Closing both their tour and The Hub’s Spring and Summer season, popular duo A Different Thread played a set of rousing blues, bluegrass, folk and Appalachian music.
Support for the evening was from Banjo Jen, who played her own music.
The complex patterns, step-dance, foot stomping and her own idiosyncratic singing all made for a winning combination.
Her songs included English Bay and Colour of the Devil, all delivered with comfortable aplomb.
The accapella Mill Song used her own dancing feet as a rhythmic accompaniment.
A Different Thread are the singer songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Robert Jackson and Alicia Best, who between them covered drums, violin, guitar, harmonica, ukulele and harmony and lead vocals, with sterling support from Mike Seals on double bass.
Their lively set of largely original tunes covered a range of genres and tempos, from the upbeat hoedown of A Wayward Son and Hold Me Down, to the whistle-drenched Didn’t Wanna Go.
Throughout the set the trio were joined by FareFeld, another local duo, who added spirited harmonium, bouzouki, low whistles, flute and harmony singing to an already heady mix.
One of the musical highlights of the night was saved until the end with the haunting Linda’s Crossing, with its keening violin and whistle parts and strong chordal accompaniment showing another side to the ensemble’s sound.
A spell-binding accapella encore of the traditional Long Black Veil showed that the duo have talent to spare.