Grove Inn 11th Feb 2006

Live Review: Crosscut Saw

Grove Inn

Crosscut Saw + Sam Barrett

Saturday, 11th February 2006

Words by John Hepworth

It's a noble sight: performers fighting the flu and still giving an audience what they came for. The bug-victim count was fairly high on stage when Crosscut Saw battled their way through a couple of sets of fine stuff - even if it was as late as fifth song's guitar solo before the full spellbinding effect gripped listeners. That was when the never-predictable 'Not So Bad' took off and established a momentum taking the evening almost through to the Grove's new weekend closing time at midnight.

Don't get the impression the audience weren't fully engaged earlier. Apart from the astounding effect on those who hadn't previously encountered the area's premier electric blues band, Crosscut Saw were preceded by an extremely convincing young blues musician who's been on our local circuit for a little over a year, but is beginning to sound as established as the material that makes up his mainly 1920s/30s Delta and Texan playlist.

This is Sam Barrett and he's carrying his Ozark steel-bodied guitar along a rather promising career curve these days. Having already connected with Leeds acoustic artists of his own generation including David Broad, Fran Rodgers and Michael Rossiter, Sam took on the Grove codgers last year with a few impressive appearances at their first-Monday of-the-month Stormy Monday open mic blues nights. He soon guested at a gig and now makes the pub's music room a regular stopping place: indeed, at the previous Sunday's thoroughly enjoyable afternoon of Delta blues and folk (where Broad and Rossiter played the other two sets), Sam found himself not only with Crosscut Saw's leader Alex Eden in his audience, but receiving their offer of this support slot.

The young newcomer was not underworked tonight. In a set of fifteen songs, several of them on a Tanglewood twelve-string, he gave us some of his own material including his contribution to a synthesis of selected railroad blues, and choice examples from the likes of Son House, Robert Johnson, three blind maestros Willie McTell, Willie Johnson and Lemon Jefferson, plus Skip James, who furnished Sam with a triumphant encore even though this was its first time in front of an audience. Alex described his set as fkg brilliant, which sums up an awful lot for anyone who might be labouring to compose an adequately firm recommendation.

The Barrett contribution went part of the way towards making a success out of an evening that might have gone rather ragged. Some pretty warm thanks also go to the one fully healthy member of tonight's Crosscut Saw: bass player Tim Crawley, who joined up not long before second guitar Rob Simpson's dramatic early retirement last June (word is, he still has no guitar of his own, nor any wish for one). Since then the band has been developing all the extra application needed to solidify a three-piece workforce, and now Tim's command of the repertoire with increasingly valuable delicacy and punchiness of delivery is a central part of the sound. Tonight perhaps he carried a bit more responsibility than usual, as listeners called out messages of sympathy to the below-par but still sparkling Richard Ferdinando on drums; and while Alex Eden managed his lead vocals and remained breath-taking on guitar, he just didn't have breath to give for his other speciality the harmonica. A tough evening in its way, but closing with a phenomenal 'Midnight Train,' one of the band's regular Buddy Guy selections. And a clue to what a significant act Crosscut Saw are can be found in Buddy Guy's appearance among the friends on their MySpace site, along with Louisiana Red and Robert Cray.