The Legendary Shack Shakers @ Grand Social - Dublin - Friday 3rd May 2018

JD Wilkes led his Legendary Shack Shakers onto to the stage before a healthy gathering of the faithful to deliver another exhilarating show. They opened in acoustic mode with Wiles on banjo, new guitarist Gary Siperko on acoustic guitar, upright bassist Fuller Condon and Preston Corn on percussion complete the line-up. The later pair appear on the band’s latest album After You’ve Gone and have both toured with the band previously while Siperko has replaced the departed Rod Hamdallah. He immediately makes his presence felt from the start with some fast and furious guitar breaks that bring comment from Wilkes who plays up the guitarist’s skill with mock jealousy. 

The material played on the evening came from all parts of the their career to date including the most recent album After You’ve Gone and the solo JD Wilkes album Fire Dream as well as traditional songs and blues covers. Sugar Baby was a Dock Boggs song. Others included Silm Harpo’s Hip Shake which was an extended showcase for Siperko, one that allowed all the band to stretch out. As with many of the best live bands these songs take on a whole different persona when performed in front of an audience. Songs came from the debut album Cockadoodlerdon’t which was released back in 2003 (Devil’s Night Auction, Hip Shake), through The Southern Surreal (Mud), Swampland (Old Spur Line), Pandelirium (Jipsy Valentine) as well as from the Dirt Daubers’ album Wake Up Sinners. All given, with this current line-up, a new lease of life and a different musical patina.

Without losing their edge these songs were somewhat less visceral than of yore - a fact that Wilkes noted when asking the audience to come closer to the stage front stating that their drinks would be safe from sprayed bodily fluids that were a feature of the band’s shows over the last 20 years. Since founding in 1995 there can be no doubt that the intensity and sheer volume of the stage show has changed since that time but the performance still retains that exciting edge that sees Wilkes remain one of the most underrated frontmen of recent times. He is compulsive, a can’t take your eyes of him, band leader. He is continually throwing shapes, pulling faces and making contact with his audience while giving those onstage with him space to deliver their end of the bargain. No less so than when Siperko switches to a big red Gretch for the main part of the show and displays a speed and fluidity of playing that perfectly matches Wilkes hi-energy delivery. 

Wilkes is a top notch harmonica player and the smallest of instruments again showed how it can be, in the hands of a master, a sonic match for any other instrument. His first instrument he told us came from his Grand-father and he wondered how many other mouths had it been in before he got it! He is also a collector of vintage harmonicas and brings out one from his collection that has mini-horns attached to increase it’s volume pre amplification! He also plays the banjo on a number of songs. At one point he summons a young lady friend up to play banjo and add backing vocals for a couple of numbers. 

The Legendary Shack Shakers lived up to their reputation and delivered a set of blues and roots songs that displayed an evolving entity and testament to an other worldliness, steeped in regional musical history where entertainment and story telling were a fundamental element of a live performance. This they achieved with style, and in Wilkes’ case, no little sweat and toil, creating a performance that demanded the audience forget their day-to-day worries and lose themselves in the time that stood before the stage. 

Set list in JD's hand writing.

Review by Stephen Rapid  Photography by Kaethe Burt O'Dea

Nashville Cast @ 3 Arena, Dublin

The TV series, Nashville, has proven to be a great success ever since it first hit our screens back in 2012. Now, as the sixth series plays out, the decision has been taken to pack up all the guitars and head off into the sunset. There is something quite poignant about a show ending when it is still very popular but perhaps that is the best time to end the love affair in order to retain the happy memories?

Returning to Dublin, just 10 months since their last appearance, Charles Esten (Deacon Claybourne), Sam Palladio (Gunnar Scott), Chris Carmack (Will Lexington), Clare Bowen (Scarlett O’Connor) and Jonathan Jackson (Avery Barkley) continue to bring the WOW factor and this was a night that left everyone feeling like they were a part of one big happy family. 

The very enthusiastic crowd are fully invested in each of the performers and cheer along every song and story shared over three hours in what proved to be a really enjoyable night. Given that the cast who make the trip are the same as last year, the risk of repeating the same lines is always a concern, but happily no such thoughts could be further away as the attitude of these actors/artists is fully focused and they turn in enthusiastic and honest performances that display impressive talents throughout.

Each performer takes the stage in a solo capacity for a few songs, before being joined by another of the principal actors, either to sing together or to take over for the next section of the show. This formula works very well and the smooth handovers add greatly to the momentum of the show which never flags as we build towards the end of the evening. The live set stretches to 28 songs with plenty of new material in order to keep the fans guessing and there were less than 10 songs repeated from the last time the entourage played here. 

Of course, there are the key favourites like Hand To Hold, where Charles Esten & Clare Bowen leave the stage and walk through the crowd before returning to relative safety (Esten remarks that "Irish women are a lot stronger than they look"). He is the most charismatic of performers and holds the attention of the female population with passionate performances of songs like Sideshow, Good Rain Or Jesus, Sanctuary and He Ain’t Me.

There are great combinations with Sam Palladio and Chris Camack on guitars playing Right Where You Want Me, Goin’ Electric (a new song yet to be screened) and Don’t Come Easy, which features Palladio behind the drumkit.

Jonathan Jackson hints at where his future focus might lie with wonderful vocal gymnastics during his cameo and songs like Keep Asking Why and A Shock To The System display his guitar skills, while a cover version of the Simple Minds tune, Belfast Child, is superbly delivered and most affecting. But it is the killer version of Unchained Melody (the Righteous Brothers classic) that really brings the venue to its feet in a standing ovation, as Jackson puts everything into a quite compelling performance.

There are The Exes from the TV show performing Borrow My Heart (Palladio, Bowen & Jackson), Fade Into You (Palladio & Bowen), Wake Me Up In Nashville and Adios Old Friend (Palladio solo), that have the crowd singing along, but the really spine-tingling highlights are captured by Bowen performing When The Right One Comes Along, which has an intro of the Irish traditional song She Moved Through The Fair; Jonathan Jackson paying tribute to Dolores O’Riordan with her song No Need To Argue; Esten speaking of the faith, hope and redemption that carries us through hard times as he dedicated the song Sanctuary to his Father.

The music of the show will endure and the fellowship of community is the abiding message as all the principal performers take to the stage for the final encore, I’ve Got A Life That’s Good. It is a very appropriate message to leave with Dublin on a night where a lot of emotions were on display and a lot of joy was shared between lovers of good music and what felt like old friends.   

Review by Paul McGee   Photography by Ronnie Norton

Courtney Marie Andrews @ Whelan’s - 20th April 2018

It only seems like yesterday since Courtney Marie Andrews played last at Whelan’s, one of the final dates of her 2017 tour on the back of Honest Life, the album that finally got the prolific young artist from Phoenix Arizona much deserved industry recognition. Touring since the age of sixteen as a busker, guitarist in Damien Jurado's band, a solo artist and more recently with her band, Andrews freely admits to having no fixed abode and often using the services of Airbnb for accommodation on the few periods that she is not on the road. That previous show in Whelan’s, which included material from the about to be recorded album, was actually August 2017, when she announced that she was heading directly to Los Angeles to record a new album after she performed at the Americana Music Festival in Nashville in September and would be back in Dublin shortly. True to her word, her return show and only gig in Ireland, is to promote that album titled Let Your Kindness Remain, recorded in a week with mainly first takes featuring material and themes quite unlike its predecessor. Honest Life, as the title suggests, was personal and soul searching with Andrews unlocking the door to her inner feelings and frailties. Her latest album is entirely wider lens and reflective, dealing with political issues, mental illness and a plea for empathy in these turbulent times. The material was written while Andrews, a self-confessed eavesdropper and people watcher, toured the States observing the dismantling of middle class America and the trail of destruction left in its wake.

She opens her set this evening with two low key and sombre tracks from the album, the beguiling Long Road Back To You and I've Hurt Worse, a sarcastic view on a loveless relationship. Her band members Dillon Warnek (guitar) and Greg Diarra (keyboards), together with her long-time rhythm section of Alex Sabel (bass) and William Mapp (drums) are note perfect, the material honed to precision by the hectic touring schedule prior to recording the album. Andrews - an accomplished musician in her own right -  switches between acoustic, electric guitar and keyboards. A prolific songwriter - she wrote three tracks for Honest Life in one day - her setlist this evening taps strongly into the material from the latest album which finds her departing somewhat from the more folky and acoustic leanings of her earlier work, to a more soulful and fuller sound. Gospel singer C.C. White features strongly on the album and her inclusion appears to have motivated Andrews to challenge herself vocally and the outcome this evening is quite spectacular. The rockier songs Two Nights In Buffalo and Kindness Of Strangers find her powerfully hitting and stretching notes that she may not have attempted a year back. Material from Honest Life also features with the hypnotic Table For One, Let The Good One Go and How Quickly Your Heart Mends all performed. Two songs - Near You and Sea Town - that were included as bonus tracks on the coloured vinyl release of Honest Life are also welcomed inclusions, further evidence of the substantial body of songs that she's written in recent years. The attention to detail by both Andrews and her band is a joy to behold, every lyric and note rehearsed and performed meticulously. Letting the music do the talking we are three quarter way through her set before she pauses to enter into gentle banter with the audience, reminding us how Whelan’s is one of her favourite venues.  

With hardly a pause from ending the main set she's back on stage for a three song encore. A stunning delivery of Honest Life, accompanied by only Warnek on guitar, is followed by a return to the stage by her band for the rousing crowd pleaser Irene. Tailing off with a cover of Little Feat’s Willin’, it’s hardly a coincidence that the same song featured in many of Linda Ronstadt’s live concerts at the height of her career.

Minutes later Andrews is at the merchandise desk, meeting, greeting, posing for photos and signing albums. Based on the length of the queue it's fair to say that a large percentage of the gathering were also buying her albums, with both Kindness and her recent re-release No One’s Slate Is Clean priced at a modest ten euro. A wonderful evening by an artist that connects with the music of past decades - early 70’s particularly - and who would undoubtedly have been a household name in those days when a cash rich industry rewarded the artist as well as record label executives. Given that Andrews in still only in her late-twenties let’s hope she continues to blossom and gains the recognition she richly deserves. Some folks just have it all!

Review and photograph by Declan Culliton

Jess Klein@ Whelan’s Upstairs - Sat 3rd March 2018

The Easter Bank Holiday weekend is perhaps not the best time to try and draw an audience out to listen to live music, when so much is planned around taking a trip out of Dublin and/or family time. However, tonight there is a very healthy turnout for Jess Klein, an excellent American artist who has played here a number of times in the past and is always a welcome returnee.

