The majority of those who were in the audience were seasoned Russell fans who were well acquainted with him, and his songs and performance style. He came onstage as Railroad Bill - the bastard son of Tom Russell. He was disgruntled that his guitar wasn’t plugged in before playing a short set of covers from the likes of Townes van Zandt and Hank Williams Snr., as well as LA Freeway from Guy Clark and Carmelita from Warren Zevon - he had the audience sing the chorus and then commented that, considering the song’s subject matter, that there must be a lot of junkies in tonight! He also touched on Leonard Cohen’s Tower Of Song and Gordon Lightfoot’s Early Morning Rain,as well as a chorus or two of Pete St John’s Rare Old Times.
He then reintroduced himself and began his set proper with The Rose of Roscrae. As there was an Irish connection to the song, he mentioned Finbar Furey and meeting him in O’Donoghue’s Pub. Furey has sung Carrickfergus with him on the album and Russell also spoke of the stick as well the the stick he had received from Maura O’Connell for misspelling the name of the town and his local geographical knowledge. Hair Trigger Heart was then played as was Guadalupe before he moved on to a selection from the current album, OCTOBER IN THE RAILROAD EARTH one he described as “Jack Kerouac meets Johnny Cash in Bakersfield.“ The songs included Isadore Gonzalez, Highway 46 and Small Engine Repair,which was the title song of a small independent movie featuring Iain Glen - not one to miss an opportunity, Russell told us that he recorded this song for the new album in the light of the actor’s success in the Game of Thrones.
Throughout the set and between each song there were anecdotes, admissions, admonishments and insults (bastards - he frequently exclaimed when talking of a person or situation he didn’t like, including a sly slight to Garth Brooks). Anyone interested in his work was treated to songs from throughout his career - which has been long and accomplished. There was Tonight We Ride, God Forgive Me, St. Olav’s Gate, Blue Wing, East Of Woodstock West Of Vietnam. The latter prefaced by a story of his time in Nigeria in 1969 during the Biafran War. There were many other such stories which entertained and held the audience enthralled as the evening progressed and Russell, playing solo, often called on them to join in or sing the chorus on a number of occasions. The final song before the encore was his now viral song Who’s Gonna Build Your Wall? A song he played on the David Letterman show that makes a pointed comment about the impracticality of some of the policies of the current US administration, although the song was written in 2007.
The final song was Navajo Rug which had everyone going insinging and made for a fitting end to an evening that his fans will remember. He then went to the merchandising table to meet and greet and sell copies of his recent album as well as some posters and art that he brought with him. Russell is an artist in every sense and as such, is worthy of respect and wider recognition for his work over the last few decades.
Review by Stephen Rapid Photography by Kaethe Burt O’Dea