Phil, Jamie and Tamsin Return to The Fold

With duty calling in the wee hours of each Saturday, it’s got to be something special to drag me off the sofa on a Friday evening, and whilst I’d rather not provide only half a gig review, this has to be said. Phil Cooper invited some friends along to The Fold in Devizes yesterday, a Canadian friend, multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter, arranger and producer called LG Breton, who would accompany Phil’s headline set, and two supporting acts, Jamie R Hawkins and Tamsin Quin…..

Something of a reunion and homing for the original trio of The Lost Trades. This backroom of The Lamb served as the foundation of Kieran Moore’s Sheer Music, where, by the end of the last decade it hosted ninety percent of their gigs. Both Tamsin and Jamie cut their teeth here, and Josh Oldfield’s project to receive the venue saw them both return to their roots, to play some new and some old songs, and tell a tale or two about it.

Jamie began. A remaining member of the Lost Trades, he suggested playing solo was rare for him these days, yet a wonderful outpouring of his sentimental muses exhausted from The Fold, like it had never faded. If acoustically singing self-penned songs is like riding a bike I wouldn’t know, but it certainly felt this way when Jamie did his thing, as sublimely as he ever did.

If the narrative of his stage patter was reminiscent, with backstory, it reflected the reunification ambience, and there was always time for a reset, as the banter between all three of them developed over years of working together. In such, Jamie would play bass for following Tamsin, and Phil jumped in on cajón for her finale; just magical!

Though doubtlessly assured Phil would naturally see this through to a masterful conclusion, I’m sorry I couldn’t stay; beauty sleep a stipulation prior to another symphony, the dawn chorus. Don’t get me wrong, I love the dawn chorus entertaining me whilst I work, and it was a particularly spectacular one this morning. But hey, it’s got a bit of a ‘Heart FM’ about it, in so much as those birds repeat the same songs every morning! Tamsin Quin and Jamie R Hawkins (solo) on the other hand, I’ve not heard for what seems like an age, they had some new songs to sing, and the evening was of equal magnificence. 

Being separately these three were the backbone of subjects when Devizine started out nearly ten years ago, coupled with the notion it’d been a while, I couldn’t miss them, could I? Phil’s was the first album I reviewed, Tamsin fundraising for her debut album was the very first article, and Jamie bleeped on my radar shortly afterwards. And now, since Tamsin left the Lost Trades, and took a break from music, it was perhaps her in particular I was so enthralled to see again, performing like two years hadn’t passed us by.

There were a few songs I knew, Tamsin’s 2019 single Scandal, and Jamie’s delightful solo rendition of Petrichor, the title track of the Trades’ second album though rarely played, but mostly, and more valuable was their new songs, which followed suit with their individual styles; Jamie with those sentimental looping narratives, and Tamsin with her barefoot timekeeping, hippy-chick odes to life and love.

The crowd was comfortably communal; better numbers than past trips to the Fold. I do hope it gains some traction, another good reason to attend was to check that progress, because we really need an honest grassroots venue supporting original live music in Devizes. Phil, Jamie and Tamsin in one shout, a trip down memory lane, a must and so wonderfully executed; I love ‘em, I love ‘em, I love ‘em. As for the dawn chorus though, yeah, those birds also perked me up about not staying until the end. Those bottles won’t deliver themselves you know!     

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