The intimacy of the Barnoldswick venue sees a superbly intimate performance from Liz Jones. Her own acoustic guitar work is complimented by the extremely capable guitar work of of John Bruce.

STRONG VOCALS

Liz may want to distance herself from being purely a blues singer , which can have its stumbling block career wise but there is definitely a blues feel to John Bruce’s immaculate and intricate guitar playing.

The bulk of the set is gleaned from the excellent Double Measure album (reviewed here). The delivery from Liz is powerful and distinctive. Although her voice is strong she wisely employs enough restraint to prevent it being over powering .

She quickly established a warm rapport with the audience whilst John focuses ultimately on his fret board , which he explored to its full with delightful licks and solos.

Her songs may emanate feelgood vibes but they touch on serious issues too like gay rights in Uganda. She called Double Measure as the most depressing song she has ever written. Another pertinent issue of banks meddling negatively with the economy touches many a nerve in Broken Windows. It is this name that inspires the name of her touring band. The more cheery Lethargy follows.

VARIED THEMES

Jones is able to conjure songs from anything, like being locked out of her Edinburgh flat, and a friend who resembles Jesus. These may be highly personal to her but her charm draws in the audience with her amusing anecdotes.

New material is on the way too. Pretty City is one about receiving backhanders in Edinburgh and is further evidence that her current location of Auld Reekie is a rich vein of inspiration for her, despite her Cumbrian and London links. Must be something to do with the whisky!

John’s versatile guitar work stretches to psychedelic tones too in the dreamy Mother Earth. The opportunity to solve personal problems over a bottle of wine inspired the writing of You Can Cry.

There are chuckles too when a ‘wad’ of notes drops on the floor. The proceeds however would soon be eaten by fuel costs for their hectic schedule. At least knowing Liz, it may develop into a tune!

The topics are wide , varied and interesting. Waiting for love you can’t have, is like all the issues she chooses, dealt with sensitively and with passion

TRIBUTES

Although her own eclectic songs dominate the evening, tributes to American blues legend JB Lenoir and John Martyn are also present; the latter with his song Don’t Want To Know About Evil being a topical issue for all. There is some similarity between her and John Martyn in that people wanted to pigeon hole him, but he was enigmatically unique. I hope Liz stays so too.

The evening ends with the bouncy Johnny Knows The Roads written because of John’s local knowledge of getting through Edinburgh, but there was a final surprise with the encore of Jefferson Airplane’s White Rabbit. This is no Grace Slick impersonation though and is delivered in Liz’s own style.

The gentle ambience of Barnoldswick suited Liz and John’s laid back performance tonight but they deserved a larger turn up for their top drawer show.

Liz Jones: Website

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