The village of Cookley in North Worcestershire has a rich
history of hosting folk music in various guises within its handful of
locations. Kathryn and Sean were making their first visit to the area and by
the reception the healthy gathering bestowed upon them it is unlikely to be
their last. In fact the setting was right up the street of this parental duo which
spends a large amount of time departing their Dartmoor base for shows up and
down the land. Those present in the quaint school hall witnessed a pair of
dovetailing artists exploiting their individual talents to the full while
skirting around subjects as diverse as the blueprint murder ballad and the more
sensitive side of intricate song writing. Kathryn is blessed with the most gorgeous
vocal acumen you could wish to hear with Sean fuelling the theory of genetic
brilliance.
The evening kicked off with emerging West Midlands singing
guitarist Sunjay playing a highly entertaining thirty minute set to not only
warm the crowd up, but get the unique honour of a support slot encore.
Witnessed as a musician who skilfully practices the art of pickin’ over
strummin’, Sunjay switches between folk and blues in his style as well as
adding a touch of populist humour to his stage presence. The heavily blues bias
towards material from his upcoming new album was left on the shelf for this
show as he concentrated on the job of playing the perfect warm up guy. This
clever stance possibly eased more fans into the deeper psyche of his recorded
output which doesn’t revolve around Herman Hermits’ covers. Matching his
natural flair with stage maturity is a reasonable assessment for this in-demand
artist equally adept at fulfilling the support or headline role.
As well as the aforementioned song and the Child ballad
titled ‘Child Owlet, the highlight
from the new album was ’52 Hertz’, a
beautifully presented account of a whale in the North Pacific with a far from
successful mating call. The stories behind the songs were as much as an
enticing and engaging feature of the evening as the music itself and we were delightfully
informed that the title track from the new album ‘Tomorrow Will Follow Today’ is a protest piece inspired by a
segment from a Terry Pratchett novel. A further self-penned track acted as the
encore number and ‘Wisdom of Standing
Still’ proved an ideal closer with its self-reflective theme and perhaps
the strongest melody driven track all evening. The art of folklore was rife all
show with a gruesome Norwegian piece ‘Huldra’
putting fear into the male species as well as the graphic introduction to the
Bury St. Edmonds murder ballad ‘The Red
Barn’. ‘Lusty Smith’ was
presented as an Appalachian folk song with an imported beginning, while ‘Joe Peel’, a song written by Peter Bond,
was the most emotional of the evening with Kathryn responding to an audience
request and supremely executing its delivery.
While Kathryn gracefully moves between flute, clarinet and
piano in addition to her vocals, Sean steadfastly engineers the guitar input in
a less flamboyant style than his younger brother Seth. Kathryn appears to be
the source of the original song writing with Sean keenly adding inter-song
input to substantiate a generally lower key live presence. However acclaimed duos
have an innate chemistry, with Kathryn and Sean adding credence to this notion.
The Sebright Primary School in Cookley has hosted successful
shows in the past and this Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman gig is a worthy
addition to the list. Enchanting, acutely interesting and magical song is the ideal
strapline to add to a show from this duo who will continue to drive the live
appeal of traditional and contemporary folk music well into the foreseeable future.
Innovative venues will also long remain a substantial base to house live
versions of the songs of our land, time, history and people.
www.kathrynrobertsandseanlakeman.com