After a long day out with my in-laws, I was sat on my sofa at home, the TV was on in the background and I was started to get what some might refer to as “snuggy”, I contemplated slipping into something a little more comfortable and as I made my way to my boudoir to select a slinky something, I remembered that I had agreed to pop along to The Barrel House in Totnes to catch a full band show that Harbottle and Jonas were putting on…..my slinky gear had to wait! I threw on a pair of jeans and grabbed my hoodie and made a hasty exit for the front door, I had time, it was only 7pm….

I arrived at The Barrel House and made my way upstairs where there was already a healthy queue, I joined and chatted to a lovely lady who used to help out at the local football club where my son had attended in his early teenage years, well, until he found girls and cars that is!

I was hoping that tonight was a seated show as I was tired and to my joy, there were seats, but they appeared to have names on them and after checking, my name wasn’t one of them! I pulled a small wooden milking stool from under a table and made do with that. I needed to be centrally located as I was on photo duty for the evening and given it was a sell out, I wouldn’t have stood much of a chance moving around, standing on people and generally making a nuisance of myself so I opted for the small seat albeit making me look like I was about to go and milk ‘Daisy’ my imaginary cow in the heart of Totnes!

I chatted to a couple who had made the pilgrimage from Torquay and they told me of a venue called The Artisan Gallery in Lucius Street in Torquay that often put on live shows, I noted it down and said that I would check it out, we also chatted about another venue in Torquay called The Blue Walnut Cafe and Cinema which is situated in Walnut Road, Chelston, another small venue that regularly hosts open mic evenings and music nights, if you’re n the area, pop in and see Rich and check out what’s going on.

Anyway, back to the show….

The room had filled nicely as the opening act ‘Mossy Eyebrows’, a duo made up of Adam and Tom took to the stage, their set consisted of songs about dead (both happy and sad), lurchers and a Devon gamekeeper who went to France during the first World War and a woman who didn’t want her daughter to be happy. Their incredible vocal harmonies reminded me of early Simon and Garfunkel and whilst they were armed with an array of instruments (stomp box, acoustic guitars, hand drum), they could have easily carried off the set a cappella to the room full of attentive people who were hanging on every word.

It was clear that they were running slightly behind so with an incredible demonstration of ‘speed tuning’, they rattled through the remainder of their set which included a stunning version of ‘We’re Walking in the Air’ made famous by a young Aled Jones as the title track to Raymond Briggs’ ‘The Snowman’ and finished up with a sublime version of ‘Silent Night’ which was borderline acceptable as we are in November, be it a month earlier and they may have found themselves in room 101 but we’ll let it pass on this occasion!

Harbottle and Jonas were joined by a fiddle player (from Cornwall) for the first part of their set, I know, I know, but lets give him the benefit of the doubt (assuming he agrees that it is cream first…..)

They opened with a haunting track about the final days of Scott of the Antarctic, as they played, you could almost see yourself as Scott in the third person, waiting for the inevitable.

‘Wild Goose’ is a track that Freya had written for their daughter who was having issues falling asleep at night and what started ff as a lullaby transformed into a song about exploring the wilderness, discovering new things and reaching out to the wider, natural world.

They played a cover of a Peggy Seeger song called ‘It’s a Free World’ which she wrote about a cafe that she would visit on a Friday for breakfast and was joined by other people who were smokers and this was her way of politely informing them that she didn’t appreciate second hand smoke whilst she was enjoying her breakfast. The song took an interesting ‘windy’ turn midway through and you’ll have to check out the track in full to learn the outcome!

‘Whenever You See a Robin’ was written for a friend who had lost his father. David explained that the robin is seen as a spiritual messenger and the song weaved in memories and stories about his friends father which again, put you in the shoes of the son, thinking about his father.

A song about the village of Hallsands (which was situated between Beesands to the north and Start Point to the south was performed and echoed the way of life that they believe would have taken part there during the days before the sea washed it away. Through the instruments and vocals, you could taste the joy that life offered the 159 residents in this small seaside village before the storms of 1917 made all but one house completely inhabitable.

The trio was joined by a drummer and bass player from this point on and the songs became more Saturday night than Sunday morning, seeing the room come to life. There was talk of football, David is a lifelong Newcastle fan and the fiddle player pointed out that he wasn’t too keen to talk about the Saturday afternoon result (they lost 2-0 to Bournemouth).

They shared songs written about the beauty of Northumberland and Grimsby which led nicely into one fronted by Freya about Fishermen (fisherpeople?). David explained that they had recently moved from Totnes to South Brent where they received a warm welcome from the multitude of artists, musicians and creative thinkers which helps to make it a very special place indeed, this was celebrated in a beautiful song called ‘The Beacon’. 

They performed a tremendous version of ‘Black is the Colour’ which is a traditional Celtic folk song which Nina Simone put her own spin on some years back bit this was their version and what a version it was….

They ended up their set with an encore, inviting Adam and Tom to the stage to share in a Cliff Richard cover of ‘Do You Wanna Dance’ which had everyone up singing and dancing along, the perfect way to end the show.

Reflecting on the night, I was in awe at the sheer volume of instruments that were required to create the atmosphere that they presented, the harmonium, controlled by Freya’s right leg, the fiddle, the acoustic guitars, the bouzouki (at least it looked like a bouzouki…), drums and bass allowed each and every one to take pride of place during the songs and at other times, bled into the background like honey dripping into honey, adding to the overall sonic experience, subtle and satisfying!

Tonight was a joyous occasion, it was a celebration of life, of coming together in such a wonderful place to catch up with friends, laugh and share feelings and enjoy some wonderfully crafted songs courtesy of Harbottle and Jonas. 

Words and Pictures by musomuso