Martin Harley plus Bryony Sier

And so it was the last gig before Christmas… and the Mid Wales Rhythm & Blues Club pulled out all the stops for a real festive treat: return visits by two of our most admired and well-loved performers.

Bryony Sier has played for us several times before, and never fails to delight the audience with her warmth, modesty and charmingly unassuming personality. You could definitely sense the deepening and maturing in her performance over recent years, as she led us through a set of mostly self-penned songs, intelligent and at times confessional in their lyrical range – all delivered with her trademark pitch-perfect voice and deft guitar finger-work.

Among her own compositions, “Crossroads” was wonderfully bluesy, with a suitably remorseful tone, whilst “The Tortoise Not The Hare” and “Bitter Taste” wove complex and sinuous melodies, showcasing the quality and expressiveness of her singing.

Her tributes to Johnny Cash were greatly appreciated by the audience, who naturally shared her admiration for the Man in Black… how could you not?

Although Bryony may like to portray herself in song as “Calamity Jane”, in truth she was most certainly not any kind of a calamity – as the enthusiastic applause of the audience hopefully made very clear.

After a short break it was time to welcome the amazing Martin Harley, returning to the Club after several (too many) years.

It’s hard to do justice to the sheer brilliance of Martin’s guitar work, songwriting and overall musicality. From the very first notes on his resonator guitar he dispelled any thoughts of the cold dark night outside – conjuring up impressions of lazy summer sunshine, for the deeply bluesy and effortlessly rhythmic “Morning Sun” and “Putting Down Roots”. The phrase “warming up the audience” was never more appropriate.

Swapping over then to his trademark Weissenborn lap steel guitar, his skill and stylistic range on that instrument left everybody speechless as he summoned up first an authentic Indian-style introduction to “Cardboard King” followed by the superbly rhythmic and restrained blues of “Trouble”.

As he worked his way through the bluesy resonator fingerpicking of “Lemonade” (his rueful tribute to the mixed joys of sobriety), there were subtle threads of traditional jazz and country music woven into his style. Then, back on the Weissenborn for “Feet don’t fail me now” and Richard Thompson’s “Vincent Black Lightning”, his incredible dexterity left you wondering: how on earth does he manage to summon up such a range of delicate, sweet, powerful and wailing tones?

In Martin’s hands, the Weissenborn surely does have a voice of its own. Never more so than in his epic rendition of “Blues at my window” – by turns mournful, then rising to majestic crescendos, then falling away again to hushed near-silence… this truly was a masterful performance.

Martin’s wry anecdotes about his early life kept the audience entertained between songs, and so the time just flew past. All too soon the evening began to draw to a close. Finishing his main set with the melodic and joyful blues swagger of “Roll with the punches”, an encore was absolutely required and never in any doubt!

His lovely and poignant song “Winter coat” perhaps reminded us all, with a brief shiver, that this was in fact December in Brecon (although it was written about an equally damp Brighton) – but then it was back to Hawaii, or perhaps Texas, for the final number “Cowboys in Hawaii” to send us all home with a warm smile again.

This was a wonderful experience and a truly fitting conclusion to what has been a memorable year for the Club. Many thanks to the the brilliant musicians who have graced our stage, and to everyone who has been involved in organising and hosting our events throughout 2025, especially our amazing hosts at the Muse and Kensington Baptist Church. And, of course, a warm thanks to everyone who has made the effort to turn out and support these great artists. We wish you all a happy and peaceful holiday season and look forward to seeing you all again in 2026!