Joel Fisk & The Breakdown

So then, another evening of top Blues entertainment anticipated at Sedgefield and despite the named bands not being the most immediately recognised, the reputation for quality was maintained, and then some.

Opening the night were local quartet, Kung Fu Blues; fortunately for us, eschewing karate suits for more usual attire. So, what do you get when four mates, who’ve played in various different bands round the area for years, get together? Not quite King King, but a band who know their stuff and love getting on the stage and delivering a lively and diverse selection of classic and more contemporary rocking Blues. True, they are principally a covers band, but these guys even tackle a Philip Sayce number Morning Star, without the aid of a safety net; though to be fair, Mr Sayce sweats more, and has better legs(?). With John and Steve (Bee) providing the backline, Hilton on vocals & rhythm guitar and Steve on seriously hot lead guitar the covers ranged through Stevie Ray Vaughn, Rory Gallagher, their take on King King’s take on Eric Clapton’s Old Love, which the carried very well and their take on Joe Bonamassa’s take on Jeff Beck Group’s Spanish Boots. Look past them being a covers band, as they’re definitely a band who can deliver a really diverse and quality set and wold be well worth sampling if playing down the local, or at a Blues club near you…….. Northeast for the moment, but hopefully they’ll stretch their wings…..

Spanish Boots (From Cleveland Bay gig) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSBrX7iFj30

Local dates include:-
7 May   The Grand, South Church Road, Bishop Auckland, DL14 6DU (9.00pm)
22 Jun   The Quakerhouse, 2 Mechanics Yard, Darlington, DL3 7QF (9.00pm)
26 Jun   Wheatley Hill Constitutional Club, Wheatley Hill, Durham, DH6 3JW (4.30pm)
8   Jul   The Penny Gill, Cheapside, Spennymoor, Co Durham, DL16 6QA (9.00pm)
17 Jul   The Tyne Bar, Maling Street, Ouseburn, Newcastle, NE6 1LP (3.30pm)
26 Aug   Blues at the Bay, The Cleveland Bay, Yarm Rd, Stockton, TS16 0JE (9.00pm)
2   Sep   Magnesia Bank, Camden Street, North Shields NE30 1NH (9.00pm)
9   Sep   The Quakerhouse, 2 Mechancis Yard, Darlington, DL3 7QF (9.00pm)
27 Nov   The Tyne Bar, Maling Street, Ouseburn, Newcastle, NE6 1LP (3.30pm)

What can you say about Joel Fisk? Who? You know, that guy who played guitar in the corner with Hokie Joint, or tries to hide behind Tim Aves in Wolfpack…. Well, he ain’t low-key anymore if Friday night’s showing at Sedgefield Rock and Blues Club is anything to go by; a few more gigs like this and he’ll be reaping the awards, not only for tasty guitar work but quality vocals too; but then, those of us who’ve seen the duo shows with Jon Amor or the emergence of LaVendore Rogue have already seen this developing.

Joel and his band, The Breakdown; Swamp cats’ Geoff Johnson – guitar/vocs; Lavendore Rogue mates Stephen “Cupsy” Cutmore – drums; Rob Barry – Bass have forged a band with its own distinct identity, away from the “day-jobs” while still being very much rooted in Blues and Americana music while giving it a new form and identity. Kicking off with what on the face of it is a very traditional Blues standard, Howlin Wolf's Howlin For My Darlin' and Robert Johnson’s Traveling Riverside Blues, Joel & the band grab them by the neck of the guitar and give it a thorough work-out; similar treatment is meted out to Blind Willie Johnson’s John the Revelator. Then moving things along to the more contemporary songs like Warren Zevons’ Carmelita and Tom Waits’ 2:19; the only time Joel wished JoJo Burgess was in the tour van. That said, Joel would have been lynched if he’d left the stage without a nod to his days with the Hokies and he did a more than passable job on their Chocolate Cake, Force of Habit and The Way It Goes, Sometimes and with Geoff Johnson on 2nd guitar, giving these songs a new sound and twist. That was a signature of the night, not only in what an incredible guitarist Joel is when he steps forward, especially slide, but how well he meshed with Geoff, at times reminiscent of vintage Allman Brothers

Having only the one album out under this flag, covers were very much the order of the night, especially as Joel didn’t want to push the new Lavendore Rogue material despite two other “rogues” in the band – hopefully that’ll come about before too long…. That said, the album gave a good insight into what this band are really capable of, in their rare outings: what we did get was extremely well executed, especially when Joel swung from the deep Tom Waits’ to the soaring Stevie Winwood on Blind Faith’s Can’t Find My Way Home; one of the evening’s highlights. It was all too soon the end of the set came round, but the encore had Sedgefield baying at the moon on what started out as a bit of fun on the acoustic duos with Jon Amor, Warren Zevon’s Werewolf of London. Aa-Roooooo.

Unfortunately, the are no JF & The Breakdown gigs on the immediate radar other than Darlington & Redcar in May, though there are a handful of the Duo shows at Billericay, Poynton & Broadstairs, as well as Joel solo at Poynton, and hopefully some LaVendore Rogue shows by the end of the year, as well as some Wolfpack; recommend you get along and catch this quiet man in one guise or other as with this sort of showing, he won’t be “quiet” much longer; one of those “surprise gigs” that folk will be talking about in these parts for a long while.

Travelling Riverside Blues (from Essex) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0Yr8WD3P20
2:19 (from The Farm, Essex) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-5bvH9QWY0
Grinnin' In Yo face (The Farm, Essex)   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvdopyMvSag