The past two years have taken their toll on most of us. For musicians, it has meant no touring and severe curtailment of their ability to collaborate with fellow musicians. Hopefully, the situation is now getting better and delayed projects can get underway again. For Martin Harley, Daniel Kimbro and Sam Lewis, this means that their planned album ‘Harley Kimbro Lewis’ (reviewed here) finally made it to release, and they are touring the album.
You may have read how much I enjoy this album – Harley Kimbro Lewis – so I did not pass up the opportunity to see them. Their songs are quirky, their music a broad spectrum of Americana, and their words full of social observation, often coated with wry humour. Of course, you can get all that off the record, but the live performance is so much better. Here the character of each performer comes to the fore; which singer is singing, which song falls into place, and watching them, their facial expressions and general demeanour add so much to the performance.
Martin and Daniel often perform together as a duo doing bluesy stuff, an example of which we were treated to in the encore slot. Martin is a dab hand on the slide guitar of any style, and Daniel is one of the best double bass players I’ve seen in a long time and a man of many talents, including claw hammer banjo. Add sardonic singer-songwriter Sam into the mix, and there are great harmonies and a wonderful, quiet, comical interplay between the three of them. The audience certainly appreciated the band, and I guess it would have been awkward otherwise, as the house lights could not be dimmed.
It was also clear that some already knew the album as they sang along sotto voce. One of the key things about Harley Kimbro Lewis is how accessible these songs are, how easy they are to pick up and sing along to – a good lesson in songwriting and presentation. Grey Man, Neighbours and I Gotta Chair all brought a smile to faces, but I wonder which one they came out humming? On our drive home, it was all about ‘Honolulu, how do you do … do they need any Cowboys in Hawaii’, a song written by Martin, inspired by the 1920’s Oahu guitar he bought from Tom Doughty. Excellent.
More here: https://www.harleykimbrolewis.com/