Beth Porter and Ben Please are a unique proposition which is unusual in music. They write songs about books — any book — and then play them in a bookshop.
The result is a charming, quirky, evocative folk sound which, on the evening I saw them, reverberated around the third floor of the famous Hatchards bookstore on Piccadilly.
A small crowd was assembled before them in a rather intimate affair in which Ben plays acoustic guitar, accompanied by Beth on her cello, whose splendid playing and vocals moved the audience, along with the floorboards, in this ancient building.
According to someone from Hatchards present, it’s the first time there’s been a recital in the store since it began in 1797, some achievement in itself.
While this performance was held on London’s posh Piccadilly, there’s nothing at all grand about this duo, who have spent much of their time touring the country in a small Nissan Micra, from bookshop to bookshop.
No less than the legendary Pete Townshend is a fan. He’s likened them to “listening to Sandy Denny and Fairport [Convention]”. High praise, indeed.
The guitarist from The Who was so enthusiastic, he produced their latest album and invited them to record it in his own home studio. That’s close to winning some sort of music lottery!
How did they meet? Well, that’s a spoiler. Ben goes into some detail on how it all came about.
In fact, the gig is something of a life story of two people devoted to music and books and their determination to earn living from it.
The result of their unexpected friendship with Pete is a new album, Emerge, Return, which they’re now touring the country with.
One song is even written based on the first lines of novels, just like the parlour game. See how many you can get. It’s bound to be more than me!
A delightful evening; bigger things are in store for this talented, likeable couple.