Luke Jackson has become a regular visitor to the Kitchen Garden to the extent of two shows at the venue since the end of lockdown. Therefore it was no surprise to choose the venue to host one of the handful of shows he is playing with Canadian artist Julie Aube. The pair met and played some shows in her native Canada a while back, so it was only polite to offer some reciprocal hospitality for her first visit to the UK.
The evening played out to be a couple of stand alone solo sets plus the obligatory duets to show that the artists possessed some synergy. Those duets came in the second set hosted by Luke. First up, Julie added vocals to a version of John Prine's 'Speed of the Sound of Loneliness' and then the encore consisted of the pair sharing guitars and voices on the much covered and loved 'Handbags and Gladrags'.
The first thing we learned about Julie Aube from the Maritime provinces on Canada's east coast was that she almost entirely sings in her local French dialect. This is known as Acadian French and apparently quite different to that spoke by the vast majority in neighbouring Quebec. Considering she commandeered the floor for just forty-five minutes, the wares of a confident performer freely flowed and an breeze of fine music breaking down barriers filled the air, especially when a little bit of imagination was applied.
Luke Jackson used his time in the spotlight to deliver what he does best. Namely applying his powerful vocals and nifty guitar skills to an array of supremely spun songs starting at the core of folk before sprouting in all directions of the broad singer-songwriter brush. The nature of this show limited the usual exposure, but with no new music to bring to the party, it was a brief insight into the world of Luke Jackson packaged with the intricacies and fine Canadian folk of his guest.
Overall the quaintness and slightly quirky offering of this pop-up collaboration provided a fresh slant on the local roots scene. We all know and love the music of Luke Jackson. The first ten years of his career has flown by, but we know there will be many more to come. If the acquaintance with Julie Aube is to be short and sweet, we were left with a friendly mark and a more knowledgable insight into her musical culture.
