James Macphail, Galen Abraham and Joe Corbin. (0948090)

WHAT happens when two very talented young musicians get accepted by Brighton’s Institute of Modern Music (BIMM)?

They come back a year later with a drummer in tow and absolutely smash it on stage.

Former Spoonful singer Joe Corbin and My Last Victory’s bassist James Macphail formed Jackdaw with fellow BIMM student Galen Abraham and have been busy touring the UK, impressing everyone they play to.

One Brighton reporter said: ‘This three-piece are the only band in history of Art and Soul gigs to take to the stage first, relatively unheard of, and to then leave their audience demanding an encore after what was a truly breathtaking performance – not bad for a band who only formed five months ago.’

Joe and James have been back on home soil for a week and brought Galen with them.

They’ve been touring the island’s pubs and I popped down to The Yacht on Wednesday night to see if the lads had graduated from very good musicians to young pros.

To be honest I wasn’t sure what to expect from Joe, the young blues wizard who previously played in a band with musicians older than him, James, a metal-loving headbanger we’ve seen rocking out on stage with My Last Victory, and a drummer I did not know.

Image-wise, they resemble three musicians from three different bands, with James looking like a member of a metal band still, Joe continuing to rock the skin-tight trousers and cowboy boots and Galen looking laidback, as if he were a member of Blur.

But in this case, opposites do attract.

Wednesday night saw me jaw open in disbelief that these young players could get better than they already were.

Playing 15-minute sets of covers and originals, bassist James would later inform me that it is usually all originals, but playing a Town bar meant they had to bend the rules.

I arrived in the middle of their rendition of the Cream classic, Sunshine of your Love.

The summer-of-love-esque era was the theme throughout with the covers, as the audience was treated to a Jimi Hendrix repertoire – Foxy Lady, Little Wing.

But what stood out from the very tight covers were the originals.

It is easy for a band in which all of the members are under the age of 22 to jump on the current bandwagon – Kings of Leon, Arctic Monkeys, Kasabian – yet this three-piece has created a ballsy blues, classic rock and a Pete Green Fleetwood Mac era sound.

The songs do snatch some of the greatest bits of classics but – and this is not criticism – many others have made careers of using the best bits of great rock songs.

One audience member said of their originals set: ‘Jeez, there was a couple of squealing bad-boys in that’.

Cleverly structured, the originals have been manufactured from a real understanding of each other’s talents and capabilities.

A good balancing act has gone into making them a really tight and flawless performing three-piece.

Technically, there was a lot of work on the Strat from Joe and it echoed rock when it was the original R’n’B.

As always, his technical guitar skills and solos were mesmerising.

It was the guitar work of a young man who has studied the blues scales, then spent time bending it to his own means.

His smoky vocals should belong to a singer 10-15 years his senior.

Liquid bass lines from James laid down solid and funky bedrock for the loose and instinctive guitar lines from Joe, and Galen’s drumming gelled it all together to complete the format.

The set had no effects, no over-complications – just talented musicians playing off each other.

They have a busy year ahead, having been booked until the end of 2010 for a series of gigs across the UK.

They’re too young to realise how good they actually are and they are channelling the same flame that ignited now legendary bands such as Cream, Small Faces and Led Zeppelin.

I wouldn’t be surprised if they are snapped up and signed soon.