Fortnightly
Music Reviews from the streets of Teesside and beyond
Thomas Truax, The Waiting Room, Eaglescliffe, 26 October 2025
Thomas Truax picked up his shiny guitar, pulled a few levers and pressed a few switches setting all manner of musical machinery in whirring, whirling motion. The man in the dark suit addressed the mic in his baritone and for one autumnal Sunday night we were on a magic carpet ride; the Waiting Room restaurant in Eaglescliffe was transported to Wow Town.
Lewis from ambient punks Ellen Moss picked up his acoustic and dialled down the volume to start the evening's entertainment. You Alone was one of several songs extracted from the Ellen Moss long player and given the acoustic, banjo, harmonica, vocal treatment. Lewis later revealed in a previous life as a busker in York he earned more than working in the NHS. Which says more about the way we reward our caring health professions than the generosity of tourists. Lewis covered USA experimental pop band Magnetic Fields, a name that could easily be a Thomas Truax album title.
Thomas Truax has been a frequent visitor to the Waiting Room over the years, whether on tour from New York, Berlin or now Birmingham he has lit up our evenings with his magic and mystery in inventive
composition and performance. His musical compass can point to David Lynch, tragic butterfly romance or most recently a brilliant collaboration with former Creature and Banshee Budgie which blossomed into Dream Catching Songs.
Thomas played his tremulous guitar while accompanied by ticking, temperamental, percussive giant Mother Superior, his back bone of drums. On Everything's Gone Halloween the singing was distorted through the old brass horn of his Hornicator. He would pause before imitating buzzing bees by fanning the guitar strings, not to mention twanging the Stringaling, a delicate operation that saw him wrapping up the whole venue in his elasticated outfall from his instrument.
There was an extra spooky dimension for Halloween. Thomas invoked a full moon over the building, possibly shining forth from his guitar, which took us on a journey into space and also outside the front of the restaurant. Free floaters for one night then, when thanks to our sonic conductor Thomas Truax we were enveloped in a wonderful kind of strange.
Hurry back again Thomas.
Words: Robert Nichols
Pictures: Tracy Hyman
Thomas Truax
Thomas Truax
Pictish Trail, Faith Eliott, The Waiting Room, Eaglescliffe, 2 November 2025
Larger than life, Pictish Trail,aka Johnny Lynch, lives and records on the tiny Hebridean island of Eigg, so place him in a small, intimate setting like the Waiting Room restaurant and he is absolutely in his element. Whether delivering charming folky acoustic asides or manipulating full on electro madness and mayhem all eyes and minds are glued to the man in the beard and peaked cap. He pulls the strings and we are willing participants in his merry dance, hilarity and top, top tunes.
But first and also from north of the border, Faith Eliott absolutely charms the life out of us. Faith is a consummate story teller but with a gorgeous melodic voice. Faith finger picks her acoustic and is accompanied on dreamy, atmospheric keyboards by Susan Bear. We step inside a Snowglobe before being transported to Egg Mountain, Montana. Beware there are monsters about, including two bottom feeders from the deep ocean floors. This is a deadly love song played out on a seabed of decay. Faith has released a wonderful new LP on Pictish Trail's Lost Map label, it is called Dryas.
Life Slime is the title and theme of Pictish Trail's brand new album, out on Fire Records early 2026 but on pre-release in his tour shop. We revel in his Infinity Ooze
before checking into his Life Slime recommendations and bolstering the chorus by joining in. There are acoustic renderings from previous releases Thumb World and we are introduced to Johnny's Island Family, where we learn the shocking half truth about the Wickerman horror show of Bonfire Night on Eigg.
Pictish Trail descends into a full on electronic sonic stream incorporating giant heads and a whole lot of dancing on tables and chairs. We become locked in victims of an acid fever dream hallucination of The Bear With The Heart Eyes before all getting up off our Sunday seats for a Coen Bros Fargo inspired hip hop trip hop remix finale, Far Gone (Don't Leave).
We took the message from the final song. Tracy, Jacqui and myself loved the show so much that after spending far too much time and money at the merchandise store pledged to rejoin the Pictish Trail a week later with the luscious, choral and orchestral moods of Lucy Gooch at the Bluebird Bakery in York. That night ended with the entire audience doing a conga conducted by Pictish Trail.
On behalf of the three of us we recommend buying the music and keeping a weather eye open to joining the Pictish Trail whenever it happens your way. pictishtrail.com
Words: Robert Nichols Pictures: Tracy Hyman
Pictish Trail
Bad Manners,
Eston and Normanby Social Club
23 November 2025
It was a major coup getting the ska legends to play on Teesside on their extensive 50
Despite playing Sunderland before, the 180 capacity venue sold every ticket pretty much as soon as the date was announced.
Although the line up has probably included more members than The Fall since 1976 and its inception at Woodberry Down Comprehensive, North London, Doug Trendle aka Buster Bloodvessel has remained a constant engaging presence.
