… Here we come again on a Saturday night, oh with your fussin’ and a fightin’ won’t you get me to the rhyme, I wanna move, playin’ in a Travellin’ Band, yeah! Well, I’m flyin’ ‘cross the land, tryin’ to get a hand, playin’ in a Travellin’ Band….

Yes indeed folks and folkettes, The Travelling Band of lore visited us for LN38, and what a wicked whirlwind of sonic sorcery and bouncing balladry they served up. ANTHEMS! No one does anthems like our Mancunian brethren and Letham’s newest chums sit right up on the rock n roll pantheon with the greatest of their civic cousins. Treating us to tracks from new album, The Big Defreeze, scattered amongst older numbers, they started us up slowly with some damned fine harmonies and soulful, subdued guitar work from co-frontmen Jo Dudderidge and Adam Gorman before they were joined by the rest of the gang for a first set that lit the touch-paper nicely for what was to follow.

So, a mighty toe-tapper of a first half but would they be capable of ramping up the stomp-factor for the denouement? Oh my stars! We needn’t have worried on that score. Rip-snorting rhythms from Spennie (bass) and Nick Vaal (drums) pushed along Jo and Adam’s voices and guitar/key work with a tasty urgency that got the Letham faithful whirling around like grinning idiots, with Steve ‘Guitar’ Mullen spinning his web of sound over the whole thing like a bearded guitar wizard. ‘Hands Up’ from The Big Defreeze was a sing-a-long highlight and ‘Passing Ships’ a spine-tingling delight. May they travel far and prosper further still.

Check out The Travelling Bands schedule and music here >>

Support was provided by 19 year old Dundee vocal sensation, Syann. Syann is starting to make waves having been getting radio play by the likes of Lauren Laverne and Jarvis Cocker and her single, Far Beyond The Sun, was a Q Magazine website Track of the Day in August. With simple acoustic guitar picking, a faultless voice and, it would seem, bags of material, it wouldn’t be a surprise if we start hearing more and more of this rising star. She really does sing beautifully. Check her out live if you get the chance.

Hear more of Syann here >>

See y’all at Letham Nights #39 for the mighty Kirsty Almeida & The Troubadours plus Roberta Pia!

Oh my!

(And thanks to Gill Mair Photography for letting us use her photos)