schtumm – devizine.com

It has somehow been a few years since I last saw Jinder – or Phil Jinder Dewhurst – play so Sunday evening was a serendipitous outing to the Queen’s Head, Box to catch him play the second half of a gig alongside Mark Harrison.

I’ve talked about the venue in Mark Harrison’s review but its only fair to repeat that the Queens Head, Box as a free house actually espouses that position serving St. Austell ales alongside Bath Gem (top marks!) and is a more than decent music venue with a dedicated space, working with promotor “Schtumm” to put on last evening’s entertainment.

Jinder is an imposing figure – he admits to being six foot six inches or in new money a full two metres give or take the width of a gnat’s doo-dahs. He is resplendent in a C&W shirt, but he quickly pointed out he wouldn’t be playing either musical style last night, even though it appears his daughter has views on what such apparel may mean as to his persona potentially as a cowboy cosplayer!

Jinder is another easy watching (no faint praise here intended either!) performer, totally at ease with his music, his instrument, himself and being on stage. He is accompanied by a tantalising array of pedals all of which get used to great effect during the gig – but more of that later. He also has an easy chatting style with amusing anecdotes and stories, moving seamlessly between songs. He isn’t afraid to share the harder parts of his life, along with the many highs, and with a British self-deprecatory manner describes his conversion from Jack Kerouac to Twat in three days as he was forced to live in his car. And includes a brief etymological discourse over the differences between mash-up and medley and their fruit based versions (I kid you not!).

It’s his music that of course speaks loudest for him. And we were not disappointed. He has released two albums since I last heard him, as part of a loose trilogy, produced by chum Pete Millson. The songs Jinder treated us to appear on his albums Codetta, The Silver Age and Crumbs of Comfort amongst other sources of his work, and each and every one of them delivered with passion and heart and not a little bit of skill. Another plucking style player utilising those pedals to promote a bass line, overlay an electric guitar sound, and loops to create a mesmerising array of rhythms and melodies to underpin sublime “lead” lines.

And the stories continue – the difficulties of using names in a song title so as not to be suspected of being a closet pervert, or harbouring secret desires towards those off-limits, or confusing ex and current wives! And that even when a safe name is found… it transpires that inevitably that is also doomed to failure…

It’s a curtailed set sadly as the march of time moved relentlessly to last orders, but we are regaled for his last song with his greatest triumph of all. How as a Hagrid lookalike he bestrode the red carpet for the world premiere of the film “Fisherman’s Friends” where his hastily recorded song in a shed ousted Ronan Keating in the final production.

Fair goes Jinder. We’ll keep you in our hearts buddy.

Jinder
Web: https://www.jinder.co.uk/
Facebook: mmjinder
Youtube: JinderSongs
Bandcamp: https://jindersongs.bandcamp.com/music

by Ian Diddams
images from Mark Harrison Facebook

Last summer I was lucky enough to see Mark Harrison play at the “Tangled Roots” festival over Radstock way (highly recommended that is too, for a laid back weekend of camping, workshops, and americana/roots music!). So when I saw him appearing on a Sunday night card at the Queens Head, Box it was too good an opportunity to miss.

It was my first visit to the venue which clearly sets itself up as a genuine music venue with its dedicated performance room, aided and abetted by “Schtumm” the promoter of music events here; a good space reminiscent of “The Tree House” at Frome, “The Pump” at Trowbridge and nostalgically “The Fold” in Devizes.. A quick word here too for the pub – a free house offering last night St. Austell ales. Most acceptable.

Mark – a.k.a by his blues monicker “Morose” Mark Harrison – has a relaxed, laconic persona with a lightly cynical view of life. Right up my street. His music is loosely “blues” – though he himself says “but it’s not stuck in the past. I’m tapping into the timeless quality of the early blues to produce music totally relevant to the present day.” Mark plays a 1934 National Trojan resonator guitar, previously owned by Eric Bibb, and he uses a finger plucking style rather than strummed chords.

It was a bijou, intimate crowd at the Queens Head – which as the other act of the night, Jinder, jokingly opined just means “small room, small crowd”. Well, how lucky were WE at such a bijou, intimate gig? Mark played a 75 minute set which might have been 80+ minutes had he not forgotten how one of his own songs started 😊; I’ll cut him some slack… he has another 98 he can remember to choose from after all… Mark’s lyrics are not so much about his own life – “I don’t want to hear about my life, I have to bloody live it” (or words to that effect!) – but about his view on society and the changes he has seen in it in his lifetime. He grew up in Coventry surrounded by car manufacturing, went away for a weekend and on his return the car factories had been replaced by garden centres. People that did real jobs replaced by Marketing Consultants. People with … irritating haircuts… Real activities replaced by twitter – oh sorry Mr. Musk… “X”. In this vein his numbers “The Wild West”, “The Great Stink” and “Toolmaker’s Blues” encapsulate this exasperation and incredulity.

This is not a political standpoint though, to be clear. Just a reflection of one man’s interpretation of a few decades through the medium of blues influenced music. Songs are interspersed with humorous and/or pointed stories and anecdotes. Often with a pithy, short epithet at those responsible for society’s ills…

Mark’s songs are in many ways stories in themselves, drawing you in with clever lyrics and the haunting finger plucking – simple stuff but (lest this sound damning with faint praise) so skillful yet easy on the ear. Its not until you start watching his fingers dance over the strings you see how there are two patterns going on simultaneously by his thumb and index finger, using the strings as two separate areas while his left hand works the frets on the higher strings.

All too soon the show was over. Eleven songs, eleven chats. A view of life and death in Bognor, the tribulations of late night driving and route diversions, social history… covid and lockdown as a metaphor for 21^st century life.

He also has a phenomenal memory; whilst chatting to him after the gig and buying his latest album he asked me if I’d met him also at “Tangled Roots” last June! I can’t remember what I had to eat this morning!

If Mark is playing near you, go and see him.

If he isn’t, buy his music.

In fact – do both!

Mark Harrison Music
Web: www.markharrisonrootsmusic.com
Twitter/X : @mharrisonmusic
Facebook: markharrisonmusic
Instagram: @markharrisonbandofficial
Youtube: markharrisonband
Bandcamp: https://markharrison.bandcamp.com/music

Setlist
Tribulation Time
Ain’t No Justice
Black Dog Moan
Road Ahead Closed
The Wild West
The Great Stink
More Fool Me
Go Nice
Highgate Hill Blues
Toolmaker’s Blues
Easy Does It