Whether you consider the Americana music genre an
amalgamation of roots styles or a state of mind, these guys fit the bill as
they hot foot around a nation’s songbook within the context of a historical
timescale. A bunch of original tunes wrapped in a packaging of fiddle,
harmonica, and accordion plus numerous other types of stringed instrumentation
filtered through a pair of forty-five minute sets this evening to induce a
posture of intense focus from those present. The set list spanned the group’s
near decade-long recording career with the usual focus on recent material found
on the exceedingly entertaining new album.
A curious feature of the stage show was the constant
switching of the middle position on the central table in contrast to the
flanked roles of harmonica player Jim Fitting and fiddle player Laura Cortese.
What was also consistent was the rotation of lead vocalist with all six band
members taking turns. This also included percussionist Billy Beard who
contributed the song ‘Doreen’, one of
many to be found on the band’s several albums. The guys have many other musical
offshoots in addition to the activities of Session Americana and two of Laura’s
contributions were lifted from her solo records. In fact, the show’s penultimate
tune beautifully sung by Laura, ‘Heel to
Toe’, was the most enjoyable of the evening with a sparkling concluding jam
of fiddle, accordion, harmonica and guitar.
The nearest the band had to a front person was Ry Cavanaugh
who had previously visited the UK accompanying fellow singer-songwriter Jeffrey
Foucault, but the focus for the show was heavily leaned towards song delivery
with minimal chat and introduction. Ry opened proceedings with the title track
from the new album ‘Pack Up The Circus’
and also did likewise after the interval with ‘All For You’. The record was also represented by the excellent ‘It’s Not Texas’, sung and written by
accordion and keyboard player Dinty Child. Also lifted from the album was the
final song of the first half, ‘Willing To
Be Lucky’, and another entertaining ditty in ‘Vitamin T’, given a Latino feel by vocalist and harmonica blower,
Jim Fitting.
Jim probably had the strongest voice among the sextet and
his harmonica playing added real spice and buoyancy to the sound. He also took
lead on the show finale where the band strayed from their songbook and covered
the standard ‘Such a Night’, made
famous by the version by Dr John and The Band in Scorsese’s documentary ‘The Last
Waltz’. Earlier the band had celebrated the Tin Pan Alley sound of 20’s America
with a version of ‘You Got To See Your
Mama Ev’ry Night (Or You Can’t See Your Mama At All)’. At this point it is
timely to introduce the remaining band member Kimon Kirk who shared his bass
duties with a couple of lead vocal opportunities, the most prominent being ‘Cowboy Coffee’.
There was no disputing the talent on show and the impressive
way all six blended their contributions and assets. It was definitely a case of
lower case session Americana as well as the upper cased title version. It’s an experimental
phase for these experienced stalwarts of the North Eastern music scene back
home to take their music overseas, especially around the UK provinces which can
be a tough market to crack. The band and the team around them are giving it
their best shot with the all-important musical package firmly in place to aid the
challenge of seducing wider appeal.