Ghent - The Vooruit's half-faded workman's grandeur was the excellent setting for the very promising Sixteen Horsepower Monday night. The Americans even drew slightly too many people for the venue. The trio has already played here on three festivals, but a complete concert still proved to be something else. No matter how good, it could still be even bolder. Other than that, nothing but praise for these rednecks. Sixteen Horsepower popped up out of the blue this year with an awesome debut CD; a record full of mystery and with a set of instruments that is traditional and original at the same time. The fact that singer David Eugene Edwards sounds like the late Jeffrey Lee Pierce of The Gun Cub is no objection. There are much worse examples. The band is also reminiscent of another wayward talent: Tav Falco, once leader of The Panther Burns, a band with Alex Chilton as its patron. Yet, Sixteen Horsepower's music is much tighter than the illustrious examples and Edwards is increasingly more at ease on stage, even though he cannot refrain from casting a scrutinizing stare into the crowd without saying a word. You can see him think that silence says the most.

Deep swamps

The threesome had an extra musician with them in order to evoke the deep swamps of the American South authentically. Songs like Haw, I Seen What I saw and American Wheeze got an exciting rendering, while the highlight Black Soul Choir stopped time for a moment. Even though they hovered between traditional blues and carnival-like waltzes, the entire concert bathed in atmosphere. Bandoneon, banjo and slide guitar did produce the desired effect. Sixteen Horsepower is a band to cherish and see again.

Name: Sixteen Horsepower
Cast: David Eugene Edwards (vocals), Jean-Yves Tola (drums), Rob Redick (stand-up bass)
Album: Sackcloth 'n' Ashes
Particularities: The band got their name from an old traditional, in which a bier is pulled by a set of sixteen horses.

Translation by Lot