The support act of Beki Hemingway and husband, Randy Kerkman, on guitar open the show and for many in the room this is an introduction to Beki’s superb vocals, confident stage presence and impressive song writing. Beki took her moment to confirm just how talented she is with songs like Two More Hills, My World Is Out There, Not Excused, highlighting her impressive vocal range and tone, coupled with her soulful delivery. A new song, We’re Not Going Anywhere, feels right at home with the older songs and the gentle, Because, written for Randy, together with the lovely Thank You For The Rain are further evidence of an artist comfortable in her creative space and moving forward.

Jess Klein is blessed with musical gifts that become so apparent and immediate in a live setting as she plays a set on solo guitar that runs some 80-odd minutes and showcases her insightful lyrics and superb vocal talent. The audience remain fully concentrated on her performance throughout, despite the fact that the upstairs venue is currently undergoing a make-over to give it a new lease of life and the lack of heat in the room has some reaching for their jackets and coats to remain warm. However, this does not take away to any great extent from the glow of the evening as this consummate performer delivers a set that is balanced between new songs from her upcoming record and old favourites from her extensive back catalogue.

The new material is very strong with Mammal, In Dreams, Kid (a song written to her younger self), A New Thanksgiving Feast (a commentary of our times), For The Girls and Tougher Than I Seem (dedicated to Emma Gonzales, the young student and survivor of the Parkland, Florida, who spoke at the March For Our Lives event recently) really sounding fresh and vibrant.

Her ability to dissect the human clay that holds us together is one that gives her songs an enduring quality. Jess performs a spoken word poem titled Chicken Soup which is a beautiful tribute to her grandmother and the generations of immigrants that went before her in risking life to seek better opportunity elsewhere. It is a moving and poignant piece delivered with utter conviction and passion and also deals with the mindless vandalism and racism that is all too prevalent in the divided United States these recent times.

The set is nicely varied between these serious issues, affairs of the heart and the levity of songs taken from her impressive body of work. The sultry, sexy performance of Soda Water is balanced against the road song spirit of Travellin’ Woman, while Ireland and Riverview are performed with great skill and measure. In a nice touch, Jess performs Shonalee with support act Beki Hemingway on harmony vocal and Randy on second guitar. It is a fine performance that sums up the generosity of this artist and a typical example of the kinship felt in the room. 

The set ends with fan favourite, Little White Dove, before an encore of Beautiful Child brings everything to a very satisfying conclusion, greeted with warm applause from the appreciative audience.

It was a great night to sit back and enjoy the craft of these superb artists, spent among people who were there to listen and enjoy the thrill of live music.  

Review by Paul McGee  Photography by Paul Dolan

Country 2 Country @ 3Arena, Dublin - March 9th to March 11th 2018.

Once again, the C2C Festival rolled into Dublin City to deliver 3 days of music, 12 very different acts and a very big advert for the wide range of tastes that defines Country music in this modern age.

The 3Arena venue is appropriate for the size of this event and the logistics around band turnover and stage performance timings are all handled with the utmost professionalism. Given that this event has been running since 2014 you would expect nothing less as it has grown in popularity and size.

The very diverse mix of fans from all corners of Ireland and beyond, add to the colour and spectacle but if you look below the surface, there are many reasons why this juggernaut should not deliver. The over-priced, warm beer in plastic containers and the poor selection of food over the course of the weekend make the event somewhat lacking in key areas.

Also, the pairing of established Country acts with young, upcoming hopefuls does not always work as the gap in interest between sections of the fans that attend is too wide. This manifests in excessive noise levels during the performances and the ignorant, boisterous behaviour by some groups of fans (clearly the worse for wear), takes away hugely from the enjoyment of the experience overall.

I understand that groups travel for the entire weekend and stay at local hotels. However, treating the 3-day event as an excuse to dress up in Cowboy hats and boots, wear overpriced t-shirts and shout at ever increasing volumes above each other is not my idea of fun.

There is incessant checking of mobile phones, taking endless selfies and recording snippets of the performers that will, in all probability, be deleted when sobriety returns. Maybe the realisation dawns just how much more enjoyable it would have been to just listen to the music and watch the acts perform in the moment? Somehow I doubt it.

Emmylou Harris summed it up perfectly during her set, that was marred by incessant loud chatter and just bad manners by groups of fans, when she asked "Does anybody remember Country music?" It is such an appropriate comment when one realises the manner in which this music genre has grown from the margins to become mainstream and it incorporates new tricks such as loops, click tracks, rap, electronic beats syncopated into the rhythms, sharing more with urban beat music than anything resembling the original roots of rural struggle and the simple dreams of the common folk who struggled to make a life. The simple messages are still there buried deep in the lyrical sentiments of some songs where God, Family, loyalty and doing the right thing are still purveyed as the polemic.

Friday

The festival kicks off very early and the hassle in getting to the venue on time is very evident as the initial small crowd continues to grow while the early acts perform.

Luke Coombs is a young Country artist making his name at the moment with a hard-working band of musicians who turn-in a solid performance in backing his strong vocals. It's all baseball caps and beards and there are quite a few lookalikes in the early crowd. Luke has a debut release and sings mainly from this as songs like Beer Can, One Number Away; When It Rains It Pours and his breakthrough single, Hurricane are very well received by the younger audience that seem to know all the lyrics as they sing with great enthusiasm. Coomb's remarks that " Growing up in the States you would never think that there were this many Country fans". His is a popular performance and sets the tone for the rest of the night.

Kip Moore follows with a really confident and hard-hitting set that really works the crowd in an impressive display of catchy rock-oriented numbers and a personal dynamism that leaves no doubt as to his abilities to win over an audience. He has a real charisma and over eleven tracks, he visits all three of his releases to date, as his 5-piece band play with a real cutting edge.

Songs like Wild Ones, Beer Money, Just Another Girl, Last Shot, Come And Get It and More Girls Like You clearly go a long way to winning new admirers in the crowd. A fine acoustic version of his song Hey Pretty Girl is performed with great confidence and the final song, a stripped-down acoustic version of Guitar Man, closes what has been an impressive performance.

Sugarland has just reformed as a working duo over recent months, having taken a break while Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush pursued solo projects. Having released 5 albums over a period of six years, Sugarland is very much defined by the wonderful vocal talents of Jennifer Nettles. She is a confident and consummate performed and strides the stage with a bravado and an élan that carries everyone along for the ride. The 6-piece band are all very competent musicians but the fact that this is their first live performance after a 5-year absence is somewhat evident at moments during a set that runs for 15 songs and covers all the popular chart hits in the career of Sugarland thus far.

Opening with the appropriately-named Find The Beat Again, the energy of Nettle and the mandolin of Bush are always to the fore as they perform favourites like Stuck Like Glue, Want To, Little Miss, Incredible Machine, Already Gone, All I Want To Do, Baby Girl, Something More, Want To and the joyous Settlin'. There is a new song, Still The Same, that is well received and will no doubt figure in the charts very soon. However, it is the more thoughtful performances from Nettles that remain in the memory, when she displays her full vocal power and emotion on the songs, Stay and Unlove You. These vocal performances steal the show and confirm where the real power behind this band lies. A welcome return and a performance to remind us that country music always wanted to deliver popular songs that could become radio hits and bring happiness to many...

Headline act, Kasey Musgraves, takes to the stage with a completely new image and in place of the cowboy hats, boots and sequenced outfits she now wears a sophisticated look of a contemporary woman who has taken her place in the world. Her 6-piece band equally are dressed down in black outfits and play in a restrained tempo that reflects the thoughtful and considered set of 18 songs, including material from her upcoming release, Golden Hour.

Kasey speaks of her love of Dublin City and her joy at returning and this is no idle attempt to win over a home crowd as she genuinely seems excited to be playing here again. Her sound has moved on from the tunes that announced her to an unsuspecting public back in 2013 and many of the new arrangements are not what you would call country in the strict sense of the word. Not that this should bother Kasey as her reputation as a considered and talented songwriter is well established. As she grows as an artist she will bring her loyal fan base with her.

The performance tonight does not really peak unfortunately and the set unfolds with occasional lulls in the pacing of it all. Perhaps the crowd are feeling the effects of the previous few hours but there seems to be a spark missing somewhere. Having said that, Kasey gives an honest performance and sings beautifully on songs such as Keep It To Yourself, Stupid, Fine, My Mamas Broken Heart, Late To The Party With You, It Is What It Is and Follow Your Arrow - all firm favourites.

The new songs from Golden Hour are received with polite applause as numbers that will grow into firm favourites over time; Love Is A Wild Thing, Velvet Elvis, Butterflies, Space Cowboy, Slow Burn and Rainbow (sung for her Grandma - her favourite song). Kasey asks the crowd if anyone comes from a small town, to which she receives a big show of hands. She follows by stating that " well you all know that feeling of growing up in a place with shit to do all day" - to which she gets the biggest cheer of the night. A poignant encore of Broken Merry-go-round puts this comment firmly in perspective and you realise that many of these newly crowned stars who have found great success and wealth beyond their small-town dreams still carry that essential DNA throughout their careers.

Saturday

The second day offers more variety over a four-hour ride that delivers the old tradition, mixed with the new direction that Country music has taken...

Midland open proceedings and this 3-piece group are joined by a drummer and guitar player to augment their live sound. The band has been receiving much cover in the media and produce a set that displays close harmonies and melodic tunes, taken mainly from their debut album, released in early 2018. There are a few cover versions in the set with Tom Petty remembered (American Girl), a taste of John Mellencamp (Life Goes On), plus Alabama's Dixieland Delight. Their breakthrough song, Drinkin' Problem, is very strong and goes down really well with the crowd. Gator Boys, Burn Out and Altitude Adjustment are other strong songs in a short set that help to win new friends and lay the groundwork for a return visit in the future.

Margo Price is the real deal and with two cracking Country releases to her name, she is a welcome addition to the line-up today. Taking the stage with her regular 6-piece band she looks terrific in her white trouser suit, embroidered with red roses and cowboy hat. Playing a strong set, Margo delivers Don't Say It, Do Right By Me, Tennessee Song, Weakness and A Little Pain Never Hurt Anyone, all building up a fine set that gradually wins the noisy crowd over, after a slow start.

Cocaine Cowboys is a real standout with Margo mounting the rostrum to play a second drum kit and really pound out a driving rhythm, while the band members stretch out and deliver extended solos on guitar, pedal steel and keyboards. It is a touch of psychedelic country that goes a long way to confirming her creative muse and individuality. Since You Put Me Down and Four Years Of Chances give added weight to her blossoming talent and the hard struggle to make it as a musician of real value has been completely worth the time taken to get here.

A cover version of Proud Mary, the Creedence classic, is a tour de force and Hurtin' On The Bottle includes a segue into the Willie Nelson classic, Whiskey River, as she brings the set to a close with a great exit that sees her joining the audience to hand out red roses to the cheering fans.

