Watercolor

Michael Chapman @ Brudenell Social Club, Leeds Michael Chapman is a true mastercraftsman at the top of his trade. Born in Hunslet, Leeds and now in his 71st year of rocking and rolling with some of the world’s greatest musicians, he shows no signs of stopping, just like the trains he often fondly reveres and references in his songwriting. This is the third time I’ve seen Michael over the last year or so and every time I’ve been bowled over by his powerfully precise yet understated acoustic guitar playing, his dry no-nonsense Yorkshire wit and of course his huge catalogue of classic songs dating from his days on the Cornish folk circuit in the late-sixties to present. Michael was joined on stage by his two trusty 1955 guitars. The first half of the set was played on his acoustic, which produced one of the best acoustic sounds I’ve ever heard live. Towards the middle he whipped out his beautifully weathered and mellowed hollow body electric which, combined with his muggy Yorkshire- via-Mississippi drawl, sounded sublime - smoky, drenched in bourbon then left out on the rainy moors in the night. I sat at the back in a trance, and when I finally came to I noticed how not only his dedicated cult following were typically silent and respectful but a whole younger generation were stood at the bar and in awe of his playing (undoubtedly due in part to the re-release of his classic 1970 album ‘Fully Qualified Survivor’ on hip Seattle label Light In The Attic Records). The highlights for me were his acoustic rendition of ‘Soulful Lady’, one of my favourite laid back groove-rock classics featured on the aforementioned album, and the Sunday morning drunken ditty of ‘Fahey’s Flag’ (dedicated to Michael’s late night escapades with legendary American guitarist John Fahey). Michael’s style really is hard to pin down - file somewhere between blues, rag- time, folk, experimental. At the end of the day, there really is only one way to describe him: the Fully Qualified Survivor.

Jason Winder