In 2007, Aidan Roberts of Belles Will Ring decided to write,
record and release two albums back to back, one of them being Dirty
Echo Spark and the other being tonight’s re-release, Lost
Radio Twilight. As all things should be heard, The Maple Trail
in particular have a sound which is best listened to on the turntable
and tonight they were going to showcase some of the songs on it along
with a whole bunch of new compositions.

Fellow once-Blue-Mountains based musician Wade Jackson and
his band The Champion League set the tone for the night of
alternative country. They were clearly influenced by the early
incarnations of Wilco and possibly a much cleaner version of The
Kinks. Opening song "I Will Always Love You" was a driving
anthem filled with melodic guitar twangs and keyboard arrangements.
They tapped into other things to, including a notable blues song
featuring some roaring organ tones, blues licks and tempo changes.
They even jokingly mentioned it was about a marriage break-up.
Divorce never sounded so good.

Cryin Skies was up next; they featured quite an ensemble
that rivaled some of the other Maple Trail performances I’d been to
in the past. After finally locating their missing drummer at the bar,
the band roared into a wave of melodies, featuring three guitarists
who all swapped vocal duties, the most impressive aspect was the horn
section. There was nice variation in the vocals - one singer had
higher ranges, the other was a baritone and the final
guitarist/singer was smack bang in the middle. It was a huge sound,
and they even managed to throw in a few covers, "The Golden Age"
by Beck being one of the standouts.

Still, the hour-long set and eight-piece band could have been
somewhat poorly picked, as this was a night for The Maple Trail. On a
personal note, I hate it when musicians laugh directly into the
microphone midway through a song. It’s something only an authentic
African-American reggae bands should normally do. For a Sunday night,
four bands could have been questionable, and when the final support
band played, it was clear to see why. People had work tomorrow, lives
to live, money to earn, families to provide for and warm beds to
sleep in. Still, Underwater Byrds carried a toned-down
four-piece of more mainstream country rock. The lead singer's vocals
sort of got on my nerves - they sounded like any band you’d see at
an RSL on a week night, which isn’t a bad thing, but just not my
thing. I liked that the lead guitarist was slightly older; it adds a
sort of wisdom to the performance.

Thankfully, it was now time for The Maple Trail to shine. Being
the key songwriter and driving force of the band, you can tell
there’s a certain level of nervousness to Aidan Roberts when he’s
on stage relying on his well-trained musicians.

"Ah, hello, ah, everybody - thanks for coming." That’s
all that needed to be said, and after a quick fiddle about with a
loop pedal and his guitar, Roberts makes his way to a piano and
starts slamming on the thing. The violin, played by none other than
Des Miller, joins in - you can even hear that little atmospheric loop
in the background. The harder you listen to MT, the more rewarding
its going to be. Song two was a slow-burning country croon which
featured some unbelievably well-placed lap steel. Other tracks in the
set felt completely Australian, not so much in the sense of your
typical Cave, Triffids or Go-Between sound, but like old bush poetry
and waltzes by the gum tree.

For two songs in between the set, one of them accompanied by
Caitlin Park on vocals, Roberts played the banjo and it felt like he
was summoning the chants of some old gold miners in Western
Australia. Robert’s talented and well-composed sense of melody is
only a taste tester for some of the cryptic and poetic lyrics that he
throws about. I heard something about a Japanese woman offering him a
wager, and before to long the whole band were crashing down and
completely focused on their instruments - kind of like an old English
progressive rock band. Roberts gives them all a gentle nod, a sort of
"well done lads, we pulled it off", then they rip into the
next song. Ironically this is MT at its highest peak, the thumping
bass line of this next song, dual vocals, and catchy guitar melodies
is what will finally put them on the map to a wider audience. It
doesn’t make sense why they still have a minor cult following, they
tore through a re-worked version of the Spunk single "New York",
which had all kinds of Brian Wilson-esque vocal melodies sung by
nearly all the members, and they later topped it with the final song
of the set "The Drug" - which just kills me. It’s a great
and epically composed tune, which has been re-recorded and placed on
the Radio Twilight Lost vinyl Broken Stone Records had just
released.

The crowd were loving it, and demanded one more song for the
night. After all the other members had left, Roberts quickly returned
to the stage and played a song that was nearly as entertaining as
when every other member was playing on stage. It goes to show, it
doesn’t matter how many people are playing in the band - if you do
it right, then that’s all that matters. Luckily for the patrons of
the Vanguard, The Maple Trail did the whole set right.