It was a cold, blustery, rainy January night in Brecon, but the faithful and intrepid folk who ventured out to the Kensington Baptist Church were rewarded with a warm welcome, and a fine evening’s entertainment. A joint venture between the MWR&BC and our friends from Brecon Folk & More Club, the evening brought together some of the best of both musical worlds.
Hermione Wild has impressed and enthralled us here in Brecon before, so it was a pleasure to welcome her back, this time with the accomplished musician Liam Millinship on guitar and vocals, performing as Hermione Wild and the Sweet Bones.
Hermione really does have a remarkably lovely singing voice: clear as a bell and richly steeped in the nuances and subtle inflections of traditional music. On first impression her style was a little evocative of Kate Rusby, but then as a Celtic lilt crept in during ‘Ar Lan y Môr‘, you were reminded more perhaps of Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh or Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill. She has certainly honed her craft from some of the finest traditional singers… that comes across clearly.
Liam’s delicate and subtle guitar accompaniment really gave Hermione’s voice room to shine. He said that it wasn’t easy to depart from a fixed rhythm, to follow the flow of a lyrical ballad – but he made it sound effortless.
It was great to hear Hermione playing fiddle (perhaps for the first time in Brecon?) and this plus the drones of the Shruti Box resulted in a rich, full sound, infused with great energy and emotion. As a duo, Liam and Hermione work together extremely well – the authenticity and enjoyment in their musical arrangements and performance really shines through. Perhaps the most moving moments of their set were their self-penned songs ‘Let Go Gently‘ and ‘Love Alone‘… both poignant songs performed beautifully.
After a short break, it was time to welcome Raphael Callaghan for his first visit to the Club.
You couldn’t help but wonder whether Raphael had perhaps adapted his set-list to the torrential weather outside, as he kicked off with the bluesy lamentation: ‘Too Much Rain, Too Much Water‘ – accompanying himself with some ominously wailing harmonica.
But there is a gentleness, humanity and warmth to Raphael’s singing that soon dispelled any worries about the outside world, as he led us through an eclectic set of self-penned songs and adopted numbers from some of the old-time blues greats.
His own songs are sincere, thoughtful, and draw authentically upon his lifetime of influences from Seaforth, Liverpool, and now as an adopted Welshman. ‘Living Blues‘, ‘Run Through Sand‘ and ‘Love On Furlough‘ were particularly evocative and expressive.
He moved on into some old-time blues classics, with wonderful versions of ‘Kokomo blues‘, Skip James’ ‘Special Rider Blues‘, and Charley Patton’s ‘Poor Me‘ that showcased both the delicacy of Raphael’s ‘finger and bottleneck’ guitar style, and also his fine singing voice.
Raphael is about as far from the traditional stereotype of a gruff gravel-voiced blues-man as you can get. Quite the reverse, he sings with a personal warmth and gentle authenticity, often lifting his voice up into the higher registers to tease out more delicate melodies from the songs. The overall effect is wonderfully relaxing and engaging.
Perhaps the most memorable moment, towards the end of the set, he managed to get the entire audience singing along Gospel-style to Blind Joe Taggart’s ‘The Storm Is Passing Over‘. In the setting of the Kensington Baptist Church, with the rain lashing down outside, this really was a magical moment, as the audience transformed itself into a congregation, singing ‘Hallelujah!’ in unison.
And, miraculously, as this uplifting gig drew to a close and we grabbed our coats, we found the torrential rain outside had indeed abated. So perhaps we can give Raphael credit for allowing us a dry walk back home – it would be nice to think so. Anyway, the audience really warmed to him, and we hope to see him back in Brecon again soon.
Many thanks to all three musicians for this excellent evening, to all at the Kensington Baptist Church for the use of their splendid room, and to everyone who turned out to support live music.
And… a very Happy 12th Birthday to the Mid Wales Rhythm & Blues Club: 12 years and counting…
See you for the next one!
Hermione Wild and The Sweet Bones
Photos by Barry Hill
Review by Jim Kerslake
