Delta Maid at The Rescue Rooms Nottingham 13th November 2010

You always know when you walk into a venue that everyone’s come to see the main act.  If the support act is lucky, a few people will turn up early in the hope of catching something half decent.  Occasionally some of them will stop talking long enough to actually listen to the act.

Well, bucking the trend, and for good reason, the room was more than half full with an appreciative audience catching some great songs courtesy of Delta Maid.  Playing tracks from her recently released ‘Broken Branches’ EP and more, she kept the crowd entertained, filling in between songs with the inspiration behind them, such as ‘Any Way I Want To’ inspired by a friend she worked with in the ‘battlefield’ of Wythenshaw Hospital.

Accompanied by Ian, their two guitars worked well together, playing off each other nicely and creating a really open feel.  Ian played through the pain barrier for the first half of the gig due to having injured a finger while setting up, eventually having to call it a day and leave the stage.  This didn’t phase Delta at all.  Slowing the tempo down, two quieter numbers saw the audience also quieten down to listen.

There were surprises too with a mid-life crisis inspired song that was bouncy and upbeat with a great reggae feel to the guitar playing underpinning the song, and the closing song written ‘…for friends going out with footballers…’ had a nice fingerpicking style vaguely reminiscent of ‘Her Majesty’ by The Beatles.

All in all a great little set of delta and country blues inspired roots music from a classy lass with a great voice – to my mind even better live - and a natural ease in front of a crowd belying her youth.  Currently supporting Seth Lakeman, if you’re going, get there early and catch Delta Maid first, you won’t be disappointed.
 

Image credit - Adrian Brown - www.livemusicphotography.co.uk

For more info and live dates click here

www.myspace.com/deltamaid