Tonight, Lincolnshire’s premier venue for all things Americana, The Town Hall, Kirton in Lindsey was playing host to an award winning Bluegrass band all the way from… Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. Yes, you read right as The Often Herd, winners of the ‘Best European Bluegrass Band 2018’ at the prestigious La Roche Festival in France, hail from just a few hours drive north up the A1. The quartet released their self titled debut EP back in 2018, followed in June 2022 by the album “Where The Big Lamp Shines”, garnering great acclaim from the critics with their unique brand of time honoured Bluegrass that respected the tradition while at the same time transcending any stereotypes. The album’s success has seen the band spend most of this year on the road, whilst AUK’s very own Martin Johnson waxed lyrically about them in his contribution to the ‘More People Really Should Know About‘ feature back in April.
The evening’s performance saw a couple of changes to the line-up that appeared on the album with founder members Rupert Hughes, guitar, and Evan Davies on mandolin now joined by Elliot Roffe on double bass, whilst Jeri Foreman was a late replacement on fiddle for the incapacitated Niles Krieger.
The band kicked proceedings off with the first three tracks from their album, starting with the excellent ‘Inner Peace’ with Davies on lead vocals, followed by ‘Casablanca’ that saw Hughes step up to the microphone. The third number was the instrumental ‘Sycamore Gap’, written by the absent Krieger well before the sad and controversial felling of the iconic tree, and it featured some fantastic interplay by the band, especially the fiddle and guitar solos from Foreman and Hughes. It is clear already that this a group of musicians out of the top drawer, a fact pressed home on the next number ‘Hold On’ with more mind blowing solos, in particular Roffe on double bass, while Davies again takes up vocal duties on a song written as an antidote to all the negativity that has permeated through these isles of recent years. In truth it is the self-penned songs that give the band their distinctive voice, as visually and musically they resemble a typical American String Band, with all the driving energy, tight vocal harmonies and dazzling instrumental interplay that one associates with the genre. However, their own musical creations are steeped in personal experiences, coloured by their surroundings of growing up in the North East with the contrast of both the natural and industrial landscapes being pivotal to their storytelling and musical inflection.
The first half of the night’s show was brought to a close with a couple of cover versions including a wonderful rendition of the gospel infused ‘Working On A Building’ with Hughes showing off his vocal prowess as he did on ‘A Fool Such As I’ before the band came together for a quite breathtaking rendition of the instrumental ‘The Cherokee Shuffle’ which had the crowd ‘a rooting and a hollering’, as one blistering solo followed another leaving everyone in need of topping up their glasses during the break.
Following the half-time interval that allowed many of the congregation the opportunity to peruse the merchandise stand and meet the guys from the band, the second set got underway with ‘Rosary Beads’, another track from the debut album with Hughes once again stepping up to the microphone. Next was the first track from the self titled EP with the band’s interpretation of the Bob Dylan classic ‘You’re gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go’, a song that lends itself so willingly to the genre with Davies’ vocal delivery exposing a personal passion for the song. A second track from the EP followed with the instrumental ‘Cattle In The Grain’, a track familiar to many through the version by the late great Tony Rice who I’m sure would have nodded in approval of this fiery rendition again stuffed full of stunning solos. A cover of the blues number ‘Make Me A Pallet On Your Floor’ was a personal highlight with Hughes adding some delightful harmonica playing before he took the lead vocals for a wonderful cover of Peter Rowan’s ‘Midnight Moonlight’. It never fails to fill my heart with joy when young musicians, and I’m assuming these guys are still to reach their thirties, display such a knowledge and passion for music that would have first seen the light of day long before they were born.
That fact is borne out when Foreman, who up to this point had lent her voice in a purely supporting role, finally stepped up to the microphone to deliver a fabulous rendition of the old Lester Flatt song ‘Dim Lights, Thick Smoke, Loud Loud Music’, forgiving the legendary guitarist / mandolin player for the somewhat less than P.C. lyrical narrative of this old tune. It’s worth remembering that Foreman was a late stand in for the absent Krieger. How much notice she had and what her previous connection with the band has been is unclear, but on this performance you’d be forgiven for thinking she was a permanent member, with such long and tricky musical passages delivered with aplomb, and the fun being enjoyed on stage by all four members was palpable.
Davies returned to the microphone for lead vocals on ‘Remember My Name’ before the opening track from the 2018 EP ‘Cool Summer Rain’ brought the second set to a close. Unsurprisingly the audience raucously demanded an encore encouraging the quartet back to the stage for one further song that had first appeared on the EP with ‘Sail Away’, bringing the night’s show to a close. As the congregation headed towards the exit there was a collective agreement that you would wait along time to see musicianship of that quality and The Often Herd are most definitely a band that ‘More People Should Really Know About’.
Excellent review Graeme (as usual!). Perfectly capturing the verve and vitality of a marvellous evening of music and musicianship.
Many thanks Alan. It was as you say a marvellous gig with the quality of musicianship at times quite staggering. Glad you enjoyed.