Friday night in the Stromness Hotel
Victoria Olson
KEITH CHRISTMAS in the Stromness Hotel. Picture Tom O'Brien.
THE Stromness Hotel was a good place to be on Friday night, where their Blues Weekend coverage kicked off Keith Christmas and Stevie Hay and the Rayvons.Keith’s voice is well suited to singing the blues.
Heart Soul Body and Mind, an old Delta Blues song written by Keith, ‘The Days Are Long’, which he encouraged the audience to join in with, saying you don’t need to sing in tune or in time.
He played several songs from his album ‘Let The Devil’, ‘A Line is a Line’, ‘Duty Days’, and new songs such as ‘I Don’t Know What’s Inside of Me’.
Showing amazing dexterity with his impressive finger picking, his set a good mixture of lively numbers and slower, more soulful ones. Falling into this latter category was his last song, the truly beautiful ‘Why You Fell In Love With Me’.
He got a great reception from the crowd, when he asked if he was entertaining us the answer was a resounding ‘yes’.
Afterwards, Keith told Orkney Today: “I love the place, it’s a beautiful island. This is the first time I’ve ever been to any of the Scottish Islands.
“The people are lovely and it’s a wonderful accent, almost like something from Scandinavia, with a gentle lilt to it. And the air you breathe up here is absolutely to die for!”
When asked about playing on David Bowie’s album ‘Space Oddity’, he said: “David Bowie was a very interesting bloke, a bit wordy but a very nice man. I’ve got some stories to tell about those days, but you can’t print them!”
After a quick change of equipment, Stevey Hay and the Rayvons took over the musical reins for the rest of the night.
This group is fronted by singer and guitarist Stevey Hay, who looks the part in his hat and dark glasses, with dynamic backing from Angus Rose on keyboards, Rod Kennard on bass and Andrew Samson on drums.
They played two sets, keeping the blues-hungry crowd entertained until closing time, and showed off a very good blues sound, with a bit of funk and even punk thrown in for good measure.
The bass and drums kept the beat solidly throughout their set with ease, while the keyboard melodies perfectly complemented the guitar riffs The only minor criticism I have is that in this venue Stevey’s smooth blues voice was a bit overshadowed by the other instruments, which was a shame.
They played songs including ‘All Night Long’, ‘Rock Me Baby’ and ‘Shake Rag Boogie’. Among the highlights was their own song ‘Keep Outta Love’ and a fantastic cover of Jimi Hendrix classic ‘Voodoo Chile’, in which Stevey really managed to make his guitar sing.
As it got later, more people piled into the bar to see the group and there was dancing next to the bar and in any available bit of floor space.
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