As his Olde English name might suggest, Look Yonder’s music seems like it should come from an archaic time without downloads, videos and will.i.am. I pictured it being played to me by the man himself on his ukulele, narrating my life like a wandering minstrel (I watch too much Scrubs). For that is the entire act, Look Yonder and his small guitar, but with his soulful voice and genius melodies his tunes hold much more gravitas than you might expect.
I listened to the first track, Solomon, whilst getting ready with the intention of heading out the door soon after, but found myself transfixed in a minor state of reverie seeing it out to the end of all eight tracks. From my favourite Vulpes Vafer with hints of upbeat Irish folk notes, to the haunting Arab Spring and saddening bluesy TheWeakness in me, this is definitely a highly emotional piece of work.
The production sounds like a live recording and the crispness of each string being plucked make it feel like he’s in the room playing it to you, so turn it up loud and lie on a couch or anything that means you’re horizontal and start to think deep thoughts as he muses on love and life, (this is what it does to you, it’s inevitable).
My next task will be hunting him down at various folk festivals around the country this summer to put a face to the voice and hear him live.
Check him out on lookyonder.bandcamp.com where you can hear the whole EP from start to finish – there’s no way you’ll be pausing halfway through.
Look Yonder – a firm favourite of ours – has been busy of late, tailoring the latest in this ‘tashed troubadour’s musical adventures. This 8 track EP features a few re-workings from the demo but also a wealth of new material, bringing with them a glimpse at the many different sides of Look Yonder.
The EP eases you in to a lovely little melody, Solomon, a song of unrequited love and a need to fill the hole that love left -
“You are not the clothes on your back…
…Solomon, she’s a wild one and you know…
…She was your heart…
…your fear…
…and your fire down below“
This tender start is quickly followed by Vulpes Vafer, a tale of a cricket finding his voice both lyrically and audibly. This tongue in cheek romp through meadows and woods falls straight in with the twisted folk musings of Devendra Banhart (think Little Yellow Spider).
Deep River, our man plays a banjo, using his usual digital dexterity, Look Yonder, takes what could have very easily been a two dimensional chord sequence and digs out a little something here and there to colour the stanzas which instantly gives the you the feeling of a prospector in a mid-west music hall. LY really asserts his personality over this song.
Arab Spring, with reworked vocals, this sincere ballad tugs on the heart strings. Simply I am in love with this song.
“Please don’t put your disguise…
I swear I can be you’re shining knight…
…The stake in your heart is mine”
Way Out East, a quick fire song full of imagery, with toe tapping rhythm, a welcome change in dynamic.
Adam and Eve, very Appalachian, back to the banjo, not solely with this song but equally present is LY’s strong vernacular as he toys with extended metaphor.
Hairs On Our Head, brings you straight into all the sensitivity and pomp of Victorian England.
“Hush my love the guns, have stopped…
…The silence is binding…
…My sweet love don’t turn away”
very tender, nostalgic and sentimental.
Look Yonder ends this EP with a cover courtesy of Joan Armatrading. His rendition of Weakness In Me, really makes the song his own, reversing the well played out roles and bringing with him a sense of something vulnerable and yearning. We lucky enough to get a glimpse of a live performance of this, down at The Madness Of King George:
Jim Bayes, A Portion Of Quips , as Birdy, The Parliament of Birdy Laws, looks on
The format was to be house band to play 1st then an hour of comedy followed by 2 more bands, however comedy was up 1st followed by 3 bands. The Venue was in the basement of the George (Cellar 7), a nice room but as there was limited seating it meant that a crowd gathered around the bar with a few people seated at the back, I mean I suppose, that with them not being able to see the acts they felt a little disconnected from the night. A problem we would address in future evenings. To the left of the stage area was a table where we as acts were able to situate ourselves, however in hind sight, that area may have been better served as a front row seating area for the audience. Jim Bayes would start the proceedings and got under-way it was 8.15. The place was rammed, around 50 or 60 people squeezed in. I began with some details about the night and get them to support our acts, they listened and were very accommodating, Jim did 8 mins of random chatter and threw in the odd bit of rehearsed joke before selecting a lovely lady to be our cheerleader. Charlotte was her name and she was a great at he duties as a front row audience member.
Up on the stage 1st was Ben Gibson doing his 3rd gig and it was a new set from his 2 previous, he did a set of one liners to the delight of the crowd although they would laugh loudly at one joke and groan at the next I feel they were very receptive to Bens set, more so than he realised and given that more than half were there to watch the bands it was a good response. Bens best joke was one about his uncle, (and in my humble opinion one of the most memorable – I tip my hat to you Ben) he did 8 mins and was warmly applauded off.
“When I was in my teens my uncle had a little stroke…
…Didn’t call the police though”
Jim returned to the stage, did another 4 mins and tried to pick bits from Bens set to work off and again make a little chatter before bringing on the next act.
Rich Hodkin was next, His delivery was smooth his act was slick…and sick!!! Literally at one point! Again the crowd laughed and also groaned…. a groan is a response and one that is not negative. Rich was also in good form and was applauded off, 2 great sets so far. I did another 2 mins before the break, im not sure if it is the done thing for an MC to do a little bit before the break but i went with it, so far i was getting a mixed response but while i was not being laughed at they were at least listening.
