Unpredictable winter weather conditions here in the US northeast play a key role in our concert plans this early into a new year, so when a brief spell of mild temperatures just happens to coincide with a local live music event of interest – no excuses, right? Just a short hop across the state line into Maryland from our PA home, Live at Hub City Vinyl has pretty much become our go-to live music venue, and with an ever-expanding schedule of events, means that extra attention is paid each time show announcements drop into our social media feeds.
A casual perusal of the list back in mid-January drew my attention to The Young Fables – an Americana duo from Maryville, TN (now based in Nashville) that very quickly triggered the algorithms and saw them dropping frequently into my feeds. Curiosity killed the cat, as they say, and with ringing endorsements across social media from the likes of Shania Twain, Vince Gill, and Amy Grant, this date in Maryland was quickly locked into my calendar.
Making their Hub City Vinyl debut as part of a short winter tour, the duo of Laurel Wright (vocals/acoustic guitar) and Wesley Lunsford (electric guitar/vocals) delivered a blistering 90-minute performance to wash away any lingering mid-week winter blues. Offering a well curated list of original compositions and multi-genre covers, The Young Fables endeared themselves to the Hub City faithful from the opening minutes and held their audience captive all evening.
Commencing their set with “Holding On,” we were very quickly privy to some stellar musicianship, with Wesley demonstrating his impeccable mastery of the guitar – sweet slide action one moment, and blistering progressions the next. For the uninitiated, Laurel would share with us that her partner and bandmate is officially endorsed by Gretsch guitars (Wesley has a unique left-handed strung hollow body that he told me post-show was sourced from Norway) – joining an exclusive club that boasts Chet Atkins, Bo Diddley, and Malcolm Young as other endorsees.
With a decade’s worth of music at their disposal, The Young Fables shared a selection of popular cuts, including earlier tunes like “Good At Hurtin” and “Daddy’s Girl” – the latter providing Laurel the opportunity to discuss the origins of this song, where their manager asked them to be filmed during the songwriting process. “I thought it was very interesting and a cool idea, but if you’ve ever written a song before, it’s like one of the most vulnerable things that you can do, so to be filmed while writing a song was very weird,” Laurel shared. “My dad was going through some very minor health issues at the time, and I just had him in my mind, so that’s what we wrote about that day. We had more footage than we could ever imagine, and it was very different than we thought, and instead of having a short YouTube video, we have a full-length film … that touches on grief and depression and anxiety. I feel that mental health is not talked about enough, and I’ve really struggled with mine, but really love to use our platform for something bigger than us.”
Adding in a few tunes from their most recent 2024 “Short Stories” album, Wesley took time to share some words about “Drive.” “Sometimes people ask if it is the lyrics that come first or the music that comes first. I had the idea for this song … I’ve always had a fascination with ‘what if you got in my car and just drove away,’ so I wrote these lyrics about this idea and sent them to Laurel,” he offered. “We’ve been dating for eleven years – mainly to each other for the most part – so she saw the lyrics and went off by herself and wrote all the music. She waited until I heard the song and I gave it the thumbs up and loved it, and she said, ‘hey, are you mad at me,’ and I said, ‘no, but why do you ask?’ And she said, ‘well you sent me these lyrics out of the blue and the first line I read was “I slammed the door and let him go and I should have done that years ago,” so I assumed you had something on your part.’ And I said, ‘well, even if I did, I don’t now, and I don’t care because I love this song’.”
The duo was eager to share news of currently working on their upcoming fifth studio album and happily road-tested a handful of new tunes. And following one of those new cuts, titled “Nobody Gonna Love You,” an audience member would ask the band if they had a date for their ‘big day.’ Both artists were amused by the direct and unexpected question. “Yes, Wes, when is it?” Laurel responded. “I was waiting on you, is this it?” Wes replied, laughing as Laurel prepared herself to get down on one knee. “I know, it’s kinda weird that we’ve been together for so long and we’re not married, but it is what it is. It’s 2026, we can do whatever we want to,” Laurel added with a huge smile. Timed as a perfect segue into a new tune titled “Room on Fire,” Wesley continued the subject. “Since we’re talking about marriage and all of that, we have a hard time writing the sexy songs. If you need sad songs, we’ve got you, but the sexy songs are few and far between. But I think we’ve got one with this next one.”
While the duo’s original compositions allow them to shine in their roots-Americana comfort zone, a great selection of covers gave us a glimpse beyond their typical repertoire. From Linda Ronstadt to Bill Withers, the duo demonstrated no fear of the country-pop and soul-pop genres – Wesley perfectly replicating those sweet soul riffs during “Ain’t No Sunshine” – and props too for Laurel, who seamlessly incorporated some lines from “Summertime” into this one, mid-song. This versatility was on dull display when opting to add a pair of jazz numbers, sharing a Billie Holiday cover down the stretch, and eventually closing the night with an unscripted encore of a classic Norah Jones tune.
“Before Wes and I met – we’re both from East Tennessee – Wes grew up playing everything but country music. I grew up singing and loving only country music, and Wes goes to China for about six months, he tours over there playing jazz and R&B music, and a friend of his sent him a video of Glen Campbell singing ‘Galveston’ and that’s where he fell in love with country music,” Laurel shared prior to a performance of Holiday’s “All Of Me.” “It’s so bizarre. He came back to East Tennessee … and my drummer knew Wes, and that’s how we met, and we’ve pretty much played every gig together since. Even though we were from the same place, we came from different backgrounds and so this is sort of like our two worlds come together.”
Closing with a mind-blowing interpretation of “Purple Rain,” The Young Fables surely prompted a future return invitation to Hub City Vinyl with what I believe to be one of the finest cover versions I have witnessed. Clocking in at close to 10-minutes, the well-known 6-minute guitar outro is not for the faint of heart – yet Wesley completely nailed it as Laurel added the recognizable vocal harmonies away from her microphone. Earning their well-deserved standing ovation, the words “Prince would have been proud” were received from a member of the audience – and no truer words have ever been spoken in this room. A fabulous evening of music from a niche duo that deserves much more attention out there in the Americana communities – here’s hoping that they do indeed return soon.
Set List:
- Holdin’ On
- Drive
- Second Time Around
- Good At Hurtin
- Ain’t No Sunshine (Bill Withers cover)
- Get To Get Old (New/Unreleased)
- Daddy’s Girl
- House Of The Lord
- Nobody Gonna Love You (New/Unreleased)
- Room On Fire (New/Unreleased)
- All Of Me (Billie Holiday cover)
- American Dream (New/Unreleased)
- You’re No Good (Linda Ronstadt cover)
- Fighter
- Purple Rain (Prince cover)
Encore:
- Don’t Know Why (Norah Jones cover)
The British guy that crossed the ocean and crash landed in central Pennsylvania (to quote Greg Keelor, “And I wonder what am I doing here?”). As the youngest of four siblings, exposure to music from a very early age nurtured my passion and appreciation for many musical genres. Continuing to discover some amazingly diverse and talented musicians based in Canada, I gravitate to live music experiences and remain devoted to spreading the word about such a vibrant music scene.
