by a phrase coined by his daughter.
With the mournful love of Where Were You with its questioning chorus of “where were you? When I wanted you around / Where were you? When I was hoping to be found,” Tyler Ramsey entered Neil Young territory, his voice conveying just the right level of passionate desperation. To put the seal to that comparison, another song taken from Celestun was a cover of the relatively obscure Neil Young song Sail Away which couples a melancholic mood with reflections on the things in life which have true values: “see the losers in the best bars, meet the winners in the dives, where the people are the real stars all the rest of their lives.” In mood, it compliments Evening Kitchen, one of the Band of Horses songs that Ramsey wrote. A slow fall into desperation as love falls away, and the only prop remaining is a bottle of wine. Those who appreciate melancholic beauty coupled to fine guitar playing would appreciate this. And those who appreciate fast-picked and dextrously fretted country blues appreciated the new extended introduction coupled to another Band of Horses song Everything’s Gonna Be Undone.
A Long Dream, from the album A Long Dream About Swimming Across The Sea, was a magical thing, like the signature song of some lost Seventies British Folk Guitar hero, the playing at Ramsey’s most agile and the lyrics alluding to some insight whose meaning wasn’t fully captured as awakening from sleep dissipated it. The kind of song that virtually demands thoughts of a hopeful cry of “play it again“. Throughout, Tyler Ramsey was quietly engaging in his introductions and his repeated appreciation of an audience willing to come out on a rainy Sunday night and pay such rapt attention. Neither thing was a difficulty; Tyler Ramsey’s appearances are only marred by two things: that they aren’t frequent enough and that he doesn’t play for three hours. All else is perfection.
The support came from Ross Leighton, who fronts Glasgow’s Fatherson but is working on a side project of songs that have yet to be formally gathered together into an album. Even with catching only a couple of songs, due to a miss-guess on stage times, people go on earlier than you’d think on Sunday night, Leighton’s soft vocals and soft guitar conveyed a mood that can be alluded to through song titles such as Worry and Sad Lamp. These were delicate pieces that will be worth further investigation once they’re available to sell.
