CHAOS BEFORE PREDICTABILITY

The George Inn: I haven’t been to this pub since I was 18 as part of a failed pub crawl. Now I’m back to see the nimble fingered Jason Steele and Nancy Wallace get their folk on, celebrating the release of his new album Fire Begot Ash.

Two sevenths of the folk collective The Owl Service, Jason and Nancy are both unique and individual talents. Having listened to both extensively, I knew they’d sound great live. I was right (for once).

Before they got started, the singer from Straw Bear Band filled the room with his powerfully idiosyncratic voice in a rendition of The Werewolf. I’d seen videos of this online, but live and acapella, it was (to be blunt) mind-meltingly fucking awesome. It reminded me of the awe I felt seeing Saul Williams break into a spoken word rendition of Coded Language.

After a number of the Owl Service played out, Nancy Wallace took to the floor. Concertina in hand and framed by the enormous fire place, we could have been in a different century. That’s if you ignore all the microphones, projector and modern aluminium fabricated chairs – but we’ll mentally Photoshop them out.

Her voice was truly beautiful. Complemented by haunting guitar work and concertina tunes, it created an unforgettable atmosphere that carried on throughout Jason Steel’s set.

Taking the limelight in-front of a copy of his newly released album (released on label Rif Mountain and available at all good place you’ll find if you Google it), Jason entered into his first track accompanied with a Ukulele. Throughout his set he provided his musically capabilities, switching between guitars, the ukulele and the banjo – upon which he played and finished on my personal favourite, the Lycanthrope Stomp.

Aside from the banjo and a damn good voice, what really draws me to Jason’s music is his exceptional finger-picking. Up there with some of my blues favourites, Skip James and Mississippi John Hurt, his intricate plucking was a pleasure to see first hand.

Give him a Google and hear for yourself and whilst you’re at it, check out Rif Mountain (previously Midwich in some form I believe) as all the bands are worth hearing.