Escape That

This is an embarrassingly bad picture of fiddler Sam Sweeney and the band who have made Escape That: Louis Campbell (thumbnail) conjuring shimmering air out of an electric guitar and a looper, Archie Moss providing harmonies on acoustic guitar and Ben Nicholls (off to the right) on double bass. Sam Sweeney is Bellowhead's fiddler and we first heard this line-up supporting Bellowhead in November 2022.

We knew then that at some point this other band of Sam's would tour so months ago when tickets went on sale for this evening's gig I bought some for Secondborn and me. It was so close to home that, leaving to make sure we would be up at the front, I left behind not only my coat but also my camera. Ah well.

It's folk music, everywhere a minority sport though perhaps marginally less so in Oxford. When they announced they were going to do a 3/2 hornpipe there were whoops from the audience, Sam laughed and said, 'I love playing Oxford!' He asked, 'Who here plays the fiddle?' and an awful lot of us put up our hands.

I couldn't work out what it was about the music that made me feel so engaged and upbeat and the only word that kept coming to mind was 'kind'. I have no idea what that could mean in terms of music but it was interesting that on our walk back home Secondborn couldn't find words for the music either.

A lovely, gentle, kind evening. Just sorry about the photo.