Arts & Culture
REVIEW: The Deep Dark Woods & Kacy and Clayton at The Bullingdon, Oxford

The Deep Dark Woods/ Kacy and Clayton The Bullingdon, Oxford Wednesday May 3 2018 By Ben Fitzgerald Saskatchewan psychedelic folk duo Kacy and Clayton appear to have been awoken from a coma they quietly slipped into in 1969 - while enjoying a massive doobie and checking out Fairport Convention’s Leige and Leif and Nick Drake’s Five Leaves Left. The pair - Clayton Linthicum on guitar and paisley shirt duties, and Kacy Anderson on vocals  grew up in rural Saskatchewan (they’re second cousins) where - so the origin story goes - they were insulated from musical influences swirling around the world in the last half a century. And while some may be a little saddened that in this alternative musical reality, the punk revolution never happened, it is not necessarily a bad thing. The duo, backed by bearded drummer Mike Silverman and bearded bassist Ryan Boldt, had the crowd at the Bullingdon entranced. Key to their sound was the smooth vocal harmony led by Kacy Anderson - it wasn’t technically perfect… but there is something about Kacy’s voice that I can’t get out of my head - it’s not just that her sweet honey tones are remarkable - it’s that her voice belongs so much to a specific time and place. Her phrasing owes a debt to the likes of Jefferson Airplane’s Grace Slick or Fairport’s Sandy Denny. Damn that girl can sing. With tight tube overdriven riffs picked out on Clayton’s Gibson SG and the swinging rhythm section from Boldt and Goetez the whole effect was nothing short of mesmerising. And they were only the support act.. Well sort of.. Because here’s the thing… They left the stage, rapturous cheering still ringing in their ears, and then after a short break, all four walked back on the stage, joined by some geezer who looked like a young Neil Young - Evan Cheadle - with a Fender Jaguar slung over his shoulder. Ryan Boldt swapped his bass for the mic, Kacy took a step back and went into rhythm guitar mode, Clayton picked up an acoustic guitar, only drummer Mike Silverman stayed put and voila, a whole new band took shape before our very eyes - The Deep Dark Woods. And, perhaps unsurprisingly, considering they share 90 per cent of the DNA of Kacy and Clayton, psych folk was again very much on the plate - with frontman Ryan’s obsession with the 60s British folk-rock scene forming the base of the stew - seasoned with dark American gothic country and Appalachian influences to the influential music of their countrymen Neil Young and Joni Mitchell. Their new album Yarrow reflects the band’s deepening obsession with this rich seam of folk rock, having changed all but two of the band’s line-up that toured 2013’s Jubilee album, replacing them with buddies and friends of friends who all share similar warped interests. And the results hit the LSD laced button on the head. My only disappointment was that the hammond organ playing Geoff Hilhorst was not with them on this leg of the tour, not just because I’m a sucker for that swirling Leslie speaker sound but also because it turns out that he also works behind the bar of a pub frequented by my mate Dave who I used to share a house with. That Canada is such a small place. Their set meandered through their back catalogue in a relaxed fashion, the ‘Woods’ losing themselves in improvised jams whenever the mood took them - the collective musical conversation in turn moving from quietly shimmering chords to a superheated slab of sound.  I managed to catch up with Kacy and Evan in a darkened doorway on the Cowley Road while they were struggling to spark up a cigarette - where they revealed that they were shattered by their gruelling 92 date tour schedule, having endured a drive from Sweden for the British leg of their tour. They were off to grab some chips before heading back to their hotel for some badly needed sleep - they did look a little peeky, but then time travel can do that to you.

  • REVIEW: The Deep Dark Woods & Kacy and Clayton at The Bullingdon, Oxford
  • REVIEW: The Deep Dark Woods & Kacy and Clayton at The Bullingdon, Oxford
  • REVIEW: The Deep Dark Woods & Kacy and Clayton at The Bullingdon, Oxford