Gren Bartley... Tom Kitching... Frank Marmion... review of gig at the Vat and Fiddle, Nottingham, March 5, 2006

Pub gigs can be - well, unpredictable... Acoustic pub gigs even more so... The layout of the room is usually not conducive to playing, for a start. Arriving at the Vat and Fiddle (stupid name: nice pub), the space available looked a bit cramped. But it had a high ceiling, and when it was cleared out there was room for the pa. And it worked out fine – giving a close space for listeners and enough spread from the pa to cover the rest of the bar with the ambiance of the music without deafening the clientele and scaring the horses. Sunday afternoon, a bright, sharp day. So we commence...



To the mark: Frank Marmion, local stalwart, folk veteran, Liverpool supporter. The Star of the County Scouse. Accompanied by Tom Kitching on violin, he played a brief, bouncy warm up. Frank can go from raucous – 'Tailor's Britches' - to tender – 'The Dutchman' – and always looks as if he is enjoying himself. Tom Kitching's violin complements Frank's steady rhythmic guitar playing, giving his set a nice lift. Then the main act – Tom Kitching and Gren Bartley. Two young up and coming musicians, with great passion and techniques that blend superbly, Tom's violin diving in and out and soaring over the complex finger-picking patterns of Gren. Who is no mean singer either... over the last year or so his voice has strengthened to a subtle power, the lightness of its timbre disguising an essential toughness. He has a good ear for a cover song – and also writes some great material. The covers can help to bring an audience into his own stuff but here it doesn't really matter: this is a pub gig, after all, not a folk club – although they get more listening attention than I would have thought, which is encouraging and says a lot about a wider acceptance of their music. The overall sound is a kind of 'chamber folk' – by which I mean that it has quiet strengths strung on a frame of exemplary technique. Gren is not a folk 'belter' but this is all to the good for this music: he draws you into his sound world subtly. Tom Kitching is a fleet-fingered player, with the ability to switch between traditional and contemporary material that marks this duo – there is a fiery power to his playing that reaches beyond the folk ghetto to pull in a broader listening audience. People like violins... Tom is turning rapidly into a wide-ranging virtuoso – and he also composes out of the tradition. Gren is more American in sources and influence, but in turn can switch into traditional mode easily enough when called. There is no clash here between two different areas – the American and the Anglo-Irish – finger-picking and fiddle. There is space enough in the music they create to meld all these disparate strands into a fascinating continuum: they are also well on the way to transcending their influences and creating truly individual styles.

In the first half they ranged between traditional tunes like 'Peg and Awl' and 'Rusty Gulley,' David Francey's 'Red Winged Blackbird,' an outstanding song of Gren's – 'The Moral Lasts,' a solo set of tunes by Tom and an intriguing arrangement of Skip James' 'Standing at the Judgement.' Frank and Tom commenced the second set with some favourites – Frank has a knack of figuring what will go down in places like this – leading somewhat inexorably – but pleasantly -into 'The Leaving of Liverpool. Tom and Gren continued in the same eclectic vein as before: A brace of Tom's tunes: 'Autumn Wasp' and 'Boris in the Bathroom,' the traditional 'Old Molly Oxford,' a couple of Gren's songs ('Favourite Red Coat,' 'Record Lovelies'), another solo set by Tom of traditional tunes and very good covers of 'Beeswing' (Richard Thompson – actually I can't stand his singing and prefer Gren's version – heresy in some circles no doubt...), 'So Long I'll See Ya' (Tom Waits) and the final choice to end on – the jaunty 'Panama Hat' by Eric Bibb – which they do so well: Gren's voice is especially suited to this song and the bounce of the violin adds another level – clever material for this venue especially. Because only the die-hard would come to an event like this and expect the pristine-using a PA for acoustic performance will always take away something from the sound – although it adds volume and gives the chance for performers like this especially to go out into a pub environment and acquit themselves well. This is music especially suited to a Sunday afternoon. With the half time addition of a couple of guys who had travelled over from Loughborough to support them and ended up doing an impromtu set – Stev and Andy on accordion and guitar and vocals, giving a more overtly 'folky' edge to the proceedings that ended on a neat version of 'Scarborough Fair'– and the experience of Frank Marmion and his connections to a long-established performing tradition, it had broad appeal and was put across with good nature and a deceptive ease. Another point: these two are definitely going places and in a year or two you are going to be paying good money to hear them – grab the chance now to be in at the (relative) start of their careers. (I say 'relative' because they have both already acquired much experience and paid a few dues along the way).

I hear that this might become a regular monthly gig – if that happens you could find much worse ways of spending your sunday afternoons. Given the variety and quality of drinks on sale and rather good cobs (East Midlands patois for filled rolls) and space to sit outside when the weather gets better – the Vat and Fiddle is worth checking out... keep a look out for more announcements about gigs...

More info here: Gren Bartley ... Tom Kitching... Frank Marmion is the curator of Loughborough's premier folk club - The Pack Horse...