BY MICHAEL CHOWNE

My 12th visit this year to my favourite music venue, Green Note in Camden, this time for an artist completely new to me. A Different Thread were a revelation and I just love it when that happens!

A duo made up of Alicia Broeksmit Best from North Carolina, USA and Robert Jackson from Staffordshire, UK, they played here for some of the time with Mike Seal on double bass.

Alicia and Robert met whilst busking in 2016 in Galway, Ireland and formed the following year – now they live in North Carolina and this was the 17th date of a 20 gig UK tour. With individually strong voices and wonderful harmonies, their music is a joyful and uplifting mix of Appalachian blues, folk and old time alt-country. Alicia plays stand up percussion/drums, fiddle and ukelele and Robert plays acoustic guitar and lots of harmonica and, together, they create a warm sound. The Louise Condenser Microphone they use gives that old school broadcast sound too.

No support act, 18 songs, across two really great sets, half of which came from their new third album ‘Over Again’. There was also ‘Red Is The Rose’ from their 2020 ‘Some Distant Shore’ EP, ‘Big Crane’ from their 2017 ‘Home From Home’ EP and ‘On A Whim’ from the 2018 album of that name. Great to hear some new songs too, if only to show they are still writing – after all, they were all new to me!

There were people in this sellout crowd that had seen them from as far afield as Paris, Cornwall, Somerset and Ireland and there was a lovely atmosphere as the sing-along got going for the last 3 or 4 songs.

Definitely ones to see again – I can see why the title track to their latest album won Best in Folk/Americana at the 2026 International Acoustic Music Awards. Watch out for their new single ‘Don’t Bother Me’ due out next month – if you can’t catch them in their last few gigs here this time, they’ll be back next September!