PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
If you ask someone to describe a typical Blues artist, the chances are they’ll describe them as an old man, and there are plenty of Blues stars around who fit that description, but the Blues isn’t a dying genre and has a wide age-range of talented musicians, and when you look at the younger end of the spectrum the first name that comes to mind is Aaron Keylock. He’s been making waves in the Blues world for a few years now, and has been playing major festivals for a few years. He released his debut album earlier this year, and is still just 19 years old. Hearing him play though you’d think he was a lot older.
Ahead of his appearance at HRH Blues festival and a number of other festivals in the summer, he’s playing the tiny Black Heart in Camden.
The night opened with Seafoam Green, aka Dave O’Grady, a singer-songwriter who plays acoustic guitar and sings. It’s a genre that does tend to be fairly unexciting and I did find part of his set predictably dull, but some of the louder numbers lifted the set considerably. If you like the singers-ongwriter style then Seafoam Green is a good choice to go and see, but it’s just not my taste.
Next up was Jack J Hutchinson. He plays electric guitar and sings, and has a bassist and a drummer with him. It’s a great set – nice heavy Blues with a noticeable rock element. Jack gets some great sounds from his guitar and the songs are all great – their debut album is definitely going to be worth checking out based on their performance tonight. For part of the set they’re joined by a guest who plays Harmonica. A great set.
Finally it was time for Aaron Keylock. Unsurprisingly almost the entire set is taken from his album, Cut against the grain, with 9 of the 11 tracks on the album making it into tonights set, along with two other songs. It’s amazing to see him play – he’s got such an amazing talent at playing the guitar and plays like a seasoned professional that it’s hard to believe how young he is. His voice is good, and I suspect will improve over time. It’s a great performance that really does show how good the songs are and how good a musician he is. He’s drawn a decent crowd too, especially considering it’s a mid-week night.
Aaron Keylock is someone with a long career ahead of him, and I look forward to seeing more live performances and hearing what he has in store for us in the years to come.
Setlist:
Falling again
Down
Medicine man
Spin the bottle
Just one question
Ain’t that kindness
All the right moves
That’s not me
Alabama sunshine
Sun’s gonna shine
Against the grain
Take me home
