With their Southern, home-spun and earthy feel, Swamptruck Good Time Band, as the announcer at the Cambridge Folk Festival declared with quiet knowing, ‘They will surely get you all moving!’ He was not in the slightest bit wrong. Despite any challenges of the hot, sticky weather people cleared the way in front of the stage for plenty of jigging to be going on as the band took their headlining place on the opening night of the historic festival.
Swamptruck are undoubtedly an easy-going and wholly talented band who are themselves Cambridge-natives but you simply would not know it. Being a from an American Southern locale myself originally, this band would not be out of place in the comfy Cajun haunts in somewhere like Louisiana or Texas and could be transplanted there without any effort. And, their brand of southern translates well here equally, for the plain fact that they are accomplished yet relaxed in their delivery. That is the essence of southern, country and folk music. No strictures, quietly confident in their musical ability to play with finesse that is unassuming but lacking in none of the efficacy of other genres.
Being, as I say, from The South I did truly revel in hearing their cover, ‘Eastbound and Down’, originally by Jerry Reed (and, if you are of an age, you may recall it was used in the Burt Reynolds movie series, Smokey and The Bandit, which also had Jerry Reed himself in the movies; just another useless fact to stack in your brain box!) However, they made it their own and it worked technically and musically.
Their whole set was, to use a trite phrase, toe-tapping. It would be a challenge to stand stock-still song after song, but why would you want to? Finding something to move to on a warm summer’s night is a strong tonic for whatever might ail, so better to join in!
Check out Swamptruck here!
Photos by ©PremiumPhotographic
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