Consistently booking extraordinary performers, December saw the arrival of rising blues star Jo Harman and her incredible backing band. Having visited Devizes before at the Long Street Blues Club, Jo became a favourite of the community in the area, which became one of the main factors for the December show at the R&B Bar at the towns sports club.
Just five minutes before taking the stage, Jo was ambushed by our reporter, and said: “If it wasn’t for the blues community in this area, I wouldn’t be here. It’s humbling to have such support and I felt we had to repay that and bring the tour here.
“It’s great to be doing the full band shows as well. Our current schedule is usually just duo shows at the moment, so pushing out these songs in their full form is great”.
The show itself was a showcase of vocal quality and tightly formed, excellently written songs that ebb and flow in the most natural of ways. Harman possesses a timeless voice that fills a room and demands attention, whilst maintaining an organic flair and drama that you get only with the best singers.
If the previous Disorderly show at the R&B Bar was a riotous showing by DVL of how rocking the blues can be, Harman and her band were the direct antipodean offering, slowing things down, focussing on the songs themselves and really driving forward with emotion and power.
With a few more shows like this, Disorderly Sounds and Devizes itself could become a hub for the new blues revolution that appears to be in motion at the moment. The town may need to focus on upping its ability to handle these shows, as competitors on the doorstep, like City Hall in Salisbury, start to cotton on to this vein of talent all the more. Especially with its Corn Exchange in the centre of town appearing to be woefully under-utilised aside from as a weekend basement nightclub.
This shouldn’t be a problem though, with the community consistently being able to call on their passion for the musical arts and attracting acts like Jo Harman and her contemporaries on a regular basis. Long may it continue! Keep an eye on the Disorderly Sounds facebook page for more of these shows: facebook.com/Disorderly-Sounds
Photo credit: BR (Very Amateur)