By Mark Salter
What a fantastic return to the Old Ship Inn, Lowdham, for Philip Henry and Hannah Martin.
Although some would not have been surprised by the mesmerising talent on show at this Warthog promoted concert on May 18, having seen Philip Henry and Hannah Martin on their previous visit three years earlier, they proved to be far from the traditional folk duo.
The pair moved seamlessly between a range of instruments: guitar, dobro, Indian 22 stringed slide guitar, banjo, fiddle and viola. The most breath-taking was Henry’s virtuoso harmonica playing and human beat-boxing. The amazed expressions on audience members faces was a picture!
Starting with mystical song, Silbury Hill looking back to ancient burial grounds and those who built the ‘barrows’, the duo juxtaposed this image with what contemporary city bankers will leave for posterity.
Martin further showed her colours when pointing out that Stones, a track from new CD Watershed, was inspired by rash comments from a soon-to-be-expelled UKIP MP. Solidarity for junior doctors was also expressed in the introduction to the Nailmakers Strike incorporating a sing-a-long reggae chorus of Fight For Your Rights taken from a song by the Abyssinians. .
Perhaps the most touching number was Last Broadcast, dedicated to war correspondent Marie Colvin who lost her life at the Siege of Homs in Syria. Indeed, Martin was able to weave extracts from Colvin’s last article into the lyrics which were then layered over a haunting tune devised on Henry’s Indian guitar.
Also poignant was Foundling, a song dedicated to Martin’s mother exploring her possible heritage as she had been adopted and had not known her parents.
More traditional numbers also featured. Adam The Poacher told the story of an aged rascal over a old Dorset tune and Mrs Wilmott’s Ghost of a Victorian ‘guerrilla gardener’ who sowed seeds in barren gardens for flowers to bloom later, whilst title track, Watershed, celebrated Henry and Martin’s hobby of walking in the fells of the Lake District.
In an evening of contrasts, traditional English folk tunes and songs, an Irish lament, a bit of bluegrass, and many Indian and Eastern influences, the stand out moments were when Henry soloed with his harmonica and beat-boxing. Underground Railroad had strains of the locomotive whilst Sonny Terry’s Boogie Till Dawn saw him play and sing simultaneously.
With a lively encore of The Boy Who Wouldn’t Hoe Corn, Henry and Martin bade farewell and headed off on their return trip to Devon, soon to return all those present hoped.
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