Levi Weaver, Rebecca De Winter, Christian Webb.

Holy Moly's, Lev 1 Esquires Bedford. Wednesday 11th February 2015.

Making a reappearance at Esquires after a gap of three years (he last played on 18/1/12) is LEVI WEAVER . This tall, thin thirtysomething gent strides confidently onto the raised stage area. A few dimly lit spotlights shine above him. He gazes upon the assembled audience and immediately strikes up eye contact. Levi announces that he is "here from The States". It is a big country and he is not tied to any one part as he informs us that he was "born in Texas", "lived in Nashville" and is "moving to Seattle". This opening tale of his life so far is possibly best summed up when performing "I am certain I am a train" (from 2011 album "The letters of Dr Kurt Gödel") with "We're all searching for a home we've never seen". Levi is informative and occasionally witty in his between song chat, although I do feel that he perhaps lacks a certain degree of warmth. He does admit that he can often "drift into mundane details". This may be due to the huge workload of gigs that he is currently undertaking (he is aiming at 158 shows in a year!) and the fact that he is travelling from show to show on public transport.

Levi's attire and facial appearance seem (at least to me) slightly different from his previous Bedford show. The 'clean cut' look gives way to a somewhat bohemian appearance with his longish straight hair, wispy beard and a hoodie under his shirt. Social media had apparently indicated that he possessed a facial resemblance to David "Dr Who" Tennant, although a friend of mine reckoned he looked more like David Beckham! The phenomenal amount of gigs lined up are to showcase his new album "Your ghost keeps finding me". As the set develops we get a potted history of his childhood and of Levi's father, who was both a preacher and a professional rodeo cowboy. That is quite a strange combination. Being a solo musician and having limited space (or finances), Levi explains that he has a keyboard app fixed to his guitar. This gives a most unique effect on "Hear you say my name". To compound his lack of equipment he accidentally drops his pick. He has a temporary panic as he admits that "it's the only one I have got". The easy going vocals and deft finger skills keep a good sized midweek turnout transfixed. Levi, on the other hand, spots the two 'stained glass' effect pictures of Hendrix and Lennon that are on the wall in Holy Moly's and I sense that he's impressed. With his limited budget he concedes that he had to fly Ryanair and also borrow a Yamaha guitar and "it's not a nice one". He performs a clutch of his new material which includes "Song in my branches", "Paddleboats" and "Borrowed clothes". We are told that the latter is a wedding song and Levi admits that it is his "one happy song" because "most are melancholy". The deepest of those is "Dark clay" which is all about depression. He reflects on "driving through Kansas" and talks often of divorce, even though his marriage is solid. Sadly on this tour his wife has had to stay back home. Levi's most lengthy anecdote concerns a visit to Turkey, Istanbul in fact. While there he met a fella called 'Jimmy' and the tale features, amongst other things, prostitutes, hotels, cash machines and a hell of a lot of running! Levi says that the recounting of this story still gives him "an adrenalin rush". The show closes with "Which drink", but with the loud shouts for an encore he finishes the show with "Citadel".

Unfortunately REBECCA DE WINTER seldom plays Esquires these days. Thankfully that glaring omission is rectified this evening. This angelic young lady enchants the audience. She concentrates on newer material but this reviewer is thrilled to hear the older, gorgeous "Stranger". Rebecca is assisted by dependable Dave on guitar and has a song about a lady often seen around Bedford. She is renowned for wearing elegant and colourful Victorian clothing and, of course, "the Ascot hat". Naturally this composition is entitled "Not at the races". For the most part Rebecca is sat at her keyboards. The clarity of sound is exquisite. The lyrics constantly paint a picture and a story is at the heart of each one. "A stitch in time" tells of an old tailors shop in Middleton Road, London. The frontage has remained as it had been in the past and even the "mouldy underpants" are still on show"! Rebecca includes some fun in her last song called "La movette" and she encourages everyone to make seagull sounds. The lyrics tell of a woman who has a difficult decision to make, whether to stay with her family or run off with a pirate. This song is best remembered tonight for fully grown adults squawking like coastal birds and laughing their heads off in the process. An excellent set. Later on in the evening Rebecca joins Levi Weaver for a delightful duet of his song "Rogueboat".

Opening is CHRISTIAN WEBB . This Bedford singer songwriter offers a relaxed and short set of a collection of songs from his unreleased albums! Christian is naturally philosophical as to why these songs haven't been heard by a wider audience and says "I lost about sixty songs on a mini disc"! The pick of the set is "Swinging on machinery" which was written exactly ten years ago and was inspired by a dream that he had. Christian ends his set with a cover of Neil Young's "Birds" and he is joined by long term collaborator Adam Knowles.

A word of thanks and recognition must also go to Michael Herd and Jez Brown who combined their efforts to put this show together.

Review by Martin Stapleton. www.bedfordalternativemusic.co.uk