Alongside their late 70’s ska contemporaries, Madness,
The Beat and The Selecter, their set is a healthy mixture of old school Trojan infused ska covers and self -penned material and the Sunday school night audience skanked along to every song in their blissful one and a half hour set. Although Buster sometimes takes a break for an occasional instrumental (Echo 4 + 2 and The Skatalites ‘El Pussycat’), the set is an evening of unashamedly non stop, high energy ska. From their first ever hit, the Dicky Doo and the Don’ts cover ‘Nee Nee Na Na Na Nu Nu’ to their early 80’s chart hogging classics, ‘Lorraine’, ‘My Girl Lollipop’, ‘Special Brew’, the band showed off their musical chops with an excellent band and pitch perfect brass section including the legendary Colin Graham on trumpet (and arranger of Wham classics ‘Wake Me Up Before You Go Go’ and ‘Club Tropicana’). Although Bad Manners have a reputation for unadulterated escapism, they also demonstrated their more reflective nature with ‘Inner London Violence’, Skinhead Love Affair’ and ‘Just A Feeling’. I was so pleased they included my personal favourite, the Frankie Valli penned ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off You’. The great lost Bad Manners number one single in my humble opinion.
To close the evening Buster and the boys finished with a joyous encore of ‘Lip Up Fatty’ and ‘Can Can’. If you get chance to see them on the anniversary tour you must seize the opportunity. Like Suggs, Buster is a real national (ska) treasure and a reminder that the 2 tone movement and all the wonderful music it spawned has remained as sublime as ever.
Words: Chris Bartley
Pictures: Keren Bingham
Emerging country and soul performer Lauren Housley has been making waves lately, on both sides of the Atlantic.
We caught up with the South Yorkshire Americana singer ahead of her headlining gig at Eaglescliffe's Waiting Room restaurant on Sunday 7 December.
Off The Beat: You first appeared on many people's radar when you won the 2022 AMA-UK (The Americana Music Association UK) Emerging Artist Award. That must have been a real thrill and especially to be chosen by such a legend as Bob Harris?
Lauren Housley: Yes, Bob has been such a huge supporter of mine (and I am a big fan of his too obviously). We were invited to play an Under The Apple Tree session at his house and we played a new song at the time, Stay Awake To Dream. Bob had many kind words to say about that song and performance. It
really made people start to take me more seriously as a songwriter I think.
OTB: Last year was really big for you. Tell us about your time in Nashville. What was it like to play before Nashville audiences? Tell us about being a UK artist playing AmericanaFest?
LH: Yes, it was amazing! We have been going out to Nashville a lot since 2018, but only in the last few years have I had the chance to perform there myself. It's always such an inspiring place to be, surrounded by so many like-minded and talented artists from all over the world! We always go over for the AmericanaFest and the Thirty Tigers Gospel Brunch is always a highlight of my time at the festival. We are honoured to have been invited to be a part of their showcase two years running now, which meant we got to perform at The City Winery in Nashville alongside some truly
Off The Beat with Robert Nichols and Tracy Hyman
Bad Manners
unbelievable artists. I was also invited to play The Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, which was one of the most surreal moments of my professional life. That place is legendary! The year that I did an official showcase was completely wild as I took my 3-month old baby and my almost 2 year old son. I had no sleep the whole trip but we got to play some great shows. I still have people who saw our showcase message me now to ask when we will be back.
OTB: Congratulations on picking up 2 awards from The Americana Music Association UK for Best Song and Best Live act in 2024? That must feel very good to be given accolades for both recorded and live work. Can you tell us about the making of that award winning song High Time?
LH: Thank you! Yes, that was a real surprise to receive 2 nominations. High Time was written as a call for action on the climate change issues we are facing. It's an empowering message! It was recorded at the Northern Cowboy studio in Sheffield. It features some unbelievable players, including the Haggis Horns as the horn section!
OTB: I believe you are from South Yorkshire. Tell us please how you got into country and soul. Is there much of a scene in the area?
LH: I am from Rotherham in South Yorkshire. I grew up there but moved to Newcastle at 18 to study at University. I then moved to Manchester and now I'm back in Sheffield, so I have moved around a lot, soaking up music wherever I go! Bob Harris was actually the person who opened me up to a whole world of music
when he used to play so much beautiful Americana music on his late night show. I'd be driving home from shows late at night and the music made the journey so much more enjoyable. I heard so much music that was new to me on that show. It had a huge influence on the music I made going forward. I started by singing Jazz & Soul and I guess that sound has stayed with me too, so the influences have all melded together.
OTB: Who have been your influences and idols in music?
LH: Bonnie Raitt, Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Bill Withers, Linda Ronstadt, Aretha Franklin, Ella Fitzgerald, Otis Redding, Elvis, Thee Sacred Souls, Bob Marley, Candi Staton. The list goes on and on.
OTB: What are your plans for this year and the future? Can we look forward to more records and what are your touring plans?
LH: We have lots of new music ready to start releasing, which I am so excited about! After having a bit of a slower time with my songwriting for a few years, I am now in a place where I am writing all the time again and it feels like I'm writing some of my best songs. We will be touring in the Spring next year and you may see us at some festivals next summer. We are heading back to the US for various bits of touring also.
OTB: Thanks so much to Lauren, and to Elaine Palmer for all the help with this interview.
Lauren Housley plays The Waiting Room, Eaglescliffe on Darlington on Sunday 7th December.
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Listings subject to change, please check with the venue’s website for full information before booking.
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Listings subject to change, please check with the venue’s website for full information before booking.
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