I went to see Kadia this Saturday at Holywell music rooms. Kadia is composed of three good, decent blokes from Bournemouth. They are, by day, a primary school teacher (Lee), an accountant (Chris) and an oceanographer (David). Since they are a folk band being ever so slightly dull is not a problem as we who are now familiar know (from previous Daily Info folk reviews) this genre camps on being unpretentious. Aficionados of folk are really just there to hear talented men and women on their ukeleles, banjos, accordions, cellos (delete as appropriate) and enjoy the harmonisation of untrained voices tell stories of flame-haired damsels and agricultural woes. But rock’n’ roll they ain’t.
Sometimes, however, a bit of ‘oomph’ eases the burden of having to sit on the de- rigeur wooden pews of the church/chapel/village hall on the erstwhile audiences’ collective backsides. I shouldn’t complain; the Holywell music rooms’ pews are more comfortable than most, and Kadia, being talented musicians did some really nice tunes with interesting references to folklore, sea shanties, and poetry (Edgar Allan Poes’ Annabel Lee). They even did a quite good (if slightly reticent) version of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Tell Me Lies’.
I bought their first album (East of Alexandria which was featured in the Daily Telegraph’s best folk albums of 2015) just for the last song ‘Parting Glass’ which apparently was used to herald in the New Year before being eclipsed by 'Auld Langs Syne'; their three-part harmony did the song justice and I might just start playing it as a festive standard or anytime it’s time for people to clear off… Perhaps lead vocal and cellist Lee Cuff should have kept quiet about his day job as I kept expecting him to point me out for not paying attention in class or knowing my eight times table!
But I like Kadia. They remind me of my friend Ben, also from Dorset, who grew a hipster beard. A nod towards modernity, but yet in practice so much more like a 19th century smallholder than befits young urban manhood. Would Kadia, therefore, benefit from a PR makeover? Probably. But it’s nice to see a bunch of musicians you could collectively describe as a ‘good bloke’ and who probably won’t bother.