Chris Wilson
with Jaimi Faulkner
Big, huge thank you to Karen, president of the Launceston Blues Club. Forget turning lemons into lemonade, make a cocktail instead.
The night planned was talented up-and-comer Jaimi Faulkner, supporting one of the stalwarts of the Aus blues scene, Chris Wilson and his Spidermen. Sounded promising.
I saw Jaimi earlier in the year, doing covers with his band. So impressed with his voice and taste in tunes, I bought his album, Last Light. Loved it, still loving it. This time around he was to perform solo, and acoustic. I was interested to see if it would work for him, and hoping to hear some of his originals done live.
Chris Wilson is, of course, such a solid, seasoned, muso as to be a guaranteed treat for blues fans. Everyone who ever loved "Walking the Dog" should hear his take on it.
While I'm on the subject of reliably rockin bluesmen, I should mention Pete Cornelius. Still fairly young, he has nevertheless been around long enough to build a good rep for always being a good time. I'm mentioning him here because, although there was no hint of him in any of the promotion for this night, his name was on the chalkboard outside the pub. Delightfully surprised, I practically skipped inside (much to the embarassment of my companion).
Jaimi took to the stage, all alone off to one side. It didn't take long for his presence to fill the platform and flow through the room though. His voice is even stronger, as he tests it and passes, his playing increasingly adept. He may be young, but he's been playing from about age 11, and it shows. His originals, stripped back and live, are at least equal to the recorded versions, maybe better. This boy has soul.
"Shut Her Down", my fave from the album, was delivered with powerful intensity, even stronger in person than I had hoped. Jaimi can croon, wail and whisper with the best of them. As an added bonus he included a few numbers from his yet to be released EP, Back To You.
Next up was Chris Wilson. So where did Pete Cornelius fit in, I wondered. But there he was, setting up alongside Chris and drummer Matt - who is not one of the Spidermen. Then Jaimi reappeared with an electric, and oh my god, was it to be.....?
Hell yeah. Something oft longed for, but rarely delivered. That great old party tradition - the jam.
One of the best things about blues gigs, as a genre, is the slight possibility of a bunch of skilled musicians throwing in together to create something new. It still doesn't happen that often, but when it does, prepare to be thrilled.
Rock music in particular makes a big fuss whenever a few good bandleaders get together and play. The term supergroup gets bandied about.
So, by those standards, Friday night at the Royal Oak, the Launceston Blues Club presented one of the best supergroups I have heard in years. Purely by chance, apparently. Something made the Spidermen unable to make it. Chris wanted some backup. Karen, club president, called Pete, knowing he would know who was available. Except he went one better and turned up himself, bringing wicked drummer Matt, and leaving a space on the stage for Jaimi to fill.
With a last minute jam like that, you might expect a little sloppiness, but not with this group. Chris bounced solos between the boys like they they had played as a unit for years. Pete on bass to start, before switching guitars with Jaimi a few numbers in.
Chris opened with a harmonica solo - and man, he plays that thing so well its just an extension of his mouth, forming notes better than most people form words.
The others joined in perfectly on cue and rocked out, a tight, seasoned group laying down meaty, thumping blues tracks. The spontaneous "Scallop Pie", an improvised song set to what was an instrumental, based on Jaimi sampling Tasmanian cuisine as interpreted by Chris, was an unexpected highlight.
Minimal preparation, maximum talent, best possible result.
Thank you Karen.
