Baskery

Baskery play Exeter Phoenix on Saturday 21 November, their first time back in the city since they recorded their latest album in a Devon studio. They're a trio of sisters from Stockholm — Greta, Stella and Sunniva Bondesson — and they've been touring since they started in 2008.

Their sound is built around a distorted slide banjo, a slap-driven upright bass and acoustic guitar. It's a folk foundation, but the distorted banjo and the slap on the bass push it into something heavier and more rhythmic than you'd expect from the description. Critics have compared them to Fleetwood Mac, First Aid Kit, The Black Keys and Led Zeppelin, and that range tells you a bit about where they sit: somewhere between folk-rock harmony and a gritty, bluesy stomp.

They've released four full-length albums and two EPs, including Coyote and Sirens from 2018. Their motto, to go where the music takes them, has led to an organic growth that saw them handpicked as support for Gary Clark Jr, Robbie Williams, Seth Lakeman, Lukas Nelson and Brandi Carlile, with festival appearances at Glastonbury, Shrewsbury Folk Festival and Solfest. In February 2022 they teamed up with producer Sean Lakeman — who's worked with The Levellers, Billy Bragg and Imelda May — to record a fifth album in a Devon hideaway studio, so this date brings them back to the region where that record came together.

The gig is in Studio 1 at Exeter Phoenix on Gandy Street, doors at 7.30pm. Tickets are £19.50 for standing, all ages, subject to a £1.50 ticketing system charge.