Review: Hot Vultures/Nine Tree Stumblers, Folk House

This was always going to be a bit of a trip down memory lane, and the mood was set by the clink of cups and the waft of coffee: back in the day it was coffee shops rather than bars where folkies gathered. The illustrious Hot Vultures are a name from Bristol’s legendary Troubadour folk club, started in 1966 and celebrating its 50th anniversary at St George’s in October, and the duo of Maggie Holland and Ian Anderson have marked the occasion by reuniting after 32 years for a national tour.

Opening act The Nine Tree Stumblers appeared within an impressive clutter of instruments for a set of deliberately obscure American and Hawaiian music from the late 20s, instrumentally adept and sure-footed – albeit beset by the kind of tuning issues inevitable with odd-shaped string instruments in a warming room. The old-time music was beautifully rendered, with Ruth Gordon’s jug band cello a nice touch, though the choice of a (very stylish) single microphone was probably less helpful in doing justice to their sound. It suited the Hawaiian numbers well enough, however, the gentle vocals floating above mandolin and slide guitar.

By contrast the headliners brought only five instruments on stage, set themselves up in a moment and proceeded to transport the room back to the heyday of the UK folk revival with a set of vigorous songs mixing traditional and ‘contemporary’, American and English. For old-timers with long memories it was a sheer pleasure to hear these two voices together again, especially Maggie’s powerful and convincing delivery of Rob Johnson’s England’s Power and Glory or the traditional Rambling Boys of Pleasure, while the deft economy of their playing wove a classic sound. 

They’d picked an eclectic mix from an extensive back catalogue – “It’s interesting to become your own covers band” observed Ian at one point – but all the songs painted vivid pictures of life and humanity’s eternal struggles. rendered with poignancy and humour in equal measure. As was the way ‘back then’ they made no attempt to Americanise their singing – the Englishness being an appropriate reminder of borrowed culture, albeit with common roots, on songs like Going Across The Mountains with its stately banjo and Maggie’s clear story-telling vocal or Ian’s energetic rendition of Oscar Wood’s upbeat blues Lone Wolf. For all that gravity, however, a final Holy Modal Rounders mashup with the three Stumblers established that, however worthy, folk music need not be dull.

In a time beset with acoustica when there is no shortage of singer-songwriters making selfie songs about how sad/happy/interesting/important their life is it was great to be reminded that folk music, as Eliza Carthy once observed, “is usually about other people” and to see this classic duo back on such good form was a real pleasure.