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First up with Barbara J Hunt who thoroughly reminded me of Melissa
Etheridge, with a beautiful voice and songs that are tuneful and
heartfelt she went through the set with the ease and grace of a
seasoned performer. Songs that stood out to me were King of my
Heart (from the movie Confetti) and Amazing Grace which
was a fusion of her own work and the original Amazing Grace which
reminded me of Eva Cassidy’s Over The Rainbow….but better.
B J Hunt
Video
Second on the bill was Benita Johnson, one of Bristol’s best female
acoustic artists. Despite her talent and a voice that you fall into
she is still uncommonly shy for a performer. She sang my personal
favourite of her songs Firefly as well as All That
Glitters among others including some new work. Benita is totally
unique, you can’t align her with any other artists or say she sounds
like anybody else. Her songs are well-written and she performs them
perfectly. It’s just a shame she’s not a little more confident.
Benita
Johnson
Video
Dave
Totterdell and Hilary Pavey were next up, with a set that was pure
folk. Dave’s between-songs banter was cheerful and funny and when
singing he came across as someone who was working towards a John
Denver sound. Hilary had a good folk voice but she was very quiet
and hard to hear. All of the songs were good original folk pieces,
well written, well performed and well received.
Dave Totterdell & Hillary
Pavey Video
Headlining were Jacanda, I’ve got this bands CD and it’s great, I’d
not seen them perform live before this though and always reserve
full judgement on a bands talent until I’ve seen them play live!
They didn’t disappoint though. The songs are beautiful and all were
beautifully performed. Lead singer Chris has a voice to melt into
and lose yourself with, the songs are just made better with the
simple harmonies and a sax player who makes me jealous I don’t play
that well! The whole set was a complete pleasure to watch and I’m
sure I wasn’t the only one who wished it had gone on for longer!
Jacanda
This
is going to be a regular night and I’m looking forward to seeing
what other performers Alfie is going to pull out of the hat!
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