Jetty Road at the Zebra Bar
Sunday October 12
By Jane Connolly
Maidstone enjoyed the honour of hosting the first ever UK performance by acclaimed Australian band Jetty Road last night (Sunday).
Currently on a whistle stop tour of Europe, the rising stars played their only British date at the Zebra Bar in King Street and it was an impressive debut. Few bands have ‘chart success’ written all over them like Jetty Road and they certainly won over the first of what will doubtless be an army of new fans here.
The show was opened by Emma King and the Heartsets, a British act who got the evening off to an exuberant start. Tiny though King was, she had a huge voice and her evident enjoyment in the rollicking tunes warmed the room up nicely.
Jetty Road are fronted by twins Lee and Paula Bowman, who did nothing to quell the myth that all country singers are slim and attractive with fantastic voices. Backed by multi-instrumentalists Julian Sammut and Simon Ross, they were able to incorporate a refreshing variety of sounds into their catchy tunes, from the harmonica to the mandolin.
Along with their regular bass player and drummer, they produced an invigorating, pop/country/rock sound that is sure to be a hit on this side of the world.
Speaking to YourMaidstone after the gig, the band revealed how their only UK concert came about thanks to the faith of Maidstone’s own promoter and magazine, Maverick. Editor Alan Cackett was the only promoter who took a chance on the relatively new band, but his gamble will almost certainly pay off.
“We’re so thankful to Alan for taking on the risk,” Simon said. “A band like us, trying to break into a new market, relies on people like Alan.”
Jetty Road was formed nearly four years ago and has already enjoyed great success in Australia, with three singles entering the country chart’s top 20. Lee and Paula started singing “before we could talk” but initially took very different directions.
“At the end of high school, no one says ‘you can be a singer’,” Paula said. “For the first year (after high school) I studied photography and Lee did hospitality. After one year away from music we decided to go to music school in Melbourne, where we met the other guys.”
All the members have a varied musical background but the band seemed to drift towards the country scene as the natural home for the songs they were writing. Their debut album Full Circle received extensive airplay in Australia and the second, Dirt Roads – City Lights, has developed an even more mature sound.
When the time seemed right to visit Europe, the band was unsure of how they would be received but so far the brief tour has been a hit.
“Our first gig was at a festival in France and the audience went mental,” Simon said. “We did an encore, then did a second encore and they were stamping their feet and going crazy. It was the greatest European start.”
Jetty Road hopes to return to the UK for the festival season next year. Find out more about them online at www.jettyroad.com.
POSTED: 13/10/2008 13:00:00
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