It was a balmy night for the eclipse, and the roads were packed with sun-watchers as I drove over the hills to Hebden Bridge in the beautiful Calder Valley, through the premature dusk. Stepping inside the Trades Club felt like a welcome step back in time. This old Trades Union Club, full of wooden walls, floors and tables, hasn’t had much modernisation or refurbishment, but this gives it real character. They have even kept the velvet curtain behind the stage. There are framed posters on the walls of the bar of acts who have played there, such as Gruff Rhys, St Etienne and The Only Ones. They have continued the left-leaning politics of the Trade Unions with posters on the walls about various campaigns and a flyer for a “Marxism of the North” day. It is the coolest place for miles around. I swear that the temperature dropped a couple of degrees as I walked through the door.
There was a decent and appreciative crowd out to witness this first date for Jenny Don’t and The Spurs on their tour of England, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden, though fewer in cowboy gear than you might have guessed. Starting with some slow chords and deep twanging notes, they then launched into Flying High from their excellent last album, Broken Hearted Blue, and the hairs on your neck stood up. Jenny said they were going to play “some cowboy music”, and they have been described as cowpunk, but it seems more like a mixture of rockabilly, surf, rock’n’roll, and country music from the fifties and sixties. There is a fabulous, primal rumbling beat to their music, in addition to the wonderful tunes. It is all just great fun.
Jenny plays rhythm guitar, provides fabulous lone vocals, and looks to be very happy to be up there on stage performing. Their Dick Dale/Duane Eddy twanging surf-reverb sound is provided very skilfully by the lead guitar of Christopher March. Jenny’s husband, Kelly Halliburton, on bass, is a real showman and gives it all he has got. He is no shrinking violet. He provides a rock-solid rhythm section with Buddy Weeks, who replaced long-time drummer Sam Henry, who died tragically in 2022. The group thought about disbanding but have continued and have now passed over a thousand shows. Jenny commented that they are good friends and warned the audience not to expect any on-stage fisticuffs. Their hectic live schedule means that they have not had time to record a new album, but they hope to release something in 2027.
The set consisted of songs from all four of their albums, including The Fire from their 2015 debut, and some of their singles. There were nice changes of pace with On The Run and California Cowboy, showing their country influence. Other highlights were Trouble With The Law, Paso Del Norte, Broken Hearted Blue and Is It Too Late? They ended by kicking up an absolute storm with an encore of two garage-rock covers, Walking on My Grave and Parchment Farm, from Oregon rock band Dead Moon.
The audience was warmed up nicely by a breathless set from Gateshead band The Country Irregulars, who did not pause to stop between their self-penned songs, à la Ramones. That’s Gateshead, not Newcastle, by the way. Their name seemed slightly misleading because they were very much a rock band with a pre-punk rock’n’roll feel. One track reminded you of Eddie and The Hot Rods. Another was dedicated to the lead singer’s great hero, Lee Brilleaux, and you could see some Dr Feelgood influence, although there was little blues in their songs. He offered a harmonica tuned to C to anyone who wanted to come up and play with them, which unfortunately nobody took up. Their songs were good, and it was an enjoyable set.
