Gary Edward Jones/Elfin Bow - 24/02/2019- Tittensor VH

For our first gig of 2019, it was back to Tittensor Village Hall to welcome, for the first time, Gary Edward Jones and his wife Elizabeth (Elfin Bow).

With all tickets sold and audience members travelling to Stoke-on-Trent from far and wide, all eagerly looking forward to seeing this pair of Liverpool born singer songwriters

Suffering badly from a nasty cold, Elfin Bow still managed to pull off a storming opening set of self penned traditional songs, ably assisted by her bass player, a certain Gary Edward Jones.

Elfin proved herself capable both as a singer and a multi instrumentalist, playing guitar, keys and mandolin.

With imagery blending her twin passions of music and art, Elfin Bow's music and stage presence brought colour, charisma and a gentle charm to the room, opening the evening's entertainment beautifully.

Those who have seen Gary Edward Jones before will know the quality of his song writing, with Amy Wadge describing him as "an undiscovered gem". However, major recognition will surely come his way due to the continuing success of his stage show 'Something about Simon' in which he pays homage to the life and works of Paul Simon.

This show sold out it's opening nights at Liverpool's Epstein theatre and is due to showcase at the Edinburgh fringe as well as being toured in America. All of this means of course that Gary's own music is having to take a bit of a back seat but thankfully for us, we had managed to secure his services for an increasingly rare night of his own fantastic original work.

Gary's setlist featured many songs from the excellent 'Cabinet Maker' album, with a few older favourites and some newer songs (like 'Skin') making a welcome appearance

A particular favourite song of this writer is 'Free Fallin' which Gary wrote for a friend whose father took his own life, and it is this observational quality of Gary's song writing which makes his music so emotionally charged

This was a memorable night of acoustic music from an artist on top of his game and one who's incredible talent and personal charm remind you just why going to see a live show is such a joy.