Jez Lowe and The Bad Pennies at the Me and Thee Coffeehouse - 9/19/08
 by Cliff Garber  ·  22 September 2008

Jez Lowe is one of those songwriters who creates “instant traditional” songs — new songs that sound like they’ve been around forever. His songs have been covered by dozens of artists, but it’s always a treat to hear his versions. We’ve been following Jez for years. The first time we saw him was in the 1980’s, at Passim, when he was touring as a duo with Jake Walton on the Hurdy-gurdy. We try to see Jez whenever he comes through the area, whether solo or with his band The Bad Pennies. It’s always an enjoyable show.

Friday’s show at the Me&Thee Coffeehouse with The Bad Pennies was no exception. The lineup for the band was a little different than the last time we’d seen them. As before it included Kate Bramley (Fiddle, Mandolin, Vocals) and Andy May (Pipes, Piano, Accordian, Whistle) who have been part of the band for quite awhile, but this time around the bass player was a young[*] man named David de la Haye. They played two sets, the first weighted toward songs from their 2007 studio album “Jack Common’s Anthem,” and the second with a lot of requests of Jez’s older songs. As usual at a Bad Pennies show a highlight was Andy’s performance of several solo tunes on the Northumbrian Smallpipes.

The opening act was Ryan & Ortolani, who performed a solid set, mostly original songs by Gerry Ryan. We had never seen them before, but they’d definitely be worth seeing again.

Photos of Jez & The Bad Pennies sets are at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dan_tappan/sets/72157607393445087/

Photos of Ryan & Ortolani’s set are at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dan_tappan/sets/72157607411488505/

[*] at one point Jez noted that one of his songs was written before David was born

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