At the end of a busy week we relaxed to some live music not too far from home.
Sam Hill, the brother-in-law of a good friend, gave a couple of hours of excellent entertainment, at the Brief Encounter Bistro in Carnforth station. Sam writes his own songs and music, and sang them while playing guitar, with Geoff Orr accompanying on piano.
Sam's style is generally folk-rock and, as he chatted to the audience between songs, he mentioned that he was influenced by singer-songwriters including James Taylor and Neil Young. But his style is clearly his own and his songs don't sound derivative.
During the evening he mostly chose songs from his back catalogue which goes back over 30 years. The acoustic set up - vocals, guitar, piano - and the gentle lyrics about love and family make his songs timeless.
The audience loved the performance and we returned home humming his memorable tunes, having completely forgotten about the events of the busy week.