Andrew Combs
Tonight's double bill features the return visits to Ireland by two artists, Andrew Combs and Jake Xerxes Fussell. Combs, who lived in Galway for eight months early in his career, played two sets at the Kilkenny Roots Festival in 2017, accompanied by Jerry Bernhardt on guitar, Charlie Whitten on bass and Dominic Billett on drums. The logistics of touring Europe with a band these days don't stack up, unfortunately, and Combs jokes that he is supported by his 'band in a box', which features backing tracks that he has prepared for a number of his songs.
Switching from keys to guitars, his set draws from his extensive back catalogue but with emphasis on DREAM PICTURES, released by him last week (and reviewed by Lonesome Highway) and his 2022 album SUNDAYS. Both albums are introspective, stripped back and essentially home recordings; the latter was written and recorded during the pandemic while Combs recovered from personal illness, the former was written at night when his wife and children were tucked away in bed and with minimalistic acoustic backings, confront and attempt to exorcise anguish and isolation. He introduces Eventide, a song written lovingly to his wife, as that album's statement ('And even though truth be told I'm getting scared of getting older, you are my back against the wall, you are my hands when I'm falling'). Another inclusion from the new record is The Sea In Me, which Combs is at pains to explain that 'I am ok, the best I've felt in my life,' despite lyrics which could suggest the opposite.
The set opener is Dirty Rain from 2017's CANYONS OF THE MIND, and for this writer, is one of the standout songs and environmental statements of the past decade, and he closes with Hazel, also from that album, and a tale of a peeping Tom that his wife surprisingly likes; he jokes. Also included are Too Stoned To Cry, written when he was twenty-one and, in this case, hated by his mother and the tender love song Better Ways. Rainy Day Song is introduced as a treasured co-write with his Nashville neighbour Brent Cobb, with Combs proudly adding that Lee Ann Womack also recorded the song with the changed title, Shine On Rainy Day.
This was a hugely enjoyable set from an artist with a stunning vocal range and intriguing songs, delivered in a relaxed and engaging form that kept the packed audience entertained and captivated.
Review and photograph by Declan Culliton
Jake Xerxes Fussell
Jake Xerxes Fussell is touring his latest album, WHEN I’M CALLED, and his ten-city run across six different countries starts tonight in fine fashion. Joined on stage by his trusty tour manager Will Waghorn, who reveals hidden talents and both drums and French horn, Fussell displays his customary understated demeanour as he takes his seat onstage. His contributions on Fender Telecaster and acoustic guitar are both hypnotic and deeply rhythmic, and he performs an intimate set of fourteen songs selected across all five of his album releases to date.
The songs included tonight blend seamlessly into each other and the packed room settles attentively into each delivery as Fussell conjures up images of times gone by when traditional tales were captured in song and handed down the generations. He is a folklorist and has a deep interest in the oral roots of old acoustic blues, field recordings and sea shanties that pass from simple origins into the canon of musical history that defines so much of the changing world in which we live.
Focus is on the new album and four songs are included with the title track When I’m Called performed along with Cuckoo, Feeing Day and Gone To Hilo. The delivery is full of nuance in the playing with subtle touches and fills on top of the rhythm laid down by Fussell on each arrangement. The continuous need for tuning between songs does impact upon the flow of the evening and the fact that Fussell remains seated for the entire show is something of a disadvantage, especially for the majority of the audience that cannot see him from their location in the packed venue. There is much chatter between the songs and Fussell is not one for idle banter at the microphone, even though he does thank everybody with a real sincerity for coming to the show, while professing his love of returning to Dublin. Since appearing at the Kilkenny Roots Festival in May 2022, Fussell has performed further shows in recent years at venues such as the Belo Bar and Whelan’s.
The inclusion of two cover songs is not a surprise as Fussell likes to indulge his interest in other artists and their songcraft. Each tune is of course given the unique stamp of reinterpretation and reworked to fit easily into the atmosphere created by the soulful vocal and timbre of Fussell. The Nick Lowe classic I Love the Sound Of Breaking Glass is included tonight, as is an Arthur Russell song, Close My Eyes. Other highlights are Jump For Joy and Peaches from the 2017 album WHAT IN THE WORLD, and The River Saint John, Michael Was Hearty and Jubilee, from the 2019 release OUT OF SIGHT.
If you close your eyes and let the intricate guitar strum and gentle percussion wash over you, there are echoes of Ry Cooder, JJ Cale, and Chris Smither in the playing, and the fingerpicking style of Piedmont blues legends like Blind Boy Fuller and Buddy Moss is never far away. Jake Xerxes Fussell is something of a lone wolf when it comes to mainstream acceptance. His Blues and Folk influences dominate and his quiet stage presence adds an enigmatic tone to his live shows. Always worthy of our full attention, the connection of Fussell with Irish audiences clearly resonates with the rich history of the oral traditions of our forefathers and the storytelling wrapped in our music and song.
Review by Paul McGee Photograph by Declan Culliton