We are then in the company of true Country royalty as Emmylou Harris takes the stage with an understated entrance and no lavish backdrop. She is the true queen of Country music and looks every bit a star as she walks her impressive band through a back catalogue that is packed with so many wonderful songs. The playing is sublime and the balance of sound is the best of the night by, excuse the pun, a Country Mile.

Phil Madeira (acoustic guitar, accordion & piano), Will Kimbrough (electric guitar), Bryan Owings (drums), Chris Donohue (bass) and Eamon McLoughlin (fiddle, mandolin) turn the night into something really special as the play off each other, around the melody and above the rhythm with understated class. Orphan Girl, Making Believe, Red Dirt Girl, Wheels, Michelangelo, Shores Of White Sand all show the pretenders to the crown just what it takes to become a true legend. Cover versions include Pancho & Lefty (Townes van Zandt), Get Up John (Bill Monroe), Have You Someone In Heaven Awaiting (The Stanley Brothers) and Old Five 'n' Dimers Like Me (Billy Joe Shaver). A song she notes that she now feels old enough to play.

Emmylou Harris performs with such sublime grace and honesty and Across The Great Divide and Boulder From Birmingham close the show in real style and this wonderful performance would have been better suited to an appropriate venue people could pay due respect and reverence.

Headlining act, Little Big Town, are clearly the key attraction that most people have been waiting for and they get a great welcome on taking the stage. However, the decision to start their set with Rocket Man (Elton John) is a strange one, even if it displays the excellent harmony singing that these four musicians have honed over many years of singing and performing together.

This band has paid their dues with many successful releases and a touring ethic that has seen them win increasing numbers of fans around the world. They have a commercial, radio friendly sound and favourites like Drivin' Around, Pontoon, Happy People, Front Porch Thing and Little White Church all come and go in a wave of positive affirmations and smiles from all concerned.

It's two years since the band played C2C and they are well up for this return visit. the backing musicians provide an impressive wall of sound for many tracks, over which the members of LIttle BIg Town sing solo slots and join together to harmonise superbly. But it is on the stripped down, acoustic part of the show where they show their true colours and deliver some real quality, with covers in tribute to recently passed legends Don Williams & Glen Campbell. they also play I'm With The Band which includes a section of The Beatles' With A Little Help From My Friends. The line "I was born with a suitcase in my hand" is very appropriate as it sums up the life of the nomadic musician where despite all their recent commercial success, this band revisit their origins in impressive style. The rest of the show is taken up with a series of further hit songs including Tornado, Day Drinking and Girl Crush. It is all delivered with a style that may stray from strict Country roots but is well embraced and received all the same.

Sunday

The final night of the weekend and proceedings kick off with Brett Young, a Country Pop singer who comes from California and has an engaging stage presence, which proves to be very popular with the younger members of the crowd. A baseball cap and a winning smile go a long way and this singer has an excellent voice to go with the image. His debut album is featured with songs like Mercy, In Case You Didn’t Know, Like I Loved You and his breakthrough single, Sleep Without You, featured in a snappy set that is very well received.

Old Dominion is a 5-piece band from Nashville and they deliver a rousing set that really lifts the crowd with a sound that is very much contemporary country with strong rock leanings and some hip-hop elements. Matthew Ramsey (lead vocals) is a very confident and personable front-man and Trevor Rosen (guitar, keyboards), Whit Sellers (drums), Geoff Sprung (bass guitar), and Brad Tursi (guitar) play with a fervour and drive that wins many friends. The guitar work of Tursi is especially strong and worthy of special mention.

With two albums and a growing reputation they play, among others, Break Up with Him, No Such Thing As A Broken Heart, Song for Another Time, Nowhere Fast, Wrong Turns, Hotel Key, Be With Me and Written in the Sand. Tight band sound, strong players, a good sense for a clever lyric and a bright future.

Kelsea Ballerini is a 24-year-old artist who has been getting great success Stateside. With two releases she has a confidence that is clear as she works hard to get the crowd on her side. Her pleasant personality helps her grow into the performance and her songs - Love Me Like You Mean It, Yeah Boy, Unapologetically, Miss Me More, Get Over Yourself, I Hate Love Songs, Legends and In Between are all examples of a Country Pop sound that will bring her increasing admirers for what she does. Influences such as Britney Spears, Taylor Swift and perhaps, The Dixie Chicks run through these arrangements and her voice is powerful enough to drive her 4-piece band and to also sing some solo acoustic numbers which endear her to the crowd.

Faith Hill & Tim McGraw are the headline act chosen to close C2C this year and given their place as Country music’s President and First Lady, it is a fitting honour. They have been dominating the Country music charts since the early 1990s and their Soul2Soul tour has proven to be the most attended tour in any musical genre and the highest grossing American tour in country music history.

Faith Hill is one of the top-selling and most-awarded female artists of all time and has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide. Tim McGraw has sold more than 50 million records and dominated Country charts with 43 number one singles worldwide. Their appearance at C2C is in support of their first ever album together, The Rest of Our Life, and they arrive with a 10-piece band, a huge stage production and an incredible visual spectacle. The capacity crowd is really excited as the stage clock counts down the seconds and then, suddenly, we are in the presence of husband and wife duo Tim & Faith who open with a full-on version of the I Knew You Were Waiting (Aretha Franklin/George Michael). The pacing of the show is brilliantly planned with the couple singing seven numbers together in a tour de force of vocal power and sweet harmonies. This section of the show includes excellent new song Break First, plus old favourites The Way You Love Me, Like We Never Loved At All and The Lucky One.

Faith Hill takes the next part of the performance and delivers a set of six songs that are simply breath-taking and spine-tingling in performance. Her vocal range and incredible delivery are something to witness in a live setting and Free, This Kiss, Breathe, Wild One, Stronger (stunning & soulful) and Piece Of My Heart (Janis Joplin) are given everything by this superbly gifted singer. The applause that rings around the arena is prolonged and deserved as she welcomes back her husband to join her on a great rendition of Angry All The Time.

Tim McGraw then takes his solo section and performs a selection of songs, including One Of These Nights, Real Good Man and Shotgun Rider, ending with a terrific performance of the standout, Humble & Kind. It is at this point that the stage goes dark and everyone is expecting the next part of the show to reunite both artists for a storming finale. However, the darkness on stage is replaced by torchlights as stage hands rush to respond to a loud bang as a microphone falls to the floor. It emerges that Tim has become faint and has fallen to his knees while trying to walk off stage. There is a prolonged break while the audience awaits news of events and most expect the show to continue.

Sadly, this is not to be and Faith returns to the stage surrounded by the full band and announces that Tim is severely dehydrated and will not be able to continue with the performance. She speaks of the rigours of a hectic touring schedule and apologises to everyone while promising to return to Dublin in the future. The audience is generous in their support and applause rings around the venue as people mask their disappointment over not being able to witness the concluding part of what has been a very enjoyable and impressive concert. There is a reason why Faith Hill and Tim McGraw have attained their status and the talent and passion is evident tonight for all to see. They played 17 songs over 100 minutes, more than enough to have left everyone satisfied and it is a tribute to their enduring skill as performers that we all just secretly wanted a little bit more. 

The cynics among us may find the premise of their show just a little too cloying and adolescent with all the lingering smiles and gentle caresses, especially in front of thousands of people; but that would be entirely missing the point. They carry it all off with such gentle ease and aplomb and it is hardly smething that you could fake in front of so many fans on a regular basis. They perform in an honest and openly sincere way and appear very much in love and in the moment.

A great spectacle, backed by a superbly rehearsed and talented group of musicians. Hopefully Tim recovers well and cuts back on his punishing exercise regime which cannot be healthy when visiting three countries within 72 hours. Until the next time ... and hopefully there will be a next time!

Country 2 Country - Dublin 3Arena - March 9th to March 11th 2018.

Weekend review written by Paul McGee  Photography by Ronnie Norton

Marlon Williams @ Whelan’s 24th February 2018

The first thing that's noticeable about Marlon Williams as he arrives on stage this evening to a packed Whelans is how tall he is. Decked out in narrow legged trousers that barely reach his ankles, white socks, black Dr. Martens shoes and a tight fitting brown shirt, his fashion sense is very much the early 70's suede head look. It's his third occasion to play Whelans and with his smooth plush vocals and crack band he doesn’t put a foot wrong from start to finish of his ninety-minute set. A chorister in his childhood before discovering Hank Williams and taking a fancy to all things honky tonk, it's difficult to characterise his music, though he seems content to be placed in the Americana pigeon hole at present.

His second album Make Way For Love was released only last month. Inspired by his breakup with Australian artist Aldous Harding late last year, it is ‘heart on the sleeve’ material from start to finish and even includes a co-write by the 27-year-old New Zealander with his former partner. It’s also an exceptionally strong album and it features in the main this evening, in a setlist that also dips into his debut self-titled album from 2016, together with a couple of interesting covers.

On stage Williams moves between guitars, keyboards, accompanied by his band Yarra Benders, whose members are Gus Agars (drums), Dave Khan (guitar, keyboards, electric violin) and Ben Wooley (bass, vocals). Collectively they manage to create an orchestral effect by times, replicating William’s studio sound to absolute perfection, their backing vocals and harmonies where relevant being particularly notable.

The tear jerker Can I Call You, with its deft call and response vocals between Williams and Wooley, works wonderfully. Nobody Gets What They Want Anymore (the Aldous Harding co-write), Make Way For Love and Love’s A Terrible Thing, all from his latest album, feature Dave Khan adding atmospheric violin to Williams silky vocals. Also performed from the album are the set opener Come To Me, Beautiful Dress, I Didn’t Make A Plan and What’s Chasing You.

What is refreshing about the material is the lack of anger in the songs given their backdrop. They’re confessional, aching, questioning and heart wrenching and delivered so passionately by Williams and his colleagues. The powerful lines from Love’s A Terrible Thing ("People tell me, boy, you dodged a bullet. But if only it had hit me, the I’d know the peace it brings") best sums up the heartache that motivated the material on the album.

A cover of John Lennon’s Jealous Guy follows a similar ‘lost love’ theme but despite the melancholy subject matter the performance throughout is upbeat and delivered by an artist quite obviously enjoying himself as much as the few hundred punters. Given that the newer material may not be familiar to many in attendance, its no surprise that the biggest cheers of the evening follow the two stand out tracks from his debut album, I’m Lost Without You and Dark Child. You might not expect an Olivia Newton John song to feature but William’s finale is the Barry Gibb, Albhy Galuten written Carried Away, immortalised by the Australian singer in the early 80’s and like everything else concerning tonight’s show, it works a treat.  

No doubt Make Way For Love, as it gains further exposure in the coming months, will be a strong candidate for album of 2018 for many and judging by the reaction of those lucky enough to attend this evening this show should also be a contender for gig of the year. Wonderful stuff indeed!

