Having recorded their debut duo album, TURTLE COTTAGE, just along the coast from here at Strangford Lough, Ashley Campbell (daughter of Glen) and her partner, Thor Jensen, appropriately decided to start their Irish tour in the impressive new Bangor venue. They had spent a few weeks in Turtle Cottage on tiny Mahee Island in January (2023) and recorded the album there in front of a wood stove, while trying to keep warm.
Even though I was completely unfamiliar with the material on the just released recording and I really didn’t know what to expect from the pair, I was captivated by the performance from start to finish. Ashley’s background is in Americana, having played banjo in her late father’s band and then based herself in Nashville more recently. A New Yorker, Thor Jensen’s background is as a guitar player in early jazz and rock, and the pair met a couple of years ago in Nashville when Ashley took lessons from him in Django Reinhardt style guitar. A Song by Vampires, for Vampires turns out to be not at all scary but a beautiful love song, ‘We’re gonna live til the end of time/I’m so glad you’re mine’ and introduces us to Ashley’s adept claw hammer banjo playing and Thor’s virtuoso acoustic guitar playing. He is possessed of an impressive deep baritone voice, and blends it perfectly with Ashley’s exquisitely sweet vocals. They take turns on lead vocals during the evening, but often they sing the songs in harmony throughout. Another love song from the album If I’m Gonna Live a Long Time has Thor singing lead and has a real ragtime feel, this time with Ashley playing her resonator banjo. Thor explained that the song was influenced by Leon Redbone, and encourages the audience to check him out. Run With You, the latest single from the album and another love song, follows with the duo singing in perfect harmony.
The between song banter is mainly left to Thor, but Ashley eventually explains that that’s because she has to keep tuning her banjos, which are very ‘persnickety’ in our damp climate! The early blues classic Trouble in Mind follows and it allows Thor to let loose on a mesmerising guitar solo. Next up is an instrumental Exit Zero, one of the two on the album and its complexity, based on cascading banjo notes, leaves the audience in no doubt as to the virtuosity of the playing of both musicians. Switching to guitar, Ashley shows that she’s not just a great banjo player. They cover Willie Nelson’s Bloody Mary Mornings and Tom Waits’ Long Way Home. A particularly nice touch was the anecdote about their next song, a cover of Jimmy Webb’s Careless Weed. Webb was, of course, a great friend of Glen Campbell but Glen never actually recorded the song. However, there’s a YouTube video of Glen playing it for Jimmy in a hotel one night and Ashley & Thor used that version to write their own dual guitar arrangement.
The overall feel of the music in the sixteen song set leaned heavily towards jazz & folk. My favourite piece was their beautiful rendition of Eleanor Rigby accompanied by their twin guitars. They sold out the two nights in the intimate 100 seater room and the mainly local audience were enthralled throughout. There’s still time to catch them on their remaining Irish dates, followed by a UK tour. And the good news is that they have just moved to London, so we’ll hopefully get to see them quite often in this part of the world.
Review and photo by Eilís Boland