“I Googled you last night. Yeah. I did a bit of internet stalking”.

Bold start to your review, you might say, but an even bolder opening line to Joshua Kyeot’s set at Rich Mix. It paid off, settling his nerves and setting the tone to the audience that the set would be about character, lyrical deftness and honesty.

He’s exceptionally likeable, probably because he gives the impression that he isn’t there to impress anyone. He plays a black Fender which reminds every former adolescent blues-man in the room of their first guitar, especially as he hasn’t trimmed the strings around the tuning pegs. He has an air of being nuts about music and writing songs, as well as wanting to share this with everyone around him, whilst at the same time seeming almost embarrassed to be in the limelight. Such musicians are invariably the most gratifying to watch and it’s perfect for the intimate Shoreditch venue.

Ear-catching highlights include his own work Strangers Passing By which almost broke the HolyShitThisGuyCanSing-ometer that I snuck into the gig, and a moving cover of He Lives in You. How many singers can pull off covering the Lion King, let alone admit to it being in their “Top 5 songs I wish I’d written” list? He elevated it to new heights and best of all took the audience along with him, mainly thanks to his obvious and infectious love of music. Several thousand quills to the young man.

(Joshua was supporting Boubacar Traoré — review to here.)