Review by Tim Marcus with photos from Sam Conquest Photography
Today is our first experience of Bournefest and first off I must say what a wonderful setting it is for this great little festival. Set inside a 500 capacity indoor community space just on the edge of Sittingbourne Town Centre with various rooms, bars and a restaurant attached to the side of the main hall, it’s the perfect setting for such an event to be put on by Mark Matthews and his team at The Bourne Music Club who also use the venue to host their regular events, which like Bournefest today, focuses primarily on the Blues music scene covering the best upcoming artists from both sides of the Atlantic as well as the occasional legend.
Kicking things off today is an artist who, until the start of 2024 was new to us, Thomas Heppell and his band. I’m not sure why we’d not come across Thomas before this year however this has since been rectified and today will be the fifth time we’ve seen him performing since January either as a solo artist or with his full band and today it’s the latter.
The first thing of note to mention about the music today is the quality of the sound production however that should really come as no surprise when you learn that that area of responsibility today falls to Simon Taylor of EQ Audio. It’s spot on and remains that way throughout the entire day and evening, as is also the case with the audience assembled here today who show great respect for all the artists, remaining impeccably silent throughout their performances without needing to be told, other than of course showing great appreciation at the appropriate moments.
Thomas’s performances with his band are a very different kettle of fish from seeing him perform solo however many of the songs are familiar albeit with greater edge and energy. He’s a great guitarist who appears equally comfortable playing a full electric guitar, using a slide or simply playing acoustic. Amongst the songs we hear from Thomas and his band this afternoon are; “Hey Victoria”, a song that was aired by the BBC, a wonderful cover of the Alman Brothers’ “Stayesboro Blues”, a fairly newish song “See Me Bleed”, “Good Ol’ Doney” and a song aired on Planet Rock no less, “Underdog” and finishes with “Shake Your Money Maker”.
It’s been a great start to the day and already the combination of the organisation, set up, space, facilities, the general ambience of the
place and music we’ve heard so far, make this my favourite indoor festival!
Next up are a Bristol based band, True Strays, fronted by lifelong friends James Cameron and Joe James (they met at Primary school when they were both about five years old). We saw them for the first time, performing as a duo, when they appeared at one of the early benefit shows put on to support Matt Long. Today however they’re a full band and have the support of a drummer as well as award winning keyboard and organ player, Stevie Watts.
What we get from True Strays this afternoon is sixty minutes of magic. Those who know me will know that I’m usually reluctant to label bands by genre however even if I wanted to I think that that would be very difficult with True Strays. It’s a little bit rocky, it’s a little bit bluesy, it’s even a little bit country and probably sits somewhere within the middle of that part of the Venn diagram labeled “Americana”. That said they kick things off with a “heavy” sounding start as the opening notes to Deep Purple’s “Space Truckin’” blare out from the speakers before leading us into the opening song of the set.
From there on in though things become a little more melodic and generally stay that way throughout the set, which aside from the music also includes some great vocal harmonies from James and Joe, some of which (and yes I’m showing my age here!) have me in mind of Phil and Don Everley who also liked to bring a bit of country to their blues, or was it blues to their country? It’s been a great set which appears to have been thoroughly enjoyed by the rapidly increasing audience, who once again remained silent throughout the duration of the set.
Next to entertain us is a young man I first got to see and hear just over six years ago when he was just 21 years old, opening up proceedings on the Blues stage at the Ramblin’ Man Fair that year. Already by then he was being touted as the next Eric Clapton and hearing him sing and play that day it wasn’t difficult to understand why. His talents were quickly recognised and within 18 months of that appearance at the Kent based festival he was on the stage of Wembley Stadium opening for The Who
. There are many great blues singer guitarists out there right now, including the likes of old Slow Hand himself, Albert Cummings (who we’re going to be seeing later this evening), Walter Trout and the player who’s probably currently the man of the moment, Joe Bonamassa but believe me, Connor Selby is right up there with them and is one of the very best. He’s accompanied on the stage tonight by a three piece band, made up of drummer, bass player and the much in demand Stevie Watts, playing keys and organ for the second consecutive set today.
