Troy Redfern / Warm, Reekin’, Rich -Bannerman's Bar, Edinburgh, 4th March 2025

My journey took me to Bannerman’s, the grassroots venue champion of the year. For those of us who know this place, their win was no surprise. Christian Kimmett and his team do a fantastic job, putting on live music every night and doing their best to support new talent. If you are around Edinburgh any night and fancy some live music, for the price of a couple of pints, you’ll find it in the Cowgate.

Alex and I arrived just before 8, this was Alex first time in Bannerman’s and his first photoshoot for Rockfiend. Give a boy an easy start! As good as the venue is, the lighting for snappers is notoriously poor. He did a great job.

First up was a Glasgow four piece who were making their debut at this end of the M8. Warm, Reekin, Rich are all talented musicians, that was clear and I enjoyed them. My only concern was I didn’t quite know what they were. We had blues, folk, a bit of an Elvis thing and a few songs where the tempo and time signature changed several times in a single number. I think if they nailed one or even two genres in their live set, they would be formidable. I enjoyed then and if you get a chance, go see them. 

During the changeover I had a quick chat with Troy and his drummer Nicky Waters. They have been doing their thing for a wee while now and doing it in some pretty good company. The last time Alex saw them was when the opened for Philip Sayce in November.  

The tour has been going well for the pair with a sold out night in Leamington Spa, a busy evening at Kinross and gig to come in Barnoldswick, where tickets are seriously limited. These are just rewards for this travelling troubadour. One of the things I like about Troy is that he is not just a creative but a creator and so he produces some great and different sounds, some great licks and some great new ideas that he’s happy to try out – a tour with guitar and drum being case in point. Troy also knows what he is good at and makes an art of that. If you like a bit of slide guitar, Troy is your guy.

Troy walked on stage wearing his wide brimmed hat, feathers in his hair and beads round his neck looking all very Jack Sparrow, if Jack Sparrow ever played a blues guitar. It was a shame there were not more people in Bannerman’s to see him. For the 20 or so who popped along they were rewarded with a top hour of slide guitar, blues and drums.  

This was a gig that was built around new tracks and the new album “Invocation”. I enjoyed the first couple of songs. For Troy, these were on a hollow body guitar that gave us a gutsy tone as his little finger did all the work on the slide. Nicky stood at his drums - a snare, a cymbal and a solitary tom. It takes both confidence and skill to give a stripped back show like this, but both guys were showing their chops.

The next three, Take Me High, The Calling and Native were all cut from the new album. I liked them all. Back to that creator thing, Troy did a bit of a sitar sound and a bit of western cowboy vibe across these three which worked great. 

John the Revelator, from the 2020 album “Island” fitted perfectly into the groove the night had taken on. All Night Long from the new record give a bit more of a rocky hint to the night and Sweet Caroline from “The Wings of Salvation” kept the heads nodding and toes tapping – this was my favourite of the night.

The night ended with Voodoo Priestess, again from the new record and it was a cracker too.

It was clear from the get-go that this was, as Troy put it, going to be an ‘intimate’ gig. For the 20 or so people, who saw the show it was clear they really enjoyed it – these were two talented guys and there was lots to enjoy. I guess there is always a risk that an artist’s head can go down when the room isn’t full. I didn’t get the impression that happened on Tuesday, quite the opposite, I don’t think Troy and Nicky could have put in more effort if they were headlining Download.  

As Alex and I left into the Tuesday night air, we both agreed that we didn’t know where the last hour had gone. The new stuff was really good and the mix of drum and guitar worked better, over the full hour, than I thought it might. As I got on the bus I plugged into “Invocation” and started to smile. It’s a great album and tonight it was presented just right.