Review and photographs by Declan Culliton

Anna Mitchell @ Whelan’s - 16th February 2018

What a difference a few years can make. Almost three years ago to the day Anna Mitchell launched her debut album in a small room upstairs at The Workman’s Club to a modest attendance. Fast forward three years and Mitchell and her band are launching a new album and selling out gigs on her mini-tour in support of this excellent newly released self-titled album.

Tonight’s well attended gig Upstairs in Whelan’s features two support acts, Harrisburg Pennsylvania indie folk singer Marie Danielle and the Cork based Patrick Freeman Band, who also feature on stage with Mitchell. Both perform really impressive sets before Mitchell and her four piece band – Brian Hassey on bass, Patrick Freeman and Alan Comerford on guitar and Fionn Hennessy Hayes on drums - take the stage. Mitchell is positioned centre stage behind her characteristic Nordpiano 2 keyboard. Kicking off her set with the closing track on the new album Come Home it's instantly noticeable how far she's progressed in those short few years since her debut album launch.

What is particularly impressive with Anna Mitchell Mark 2 is the mix of her trade mark ballads with more aggressive full on material and this evenings offers the perfect mix of both. Aided in no small measure by the strength of the material from her new album and by a super tight band, her self-assured stage presence combined with her honey sweet vocals wins the audience over from the word go. Never Learn, All These Things, Radio Waves, Get Out from the latest album all feature alongside Better Life, a song which particularly showcases her wonderful vocal range. The Sarah Siskind song Lovins For Fools – also from her current album -is one of four covers featured in the set alongside The Carpenter’s Superstar, Mary by Big Thief and the Jefferson Airplane classic White Rabbit.  She revisits her debut album Down To The Bone by performing both What’s A Fool To Do and When My Ship Comes In but the biggest cheers of the evening follow her delivery of her latest single It Pours and the raucous/care free set closer Dog Track.

Mitchell always had the vocals and the talent, she's now got the songs, band, work ethic and most importantly the confidence that has seen her grow from a young lady with tremendous potential to the finished article. Get the album and get to see her live, it’s most unlikely she’ll be playing venues this size for much longer.

Review and photograph by Declan Culliton

The Mavericks @ Vicar Street, Dublin - Wednesday 7th Feb 2018

Returning in triumph to the venue they played a couple of years back (a somewhat less than successful visit at that time) The Mavericks again re affirmed their status as one of the world’s best live bands. The band came onstage to a suitable musical introduction that sets the tone for the following performance. Much of the material was taken from their most recent albums Brand New Day, Mono and In Time. There were a few back-catalogue numbers during the set as this version of the band largely rely on the material they recorded since reforming in 2012. Songs from their earlier phase are largely unknow to their current US audience, a predominantly younger demographic than the UK it would seem. Over here it is more likely to be the opposite with the pinnacle of their recognition being the big hit single Dance The Night Away (taken from their 1998 album Trampoline).

Many of the songs tonight also featured in their live album All Night Live from a couple of years back. That album and this show highlights the Cuban, Mexican, Ska, Roots and Rock elements of their music all underpinned by the powerhouse drumming of Paul Deakin. The band played Bruce Springsteen’s All That Heaven Will Allow and Neil Young’s Harvest Moon alongside their own inventive and inviting material written, in the main, by Raul Malo solo or as a co-writer. A rarely played song included in the early part of the show and one much appreciated by this writer was the early CMT favourite What A Crying Shame. It was a point of recognition for many in the audience, one that remind them how much they appreciated the band’s varied musical career.

Aside from the lead vocals of Malo which were, and have always been, a stand-out of their shows it was the combined talent on display that struck home time and time again. The twin guitars of Eddie Perez and Malo duelled throughout the even and often added a hard edge to the sound. Also crucial is the keyboard playing of Jerry Dale McFadden who also brings moments of levity with his onstage dancing and corralling the audience to clap in time. Add to that the undeniable contribution made from long-time live accompanists Michael Guerra on accordion and acoustic guitar, Max Abrams on saxophone and Ed Frieland on upright and electric bass. They were joined on this tour by Cuban trumpet player Julio Diaz. All got their turn in the spotlight and on the stage. The interaction between all of the players allowed then to extend and jam on the songs to bring the best out of them and for everyone the obvious enjoyment they got playing together. 

It was only after the tenth song that Malo addressed the audience and he did so by referring to the current state of division and disunity in America. Stating how important it was that everyone “ keep the conversation going.” He also addressed gun violence in the States and specifically the recent massacre at a show in Las Vegas. He dedicated the next song to the victims of all such mindless violence with a passionate and heartfelt version of the Bee Gees song How Can You Mend A Broken Heart? For the encore Malo returned to the stage and sang two songs accompanied by his acoustic guitar and both of these showed just what a powerful instrument his voice is. The first song was agin another pointed assessment of the current political turmoil that exists in America with Bob Dylan’s The Times They Are A Changing followed by the hopeful message of the title song Brand New Day from their last album.

The band rejoined him then for the final set of songs that was extended due to the fact that all were having a good time here tonight. There was a high-octane version of Chuck Berry’s You Never Can Tell followed by an all-action, full on All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down to round off an exciting evening. The Mavericks were without doubt on top of their game and showed themselves capable of playing whatever music they cared to perform but that their Latin-tinged Americana is unique to them.Everyone went away tonight in the knowledge that they had witnessed something rather special.

Review by Stephen Rapid  Photograph by Kaethe Burt-O'Dea

Celtic Connections Glasgow 3rd & 4th February 2018

It's Saturday night at the most distinguished Oran Mor on the Byres Road in the West End of Glasgow and Sam Outlaw is feeling good, in fact feeling very good indeed, he tells us. Having played the previous evening to a full house in Aberdeen he seems genuinely taken back that the venue this evening is also heaving. Oran Mor is a converted church which was built in the 1860’s for the spiritual well being of the growing population of residents settling in West Glasgow. These days it caters for the social needs of many as one of the most prominent music venues in Glasgow, combining restaurants, bars and event rooms, having been converted to its current status between 2002 and 2004.

Explaining another reason for his particularly tiptop mood Outlaw continues "having played over a hundred dates with my full band over the previous months, it’s a joy to perform on stage with just Molly and this guy from London and perform songs we want to play and the way want to play them." Molly Jensen, a recording artist in her own right and a fellow Californian of Outlaw’s, has been a regular in his touring band over the past few years as a co-singer and equally talented guitarist and the Londoner that Outlaw tongue in cheek refers to is Matt Park, a multi-instrumentalist who adds stunning pedal steel and electric guitar to tonight’s show.  In fact, anyone regretting the absence of a full band on stage is swiftly won over a few songs into the set with note perfect - and vocal perfect – deliveries of It Might Kill Me, Diamond Ring and Angeleno. Very much the revivalist not only in his music but also his style, Outlaw’s is decked out in short sleeved cowboy shirt, red neck scarf, black trousers, cowboy boots and white Stenson. Jensen and Park are also suitably attired, in appearance the trio could have been plucked off the stage from The Grand Ole Opry in the 1960’s.

Featuring material from both his current album Tenderheart and Angeleno, released a few years back, the songs come hard and fast with She’s Playing Hard To Get Rid Of, Tenderheart, Ghost Town, Bottomless Mimosa all getting an airing. Also included are the Gram Parsons and Chris Hillman classic Juanita and Ryan Adam’s Oh My Sweet Carolina, while noting that Adams had recently said some nice things about him. That said its Jesus Take The Wheel (and Drive Me To A Bar) that gets the biggest cheer of the evening, the sentiment seems to particularly strike a chord with the Glasgow audience. His one hour twenty-minute set, interlaced with humorous banter between songs, concludes with Outlaw off stage, in the middle of the audience, guitar in hand and singing his final notes, much to the approval of the surrounding crowd. He could be accused of being chameleon – and most probably would agree himself – but what can’t be denied is his striking vocal, song writing talent, phenomenal stage presence, absolute attention to detail and on the evidence of this evening, his ability to provide a hands down killer display of classic country music.

The support act is Justin Osborne, frontman of South Carolina band SUSTO. Osborne’s solo set in support of Outlaw is most impressive but the full bands performance on the following night – their UK debut – in support of Sam Baker, is on another level. The venue is the quite stunning Mackintosh Church at Queens Cross, the only church in the world designed by the famous Scottish architect and artists Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Impressive as the venue is, playing on an alter to a full house of punters seated elbow to elbow on church pews, is not the ideal environment for a young psychedelic indie folk band. However, they play a blinder even if their sound echoing around the church felt somewhat out of character. Included in their set are Hard Drugs, Cosmic Cowboy and Jah Werx, all from their current album & I’m Fine Today, which continues to earn consistently impressive reviews in the music press. Cigarettes, Whisky and Wine from their debut album together with some newer material also feature.

Sam Baker’s two hour set, which follows, finds the Texan songsmith abandon his familiar acoustic laid back delivery in favour of a more electric and percussion driven sound. Playing electric guitar on this tour and joined on stage by percussionist Mike Meadows, he treats the full house to a journey through his impressive back catalogue with Steel, Iron, Odessa, Broken Fingers, Waves and Angel together with Margaret, Summer Wind and Land Of Doubt from his latest album of the same name. It’s certainly a departure from the previous occasions I had seen him where his delivery was closer to the gentle and delicate studio treatment of the songs. However, the genuine passion and delightful lyrical quality of the songs remain. My colleague Paul Mc Gee’s more detailed review of his set the previous evening at The Naul, Co. Dublin is also on our live review page.

And so concludes another whistle stop trip to the beautiful city of Glasgow and Celtic Connections which continues to be one of the premier music festivals staged in Europe. Great also to meet up with local music loving friends Iain Mac Leod, Paul Hughes, Murray Anderson and Mike Ritchie whose Radio Show hosted every Sunday on Celtic Music Radio was deservedly voted Best Radio Show in the U.K. in a recent Americana UK Readers Poll.   

Review and photographs by Declan Culliton

Sam Baker @ The Seamus Ennis Arts Centre. The Naul - Sat 3rd Feb 2018.

The Seamus Ennis Arts Centre (SEAC) is located at the Naul in North County Dublin and serves the local community well in providing an eclectic mix of live performances, cultural events, exhibitions, sessions, workshops and classes weekly. The room for tonight’s gig has an intimate feel and the small capacity sees few empty seats as Sam Baker makes a welcome return to the Centre.

It has been 5 years since his last visit but the warmth and genuine affection with which he is greeted is testament to his enduring popularity on these shores. His road travelled has been littered with challenges and obstacles to be overcome and in truth many would not have made it through with the same sense of perspective and thoughtful reflection.

