Otis Gibbs coined the phrase ‘there are only two things that
matter in music, the artist creating it and the listener receiving it;
everything else is an artificial filter’. Well there was no artificial filter
in the Kitchen Garden Café this evening as Phillip Henry and Hannah Martin
created the perfect union between performer and audience. Although this was the
third occasion seeing the duo at the venue, the stars must have been aligned tonight
to surpass the high standards from the previous dates. From a countless array
of instruments, the Devon-based duo worked their way through a couple of sets exemplary
in showcasing the multi talents of Phil and Hannah spanning extraordinary
musicianship and purposeful song writing.
The packed venue was testament to an act devoted to touring
their show and being prepared for many repeat visits to grow an audience. They
possess an incredible knack of leaving an impressive mark on the minds of gig
goers. Specialist industry acclaim has shadowed the duo which has evolved to be
the archetypical hybrid act in folk-Americana circles. From the perspective of
preserving the past through song and Hannah’s pristine vocal style, they have
wooed the British folk community leading them to award winning status. There is
little doubt that musically, one foot is firmly placed in the Appalachia
Americana sound, not only in the prevalence of numerous slide guitars, banjo,
fiddle and extensive creative use of harmonica, but also in the synergy their
music has to the American roots movement.
Although there are many intriguing facets to their act, Phil’s
solo harmonica pieces seem to create an individual aura to themselves. The
breath gasping ‘Underground Railroad’
has become a staple of a Henry and Martin show over the last couple of years
and never fails to impress, even if you feel Phil needs a breather after
evoking the train spirit that helped form 19th Century America. In
the second set, Phil once again commandeered the harmonica to present ‘Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning’. It
was introduced as a tune tried out on a late night student crowd and it didn’t
need much imagination to envisage even that audience mesmerised by the playing.
While on the subject of Phil’s instrumentation, the
unveiling of a 4-in-1 ultra-impressive Indian slide guitar was enough to have
serious pickers drooling. Announced as one tricky in the tuning department, it
was only used for one song and emanated a beautiful string sound, as you would
expect part sitar. Elsewhere Phil majored on a pair of more conventional Dobro’s,
while Hannah was equally as adept flitting between banjo, fiddle and acoustic guitar.
She proudly displayed a brand new guitar acquisition towards the end of the
show and shared an excellent new song titled ‘Albatross’, which was the
immediate result of connecting with this latest addition to the Henry and Martin extensive instrument collection.
Primarily, Phil and Hannah were touring their latest album
WATERSHED which saw the light of day last autumn. The opening track also had
the honour of opening the show and several others were shared with this fixated
Kitchen Garden audience. Phil introduced his personalised contribution to the
album and also sang lead on ‘Yarrow Mill’.
Hannah’s impeccable vocal performance peaked on ‘January’. Amongst the others to feature, ’Tonight’ was hailed as their Glastonbury headline tune, while ‘Taxis’ referred to their perpetual status
as travelling musicians.
Most of the rest of the songs were lifted from 2013’s MYND
including the James Taylor cover ‘Close
Your Eyes’ which is the duo’s usual encore number. ‘Silbury Hill’ opened the second set, which was brought to a close
nearly an hour later with ‘The Nailmakers’
Strike’. Hannah commented that it was extra special to play this song so
close to the origin of the story which was based on a 19th Century
march from Halesowen to Bromsgrove in support of beleaguered workers. Two
further story songs from this album made an appearance during the show with
Hannah informatively explaining the background of ‘Last Broadcast’ and ‘Song for
Caroline Herschel’.
Whether or not the term artificial filter includes those who
relay the content and experience of live music, the sentiment of the quote
existed while sitting barely five paces away from Phillip Henry and Hannah
Martin while they shared the fruits of their craft. Connectivity was without
blemish and for two hours in the Kitchen Garden Café nothing else mattered
while a pair of exceedingly talented artists performed for this attentive
listener.