Stagefright? Not on your life!

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Yesteryear has been lucky enough to see a brand new band rise from obscurity in our local neck of the woods recently.

We caught their debut gig at Cafe Roux a few months ago and on Thursday night went back to see them play again. Both times we took our 11 year old boy, who is fast becoming a big fan of classic rock, much to Yesteryear's delight :-)

This new band were name-less on debut, but now call themselves Inhale. They are only teenagers but play like they've been around for years. The lead singer has a voice that Aretha Franklin or Nina Simone would be proud of. The guitarist is Knopfler-like on lead with an incredible feel for it. And the rhythm section is super tight for an act so young.

Best of all they look like they are having a blast and are clearly not afraid to try new things. On return, we were probably expecting a carbon copy of their debut set-list, but that wasn't the case at all.

They stripped right back to a trio for a cracking blues-funk instrumental, with the lead guitarist strapping on the bass, whilst the bass player turned to the keyboard.

They changed the tempo mid-set with a superb acoustic rendition of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah.

And they invited a guest guitarist on stage for their own blues-soaked take on Santana's Black Magic Woman. All beautifully done.

Without putting too much pressure on them, we hope this young band keep enjoying what they are doing, as much as they appear to be. It's a joy to watch.

So folks, keep an eye on Cafe Roux's brilliant LIVE music calendar for an upcoming performance by Inhale and plenty of other quality local musicians, right here in our own back-yard.

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