Birmingham Americana hotshots The Lost Notes prove that There’s No Place Like Home as they drive a sell-out crowd into raptures at the city’s prestigious Symphony Hall.

THE LOST NOTES

Over the years, The Lost Notes have built a great relationship with B:Music, the operators of the Symphony Hall, the jewel in Birmingham’s crown of music venues. The relationship started when the embryonic band would get up to perform at the regular Nashville Sounds in the Round sessions, held in the Jennifer Blackwell Performance Space at the hall and hosted by the band’s great friends, the Americana duo Gasoline & Matches. And, tonight, The Lost Notes made that same performance space their very own as they drove a sell-out crowd into ecstasies of cheering, clapping, whooping and singing – all in honour of their splendid recent album, Good Luck Shoes.

Let’s pause for a brief recap: the lost Notes hail from the Moseley area of Birmingham and they’ve built a loyal – and very vocal – fanbase across the Midlands and beyond through their vibrant performances in folk clubs and at festivals. They stretch the borders of the genre we know as Americana beyond all pre-conceived limits with their imaginatively-written songs, their consummate musicianship and, perhaps best of all, their sumptuous three-part vocal harmonies – harmonies that I’ve already suggested would make even a Beach Boy sit up and take notice.

THE LINE UP

At the Symphony Hall tonight, the band’s lineup was: Ben Mills (vocals, guitar, harmonica, trumpet and keyboards), Oli Jobes (vocals and lead guitar), Lucy Mills (vocals and ukulele), Pete Churchill (bass and accordion – standing in for the otherwise-disposed Steve Vantsis) and Max Tomlinson (drums and percussion).  Ben and OIi are the band’s main songwriters – between them, they wrote every song on Good Luck Shoes.  Oli is a folkie at heart, whilst Ben’s tastes lean more towards jazz and the pair’s tastes are reflected very much in the band’s musical styles. They’re a warm, friendly bunch of people and they were so clearly thrilled to have attracted such a large and willingly participative audience to this showpiece performance.

RUBEN MILLS – A BRUMMIE ELTON JOHN?

But, before things swung fully into gear, we were introduced to another member of the Mills dynasty – a young up-and-coming singer-songwriter called Ruben, Ben’s son. Ben struggled to hold back his tears of pride as Ruben sat at the hall’s magnificent piano to delight the audience with his song, Misfit, leaving me with the distinct impression that I’d just seen the first green shoots of a Brummie Elton John making their appearance.

A CELEBRATION

Tonight was a celebration of Good Luck Shoes and, following Ruben’s well-received cameo, The Lost Notes got straight down to the business of performing the album in its entirety. From the outset, it’s clear that the band’s front three – Lucy, Ben and Oli – have a majestic stage presence and those shiver-inducing harmonies were on display from the first bars of Don’t Try It On Me, the album’s opening track. The joy that the band were experiencing spilled over into the audience as the room came alive for Run Like a River – we clapped along and whooped on cue – before the pace was slowed, just slightly, for the sleek God Loves a Sinner. Pete played a wonderful clunky bassline on his hand-decorated double bass and the vocal harmonies soared heavenwards.

A WELL-GROOMED AUDIENCE

The Lost Notes audience is well-groomed in participation and we sang along lustily – and tunefully, I might add… – when we were urged to “Sing like it’s Friday night” to the “La la la” chorus of Let It Rain, a delightful country waltz that demands to be swayed along to. Ben was clearly impressed – he dubbed us “The Lost Notes Choir!” But, before any of us were tempted to get carried away by such praise, we were given a salutary lesson in the art of singing as Lucy stepped forward to deliver Mine is the Heart, a true high-point of the entire evening.

It was apparent to me that the song has already become an established favourite of many of those in the audience, and with very good reason. Close your eyes – like I did – and it’s Karen Carpenter up there on the stage, Ben contributes some stunning harmonies on the song’s “Mine is the heart that you keep breaking” chorus, Pete bows his bass to great effect and Oli rounds the whole thing off with an amazing guitar solo. What a song! What a delivery!

TEXAS AND ARIZONA COME TO BIRMINGHAM

The fate of the gospel-flavoured I’ll Be The River was, apparently, rescued when drummer Max came up with the intro that salvaged the song’s place on Good Luck Shoes. Once again, the vocal harmonies were unbelievable as they paved the way for a lively country shuffle that brought the blue skies and open spaces of Texas or Arizona into a Birmingham theatre on a damp Tuesday evening in February. We, the audience, were allowed the luxury of a run-through before we were required to add our voices to the chorus of the rousing, sentimental, No Place Like Home, and I’m sure that Ben relished the opportunity to urge our participation by calling out “C’mon, B:Music!”

Lost Notes mentors, the aforementioned Gasoline & Matches were present in the audience and Ben dedicated the bluesy Whiskey For Breakfast to the duo. Ben played some gloriously weepy lines on his harmonica between the song’s verses and the passion that the whole band invested in the song was there for all to see. They truly nailed it.

Had studio time – and producer’s patience – been in unlimited supply, Good Luck Shoes would have been an 11-track album, but they weren’t, so we’ve had to settle for the mere 10 tracks. And that’s a shame, because there’s no doubt that the splendid Head Over Heels would have made an already great album even better, with its “Can’t help falling, head over heels” singalong refrain. Not to worry, though – Ben assures us that the song has already booked its place on album #4. On the evidence of tonight’s rendition, that will be a song – and an album – worth waiting for.

