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| | As well as being one of the fastest rising young stars on the British folk scene, Miranda Sykes keeps herself busy playing with Steve Knightly and Phil Beer in Show Of Hands. She’s fast becoming a respected guitarist, double bassist and vocalist, a fact attested by the guest appearances of Jethro Tull / Fairport Convention man Martin Allcock, Fairground Attraction’s Roy Dodds and The Who’s Rabbit Bundrick, not to mention her own Show Of Hands colleague Phil Beer.
As fun as those cameos are though, Sykes certainly doesn’t need them. Her runs through her friend Kirsty McGee’s ‘Bliss and Stonewashed Jeans’ display a rare affection for songs written by somebody else, while her version of Sting’s ‘Shape Of My Heart’ is arguably the highlight of the record.
Having started playing bass when she was nine, Sykes’ first album, Don’t Look Down, managed to get her some decent exposure and raise some eyebrows, but Bliss has raised the bar to a whole new level. With a lot of gigs coming up, not only as a solo artist but also with Show Of Hands, Little Johnny England, the Reg Meuross Band and Jenny Crook, there’s no reason why she can’t go on to bigger and better things from here.
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