As always with Connor, the tone of his guitar playing and his vocal is spot on. To steal a coaching analogy, a good sound man can’t make a bad musician sound good but he can make a great musician sound even better and that’s certainly the case this afternoon in terms of the sharpness, clarity and mellowness (is that even a word?) of every note we hear him play and sing. Amongst the songs we hear from Connor today during his sixty minute slot are a couple of newish tracks, “All Out of Luck” and “The Truth Comes Out Eventually” both of which are due to appear on his forthcoming new album. We also hear “The Deep End”, another new song “I’ll Never Learn” and a slightly slower ballad, “What Else is there to Say” before he finishes his set with “That’s Alright” and “Emily”.
I can’t believe how fast the day’s flying by. Somehow it’s got to 5:30pm already and we’re halfway through the bill; a sign I have no doubt, of what a wonderful day it’s been so far and with so much more still to come!
Next up it’s the turn of McHale’s Permanent Brew, whom with the greatest respect, within the traditional blues circuit, are probably the least well known of the artists appearing here today and are certainly a side step away from the traditional type of blues that’s come our way during the first part of the day. That said, I’m pleased to see that I’m not the only one in the room sporting a “Brew” t-shirt and I’m aware that there are several people here who’ve been drawn to this event today simply because McHale’s Permanent Brew are here, making a rare excursion down South from where they’re based in the North West of England, just outside of Wigan.
And although most of their activity is confined to areas north of Watford they’re no strangers to this particular venue having played here on two previous occasions, including last year’s Bournefest so they may not be quite the unknown quantity that they first appear.
McHale’s Permanent Brew are playing as a four piece today, comprising Frank McHale (lead guitar), Paul McHale (vocals and acoustic guitar), Stephen Houghton (bass) and Chris Orrell (drums). Unfortunately keyboard player Simon Lomax is unable to make it down south today due to work commitments however, although disappointing, I’m confident that this won’t detract in any way from the quality of what we’re about to hear. The band have two albums to their credit now, their self titled debut album from 2021 and “Lessons From The Darkest Storms” which was released at the back end of last year and simply picks up where the first album left off, with absolutely no drop off in the quality of what we hear. It’s these two albums which naturally form the basis of their set for this evening.
I first saw McHale’s Permanent Brew when they opened up the main stage at HRH Blues back in 2022, which coincidentally I think is where Mark Matthews, the organiser of today’s event also first saw them too. Whilst what we’ve heard today so far has been subtle variations on traditional blues, what we get from McHale’s Permanent Brew is a little different. Yes it’s blues based but rather than that traditional sound we’ve been hearing, some tinged with rock, some tinged with country, what we get from these four lads seems to combine all the elements, the blues, the classic rock, the prog rock, a little bit of psychedelia, even jazz. They come across to me at times like a modern, British take on The Doors.
Fronting the line up and taking on most of the lead vocal duties whilst also playing acoustic guitar, is the younger of the two brothers in the band, Paul McHale. He has a husky, gravelly quality to his vocal performance which blends just beautifully with the overall sound being produced however he still sings with great control, allowing you to feel every sense of emotion with him as he tells his stories through the music. Fittingly, two or three songs in, with more than a lump in his throat, Paul tells us that they’re dedicating their entire set today to the memory of Matt Long who so sadly lost his battle with cancer earlier this month at the age of just 29.
(Matt gave his penultimate live public performance when he jammed with McHale’s Permanent Brew at a festival in Leeds back in March when he turned up to the show put on to commemorate the life of another member of the music community taken from us far too soon. On that day it was clear to see that these boys were just so thrilled to be sharing the stage with him and it’s clear today that that memory remains with them). Complimenting Paul’s husky vocal there’s wonderful guitar playing from older brother Frank too, as he produces all sorts of sounds with his six strings and metal slide, ranging from blues rock to psychedelic prog.