JUST LIKE VAN MORRISON

The “Sha-la-la” chorus to Slow Down, Ben’s lockdown-inspired number that dispenses the wise advice to ignore outside pressures and devote attention to where its truly needed – our families – still reminds me of Van Morrison, and the audience loved it, before Ben picked up his trumpet – and Lucy her ukulele – to close the first half of the show with the jaunty, jazzy, Wildman. They put heart and soul into it, and the song rocked along in a lovely 1930s kind of way.

And, if all that wasn’t a reminder of what a fantastic album Good Luck Shoes is, then I don’t know what is! The celebration of the album certainly spurred a good proportion of the audience to visit the merch stand and buy a copy… “Thank you very much those who did,” said Ben, “…And thank you a little bit less, those who didn’t…”

PART TWO…

If Part One of the show was dedicated to Good Luck Shoes, then Part Two was given over to the band’s familiar “hits” from the two earlier albums, Lowlifes & High Times (2020) and Run Free Right Now (2017). A nice passage of fingerpicked acoustic guitar from Oli and a burst of those heavenly harmonies provided the intro to the rollicking, thumping, Holding On, before Ben moved to the piano and Lucy took the lead vocal for jazzy, Cuban-tinged Done With the Waiting. Oli’s flamenco guitar intro earned him a special round of applause and Lucy channeled Cleo Laine with yet another astounding vocal delivery.

Both songs were taken from the Lowlifes… album and we stayed there for Fool Once Told Me, a delightful smoochy waltz which featured Pete on accordion, Ben on bass and Oli on lead vocals. Ben’s basslines might be considered “fundamental,” but they were fully functional and, importantly, he still managed to nail the vocal harmonies whilst he played them and, to the delight of the band, a few brave couples who were able to find the floor space managed to get up to waltz.

A STIRRING DRUM SOLO AND THE SONG OF THE EVENING?

Max took his turn in the spotlight for the gritty I Got Time, a song that Ben dedicated to “Blokes who consider laziness to be an attribute.” Max provided a shuffling Do Diddley rhythm as Lucy delivered a nice ‘n’ sleazy Western Swing vocal and Ben nearly emulated Jerry Lee Lewis as he got right inside his piano part – but the biggest audience reaction was reserved for Max as he launched into his stirring drum solo.

I had already started to wonder whether Lucy is underused as a frontwoman before I had that suspicion well-and-truly confirmed by her performance of Heartache an excellent new song from her own pen. This time, it was the spirit of Billie Holiday that she inhabited as she delivered what was, quite possibly, the song of the evening.

As well as playing some pretty impressive bass, Pete Churchill is also the director of the Birmingham arm of The Choir With No Name, an organisation dedicated to Building joyful singing communities with people impacted by homelessness and marginalisation, around the UK. Members of the choir joined the band onstage and the room was transformed into an ecstatic gospel chapel as the audience stood to sway and clap along to the vibrant Take My Hand. It was loud, it was raucous and Oli’s guitar solo still managed to stand out, even amongst all that revelry. And the audience stayed on its feet to continue clapping and stamping along to Green Grass, the song that opened the Lost Notes’ Run Free Right Now debut album. Never mind the age demographic (it was pretty senior…) – the room was jumping.

WE’LL BE RUNNING FREE

Ben and Oli had a slight conflict regarding the correct key for the lovely Pieces of a Star – a conflict that only they seemed to notice and which was quickly and easily resolved. Ben dedicated the song to his daughter, currently traveling in Bolivia, and a wave of acquiescence signified that were many within the audience who empathised with his sentiment.

It was almost, but not quite, time for home. “People coming out to live music on a damp, cold, Tuesday evening is what it’s all about,” said Ben, before the band launched into set-closer Run Free, a song that exemplifies the Lost Notes’ mission as well as any other: a full-bore chorus, a few contemplative bits and the signature three-part harmonies – they were all there and the whole room – no exceptions – sang blissfully along. “We’ll be running free,” we sang and, for a few magical moments, that’s exactly what we were doing.

SOMETHING MARVELOUS TO BEHOLD

As always, the end wasn’t really the end – there was time for just one more, the furiously-paced shuffle and bona-fide crowd-pleaser, Stone in My Shoe. Dedicated to those in the audience who had “…been with their partner for over 30 years,” (most of us, it seemed…) it had us all on our feet, and those who could find the floor space even managed a bit of a dance!

A live show by The Lost Notes is something marvelous to behold. The band’s enjoyment of, and engagement in, what they’re doing is detectable in their every note, their every tone, their every beat, their every lyric. Some bands have the ability to take hold of a room, turn it upside-down and inside-out and send everyone on their way feeling revitalised and elated. The Lost Notes have that ability – if they’re playing near you anytime, don’t miss them!

And The Lost Notes are currently on the road, so that opportunity for an evening of utter exhilaration may be closer than you think. We saw the whole band at the Symphony Hall – often Ben, Lucy and Oli perform as a trio but, whatever the line-up, a great evening is guaranteed.

Watch the three-piece line up of The Lost Notes perform Pieces Of A Star, one of the songs featured in their Symphony Hall set, below. You can check out all of The Lost Notes forthcoming shows here.

The Lost Notes: Official Website / Facebook / Instagram / YouTube / Bandcamp

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