Beneath the Lower Deck Pub, BelloBar is a lovely venue reminiscent of a New York speakeasy or a Berlin jazz club.
Jesse started off the set with haunting sounds of the mountains and sacred lands. One felt transported to some of Nashville’s best listening rooms, where you could hear a pin drop during the gaps between songs, with an attentive and very respectful audience. The sound in the room was perfect, with the sound engineer bringing out the best in the artist’s craft.
Each song drew the crowd into a willing trance of understated folk-style acoustic fingerpicking, interceding with Phil’s bell-like tremolo guitar sound and boutique overdriven solos, while also adding high vocal harmonies to a number of songs.
Jesse felt comfortable sharing personal stories of death and darkness with a great lightness of being, with Phil reminding her at one point that it was a Friday night out for the audience! One seldom gets to see the human behind some artists. This was a raw, intimate, and beautiful set.
Jesse was delighted to see some fans from Seattle in the audience, their smiling faces recognising street names from one of the songs while remaining mindful of the sombre lyrics.
The set included songs like “The Air Is Thin,” with Phil adding vocals as well as some epic guitar solos. Notable mentions from the new album included “Feather Treasure,” “Dewayne,” and “Forever I’ve Been Being Born,” finishing with “Wooden Roses,” a dark song with an incredibly dramatic and apocalyptic ending of sustained guitar loops and masterfully controlled feedback through an old-school Danelectro tape loop pedal.
Jesse found time to chat with fans after the gig and sign vinyl at the merch stand.
Miranda Faul opened the night with stories of past and current relationships, the acoustic songs fleshed out nicely with clean, warm-sounding indie pop guitar solos from her friend Gabriel. Songs including “Delicate” and “Patience,” covering love-life disasters, provided the backdrop for very thoughtful lyrics.
Miranda Faul photos:
Jesse Sykes and the Hereafter photos & set-list:
Set-list:
Eisenhower Moon
Hard Not to Believe
Winter Hunter
Spectral Beings
Dewayne
Forever, I’ve Been Being Born
Feather Treasure
Reckless Burning
Doralee
The Air Is Thin
A New Medium
Wooden Roses
Photos & words – Wayne Polley @hawkeye_polley_photography