The Red Herrings, Feral Mouth and Chad Mason

This was the second of the Acoustic & Eclectic Christmas Party nights and it promised to be full of festive fun.  All of the acts deserved to be of equal billing as they each brought their own particular brand of musical expertise to the party.  Unfortunately the PA at Olives had packed up prior to our arrival but this did not deter any of the performers as they seemed more than happy to play fully acoustic sets and were strong enough to carry this off (no mean feat).

Chad Mason started off the proceedings.  Chad has his own inimitable style, part songwriter/part comedian.  He entertained us with his laid back ad-libbing between his self-penned songs.  To finish off his set he also did a couple of cover versions of Christmas songs.  The first of these was "I believe in Father Christmas" (originally recorded by Greg Lake as his only solo release outside of his work with the band Emerson Lake & Palmer) during which he was able to muster audience participation and looked like a truly professional player, plucking away at his appalachian dulcimer as if he had been playing this for years (again, no mean feat as Chad told me afterwards this is a very difficult instrument to play due to the arrangement of the frets).  The second festive offering was "The Frog Chorus", a comedic choice maybe, but again Chad managed to pull it off...

Next up were the eagerly awaited Feral Mouth, who in my view are becoming serious contenders for one of the best up and coming acoustic bands in Norwich at the moment.  Their enthusiasm is infectious and their musical maturity defies their years.  I have seen these guys a few times now, and they just get better and better.   Their blend of country/bluegrass/folk-based tunes cannot fail to win you over (unless you are dead) and the authenticity with which they play would again have you believing that these chaps hail from the deep South of America, rather than Norfolk!   They kicked things off with "By the Grace of Ghengis" (one of their own songs, inspired by a pet cat) and they also did a couple of cover versions, the Rolling Stones' "Dead Flowers" and "Nothin" (Townes Van Zandt cover).    They also performed a couple of rousing instrumentals, "Dinalla" and "No. 62", both conjuring up images of a mean cowboy riding into town looking for trouble - on "Dinalla" his horse is casually trotting around whilst he is carefully surveying the lie of the land; on "No. 62" he is fleeing the scene after causing chaos and his trusty horse breaks into a canter.   Now I've set the scene for you, should you get the chance to see them if they are playing near you, I would not let it slip through your hands.

Last but by no means least the Red Herrings took to the stage and led us through their amazing set of traditional folk tunes.   Their repertoire was vast and spanned Quebeccoise tunes ("Hommage a Edmund Parizeau" and "Pointe-au-Pic"), a tune composed by Scottish fiddler James Hill ("The Steamboat") and also there was an American contribution ("City of Savannah" composed by Frank Livingston).   But their versatility didn't end there: they performed Cajun tunes, one of which was "Heaven's Gate Waltz" (from the soundtrack of the film "Heaven's Gate"), a Texan Waltz called "Westphalia Waltz" on which Suzie Hanna dexterously played the musical saw (and still had fingers left intact after the experience!), "Freilac" an emotive Klezmer tune which is also one of my personal faves, and of course some Irish "sounding" tunes (to complete the traditional folk representation) including "Caliope House" (also covered by The Waterboys, one of my all time favourite bands) and a beautiful traditional truly Irish song called "As I Roved Out" on which Bob Hanna delivered a wonderful solo performance.  The band appeared to be really enjoying performing in this intimate but lively environment, especially Suzie Hanna and Lucy Ellis who were both up on their feet and very animated whilst playing their fiddles.  The Red Herrings regularly play live sessions at The Black Horse, Earlham Road, Norwich, on the second and fourth Mondays each month - catch them there if you can!

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Author: Dorraine Bennett                           ©2010 Dors Productions