A young four piece Edinburgh band who describe their music as 'old time Americana a bit mashed up'. Their source material is largely from the back catalogue of US folk music, with some self penned tunes and a bit of Hank Williams, filtered through their own influences and tastes to arrive at their own unique arrangements. Fiddle, flute, banjo, guitars and double bass provide the music, with all four contributing to the vocals, and I've no complaints to make about their abilities. All four show considerable talent and the primary lead singer has a wonderful voice.
As a live act, there's still something missing. The first half set was pleasant enough, but lacked any real excitement. It all felt a bit one-paced, some tunes went on longer than seemed ideal, and the introductions were laboured and lacked confidence. The high spot came when they brought up an older musician to the stage to add a bit of Dobro to the sound.
And if I'd left during the interval that would have been my review. But this turned out to be something of a Jekyll and Hyde evening. There was an irony during the interval when over the speakers came Dallahan, the band I'd been to see the previous evening and noted purveyors of high energy performances. Maybe some of that energy transferred itself to Wayward Jane....
The second half felt like it came from a different gig. Some traditional tunes from this side of the Atlantic brought some life into the proceedings, followed by some singalongs and a better mix of tempos. The intros remained shambolic, and needed an injection of personality, but suddenly the event moved beyond 'pleasant' and became genuinely enjoyable. When they manage to spread that enjoyment across a whole gig they'll be a good band to watch.
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