His back story has long been the subject of media attention and the manner in which he survived a terrorist bomb in Peru while touring the country. The injuries he suffered would have stopped many in their tracks but his enduring will to move beyond and make something of his life drove Baker to re-learn much of the coping skills of life, plus the ability to play guitar and write songs of beautiful, heart-breakingly honest treatises on life, love and our human condition. His story songs are sharp dissections of everyman and the daily struggles we all face in our lives. Many of his observations are ground in personal experience but his empathy with people and his kindness always shine through to point the way on our spiritual journeys into tomorrow.

Playing electric guitar and with the sensitive and sublime drumming skills of Mike Meadows for accompaniment, we are given two separate sets in which Sam Baker visits all five of his releases to give a very engaging performance across the 20 songs chosen on the night. He has an endearing charm onstage and his funny quips and ramblings on various subjects are greeted with much laughter and smiles among the audience. He even takes a moment to stop the gig in order to sing Happy Birthday to his good friend and colleague Mike Meadows, who we learn is a producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, classically trained and much sought after as a session player by a large number of artists.

A couple of cover versions are included by John Stewart (Some Kind Of Love) and Paul Simon (Duncan) in addition to firm favourites like Waves, Broken Fingers, Boxes, Iron, Slots, Isn’t Love Great and Odessa. His latest release is well received and the title track, Land Of Doubt is a poignant look at the state of affairs in America currently.

However, the abiding theme throughout the night is one of forgiveness and no little grace as Sam Baker and Mike Meadows weave around each other with an ease and freedom that brings these poignant tales to real life.  There is a lasting aura of emotion in the room when the gig concludes with the sweet optimism of Go In Peace. 

Go in peace, go in kindness

Go in love, go in faith

Leave the day, the day behind us

Day is done, go in grace

We leave with a sense of having witnessed something fragile and beautiful in the magic created by such sensitive playing and heartfelt performance. 

Review by Paul McGee   Photography by Kaethe Burt-O'Dea

Willy Vlautin @ Whelan’s 29th January 2018

Willy Vlautin has performed at Whelan’s on numerous occasions, whether with his band Richmond Fontaine or as part of different projects, including his current band The Delines. 

This evening’s appearance takes on a somewhat different format with Vlautin promoting his fifth novel, Don’t Skip Out On Me, which has recently been published to very positive reviews. However, far from merely a book reading, this appearance offers so much more than merely a marketing event for the book’s release. In fact, Vlautin only reads two short passages from the novel which documents the ambitions of farm hand Horace Hopper, half Irish and half Paiute Indian, to pursue a career as a professional boxer.

 It’s no surprise that the event is a sell-out, given the fanbase he has developed on these islands as a songwriter, musician and author. Vlautin's first novel The Motel Life ended up as a feature film in 2013 starring Emile Hirsch and Stephen Dorff and the film based on his third book, Lean On Pete will be screened during The Dublin Film in late February.

The format tonight includes Vlautin performing songs and instrumentals, accompanied by Cork maestro David Murphy on pedal steel guitar. In addition to reciting the two passages from the novel, Willy is interviewed on stage by Hot Press commissioning editor, Roisin Dwyer.

The show commences with a track from the instrumental soundtrack - included with the first print edition of the book - titled Horace and The Trophy and is followed by Wake Up Ray and Whitey & Me from Richmond Fontaine’s memorable swansong album, You Can’t Go Back If There’s Nothing To Go Back To. The book’s title, also a track featured on the same album, follows. Vlautin cites the inspiration for material on that album being friends from his teenage years still living at home with their mothers and who never moved on despite being in their 40’s ("Guys I cut the ties with but always end up hooking up with again!").

The stripped-down versions, with only Vlautin’s vocal and acoustic guitar, together with Murphy’s quite stunning pedal steel playing, capture the atmosphere of the songs to perfection and it’s noteworthy that Vlautin comments later in the evening how proud he and his band members are of their final album. When Roisin Dwyer enquires why the band split up he simply replies "we got out while we were ahead and before any of us had to leave."

Having invested three and a half years in writing the novel, which initially contained over six hundred pages, he jokes about having to edit it to just over three hundred pages, a process that resulted in casually discarding eighteen months work in a short period of time. Most impressive throughout the interview is Vlautin’s naked honesty, delivered humorously and attributing his story telling skills and selection of characters ("why can’t the janitor or the car park attendant or the nurse be the main character in a novel") to escapism and his vivid imagination, describing himself as a complete dreamer since childhood.

A follower of professional boxing since his childhood and an avid reader of The Ring magazine, he speaks comically of his near obsession with Welch welterweight, boxer Colin Jones, who fought the undefeated Detroit ‘Ice Man’ Milton Mc Crory in Vlautin’s home town Reno in 1983. Jones was notorious for his gruelling lifestyle pattern of running five miles to and from his work as a gravedigger, before going training in the evenings. Vlautin admits tongue in cheek of "wanting to be Colin Jones, without the running and digging or maybe a James Bond or Sam Shephard just cruising in paradise, wearing shades and looking cool." Instead and in reality, a lot of time was spent in his room listening to Yes, Rush and Japan records and dreaming of starting a band.

Before continuing with a couple of songs written for his current band (The Delines) he recounts how he would listen in awe to Amy Boone singing in the dressing room before she went on stage as a backing vocalist on tour with Richmond Fontaine. Having spent seven months writing songs for her, he eventually convinced her to try them out and to take centre stage as lead singer. Asked if he was comfortable taking a background position with this band he immediately responds "playing in a band where I’m not nervous as shit going on stage is a dream come true!"

On that note he candidly recounts tackling his stage nerves by performing tanked up on beer up to the age of 34. On one occasion he was practically unable to function on stage after a particular bender. Discovering the next morning that one punter had driven sixteen hours to the gig and slept in his car, unable to afford the price of a room, his shame was the wake-up call to get his act together. He also explains how Amy Boone was involved in a bizarre accident two years ago having been struck by an out of control car while walking in a car park, suffering horrific injuries. Her recovery continues to the extent that she is still attempting to walk again, but Vlautin expressed the sincere hope that she would be able to perform material from their forthcoming album on stage later in the year. The Oil Rigs At Night and Colfax Avenue follow, both stand out tracks from The Delines debut album.

Material from earlier Richmond Fontaine albums are also performed. The Boyfriends from We Used To Think The Freeway Sounded Like A River and Northline from Winnemucca were regular inclusions in their setlists over the years and they both work equally well stripped back. Vlautin also dedicates "our only poppy song" Post To Wire from the album of the same name to the memory of the late George Byrne "the first mad red-haired Irishman we encountered in Kilkenny on our first trip to Ireland in 2004."

Noting how much he was in awe David Murphy’s pedal steel playing, the atmosphere it created and his fascination with the instrument from his early career he jokes "I love great playing like David’s and not the wild honky tonk playing by some of the wild men at home", before the pair launch into a guitar and pedal steel instrumental duet. The evening ends with A Night In The City and Lets Hit One More Place, two more superb tracks from Richmond Fontaine’s final album.

The Gutter Bookshop in Temple Bar had set up a stall at the merchandise desk and given that the novel was selling like hotcakes Vlautin must have spent at least an hour meeting, greeting and signing copies at the front of the stage.

What a pleasure to observe the genuine warmth and entertainment generated by Vlautin to every person in the room and an endorsement that sometimes the really good guys do get their just rewards in the end.

Review and pictures by Declan Culliton

The Weather Station @ The Grand Social - 28th Jan 2018

The Weathers Station’s last appearance in Ireland was as a two-piece performing at The Kilkenny Roots Festival in 2016. This time around Canadian singer songwriter Tamara Lindeman is accompanied by a full band and delivers a very short but hugely impressive set with material drawn in the main from her current self-titled album and it’s predecessor Loyalty released in 2015. Will Kidman on guitar and keyboards, Ben Whitely on bass and drummer Ian Kehoe provide the perfect rhythm section to compliment Lindeman’s distinctive semi spoken vocal delivery.

Having had to cancel a show  earlier in the tour due to laryngitis the Dublin show had been in some doubt but fortunately Lindeman’s vocals and determination won out ("the ferry was so expensive there was no way we were turning back!"). In fact, her vocals were stunning throughout even if it was obvious she was struggling during her occasional chats between numbers.

Referring to her first visit to Dublin playing support some years ago, she jokingly recalls attempting to navigate to the venue (most probably The Workman’s Club) with the assistance of her tiny Google Maps mobile phone screen, unfortunately driving on the opposite side of the quays to the venue "it possibly took me three hours to arrive at the venue due to the traffic restrictions and congestion!"

She eases her way into the set with Personal Eclipse and Way It Is Way It Could Be from Loyalty before raising the tempo with Free, the excellent You and I (on The Other Side of The World) and the uncompromising Kept It All To Myself, all three from her current album. Her songwriting has always avoided the conventional verse and chorus structure, instead offering short stories put to music, delivered with a vocal refinement that is gentle yet displaying quite a powerful edge. Her latest album suggests an artist growing in confidence as her career develops as is equally evidenced by her live performance this evening. Reinforcing this point, later in the set Lindeman comments that she used to write ‘quiet’ songs up to a few years ago ‘which just isn’t right now there’s so much going on’ before she and the band pump up the volume to deliver at full throttle Floodplain and the highlight of the evening Thirty, their last two songs before leaving the stage. An encore of Tapes finishes a set that lasts only fifty minutes but quite understandable given the circumstances.

Also performed were Don’t Know What To Say (after a few false starts), I Mined, Complicit and Floodplain by an artist with the ability to write candid, personal and dynamic conversational pieces and to execute them with corresponding brilliance.

Ena Brennan’s solo project Dowry performed the opening earlier in the evening. The multi-instrumentalist’s set included a stunning loop pedal assisted violin intro together with some equally experimental and impressive vocal and guitar looped pieces. 

Review and photograph by Declan Culliton

Tradfest @ Printworks, Dublin Castle - 28th Jan 2018

The Printworks at Dublin Castle is an unlikely venue for a live music event. It is used on a regular basis as a Conference Centre where delegates attend business-oriented activities. And whereas the music business is indeed a 'business', the sight of musicians creating art from their reservoir of talent, does not make a natural fit in such a space. There is a sterile feel to the building with the audience not displaying much outward display of enthusiasm for the large room. With many back rows not sold, the stage manager, who is involved in the filming of the show for TG4, asks that any spaces be filled in the front rows, in order to reduce the possibility that the cameras may pick up gaps.

The musicians certainly give their all with strong performances and Irish band, I Draw Slow, start things off with a set of nine songs that display high energy and great musicianship. The natural warmth from lead singer Louise Holden is appealing on all levels and her singing and relaxed communications add much to the performance. Her brother Dave shares harmony vocals and leads his band mates through dexterous work outs and up-tempo arrangements that highlight the fine playing of Adrian Hart on Fiddle, Colm Derham on Banjo and Konrad Lindy on Upright Bass.

