Sheesham & Lotus & 'Son, Tradfest, Storytelling Centre

I wrote a review of this wonderfully exuberant trio a couple of years ago, and the praise I doled out then has stood the intervening months.  It's a pleasure to see such simplicity on stage with just the one mike, meaning there are hardly any leads, and none of the usual paraphernalia of modern bands like pedal boards and speakers.  Instead there's a surprising range of old time instruments, now including a miniature whisky bottle, and (really) a turkey baster.  Eclectic hardly covers it.

Decent musicians, strong singers and proper entertainers.  They work a crowd well and their deceptively simple arrangements get the feet tapping and the face smiling.  There should be more of such silliness, but behind that facade there is a strong dedication to recreating the American music of the early twentieth century, and nobody does it better.