Jess Morgan, Amy Leeder, Ant Savage.

Holy Molys Lev 1 Bedford Esquires. Holy Moly's. Friday 16th May 2014.

Very seldom does a performer or band from outside of the Bedfordshire borders get truly adopted as one of our own by the local music community. However, one artist who is always embraced whenever she plays here in Bedford is Jess Morgan . Of Welsh descent, this singer-songwriter is based in Norwich. Tall and slender with a long shock of flame coloured hair, a radiant smile is never far from her face. It is quite an exciting time for Jess at the moment as she has just released her third album, called "Langa langa". She showcases most of the tracks this evening.

After the opening pleasantries, she instantly marks her presence by singing "the golden goose flew out on the horizon". This begins "Movie scene". Ah! The Morgan magic is well underway and "Modern world" is performed in a similar vein. "Cavalier" tells of how "a town let her down", "how something can change real fast". She reflects "you trample this heart of mine". Exciting news then comes forth from the lips of Jess. She is now the proud owner of a new guitar. Tonight it gets it's first outing as it comes out on "The last song", which Jess tells us emphatically isn't! "The missionary" contains a story of note and Ms Morgan describes its conception. Her inspiration comes from memories from a few years ago of travelling alone through Kenya. She believes that the missionaries felt sorry for this frail girl, so near to the equator. As a visitor to this hot and dry African country, Jess realises that "we will see some change when the rain sets in".

"Connecticut" is an older and more familiar song. However, perhaps I was in a minority of one while listening tonight. Was there really the riff from Status Quo's "Wild side of life" gently flowing around parts of this song? ("Wild side of life" is an old country song written for Hank Thompson) This composition comes from when Jess received a monetary grant from Norfolk County Council and travelled to the American city, staying at the unmemorable Manchester Hotel. "Annie of Greyfriars" tell of the old Norfolk fish trade, while "Adam and Genevieve" comes from the vivid imagination of Ms Morgan. It tells of the how it might be if the man in the Garden of Eden had a previous girlfriend! "Round and round" describes the special bond between father and daughter. It is a collage of happy memories. As the hour draws to a close and the applause echoes around the room, shouts for an encore are agreeably answered by Jess. It is only the second night of her current tour, but this Norwich songstress seemed happy to be amongst her Bedford 'family'. Following on so easily from "All swell" and "Aye me", many copies of "Langa langa" were sold tonight. Just whatever you do, don't mention Newport Pagnell as she may turn nasty!

Opening this show is Ant Savage . Now very much at home as an acoustic performer, many will remember him from his days in bands, including the popular Betaboy. Quietly spoken, he is seated on a high chair and starts with "Factory floor". He passionately sings "don't want to be on that production line". Ant informs us early on that he broke a nail today and unfortunately it was his "picking finger". To compensate he has sellotaped a tip to his crucial digit. Except for the older "Fly away", much of his set is culled from his recently completed "Ruby sun" EP. As he tunes up between songs, he exasperatingly speaks for all acoustic performers by saying "this is horrible to do live, pissing about tuning"! "Starlings" and then "Ruby sun" at the close are the stand outs from this enjoyable set.

Back from the Hemsby coast for one night only is Amy Leeder . Smiling sweetly throughout, this lively collection of self-penned tunes begins with "Pop the cork". Prior to "You" Amy is joined by Shaun from The Ivories who taps away at his cajon. Coincidentally, this song is also about "the man behind the bar". "Beautiful something" tells of everything being more romantic by the sea, while "Best of days" is about "long distance relationships". Her between song chat is always highly amusing, such as when Amy enquires whether Paris is by the sea or writing her set list on an expensive short journey bus ticket to get more value. She ends with "My fairy tale", a song renamed and "made better" according to Amy.