The songs are introduced by Louise with stories of their creation and the themes involved; whether murder ballads, apocalyptic doom, drug addiction or mining town working girls! The songs are taken from their 4 releases to date and Apocalypso, Valentine, My Portion and Goldmine are very well received by the home crowd. Hide & Seek is a standout with the fiddle of Adrian Hart really lifting the arrangement and tempo. This band go from strength to strength and long may they continue to build their impressive career.

Martin Harley is a talented guitar player from England who is making an Irish debut and is accompanied by his music partner, American upright bass player Daniel Kimbro, who is also a member of the famous Jerry Douglas band. Harley plays guitar and a Hawaiian lap steel guitar called a Weissenborn. Together, the two artists play a storming set across eight songs, including Trouble, One For The Road, Sweet & Low, Feet Don't Fail Me Now and Nobody's Fault But Mine. On the excellent Dancing On The Rocks the freedom in the playing is quite awesome as the two artists extend into jazz-tinged, free-form soloing and reach great heights in the performance. Kimbro also plays impressively on guitar and his tune, Loyston, is another special moment as the two musicians interplay around the rhythm with solo runs. A very impressive set and I am sure that we have not seen the last of this duo on our shores. They also display a wicked sense of humour during the songs which adds a great dynamic and is the source of much laughter.

And so, to the head lining act of the night, sisters Shelby Lynne and Allison Moorer. With 25 recordings between them we are dealing with Country music royalty here and their collective back catalogue is filled with so many high points and stands against any of their contemporaries at the top of the music tree. Their band tonight is comprised of three seasoned musicians, Joe McMahan (guitar), Rick Reed (drums) and Jason Weinheimer (bass) and they perform with great ease across the ten songs that are mainly taken from the recent duet album, Not Dark Yet. This is the first full collaboration between the sisters and the live performance of songs that span from the Louvin Brothers (Every Time You Leave) to The Killers (The List) gives a new perspective on the project they have completed.

Whether the selections all work on the record is open to individual opinion but witnessed in a live setting, a number of the songs take on a greater resonance with Into My Arms (Nick Cave) and the Bob Dylan title track really catching fire with superb harmony singing from both sisters. Their past is something that will always travel with them and the new song, Is It Too Much, refers to the pain suffered by the shocking experience they shared in losing both parents to a violent act of great cruelty.

Allison rocks out with Hurricane/Thunderstorm, a song she wrote about her sister Shelby. Her other song in the set, Alabama Song, is also one of the highlights of this short set and Shelby contributes Where I'm From, another song that references their upbringing in Alabama and the influence of music in the family.

The show ends with I'll Hold Your Head, a song from Shelby's autobiographical album Revelation Road. Again, it deals with their childhood experiences and Shelby gets very emotional in the pre-song introduction, which leads to an uncomfortable few moments for both artist and audience. One can only guess at the pain that must surface at certain points in the lives of these two sisters as they pour themselves into their art in increasingly personal ways and the hug that Allison shares with Shelby at the Song conclusion says it all really; together we are strong and together we can carry on. Honest performance at all points even if the short set left little room to build a real atmosphere in the venue. 

A word for compere on the night, Lonesome Highway founder and all-round excellent person, Stephen Rapid. He introduced each of the three performing acts with typical enthusiasm and matter-of-factness. Never an easy thing when so much is going on around the stage with artist change-overs. Much admired within the Irish music scene, Steve delivered an easy link between acts and maintained a sense of calm among the busy and mobile camera crews and stage technicians.

Review by Paul McGee  Photography by Kaethe Burt-O'Dea

Hayes Carll @ The Oh Yeah Centre Belfast - 25th Jan 2018

You don’t have to be long haired, bearded, denim clad and gravel voiced to make the cut as a genuine outlaw troubadour but it certainly helps. Hayes Carll qualifies with distinction on all fronts but more importantly has the songs and stories to match. Sixteen years into a career that has yielded five albums to date and the Texan remains the most authentic apostle of the late Townes Van Zandt.

Fortunately Carll does not possess the same self-destruct tendencies as his master and even if his vocals do suggest a partiality for good whiskey and tobacco, his reputation for delivering stellar live shows goes before him as evidenced by  tonight’s performance before a large crowd at the OH Yeah Centre in Belfast. There was not a weak moment from his opener the confessional ballad  Good While It Lasted , through  his rousing  Drunken Poets Dream (a co-write with Ray Wylie Hubbard he informs us) and his closer the priceless She Left Me For Jesus ("She says I should find him and I'll know peace at last -If I ever find Jesus, I'm kickin' his ass!").

He entertains the pin drop quiet crowd with tales and songs across his complete back catalogue, while also managing  to include a few new song titles including Times Like These, performed on stage for the first time. Confessing that ‘you can get pulled over by the cops an awful lot when you look a certain way’, he introduces the hilarious Bible On The Dash, advertising the advantages on strategically placing the holy book on your dashboard when crossing certain States in America. It’s a practice used by Carll and the co-writer of that song Corb Lund when they are on what Carll calls their "Outlaws on A Budget" tours.

Introducing Beaumont he describes it as your average South East Texas town, adding that he won a gun in a raffle playing in a bar in the town some years previously. The Magic Kid, he explains, is a co-write with Darrell Scott inspired by a simple card trick performed by his son. It’s a simple yet beautiful song written from the heart. Wild As A Turkey, I’ve Got A Gig, Bad Liver and A Broken Heart all get an airing but the highlight of the evening is a rattling delivery of KMAG YOYO ("Here I am standin' in the desert with a gun, thought of going AWOL but I'm too afraid to run"), not an easy song to perform solo given the speed at which the lyrics are delivered but absolutely nailed on the evening. Jesus and Elvis (written with his partner Allison Moorer) also features, it is a song that was subsequently recorded by Kenny Chesney.

Notwithstanding the ease at which he recounts his tales and delivers his songs, the standard of his guitar playing is wonderful as is his harmonica playing, particularly on the gorgeous Love Is Easy.

Carll’s career will continue to be underpinned by more main stream artists picking up on his songs (Kenny Chesney, Lee Ann Womack, Jim Lauderdale) and deservedly so as he remains to be one of the most intelligent, creative, descriptive writers bar none. Few songwriters nowadays have the ability to successfully mix their art with humour, Carll has the talent to combine both effortlessly.

Eight years since his last visit to Belfast, it’s a pleasure to see him once more in such stellar form and in a super venue among similar music loving folk. Let’s hope we don’t have to wait another eight years for his return.

Thumbs up also to Ciara O’Neill who opened the show in style with a collection of songs from her debut album The Ebony Trail and newer material to be included in her next recording.

Review and photograph by Declan Culliton

Malojian @ The Set Theatre Kilkenny - 9th December 2017: A Rollercoaster Records Presentation

"There's so much love in this room," a beaming Wilie Meighan whispered in my ear as he perused the crammed attendance at The Set in Kilkenny, enjoying a rocking performance by Malojian. The date was 15th October 2016 and the occasion was the album launch of This Is Nowhere, the first album to be released on Willie's Rollercoaster Record Label. The majority of those in attendance had probably not heard of Stephen Scullion (aka Malojian) twelve months previously, or at best may have come across his previous incarnation Cat Malojian. Not intent in taking the safe option and celebrating the album launch in a smaller venue, Willie had the confidence and foresight to select The Set as the venue, comfortable that the near 400 capacity venue was the correct location and that the occasion would be suitably supported.  

Willie had previously realised the potential in Stevie Scullion’s Malojian, got on board, put his money where his mouth was and kick started the Malojian journey that continues to go from strength to strength to this day. There was an intense pride in the whole project for Willie and his delight was clear to see as he glanced around the room at the smiling faces, a scene which no doubt meant so much to him. From the moment he introduced the band from the stage that evening as "the greatest fucking band in the country," to the moment at the end of the show, when he was persuaded to return to the stage and accept a cake baked in recognition of his achievement, his euphoria was there for all to witness and enjoy.

Barely fourteen months later and many of the same crowd are gathered at the same venue for another performance by Malojian, this time under entirely different circumstances. We were all aware how ill Willie was over the past months but were shocked to the bones by the tragic news that he lost his fight on 28th November, at the all too young age of 48.

A huge turnout attended his funeral at St. Mary's Cathedral on 30th November, a most dignified yet heart breaking occasion where his great friend Malcolm Noonan spoke so eloquently about Willie, recalling his early days as a bass player with Crawl Babies, his twenty-eight years as head honcho at Rollercoaster Records, his unfaltering loyalty as a friend and so much more. The Malojian show at The Set had been arranged some months ago by Willie and we all in our hearts hoped and expected that Willie would be present at some stage to enjoy the occasion, sadly not to be. In other years it would have been the much-cherished Rollercoaster Christmas Party which Willie arranged each year with various bands performing and the legendary Willie and Dave Holland's disco kicking on to the early hours after the live music ended.

In many ways it was fitting that the occasion had been arranged as it gave so many people the opportunity to gather together and celebrate the very thing that Willie had provided for years in Kilkenny and what he particularly cherished, live music, smiling faces, togetherness and love. All those ingredients were there in abundance on the night. There were tears of course but the overall sense was one of celebration and remembrance. The opening act was Mark McCambridge, the founding member of Belfast band Arborist and an act also very special to Willie. The gentle acoustic delivery was the perfect evening opener and set the scene for what was to follow. In what must have been a difficult personal challenge Stevie Scullion delivered a faultless set, choosing material actually perfectly suited to the occasion, accompanied by an outstanding band of musicians. No thumping drums or screeching guitars this time around but instead some gorgeous strings and keys delivered by Rachel Boyd on violin, David Murphy on pedal steel, Una McCann on accordion, Laura McFadden on cello and Stephen on acoustic guitar and occasional piano. Backing vocals were contributed beautifully by all.

Emotionally explaining that he only knew Willie for three years but reinforcing the impact both musically and personally in that three-year period the first half of the set concentrated in the main on material from his earlier albums including Whittle Me Down, I’ll Be Alright and Lean On Me from This Is Nowhere, Communion Girls and Crease Of Your Smile from Southlands and a note perfect cover of Neil Young’s Out On The Weekend.  Moving yet always tinged with humour, (the piano temporarily dying a death mid song was greeted by a ‘Willie’s in the room’ comment), and the sense of loss always prevailed but was eclipsed by the sense of togetherness and relevance. More recent material featured in the latter half of the evening with the excellent Ambulance Song, witty Beard Song, Damp and Purity Of Your Smile all featuring from Let Your Weirdness Carry You Home his current release on the Rollercoaster Records Label.

