Fleet Street

On Thursday, I headed to the east end to Little Trinity Church on King St. near the Distillery District. Inside, a wedding was taking place. But out on the lawn, a small stage was set up to entertain any passerbys or locals. Cait Gallagher was a young teen who did covers on her guitar. Sean Donald used his banjo skills to finger-pick his way through a set of folk/Americana songs.

Headliner Queen Of The Fleet was an all-female band who often sang in 4-part harmony. Accompanied by a thumping floor tom, guitar and bass, there was a timeless quality to their music. From Fever Dream (caused by a bout of sickness), Mountain Man (an old Betty Boop cartoon), or Wiccan Harvest Song (to welcome the return of Autumn), these were songs to sing around a campfire. I was taken with the bass harmony, there was a masculine timbre to what was distinctly a female voice that every now and then, made me doubt my ears. Even their final song, a Coldplay cover called Green Eyes took on an earthy quality.

16/02/2025: I came across this old post and realized I never saw these performers again. So it was off to do some internet sleuthing. Caitlin doesn't seem to have any musical presence online since then. Sean Donald continues to make music with local musicians including Alex Samaras and Evan Cartwright. Fleet released nothing after 2014. Leah and Franny (probably) went into psychotherapy and photography. But the mystery of the band's fate cleared up when I found out that drummer (and songwriter) Gemma pivoted from folk to synth-pop in 2015. Unbeknownst to me at the time, I saw her several times in 2018 and 2019 as RALPH.