After the break Jim did another 8 mins to make sure he was not giving the acts on to a cold audience. Jim had a chat with one or two of them, I established that the guy in the front row wearing a hat was an Aussie, there was a Scottish guy, some Spaniards, a girl from California and remarkably few Loiners! This was not MC gold but it was Jim finding his feet in the role a bit more before introducing Ross Brierely.
Ross had won Mr Bens with me recently and we knew what to expect, his set would be full of energy and witty asides. Despite being ill, he was very funny and entertaining, he has a great ability to adapt to whichever night he is performing at and even with some of the usual energy missing he delivered to the delight of the audience. Ross did a solid 10 mins and again the crowd seemed happy. It was coming to a close, we had one more act left.
First, Jim had to tighten the reins as when Ross had finished, the audience began to chatter and some headed to the bar, Jim managed to get a handle on it – He was even able to interact with one guy.
It was not a total disaster though, Jim got the applause going for Steve Goodall, who was to headline.Jim chose to call him a headline, not to add pressure but to give the audience a definition of structure to the night, that may not make sense but whatever way you look at it Steve delivered a headline performance. Steve is likable and has a great presence that has warmth and yet he is cheeky, the jokes flow freely and he held the audience throughout his 12 mins. Steve finished the comedy off superbly and Jim thanked our cheerleader Charlotte and all the guys who performed before bringing the comedy to a close.
This was not the end of the night though as the 3 bands were to follow.
First up was our twisted folk troubadour Look Yonder, who played to an audience that were gee’d up from the comedy, he took the bull by the horns and launched straight into Arab Spring. His voice soothed the their rabid chatter, frothing from their mouths.
The Parliament of Birdy Laws were the second band,playing their retro versions of contemporary music - Arctic Monkeys in the style of Edith Piaf (a personal favourite). The energy emanating from the audience, Sam’s dexterity on the keys and Birdy’s performance with the microphone, all fed into the electric atmosphere, (the only thing missing was cigar smoke). I also think all of the comedy acts had decidedly fallen a little in love!
The last band were The Aristophonics, keeping that up tempo jazz vibe (all aided by the appearance of a double bass!) they played us out in style, with Alexa’s vocals really opening up and the lead guitar of Loizos “Louis” Pafitis dappling the performance.
All in all and to coin a phrase – Great Success!
The next Madness of King George will be occurring on the 16th of June!
Much Love
x
PS. Here is a video of a more tender moment courtesy of Look Yonder – The Weakness in Me by Joan Armatrading
A night in collaboration with a Portion of Quips, to provide you with music, comedy and merriment. This evening will be held at it’s namesake (The George) in it’s newly refurbished members bar, downstairs.
The Madness of King George currently being a one off event is entirely free and will be taking place this Thursday.
Hosting the evenings events will be none other than Jim Bayes (of Portion of Quips fame) and shall see the musical recitals of Look Yonder, The Aristophonics and The Parliament of Birdy Laws!
With copy like this I don’t even know why we made posters…
Thursday 17th of May, ROTTEN CORE will be initiated into the cellar of BAD APPLES. A night where Metal, Punk and Rock can lay bare their roots. The first of the ROTTEN CORE sessions will play host too:
Look Yonder is one man, a ukulele and his moustache. Short but sweet songs with crowd silencing vocals – reminiscent of Devendra Banhart but definitely different. Look Yonder is all over the Leeds scene at the moment. Encompassing the lyrical complexity of a 1960s troubadour and haunting, soulful vocal tones which evoke tales of love, hope and fantasy.
Personal highlight from his set has to be Arab Spring, I absolutely love it. Not every day you hear something like this, (though now I’ve found it, it is) – His 8 track E.P. is available on BandCamp
Look Yonder is the ukulele, banjo, lungs and larynx of singer songwriter Rory Evers. Born in Cleethorpes sometime in the 1980s, he left at his earliest convenience to start a band in the big city. After years of noise making with varying levels of success, Rory now creates music free from collaboration.
Drawing comparisons to Jeff Buckley, William Elliot Whitmore and Daniel Higgs, Look Yonder is making a big impact on the live music scene around the UK. His music soulfully combines country, blues, and folk, with an understated performance which allows the beauty of the lyrics to come to the fore. Look Yonder single-handedly proves that acoustic music can still sound both exciting and original.
One life form, making a big, unique sound with just banjo, ukulele and voice; Look Yonder evokes the lyrical complexity of a 1960s troubadour with sharp modern wit. With haunting, soulful vocals, the songs of Look Yonder are crooked visions filled with eccentric characters and arabesque oddities.
Look Yonder has been busy this summer. After releasing a new EP, Leeds’ favourite moustachioed troubadour has appeared at scores of open mics, bars and festivals around the UK.
Look out for the corporeal manifestation of Look Yonder coming to a town near you. The near future holds a 7″ single release on Leeds label, Normal Records alongside a release on Parisian label Rendezvous Records.
Here the music of Look Yonder at http//:lookyonder.bandcamp.com and be rewarded in the afterlife.