However, the most sombre inclusion was the traditional farewell song He Was A Friend Of Mine, immortalised by Bob Dylan and on the lips of everyone in the room. Tear jerking, mournful, sentimental but more than appropriate. I glanced around the room and thought of Willie, in another world looking down and saying to himself "There’s so much love in that room."

Willie Meighan RIP 

Review and live photography by Declan Culliton

John Blek @ The Hot Spot, Greystones - 26th November 2017

A Sunday afternoon gig may seem alien to many people but for me it brought back memories as a young man when such events were weekly occurrences for a number of years with numerous choices of venues in Bray and South County Dublin.

John Blek dropped by to play a late afternoon set in Greystones on his way back to his native Cork having performed the previous evening in The Workman’s Club on Dublin’s Wellington Quay. Joking that the sparse attendance at the wonderful venue brought him back to his early career days as a busker, he proceeded to deliver the perfect afternoon’s entertainment with selections from his back catalogue, his recent album Catharsis Vol.1; a few well selected covers and a couple of new additions intended for his next project. His current album was conceived in an unorthodox manner while he spent over two months earlier in the year hospitalised, having been struck down by a virus. The two positives to emerge from this episode were, first and foremost, his return to the best of health but also the inspiration to create a body of work which over  nine tracks visits mortality, freedom, materialism and survival.

The material on the album is stripped to the bone, often featuring only vocal and acoustic guitar, perfectly suited for the live setting. He begins with the calming Lace, the opening track from the album and follows with The Night and The Liquor from his 2016 release Cut The Light. Salt In The Water, a highlight from his recent album, was inspired by a late night session with a casual Dutch visitor to Cork, who invited Blek back to his boat for a few nightcaps following a gig in Cork. Its delivery is captivating, making as much impact performed live as it does on the studio version. Also featured is Needle and Thread, whose lyrics visit adoration from an individual who lacks the financial means to materially express it. The studio recording includes only vocal and mellotron but with restrictions on the amount of equipment he can physically accommodate on tour, Blek substitutes the mellotron with a more elementary  and compact wind instrument named a Shruti box,  which achieves the desired effect, despite being christened by his disapproving trad-music girlfriend - in unprintable terms.

Compass and No Surrender also from Catharsis Vol.1 are performed with Blek explaining that he unwittingly included the latter in his set at a venue in the North of Ireland to the expected response. His stage banter is relaxed with references to suffering from mid-life crisis when he reached thirty last year (fifteen years too early for that John!) and to the number of musicians that have played in his band; testament to how difficult he must be to work with.

Little Sparrow and the Andy M. Stewart song, Where Are You Tonight? from his 2016 album Cut The Light, also get an airing together with The Barman, The Barfly and Me from his work with his band The Rats; resulting in an observation from the floor about the recurring alcohol theme in many of the songs!

Two new songs Hannah and Blackwater are auditioned to gauge approval for inclusion on his next album, with both very much getting the thumbs up from the floor. They Killed Joe Henry, written by Justin Townes Earle, is up next  before he winds up the afternoon with the timeless Townes Van Zandt classic, Pancho and Lefty, Hand On My Heart from his Rats repertoire, (requested from the floor), and on a more upbeat note, Tim Hardin’s classic love song If I Were A Carpenter.

Driving home I reflected on the quality of music recorded by Irish artists in recent months. The Remedy Club, Malojian, Dovecote, Seamus Fogarty and Ritchie Healy all spring  to mind but the standout album of the year, for me, by our wealth of local talent is definitely Catharsis Vol.1 by John Blek. Get yourself a copy and more to the point take any opportunity you get to see these acts live, you won’t be disappointed.

Review and photography by Declan Culliton

Rhiannon Giddens@ Vicar Street 25th November 2017

Those of us lucky enough to have attended Rhiannon Giddens (above) sold out show at Whelan’s in early April of this year will no doubt recall her pledge to return to play Dublin again in 2017. True to her word she’s back in town this evening at an equally crammed Vicar Street, a further endorsement of the pulling power of the exceptionally talented Giddens and the outstanding band of musicians that travel with her. 

Very much part of her entourage at present is support act Kaia Kater (below), the 22-year-old Canadian virtuoso who studied banjo under the guidance of Rhiannon Giddens. Her set is both technically brilliant but also an indication of the distinction that Kater possesses as a songwriter in her own right. With two albums already under her belt the highlight of her set is the title track from her most recent release Nine Pin. "This is my first time in Ireland and I can’t understand a word anyone is saying but wow you are livelier than the English crowds" she jokes opening her set. Her impressive appearance will no doubt boost sales for her appearance at The Temple Bar Trad Festival in January 2018.

Freedom Highway, released by Rhiannon Giddens earlier this year, is without doubt one of the most politically charged albums of the year, tackling issues such as racism and immigration head on and while there is much pent up anger on the album, Giddens, in the live environment, delivers the material in a non-judgemental yet questioning manner. Early in the set and by way of introducing the albums most powerful song At The Purchasers Option, she speaks openly ("my biggest teacher is history") yet not overly hypercritically about slavery and the motivation for much of the album’s material, bemoaning the fact that ‘there’s still so much negative stuff out there at the moment’.

Capturing the essence of immigration in one sentence "Nobody leaves home without a good reason,"she proceeds to deliver a beautiful acapella style version of Coolings traditional Jazzmen’s classic blues lament Pretty Saro, aided by her sister Lalenja on backing vocals.

Despite the often-depressing topics featured in the core material the night is all about celebration rather than woe. "I’ve been coming to Ireland for ten years now and it’s the first time I’ve played this beautiful venue, don’t get me wrong though, I also love Whelan’s," Giddens adds, before reminding the audience, with a few words of Irish, that her two children attend Gael Scoil in Limerick.

It may only be less than eight months from her last Dublin gig but the setlist is refreshingly varied, having kicked off in fine style with Ola Belle Reed’s Going To Write Me A Letter she ups the tempo even higher with a melody of Fiddle Tune/Pateroller and Black Annie.

Similar to her Whelan’s show her band consist of Carolina Chocolate Drop colleague Hubby Jenkins (guitar, mandolin, banjo and bones), Jason Sypher (bass), James Dick (drums) and the albums co-producer and multi-instrumentalist Dirk Powell. An additional two musicians are on stage this evening, a trumpet player and her sister Lalenja as backing vocalist. The family connection is further enhanced when she is joined on stage by her nephew Justin Harrington for the rap chorus on the gangland killing themed song Better Get It Right The First Time from the current album, establishing that rap actually can be sympathetic to folk and blues music.

A classic delivery of Waterboy follows, the traditional song immortalised by singer and human rights activist Odetta, now owned by Giddens whose striking vocal range is on full display before delivering another well-chosen cover Underneath The Harlem Moon written by the pianist and 40’s swing artist Bob Howard. She introduces Come Love Come as her platform to ‘give a voice to the voiceless’ before finishing the main set with a rousing Freedom Highway.

Back on stage for her encore she admits to be about to deviate from her setlist by having to ‘throw one in for my Irish friends’ and lets loose with the lively Gael/Scot instrumental S’iomadh Rud Tha Dhiath Orm before ending what has been an exhilarating nights entertainment and sending the house into raptures with Lonesome Road and Up Above My Head.

A different venue, different setlist and some additional personnel from her show earlier in the year in Whelan’s but the same result. Magnificent!

Review by Declan Culliton  Photography by Ronnie Norton

Take Root Festival @ Groningen, Netherlands - 4th November 2017

Groningen is the largest city in The Netherlands located north of Amsterdam and easily accessible from the airport by train, a journey which takes approximately two hours. Take Root Festival celebrated its twentieth anniversary this year and they certainly pulled out all the stops with a line-up that featured twenty acts appearing on five stages inside the most impressive De Oosterpoort complex.

The festival kicked off at 4pm and finished at 12am and to the credit of the organisers there were no hiccups with each act starting on time and the sound and lighting quality being of the highest quality at each venue. Unfortunately, with the number of acts performing -often three acts were on stage at the same time - hard choices have to be made in deciding which shows to attend, taking into consideration that if you get upfront at any particular set you are likely to be at the back of the following show, given that three thousand punters had purchased a ticket for the sold-out festival.

Lonesome Highway decided to take in full shows of six acts, including the three acts that were staged in the Grote Zaal, a spectacular theatre with tiered seating surrounding a large standing area. The three bands in question were Hurrah For The Riff Raff, Margo Price and Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit. The three other acts we caught on other stages were The Americans, Chuck Prophet and Jesse Dayton.

‘We’re American, but we come in peace’, announces Alynda Segarra as she takes the main stage with her band Hurrah For The Riff Raff.  Segarra and her colleagues are a totally different act both musically and in personnel from the band that played The Kilkenny Roots Festival in 2013. Back then the focus was on Segerra and her side man and fiddle player Yosi Perlstein, with a sound that was a blend of folk with loose country trimmings. Their latest album The Navigator and to a lesser degree 2014's Small Town Heroes took a different direction, hard edged, politically charged and the work of an artist growing into herself and finding her sweet spot. Gone is the diminutive and shy young lady to be replaced by a fiery, super confident artist taking full advantage of her opportunity to play the largest stage at the festival. Her stage presence and delivery are simply wonderful, prowling around the stage, shaking hips, theatrical facial expressions – reminiscent of a young P.J. Harvey - and powerful vocals backed by an equally impressive razor-sharp band. Understandably the setlist in the main featured material from The Navigator, a compelling concept album that finds Segarra reconnecting with her Puerto Rican roots and her early years as a young girl growing up in Brooklyn. It's a passionate and political body of work that acts out even better live than on the excellent album, the material taking on an even more weighty delivery.  Life to Save, Just The Way, Hungry Ghost all feature together with super charged versions of Living In The City and Palante before closing with a pumped up delivery Springsteen's Dancing In The Dark.

Margo Price's is currently being hailed as everything from the saviour of country music to the next Janis Joplin and despite the considerable pressure on her shoulders her performances suggest that she is taking it all in her stride. Taking the stage in a racy costume of shorts with a flowing dress to match and with her trusted five-piece band her set concentrates in the main on her current album American Made with Nowhere Fast, Weakness and A Little Pain all played in quick succession. Matching Alynda Segerra’s earlier performance, she is equally impressive both vocally and works every corner of the stage (and jumps off stage to sing among the audience towards the end of her set), belting out favourites Hands of Time and Hurtin' On The Bottle from her debut album together with Kris Kristofferson’s Me & Bobby Mc Gee.  

Having witnessed Jason Isbell's magical performance in Dublin a week previously it was worth sacrificing some of the other impressive acts on the line up to catch his set once more. He repeated that performance again this evening with his 400 Unit presenting a slightly varied set given his allocated time slot, a shorter set than his Dublin show. Opening with Anxiety and closing with If We Were Vampires his performance was equally well received as the Dublin show with 24 Frames, Cumberland Gap, Cover Me Up and a killer delivery of his Drive By Truckers classic Never Gonna Change all crowd pleasers.

