Born in New York State and raised in Akron, Ohio, singer-songwriter, poet and consummate storyteller Tim Easton is no stranger to Ireland. It may be ten years since his last show in Dublin (attended by Shane McGowan), but Tim spent many weeks busking in Dublin in his early career. Those busking and nomadic years were also extended to London, Paris, Spain and Italy. Tonight’s show includes often hilarious tales of those times and a selection of songs from his extensive back catalogue. Armed with his well-worn Gibson guitar (christened Paco), a harmonica and his distinctive raspy vocals, he opens with the raw and bluesy Elmore James and bookends the set eighty minutes later with the reflective Peace Of Mind from his 2021 album, YOU DON’T REALLY KNOW ME.
A Nashville resident for over a decade (‘There are so many songwriters in Nashville. My mailman is a songwriter, my plumber is a songwriter, and practically every taxi driver in Nashville is a songwriter,’ he jokes, tongue in cheek), he launches into the jaunty Don’t Lie, a song inspired by a wrangle he overheard (‘songwriters are professional eavesdroppers’) between a couple on Nashville’s four-lane highway, Gallatin Pike. On a more serious note, he introduces Voice On The Radio as a song he wrote the night his hero, John Prine, died. He follows that poignant song with a self-deprecating tale from a visit to the Galway Arts Festival in his early busking days, where career advice given to him by whom he assumed to be John Prine was, in fact, an impersonator.
Speed Limit, also from YOU DON’T REALLY KNOW ME, is given a more toned-down delivery than the recorded version and the mellow ballad Black Dog, he explains, was written about a dog he owned while living in Joshua Tree, California, and not, as people assumed gleaned from either depression or politics. Performed live for the first time, he also road tested a new song, Labour Of Love, which very much got the seal of approval.
Tim Easton covers all bases as a singer, songwriter, guitarist and performer. He is every bit as chilled this evening, belting out a blues rocker like Broken Hearted Man or a striking love song, Next To You. After a highly entertaining show this evening, Tim continues his whistlestop tour of Ireland with shows in Kilkenny and Kinsale in the coming days. Check out his website for details.
Review and photograph by Declan Culliton