Frank Fairfield and C.W. Stoneking

Date:  Friday 3rd June 2011

Venue: Union Chapel

All pics by @pmhigham

I love the Union Chapel, but crikey, the pews are uncomfortable.  As the show was sold out, we thought we'd better get there early. As per usual swathes of coats were being used to save seats whilst their owners buggered off to the bar (no alcoholic drinks allowed in the Chapel), but I'm not sure this is really fair so we suffered the seats instead.  The cup of tea in a mug made a nice change from beer anyway...

He plays that fiddle FAST

It was a different crowd than at most of the gigs we go to, with a fair few retro and rockabilly outfits, prom dresses and tattoos.  We saw both Frank Fairfield and C.W. Stoneking at End of the Road last year, and while clearly the crowd were here for the latter I was mainly looking forward to reacquainting myself with the former, more 1890s throwback than '50s throwback.

Mustachioed, tweed-jacketed and softly spoken, when Frank came onto the stage he mused whether or not he was supposed to move closer to the microphone, as though all modern technology was beyond him (despite only being in his twenties). Taking up his fiddle for the first song "Sally Ann", the audience was straight away entranced, with the performance followed by riotous applause and whoops almost of disbelief.  In the nicest possible way, FF is a freak - how he plays the fiddle, banjo and guitar has to be seen to be believed, his voice, music and whole persona acting as a scarily realistic conduit for the lost sounds of old time America.   As several of the songs involved sinning, boozing and the life of the outlaw, Frank joked that he didn't really have any songs which were appropriate to the ecclesiastical setting, though his little lesson on the history of the jig in America at least had some educational benefit.  After his final song, a version of "Rye Whiskey" which segued into a Texas fiddle tune which had the audience stomping along in the pews, Frank wandered off stage carrying all three of his instruments to huge cheers and hollers, and I'd like to think, back to some dusty boxcar somewhere.

C.W. Stoneking is another artist who taps into the songs and stories of old America, specifically Southern blues, though his Australian upbringing and calypso influences give his music less of a purely authentic feel.  He also does a fine line in myth making, wryly humorous semi-fictional jaunts to the African jungle via ventriloquism lessons in New Orleans, amongst other scenarios. A lot of the songs tonight were off his 2008 Jungle Blues record, with "Jungle Lullaby" and "Dodo Blues" particular highlights.  I enjoyed his introduction to "Singing Lion Blues", which told the tall tale of how yodelling reached Africa via a Jimmie Rodgers loving missionary (though the yodelling from the woman behind me was rather less welcome).  Blessed with an incredible singing voice and a beguiling stage persona, C.W. Stoneking is an entertainer in the best tradition.  Musically, his brand of blues is not so much my bag as Frank's folk and fiddle but together they provided a brilliant show, bringing alive old sounds in an enthralling way.