Jesse Dayton also played a blinding set in Dublin last week - to a very small audience it has to be said. Not so this evening where he had the punters in the main foyer venue dancing and rocking from start to finish with a show featuring practically the entire The Revealer album, with lots of anecdotes and tales including the George Jones show that never happened when, as a young boy, he tagged along with his father for one of Jones’s legendary no shows. However, better fortune was to land at his door many years later, striking gold in fact, when film director Rob Zombie commissioned him to write the soundtrack for the film The Devil’s Rejects. The film died a death but the soundtrack was a huge success and Dayton rejoiced ‘the royalty checks keep dropping in my post box’. An artist that has played with Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash his guitar playing is dynamic and with his rocking rhythm section of Chris Rhoades on bass and Kevin Charney on drums they race through Daddy Was A Badass, The Way We Are and crowd favourite I’m At Home Getting Hammered (While She’s Out Getting Nailed) with killer playing and humour in equal measures. As was the case in Dublin Dayton hung around afterward having a drink, mixing and talking with the punters and in no hurry to move on despite having an early morning flight to catch to Spain the next day.

Earlier in the afternoon T-Bone Burnett favourites The Americans had kicked off the festival on the same foyer stage with a full on / in your face set of no nonsense rock and roll promoting their debut album I’ll Be Yours. Front man Patrick Ferris - with looks and style that would grace any Levi’s advertisement – leads the band through a high energy mix of rockabilly and blues with titles such as Nevada, Stowaway and The Right Stuff, all warming up punters as they arrived at De Oosterpoort for what proved to be a hectic eight hours of nonstop entertainment 

Fortunately, we did get to catch some of Chuck Prophet & The Mission Express on the same stage as The Americans had performed earlier in the day. Bad Year For Rock and Roll, Jesus Was A Social Drinker, In The Mausoleum and Bobby Fuller Died For Your Sins from his current album of the same name were all delivered with Prophet’s trademark animated stage presence and humour. As we made our way to the main stage to catch the Jason Isbell gig crowd favourite Willy Mays is Up at Bat could be heard blasting away in the background.

Such a shame to have to miss so many other acts and you do wonder why the festival could not have started earlier in the day or preferably the evening before but credit again to the organisers for a smoothly run and wonderful festival with an entry fee of €36, the amount you might pay to see one of those acts at home.

The Line Up -

Hurrah For The Riff Raff / Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit / Margo Price / Chuck Prophet / The Americans / Tift Merritt/ Jim Lauderdale / The Secret Sisters / Baptiste W. Hamon / Jesse Dayton / The Cactus Blossoms/ Cordovas / The Como Mamas/ Joist Dijkema / Andrew Combs / Steve Gunn / Eilen Jewell / Curse of Lono / Sam Outlaw / Levi Parham

Review and photography by Declan Culliton.

Brandy Clark and Jim Lauderdale @ The Sugar Club, Dublin - 2nd November 2017

A lengthy queue has already formed outside The Sugar Club well in advance of door opening time, evidence of the attraction of having two songwriters of the calibre of Brandy Clark and Jim Lauderdale performing on the same stage. The release of Brandy Clark's 2013 album 12 Stories finally brought the Tennessee resident to the attention, as a performer, to the large numbers her song writing richly deserves. Her earlier career was focused more on writing material for others to record including successfully co-writing with Shane Mc Anally and Kacey Musgraves, a combination that produced hits for The Band Perry and Miranda Lambert.  Born and raised in the small logging town Morton, Washington (population 900) may or may not have generated the visionary landscape for Clark, an artist with the ability to create intriguing tales from the everyday mundane run of the mill occurrences.  She followed that debut album in 2016 with Big Day in a Small Town, another insight to the trials, tortures, lives and loves of the neighbours and inhabitants of small town America. Somewhat more heavily produced than its predecessor but Clark's gorgeous accented vocal and fearless writing impacted every bit as impressively as her debut and charted highly in both the U.S. and U.K. Country charts.

Her natural vocal is every bit as effective in a live setting as evidenced by her opening song this evening Hold My Hand, delivered solo acoustic before being joined on stage by her two-piece band. You're left in no doubt after that introduction, and the audience reaction, that the show is going to be something special and to suggest it lives up to expectation is an understatement. Commenting that this is the final night of a tour that started on September 26th she also adds that the reception she's receiving (‘and the Irish whiskey'!) is energising. 'Please sing along if you know the words or better still clap along cause I've no drummer on this tour' she jokes, but in reality the absence of percussion and her acoustic band gives Clark's honeyed vocal the space to blossom with every lyric crystal clear in delivery. That's not to detract from her superb band of Okie Myles Aubrey on acoustic guitar and Vanessa McGowan from Auckland New Zealand on upright bass, both of whose playing is wonderful and both of who add backing vocals creating stunning three-part harmonies throughout the set. Selection from both her albums feature with The Day She Got Divorced evolving into a sing along but also including some cracking guitar picking by Aubrey. ' I think I need to record an album of drinking songs' she teases before launching into a succession of substance abuse songs  Get High, Drinkin' Smokin' Cheatin', When I Get  To Drinkin, You're Drunk, Take A Little Pill and Hungover. The three way harmonies on Drinkin' Smokin' Cheatin' are particularly stunning. Commenting on the legendary drinking of the Irish she comments tongue in cheek ' What we call an alcoholic in the States you guys call a lightweight' adding that the same joke didn't go down as well in Belfast the previous night! Three Kids and No Husband, Big Day in a Small Town, Daughter (‘a good girl gone bad story and the best revenge song I'll ever write') and Stripes finish the set to a richly deserved standing ovation. The three-song encore consists of Carol King's Will You Love Me Tomorrow, a song that inspired Clark to attempt to follow suit, a new song entitled Apologies and the closer Pray To Jesus with the opening lyrics adapted to ‘We live in trailers and apartments too, from California to Dublin’.

Clark is undoubtedly one of the finest female songwriters in country music today with material that can shock, amuse and move in equal measures but what is also evident from this evenings show is her ability to deliver equally (if not to a greater extent) in a live setting with her gorgeous vocal, wonderful stage presence and perfectly suited accompanying musicians.

No stranger to Dublin having performed around the corner at The National Concert Hall with Beth Chapman Neilson in August, opening act Jim Lauderdale is a much loved, admired and charismatic artist, respected equally by industry punters and his peers. A prolific recording artist that seems to record (at least) one album annually he appears on stage immaculately turned out as usual in a colourful Dandy & Rose shirt and wine nudie suit trousers. Kicking off with Three Way Conversation after announcing Dublin as his favourite city to perform, his set includes Sweet Time from his current album London Southern and his Gram Parson / George Jones inspired The King of Broken Hearts.  You Don't Seem To Miss Me is introduced as ' one that I got lucky with', a reference to both Patty Loveless and George Jones recording it before he revisits his current album with the slow burning love ballad I Love You So, delivered with delicate pausing and punctuation to pin drop silence. Also recorded by Patty Loveless and indeed Dave Edmunds and included in the set is Halfway Down. Due to head into the studio in three days’ time he plays a new song from the album, a country ballad titled Rubs Off On Me. Lauderdale also kindly gives Lonesome Highway a generous call out from stage mentioning our ' very talented graphic designer Steve Averill' and also Ronnie Norton's latest radio show Route 650 before finishing with Hole In My Head, one of his co-writes with good friend Buddy Miller.

All in all, a standout evening of quality music from two wonderful artists hugely enjoyed by a large and enthusiastic audience at The Sugar Club.

Review by Declan Culliton  Photography bt Ronnie Norton

Eilen Jewell @ The Sound House, Dublin - 10th Nov 2017

Jewell’s crack band started to play the opening song before she stepped onstage to say “good to see you Dublin, it’s been awhile.” She then led the band through a series of numbers that spanned from the title song of her debut album Boundary County through to several titles from her latest release Down Hearted Blues. The range of music covered was equally diverse from the blues of songs such as the title track of the new album which featured drummer Jason Beek on washboard and guitarist Jerry Miller on Jewell’s acoustic guitar through a solo folk cover of Bob Dylan’s Kingsport Town where the clarity of Jewell’s voice was even more apparent. There was also the honky-tonk of Heartache Boulevard and the 50’s styled rock of I Remember You. She also revealed that a pre-gig preview warned she would be in some kinda trouble if she didn’t play a Loretta Lynn song in the show. “I don’t want to be in trouble in Ireland” she said and duly delivered You Want To Give Me a Lift.

Throughout the set Jewell engaged with the audience telling us about the origins of some of the songs. How she discovered her father’s collection of blues’ albums and noted that if her father had actually given them to her that she would have told him they were tedious. Also, that as a parent, that if you want your kids to like something it would be best to hide it from them! Raised in Ohio she, as a teenager, just wanted to find the quickest way to leave. However she now lives back in Ohio and loves the space the State offers. Some of her songs were inspired by that desert of the location, even though while she said she loved it, it was not a reciprocal relationship. As for musicians from Idaho she reckoned it was down to her and Josh Ritter (but one should not forget the Idaho cowboy Pinto Bennett who flew the flag for the State some years back).

Other songs form tonight’s 24 song set included High Shelf Blues, Santa Fe, Sea Of Tears Hallelujah Band, Wandering Signs, Another Night To Cry and Don’t Leave Poor Me. The latter three all from the new blues album. Theses songs showed the dexterous skill of Miller who was as much at ease with the blues as he was with every other aspect of the band’s roots related sound. Down Hearted Blues allowed upright bassist Shawn Supra to shine with a melodic solo. Both players received ovations for their abilities as did Beek who also took his turn in the spotlight with his rhythmic turn on the vintage washboard for the two acoustic based blues songs.

After her solo spot on the Dylan song Jewell brought the players on again for a crowd pleasing take on the Johnny Kidd and The Pirates classic Shakin’ All Over, a song that was requested by some audience members and of which Jewell noted that they hadn’t played in over 3 years but this being Dublin … well how could she refuse. It was a perfect end to the evening with many of the audience joining in on the chorus and applauding Miller inclusion of selections from other well known guitar riffs in the extended instrumental breaks. The Queen of the Minor Key and her band ruled and she promised to return to Dublin soon. A city she informed us that she had loved, even before visiting, from her love of James Joyce - whose Portrait Of An Artist was the subject of a thesis she had written in her 20s.

For many this was the first visit to The Sound House on Eden Quay and it proved to be a venue that should be added to the list of those suited to hosting Roots/Americana music. 

Review by Stephen Rapid  Photography by Kaethe Burt-O'Dea