May & June's Sunday Service [TSG Images]

Last weekend was June’s Sunday Service, my monthly acoustic night at Verve bar in Leeds. On the Glastonbury weekend we decided to have a blues special, featuring our old SS regular Ben Pike (http://www.myspace.com/benpikemusic), who plays a mean slide lap guitar and sings a mean bluesy gravel; bluesy deamons Matt & Sam from ‘Mojo 57’ (http://www.myspace.com/mojo57blues) – charming deep south blues with acoustic, steel & classical guitars as well as a touch of sax for good measure and the outrageously good Spirit of John (http://www.myspace.com/thespiritofjohn) – brother Adam skiffles his double bass while brother Joshua plays rockabily guitar along to catchy tales.

Check the stage – primed for action… Bring it on.

After sound check we popped outside for a quick backstreet jam, where they cobbled together their all-in encore of Billy Jean, in honour of the gifts given by late loon MJ.

Then once the punters rolled in we set about the set and had a stonking evening.  Great tunes all round.

All three acts live in the same house, so Adam decided to play bass for all three acts that night, in different styles for each. Though the way he played skiffle bass for the Spirit of John was insane.  I’ve only heard it done like that once before, and he really slaps that thing bringing both percussion & a fast bass to the tracks. Double bass may be the second most annoying instrument to cart around next to the drums, but it sure looks cool.

Finally, I spotted this wee detail under the SS lampshade, of Josh’s bins & the Sunday Service collection box and thought it looked cool.

Myself and a fellow wed tog Phil Barber photograph music in and around the North of England for The Sound Gallery and we’ve posted more images of the night on our TSG blog post here, if you fancy a peep.

But make sure you check their myspaces, cos they’re all ace.

• 02 July 2009