Town Musicians of Bremen - They may be town musicians but they're certainly not from Bremen

Two out of three Town Musicians
...but no sign of the nykelharpa yet!

Just before Christmas I had the pleasure of seeing Town Musicians of Bremen perform live in Worcester. This was the third time I'd seen this trio in action (although, on this most recent occasion, they were one man down!)

There are a few things you should know about this highly original band. First, they're not from Bremen at all but from the West Midlands of England (Stourbridge and Evesham) and, of course, take their name from the folktale popularised by the Brothers Grimm. Leon Gormley is the understated front-man, on lead vocals, guitar and cittern, with Andrew Lowings on bouzouki and Lewis Jones on melodeon and nickelharpa (a Swedish bowed-string instrument with keys, that makes my mountain dulcimer - normally a bit of a conversation piece - look like a very commonplace instrument indeed!) All three musicians are relaxed and consummate players who blend perfectly together and seem able to effortlessly produce deeply sympathetic music.

There's no sign yet of an album but the Town Musicians of Bremen debut EP is a tasty little appetiser, featuring two of Leon Gormley's very affecting songs 'Stranger to my Eye' and 'My Friend Remembers' plus one of Andrew Lowings' instrumentals 'Alfrick' and a rendition of 'Magpie' (not the Dave Dodds' song covered by The Unthanks, but a version of the theme to the 1970s children's TV show originally played by the Spencer Davis Group under the alias of The Murgatroyd Band.)  

Perhaps it's my age, but I'm particularly fond of Leon's song 'My Friend Remembers' with its chorus that sounds a bit like 'What shall we do with the drunken sailor?' and its lyric that combines nostalgia with political comment, expressing bafflement at modern life: "It's all in the hands of the new computers, it's no good if you can't use 'em, I'm not able to understand!" A full album of TMB music is eagerly anticipated.