Nov 8 2022

I Draw Slow

Sunday 30th October 2022

Review and photos by Keith Belcher

Sunday 30th October 2022: The debut appearance of Dublin based 5 piece band I Draw Slow at The Live Room, Caroline Street Social Club, Saltaire. Full marks to Ron and Hilary for this booking. One of only 3 shows in this “tour”.

At the end of this show I was mystified why I hadn’t heard of this band before. Like many great modern Irish bands they may be better known in The States than UK. They’ve played very prestigious festivals such as Merlefest, Rockygrass and Wintergrass and the calibre of musicianship at those festivals in extremely high.

Five albums to their name to date. The band are : On main vocals brother and sister Dave Holden and Louise Holden, Dave also playing acoustic guitar, Adrian Hart on fiddle, Konrad Liddy on upright double bass and Colin Derham on clawhammer banjo. A vast and varied soundscape covering traditional, old time, bluegrass , pop, jazz elements , Americana. It all gelled beautifully and was without doubt their own sound. Intelligent songs, great musicianship, vocals and banter and lovely people. What’s not to like. Not surprisingly no merch was left at the end of the night. I sincerely hope they are back at TLR soon.

Video by Keith Belcher

The Boy's Not Fair; Trouble; and About A Bird In An Airport Terminal

4 thoughts on “I Draw Slow

  1. Sorry I missed this band. Thanks for the video. Nice quality. Just wondering.……is it possible to improve the sound by taking a feed directly from the mixing desk or am I being naïve?……I’m no expert! 😊
    Thanks again

    1. Hi Martyn, they were brilliant and we’ll be bringing them back as soon as we can!

      And not a naïve question at all! The short answer is yes, we’ve thought about it, but it can get a little complicated as that would need mixing separately and you’d lose the ambience of the room and applause without setting up another mic. It would still be at the mercy of whatever people are playing it back on too. For instance, if we listen on our phone or even laptop without any full range speakers, you don’t hear the bass, as that frequency is not there. So at the moment, we’re erring on the side of recording the room as the least worst option! Thanks again, Ron

  2. An absolutely wonderful gig! I’ve seen many great bands at the LiveRoom but I Draw Slow have to one of the best. Apart from being excellent musicians their songs, mostly written by members, brother and sister Dave and Louise Holden, are well crafted and instantly memorable. Check out their 5 albums!

    I hope we get them back.

    1. Thanks Adrian, we got so many similar comments from the audience as they were leaving. They really should be far better known in the UK, they’re such a great band. Rest assured, we’ll be bringing them back as soon as possible! All the best, Ron

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