Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

In the right hands the combination of guitar and violin is one of extreme beauty, they complement each other, they add a mournful dynamic to joy, they imagine upbeat righteousness in the midst of passion and yet they also bring a sound of hope to a place where life is in need of comfort; it matters not if the sound is one of the ethereal or inscribed with a regimental jig, what matters is that the heart and soul of a song is joined together by the players and their instruments.

Extreme notes and the playful have their place in any music fans repertoire and for Two Black Sheep the moment of intrigue is enhanced and replaced by warmth, a kaleidoscope of colour and wonderfully weaved stories.

Stories are important and as Amy Chalmers and Ian Davies stride purposely, although with an undertaking of laughter and enjoyment, through their set in support of White Little Lies on the event of their E.P. launch, stories become more than meaningful, they are important, they can create affection and let someone breathe easier in their own despair, so much more than meaningful, they become a representation of our own souls, significant and telling.

Amy Chalmers and Ian Davies knit their stories together with the foundation of the guitar and violin with a sense of occasion, but one also held in place by the concrete determination to be honest with the crowd, and it is to that crowd at Studio 2 on Parr Street that were treated to a set bound in pleasure, steeped in the complimented instruments.

Across the songs Home, Ghosts, Another Lonely Winter, Angry Boy, Glasgow Train, The Beech Tree and the sublime instrumental One Too Many Gins, Ian Davies and Amy Chalmers took the audience on a trip through that combined delicate embrace and left the crowd understanding the significance of detail, that every story comes from a moment in time which can be contained like lightning in a bottle, but which needs to be set free if it is to marvelled at.

To be wrapped in the finery of a story is a privilege, to hear it sang in the musical zone of the guitar and violin is an honour, and one that Two Black Sheep eloquently give their all to.

Ian D. Hall