Willy Mason / Sam Airey / Michael Ainsley

After the joy of Hayseed Dixie yesterday in this fairly quiet Yorkshire mini city tonight we have the extremely talented Willy Mason, what a coup! His brother Sam is along for the ride too.



Firstly is a guy called Michael Ainsley, and with help from his friend Harry Rhodes they play indie acoustic stripped back tunes. Both guys have been members of Wakefield band Piskie Sits, but tonight they are just down to a duo of guitars and Ainsley switches the drums for six strings.

Now for an early support act the room is full to bursting, such are people saving their space up front for the main act. They are not disappointed with this set though, thoroughly listening to songs like '1 into 3', 'Wake When You Die' and 'Slip Smash' with Ainsley's broad Yorkshire accent standing out in the tracks, sounding familiar to fellow Wakey vocalist Matt Broadbent (Dugong, Brown Hound James).



Next up is a soloist called Sam Airey, who beings a beautiful set of songs to the room, which is even more packed then before. He is very similar in style to Willy Mason but with a voice more like that of Gomez's Ben Ottewell. The Americana sounds and gentle guitar plucking and tapping make everyone in the room take note and listen. He is normally joined by friends and is a multi-instrumentalist but tonight as with the first band we get a stripped back set of just Airey and his guitar.

I can't get the song 'The Blackout' out of my head (it's to be a single in July), and 'Endless Sea' has beautiful guitar sounds accompanying Airey's soft vocals that just take your mind to the sea. This Anglesey / Leeds lad is definitely one to watch out for.



With the room full to bursting Willy and Sam Mason take to the stage. As mentioned before, this is a coup for Wakefield, and just one of many small venue dates Willy has arranged himself on this tour. His brother Sam has played before as a member of Chorus Of Arrows in Wakefield (at my house!) but that band has now sadly ended and it's back to just the two brothers (and sometimes just Willy playing solo shows).

The technical musicianship of these two is astounding though, Sam's spot on unassuming drum beats perfectly back up Willy's Americana guitar melodies and deep earthy vocals. You can see they hardly have to speak to each other to know what each other are thinking; it's great to watch.

There are a lot of new songs to start off with, as Willy has been working on a new album that should be out soon. They start with a lot of slower, softer tunes like 'Into Tomorrow' and 'If It's The End'. 'Pickup Truck' is a rather upbeat track for this part of the set, and 'Restless Fugitive' makes an appearance from the last EP 'So Long Baby Shoes'.



It's after a short interval that Willy comes back and plays more tunes that the majority know from the albums 'Where The Humans Eat' and 'If The Ocean Get's Rough'. 'So Long', Save Myself' and 'Our Town' bring the tempo up with everyone singing the now classic line "White bread / cheese spread and some mayonnaise!".

'Riptide', 'Gotta Keep Walking' and 'We Can Be Strong' cheer the crowd up again (especially with Willy’s strong vocals on the end of the latter), who have gotten a little chatty after the break at the back where I am standing, but 'Oxygen' bring them all back around to what's happening for a full on sing-a-long. 'Where The Humans Eat' and 'Hard Hand To Hold' are also great last additions to the set. Willy and Sam look truly pleased to be here, and Wakey welcome you back anytime for more of the same.

FUTURE GIGS