The riffs are heavy and driving, yet they still have an overriding melodic sound. All of this held together by the solid low notes of Stephen on bass and drumming of Chris who combine to make up a wonderful rhythm section. As always, the band are on fire tonight and for me Frank’s playing is outstanding. Their sixty minutes is soon over as they wind things up with their own take on “All Along The Watchtower” before concluding with my favourite track from their second album, “Cracks”. A thoroughly enjoyable performance from these boys tonight which I’m sure will have earned them more than a few extra fans and followers.
We’re now down to the final two acts of the festival, both of whom have made the trip from across the Atlantic, and both of whom I’m seeing for the first time.
The first of those is Alastair Greene who’s playing today as part of a three piece, along with a bass player and drummer. Californian Greene is a blues rock guitarist who aside from having his own solo career has guested and played with the likes of Walter Trout, Coco Montoya, Savoy Brown, John Nemeth and Sugaray Rayford. All seems to be going well with the pre-set sound check until just before he’s about to start and suddenly Alistair has a problem with his amp.
There’s a short delay of just under fifteen minutes and a lot of running around on and off stage before the problem is finally resolved with the loan of an amp and pedal board from Frank McHale and we get underway with a promise from Alastair to keep the chat to a minimum so that they can play as much of their planned set as possible.
It’s a set of traditional blues rock which has me in mind of Rory Gallagher’s style of play. Clearly I’m not far wrong as towards the end of the set we’re treated to a Rory cover in the shape of “Bullfrog Blues”. Of the other songs we hear from Alastair tonight my two favourites were, “Standing Out Loud”, the title track of his latest album, and “Red Wine Woman”. Despite the initial problems it’s been an enjoyable listen and playing with much haste, Alastair has even managed to complete his set with five minutes to spare despite the delayed start!
And so after a wonderful day’s entertainment we’re down to the final and headline act of the Festival, from Massachusetts in the U.S., blues guitarist Albert Cummings. Playing with him tonight are a wonderful three piece band made up of Vannie ‘J. Keeyz’ Williamson on keyboards, Warren Grant on drums (or as Albert introduced him, “on smiles and occasionally playing drums!”) and Orlando Wright (Buddy Guy band) on bass.
They open up with “500 times” and from the very start of the set, the whole band are simply oozing charm, class and quality. “Too Old To Grow Up” quickly follows. “Looking Up” is next before Albert slows the pace down a little with the beautiful traditional blues number “Goin’ Down Slow”. We also hear a song Albert tells us he wrote about his father, “Hard Way” before launching into one of my favourite songs from the set, “Emmylou”. He then slows things down once again with “I Remember” before giving us a great cover of “Why Don’t We Do It in The Road?” which concludes with a great bass solo from Orlando and some wonderful complimentary keyboard work from Vannie. We hear another great cover and this time it’s Willie Dixon’s “I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man”. I’m sure we also had a cover of Van Morrison’s “Crazy Love” during the course of the set however exactly where that came in I’m not sure, so absorbed was I by what was going on! The set concludes with “Lonely Bed” and another of my favourites, “The Blues Makes Me Feel so Good”.
As Albert and his band finally leave the stage after giving a well deserved encore (which I think was “Make Up Your Mind”) I’m left wondering why I’ve never seen him performing live before given that he’s been performing in his present guise for the past 25 years. I for one hope he’s back in the UK soon as for me, like Connor Selby, he’s right up there with the top blues guitarists currently making music and performing and given just how good he is, I’m somewhat puzzled as to why he isn’t playing and filling the major music venues around the world, playing to audiences that can be counted in the thousands rather than hundreds. That said, I’d much rather see such talent up close and personal than from the back of a soulless arena.
And with those thoughts still floating around in my head we set off home to London, still buzzing all the way and talking about what a wonderful day this has been from beginning to end. Heartfelt congratulations go out to Mark Matthews and his team in Sittingbourne as well as all the staff at the Appleyard for putting on such a wonderful event. This may have been our first visit to Bournefest however it certainly won’t be our last and already we’re looking forward to a return to this particular venue in a few weeks time to take in the wonderful Robert Jon & The Wreck.
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