It's what girl power was supposed to be

Off to Bishopston once again. This time to check out the recent media hullabaloo that has enveloped Uncle Earl. A bunch of girls (gEarls they would have you believe) who have been taking the bluegrass scene and shaking it by the scruff of its neck. Except according to them it’s not bluegrass, it’s old time or string band. They also throw in gospel, folk, blues, yodelling and clogging to make a deeply lovable brew.
We arrived slightly late – apologies to the support act – to find the joint was sold out – which means full. St Bonaventure’s has a sufficiently low stage and cramped space that when you get a crowd in they are pretty much eyeball to eyeball with the band and it looks more like the stand-off just before a massive brawl kicks off. This was happily resolved by the first few rows sitting on the floor and so bringing a bit of harmony to the proceedings. But maybe the band still felt threatened as whenever they went into an instrumental break – I don’t know that you’d call it jamming – they huddled even closer together. And the stage isn’t big in the first place.
There’s five of them covering fiddle, banjo, double bass, guitar, mandolin and possibly some other odds and ends in there as well. So you can see where the string band idea comes from. Probably in terms of technique they may be on the ragged side (this I hold to be a good thing) but their enthusiasm and love of the music is what matters and they have that by the bucket-load. If you thought Be Good Tanyas were loose then this lot move it closer to unhinged. They also all seem to have their own solo careers and so can switch from background to lead instrument/ singer with ease and a well-honed dexterity. Their inter song repartee involves conversations with each other and the audience as they work out what they’re doing next and what they’ve been doing whilst in the UK. They also kept apologising for the heat (on a typical freezing Bristol night) and the windows had to be opened wide to try to get some air in – hopefully the locals appreciated their free show.
This was the last night of their brief tour and they seemed to have had a great time. They were particularly excited by the prospect of their interval band which comprised their sound man and someone’s son on banjo and guitar and spent much time setting it up. A strained whisper ran round the crowd when they were joined by a rather older third man with his trusty mandolin. Yes it was John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin getting used to a smaller stage prior to his O2 reunion with his more famous chums but he fitted in a treat here. It’s the first time I have seen a band acting as roadie for their roadies and taking photos for their souvenir album but on this evidence maybe more of them should try it. So the second half was, essentially, riotous, with much hollering and joining in from the audience – yodelling too, fine singing and playing from the girls – including the song that Kristin Andreassen entered into a children’s competition (legitimately – she was a child at the time) featuring her acapella other than with Rayna Gellert on schoolkid’s clapping game. And it was really good!All in all a fabulous evening that could have gone on longer – I blame the neighbours – so no time for the hoedown in Mandarin. When they come back – as indeed they must – then go and see them. But if you’re thinking about joining in on the clog dancing then make sure you can take an extended shot at it – the lady from the audience here seemed to have anticipated a shorter encore and was the only one who wanted it to end.