Pony Baby – Wine Cellar: May 11, 2023 (Concert Review)

Pony Baby features the combined talents of Jazmine Mary and Arahi. This was their public performance debut  and it almost went pear shaped until Kendall came to the rescue.

Jazmine and ARAHI are both making music under their own names, but they’ve only just formed Pony Baby three weeks ago (according to Jazmine’s on-stage banter). Their relationship is described thusly in their press:  Arahi and Mary live in a blue house by the sea where they spend sleepless nights writing songs because something needs to fill the space.

Kendall Elise

And fill the space they did. The Wine Cellar was well attended and Kendall Elise was already on stage singing when your intrepid reviewer arrived at 8:30pm.

Kendall’s set consisted of tunes from her two albums, Red Earth and Let The Night In. I arrive just in time to hear Belgrave Place, Between Hello And Goodbye, Kirks Bush and Honest Hand. It was just Kendall, her guitar, her voice and some impressive whistling.

The set finished with a cover of Maria McKee’s If Love Is A Red Dress (Hang Me In Rags). Nice to hear such a deep cut…I think it had originally been featured on the Pulp Fiction soundtrack.

Anyway, Kendall, was wonderful, as always.

Pony Boy

Jazime and Arahi took the stage at about 9pm, each toting a guitar and proceeded to sing their song, Pony Boy. But a minute into their debut it all turned to custard.

Arahi’s guitar was not being heard…a simple fix, right?

Wrong.

Though we were assured that it was functioning at soundcheck, the reluctant instrument would not co-operate. The set was put on hold, the audience was asked to be patient (they were) and after ten minutes or so a solution was finally found…Kendall volunteered the use of her guitar and we were back in business.

Pony Baby saddled up once more and we finally heard Jazmine and Arahi’s voices blend in sweet harmony.

“So, we are Pony Baby and that song is Pony Baby, and everything we live and breathe is Pony Baby” Jazmine informs us in their own inimitable style.

A banjo is strapped on while Arahi gets acquainted with Kendall’s guitar and we hear another new song, This Town…actually they are all new songs!

“What’s this song, Arahi?” asks Jazmine

The reserved young man answers, “It’s about a wife killing her husband”

Nervous laughter is heard and wisecracks from Jazmine follow and we get to hear one of the highlights of the evening, Angel’s Revenge, a song that plots Billy’s demise.

Ah, there’s nothing like a good murder ballad.

Arahi sounds wonderful on this one, then, preparing for the next song he asks Jazmine, “Do you want to explain this one?”

But Jazmine is having none of it.

“It’s called I Think I Might Be Falling In Love, what is there to explain”?

The song itself is more upbeat than the murder ballad that preceded it, pacing the set nicely.

“We can’t take responsibility for the things we say in these songs” says Jazmine. “We won’t!”

Yes, the on stage banter and the two very different personalities presented on stage make for a very entertaining show.

And the music’s not bad, either.

Advertised as “country music”, I’m hearing more folk and blues, but why nit-pick? My only criticism might be that a few of the songs sound slightly undercooked.

I Won’t Stand has a slinky, blues vibe to it, driven by Jazmine’s electric guitar playing, and set closer, Steady Like A Train, Sharp Like A Razor ended the 40 minute set on another high point.

Come to think of it, the title of that last tune could very well describe the two musicians on stage. I’ll leave it to you to decide which is which.

A promising start for a duo that is more Nancy and Lee rather than Johnny and June.

Marty Duda

Pony Baby setlist:

1. Pony Baby
2. This Town
3. Angel’s Revenge
4. I Think I Might Be Falling In Love
5. I Won’t Stand
6. Knowing
7. Steady Like A Train, Sharp Like A Razor