Kathryn Roberts and
Sean Lakeman at The Hothouse, 9 April 2016
Kathryn and
Sean have been playing music together for many years, going
back to when they were in the band Equation with Sean's brothers Seth
and Sam along with Kate Rusby who made up the final part of the
equation which was based on their initials SL and KR. While the
Lakemans are from Devon, Kathryn, being from Barnsley, is a Yorkshire lass so I got the feeling she was quite at home playing to an appreciative Northern crowd at the Hothouse in Morecambe. Sean talked about their home in West Devon and I got the impression people down there feel the same about London and the south-east as folk do up north.
But before we heard
from them, we were entertained by Lancaster-based band The Low
Countries with songs about Boris Karloff, a Flemish bar and Sun
Street which at previous gigs has included a flash mob joining in
with the chorus. Sadly there was no flash mob in Morecambe though as
their drummer Rob quipped afterwards, maybe they were there, but
they just didn't get up to sing.
Next up we had the
Lighthouse Keepers which was the end result of a project a local
student has been doing which involved taking traditional folk songs
and arranging them to feature an interesting line-up which included
herself on baritone sax. The rest of her band comprised another two
sax players, three fiddlers, a vocalist, guitar, bass and drums the
latter two being members of her family including dad on bass guitar.
This sort of community-based music project is something they are good
at doing at More Music (aka The Hothouse) and it got the approval of
Kathryn Roberts who seemed impressed by their two support acts.
The last time I saw
Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman in Lancashire was at Glasson Dock
village hall the best part of 11 years ago. I did catch them at a
festival two or three years back but you really need to see them in a
small-ish venue to appreciate their songwriting and musical prowess.
As well as playing in Equation, Sean was a part of his brother Seth's
band for a number of years and he really is a very fine guitarist.
I'm not sure what effects he was using but with one of his guitars he
had an impressively full sound with bass notes as well as what he was
doing further up the fretboard. This we discovered was an old guitar
which had new strings on it which he likened to getting new knickers for your
granny. Unlike his more serious brothers, Sean has a great sense of
humour which, along with between-song banter with his wife Kathryn,
made for a relaxing and good-humoured evening.
On a more serious note
Sean told us of the days they spent touring in the USA, especially in
the southern states where the flow of migrants from Mexico seems to
be never-ending. This was in prelude to a cover of a song Bruce
Springsteen wrote about such matters but the majority of the set was
their own material. They played several songs from their most recent
album “Tomorrow Will Follow Today” including the lovely track '52
Hertz' which tells the sad tale of a whale which scientists have
discovered sings at the wrong frequency so never gets any replies
from potential mates. Other highlights included 'The Banishing Book'
and 'The Red Barn'.
They are now midway
through their spring tour and play a sold-out gig in Shrewsbury
tonight. On current form I'd say they deserve many more sell out
shows so do go see them if you get the chance. Check out their web
site for upcoming dates -
http://www.kathrynrobertsandseanlakeman.com/
Colin Bertram
10 April 2016
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