With her Buckle & Boots set beset with technical difficulties during sound check it seemed an ideal time to check in again on Reya Jayne who was performing as part of the BBC Introducing section. The Front Porch Stage at Long Road this year seemed a little bigger, the facade of a ramshackle house in the middle of America was still there, however it now seemed as if it had more room for a larger crowd to gather in front of it, on chairs and hay bales and for large sections of the weekend, gather they most certainly did!
After a smooth soundcheck this time round, Reya looked relieved as she opened with "You Want Me", this acoustic version letting the words reveal themselves a little more, while still retaining the general oomph in the chorus of the recorded version. Following up with the title song of her debut EP, "All I Have To Say" saw her enter into full ballad mode.
Bridgerton proved to be the unlikely inspiration behind the Covid Lockdown written "Burn", which was passionately played out "We're the perfect match" she would sing, along with the chorus "I would burn for you" sung with real feeling. By the time Reya hit " Eyes Of The Liar" with it's punchy chorus, she started to look like she truly believed in herself and seemed to visibly relax and ease into her perfomance. The Buckle & Boots festival itself proved to be an inspiration for a new song "Bet She Doesn't Know" complete with its rapidly fired out lines.
A cover came in the shape of Britney's "Oops I Did It Again" slowed and "given a country twist" as Reya would put it. For someone who seems to have issued quite a bit of material it is easy to forget that this career only started just as Lockdown began , her first single, "Homeless" still retains all of its heartfelt emotions of feeling out of place
"I'm a big fish in a small pond",
It is very honest and open songwriting at its best.
There was a rousing George Ezra cover of "Shotgun",
while "Man Like You" was a nice savage put down of the traits in some of the men that she has previously dated and was a nice way to close things out.
Reya Jayne clearly has bags of potential, losing nearly 2 years of performing in front of a live audience means there are a still a few little rough edges to be smoothed out but that will surely come with more regular playing in a live environment, the key thing is having the material to perform and that she most certainly already has.
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