Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
As Jo Bywater takes to the stage at The Picket, it is possible to see members of the audience reminiscing over when they first came across this adopted Merseysider from Yorkshire. Time may have moved on and Jo may have been sadly missing from the venues in the city for a while but this sparkling and honest musician who is admired for her tenacity, frankness and genuine desire was treated as a much loved but much missed friend.
Jo readily admits her touring schedule will see her take a step away from the city that has become her home for the next few months but as a parting gift go, to watch this songstress perform as part of the Threshold Festival was one that would take some beating.
Jo had the hard task of being on between two very superb bands, holding court ahead of Science of the Lamps and setting the scene for the whole evening ahead is a demanding test for any musician but with her customary self-assurance beaming out from the stage and with her inherent dry Yorkshire humour peeking out from above the parapet, there would have been no need to worry, Jo had it certainly all in hand.
Jo had time for five tracks and she chose her musical weapons well with Fast Ant and Smokescreen sounding great in the wide expanse of The Picket. Jo took full advantage of this roomy venue and her voice and more importantly her guitar seemed to fill every crevice and gap that it could find.
Jo Bywater may have been away from the Liverpool scene for a while but there is the promise of new songs being worked upon ahead of coming back even stronger in the autumn, all of which bodes well for this likeable musician with the great sense of justice in her voice. Ms. Bywater performed Scratch the Surface and the wonderful Woollen Hearts, which was greeted warmly and full of appreciation, before pulling out all the stops for the finale, the superb song Disclaimer.
A valuable addition to the Threshold Festival, a woman of great depth and stunning songs, it can only be left to be said that the next few months need to fly by so the promise of new material can sit alongside this incredible back catalogue.
Ian D. Hall